{"id":2997,"date":"2023-06-11T22:48:42","date_gmt":"2023-06-11T14:48:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.walsnet.org\/?p=2997"},"modified":"2023-06-11T22:48:42","modified_gmt":"2023-06-11T14:48:42","slug":"slc-international-conference-celebrated-its-10th-anniversary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/morphmatters.com\/wals-theme-2\/slc-international-conference-celebrated-its-10th-anniversary\/","title":{"rendered":"SLC International Conference celebrated its 10th anniversary!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We were very honored to host more than 2,000 participants at the 10th<\/sup> International Conference of School as Learning Community held in Tokyo, March 3-5, 2023. Participants from 31 different countries and areas shared their practices, struggles, and excitements in SLC at the conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is School as Learning Community (SLC)?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SLC is a set of a vision, philosophies and activity system that aims to reform schools into a community in which everyone\u2014teachers, students and their guardians, and local residents\u2014learns and grows together through active, collaborative and reflective learning; learning-centered lesson study; professional collegiality; school autonomy; and democratization of school policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SLC started as a bottom-up movement among Japanese schoolteachers with theoretical backup by Manabu Sato, one of the leading members of WALS, and this movement came to be known as School as Learning Community (SLC) or Manabi no Kyodotai<\/em> in Japanese. Hamanago Elementary School, established in 1998 in Chigasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture, was the first SLC pilot school, and it triggered an explosive spread of the SLC movement across Japan. Currently 300 -pilot schools which wire huge networks of 3,000 schools adopt the SLC model for their school reform, and SLC has gained strong momentum particularly among teachers working in schools in low SES communities. SLC is nowadays practiced across East and Southeast Asia, Africa, UK, and Mexico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How important is Lesson Study in SLC?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SLC puts teachers\u2019 professional learning at the center of school reform. With \u2018leaving no teacher alone\u2019 as a slogan, the school administration focuses on ensuring every teacher\u2019s right to learn, regardless of years of experience. It is believed in SLC that we cannot ensure every student\u2019s right to learn without ensuring every teacher\u2019s professional learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professional learning is primarily facilitated through lesson study, which is considered an activity system of SLC. Through collaborative lesson planning, observation, and reflection in Lesson Study, teachers help each other to learn to become reflective practitioners and to develop trust and collegiality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lesson Study serves as an activity system with which SLC\u2019s three guiding philosophies\u2014philosophies of public, democracy, and excellence\u2014should be pursued. The primary focus of Lesson Study in SLC schools, therefore, lies in how we can achieve caring and listening relationships in classrooms while at the same time pursuing learning with excellence and authenticity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*For more information on SLC, here are some useful resources available in English:<\/p>\n\n\n\n