Opening Address

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Shin-Eiken President

Create a New Half Century of History

YANAGISAWA Tamio
Shin-Eiken President

Since its founding in 1959, for 50 years the organization Shin-Eiken has implemented teaching practices based on the principles of enjoyable and understandable classes, and foreign language education that helps students form individuality and character.

This year we are facing many new challenges. The new teaching guidelines for elementary education require schools to include “English education activities” in their curriculums. These guidelines, which came into force in March of 2008, are now being enforced. The new teaching guidelines for senior high school, revised in March 2009, request or require that English teachers use English for an entire 50-minute class “in principle.” Teachers in primary and secondary education around the country are facing controversial issues with courage.

Shin-Eiken is at the threshold of creating a new half century of history, and we feel that the 2009 national conference will be epochal. We hope that the three-day conference will provide every participant with discussion, exchanges of experience, and dialog on teaching practice that will make the conference not only useful, but inspiring.

2009 National Conference Organizing Committee Chairman

Every Child Beaming in English Class

AHARA Shigemitsu
2009 National Conference Organizing Committee Chairman

A half century has passed since the start of our effort to establish the theory and practice of student-centered education in English as a foreign language.

For five decades we have accumulated countless practical applications and exciting teaching materials related to peace, ecology and human rights. These have led to classes which, because they include self-expression methods, have made every child in the class just beam.

This experience has taught us that the acquisition of foreign languages is much more than a classroom exercise. Positive language learning experiences lead to a more exciting and larger world for students and the adults they will become. It not only creates added zest for living for the children, but is indispensable to those who will be living in the 21st century as an age of harmonious coexistence.

I firmly believe this national conference will empower every participant, and give invigoration and motivation to them for their future careers as professional educators.

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