A delegation from Kogakkan University on the island of Mie, Japan, visited the Vanderbijlpark Campus of the North-West University (NWU) from 20 to 24 February 2023 to demonstrate their new team-teaching style – Lesson Study Approach (LSA).

This teaching style, developed by Kogakkan University, is aimed at preservice teachers as part of their work-integrated learning, and incorporates the advantages of both cooperative and individualised teaching.

Prof Yutaka Nakamatsu, dean of the Faculty of Education, together with his students, Tomomi Sawa, Yuki Okumura and Miyu Tanaka, and translator Yuko Nakamatsu, demonstrated a science lesson using a Lead Pre-Service Teachers (LPT) and Experiment Guiding Pre-Service Teachers (EPT) approach.

Fourth-year BEd Intermediate Phase majoring in natural science on the Vanderbijlpark and Potchefstroom campuses, as well as students completing their postgraduate certificate in education, majoring in geography on the Potchefstroom Campus, attended the session.

The Japanese delegation’s visit is part of a National Research Foundation (NRF) international collaboration project, with Prof Luiza de Sousa as project leader, and Dr Irene Muller as project member.

This project aims to apply the learnings of LSA to the methodology of geography education and natural science education.

The Japanese delegation also presented their team-teaching style to the teachers at Platinum Village Primary School in Rustenburg who have already received training in LSA.

From left are Eunice Pretorius, Dr Magda Klopper, Dr Elize Küng, Miyu Tanaka, Prof Linda du Plessis, Prof Yutaka Nakamatsu, Prof Sawa Tomomi, Yuko Nakamatsu, Dr Irene Muller, Yuki Okumura and Erika Potgieter.