The Development Of Teaching Materials With Teacher As The Subject

As a new curriculum reform is carried out, the new teaching materials based on new curriculum ideas have been emerging constantly. However, during the implementation of a new curriculum, the problem of how teachers change the old-fashioned way of teaching and how learners fulfill the subjectivity in their learning remains to be the key problem to be solved. Using new idea on teaching materials is the key to implement a new philosophy of curriculum. Now the traditional idea of "teaching the textbook" is changing into "teaching with the textbook". In this educational context, the thesis focuses on the research on the two main viewpoints of teaching materials in Japan after World War â…¡. Based on the research, the thesis suggests that teachers, with students working together as cooperators, should be the subject of the development of teaching materials. This kind of development with teacher as the subject is not only a re-development and re-creation of the current textbook, but also a creation in which teachers find out meaningful resources from everyday life and make them into teaching materials as well as apply them in classroom activities.The thesis includes four chapters.In chapter 1, first the background of the research is outlined. Then, the development of teaching materials is divided into three levels, and the object of this research is clearly defined. The creativities, approaches and significance of the research are introduced in the chapter.In chapter 2, the viewpoints of teaching materials based on problem solving learning are examined. This chapter first reviews the background of the foundation of social education in Japan after World War â…¡, and the process of problem solving learning has become the main stream in social studies. The next section of this chapter analyzes the teaching materials based on the theory of problem solving learning and consisting of "questions" and "units", and explores the theoretical foundations of corresponding viewpoints on teaching materials. The last section of the chapter discusses the various types of teaching materials and their functions in the process of solving problems. Finally, an example of developing this kind of teaching materials is analyzed.In chapter 3, the systemism view of teaching materials is examined. The first section of this chapter introduces the background of systemism. In section 2, we willdiscuss how to develop teaching materials that can facilitate the interaction between learners and characters in teaching materials. In section 3 , the development of this viewpoint of teaching materials is introduced,and it explains how to make it become a connection between learners and subject matter.In chapter 4, some suggestions on the construction of the theory of teaching materials and the practice of developing teaching materials are given. In the first section of this chapter reveals the essence of teaching material in the context of curriculum implementation. In section 2, it suggests that multiple points of view on teaching materials should be held. In section 3, three possible methods of developing teaching materials are recommended which teachers might apply. The thesis is concluded with the main point that the most important thing in developing teaching materials is to respect the subjectivity of learners and thus change "teaching materials" into "learning materials".