Problems of Education in the 21st Century

511-512

Authors: Editorial Board

Contents, Vol. 79, No. 4, 2021, PEC

516-543

Authors: Michal Černý

Information literacy is a critical topic in contemporary pedagogy and information science, it is ranked among the essential competencies for the 21st century, and in recent years, it has received increasing research interest. The problem, however, is that the research is focused mainly on primary and university (college) contexts and only rarely analyses secondary school settings. This paper, therefore, focuses on a group of high school students and on whether the literature's idea of their needs corresponds to their actual needs. Based on the analysis of 32 documents indexed in the Scopus and Web of Science databases, the paper identifies seven significant discursive areas addressed in the literature, both theoretically and empirically. These are the relationship of libraries and librarians to the development of information literacy, information evaluation, the relationship of information literacy and learning competencies, connection with other competencies, emphasis on constructivist approach, the social dimension of information literacy and its possible use for self-actualization. These topics form a specific research discourse, which they set out. In the second phase of the research, focus groups (8 groups in 4 schools, 41 students) on information literacy are studied through the seven essential discourses mentioned. Although our sample lacked reflections on the relationship between the library and high school students, the remaining six fundamental discourses appeared in the testimonies of high school students (Libraries and librarians, evaluation of information, learning competencies, connection with other literacy, constructivist approach, the social dimension of information literacy, information literacy as a means of self-actualization). The findings show that the main difference between literary discourse and student responses is in the perception of libraries as centres of information literacy development and that students prefer the school or their teachers in their place.

554-567

Authors: Anatolii Ivanchuk, Tetiana Zuziak, Oksana Marushchak, Anatolii Matviichuk, Viktor Solovei

Technical literacy is a component of professional competence of the pre-service technology teacher. However, the course content of technical disciplines in the pedagogical universities of Ukraine is not consistent with the content knowledge subsequently used in teaching practice of a technology teacher. Also, there is a need in general technical literacy of the students, yet it is developed only in its engineering design aspect. In the paper, it was proved that for the general technical literacy of pre-service technology teachers the basic concepts are the following technical phenomena: motion transmission, changes in kinematic parameters of motion, changes in force parameters of motion. Natural and scientific foundations of the machine drives were used as the basic topic-specific knowledge. It was hypothesized that effectiveness of teaching technical literacy to children would raise if the narrative about the technical phenomena is included in the content of the “Utility machinery” course for the pre-service technology teachers. The pedagogical experiment was performed in the Vinnytsia Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi State Pedagogical University (Ukraine). It included ascertaining, formative, and control stages. At the ascertaining stage of the pedagogical experiment, the students’ readiness level to study technical phenomena was determined. At the formative stage, the students’ readiness to develop children’s technical literacy was measured. At the control stage, students’ readiness level to develop technical literacy was estimated in experimental and control groups. Theoretical value of the results is in substantiating technical topic-specific content knowledge as necessary for the pre-service technology teachers. Practical significance of the results is in implementation of the narratives about technical phenomena in the learning practice of the students of pedagogical university.

585-596

Authors: Kamil Arif Kırkıç, Feriha Uludağ

Achievement in a course mostly depends on the students' characteristics and how teachers make their courses effective for their students' learning. Although different characteristics of teachers and students can affect learning outcomes, new approaches like STEM may cause new characteristics which affect students’ achievement as STEM attitudes. This study examines the correlation between secondary school students' STEM attitudes and their achievement in the Technology and Design Course (T & DC). A correlational survey model was applied in the study. A total of 400 students studying in the seventh and eighth grades constitute the sample of the study. A personal data form and STEM attitude test were utilized to collect data. Pearson Correlation Analysis and Regression Analysis techniques were used in the data analysis process. As a result of the analysis, it was found a positive and significant correlation between students' Technology and Design Course achievement and STEM attitudes. Students' attitudes to STEM predict their achievement in the Technology and Design Course by 5.1%. Students developing positive STEM attitudes can further enhance achievement in the (T&DC), which enables students to acquire the necessary design skills to produce technology in the future.

611-625

Authors: Ly Thi Bac La, Nga Thi Thu Nguyen, Anh Thi Thuy Truong, Thu-Giang Tran, The-Thang Nguyen

Cohesive speech has commonly become regarded as one of the essential aspects of language development, especially for pre-schoolers. This study aimed to shed light on the cohesive speech of pre-schoolers (CSP) knowledge base. Three hundred ninety-five publications close related cohesive speech research of 5-6-year-old children were collected from the Scopus database. By using the bibliometric approach, the results showed the growth rate of publications over time from 1970 to 2020. In this period, the top five countries, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil and France, have published over 60% of total documents. Besides, four main interests of authors in this field were discovered: “language development”, “speech pathology outcomes”, “speech therapy”, “language intervention”. Among these themes, “speech pathology outcomes” was the most relevant one. Another finding, in recent years, scholars focused on aspects of autism spectrum disorder of pre-schoolers. More importantly, the achievements of this discipline have considerably made positive contributions to various fields both in terms of theory and practice, especially in language and linguistics, speech and hearing, psychology, and medicine. Overall, these studies highlight the need for many other studies, particularly relevant to pre-schooling when new generations should be better prepared to be happy in school by their future cognitive developments.

640-656

Authors: Duygu Turgut, Zeha Yakar

Considering the recent rapid developments in science and technology, it is quite important for individuals to be able to make decisions about their own future and their children's future for the society in which they live and to know how to establish a balance of risk and decision. For this reason, teacher training programs should be planned to internalize pre-service teachers' awareness of responsibility. Regarding this point, the development of pre-service science teachers' bioethical values was examined on a class level basis using survey research. Research sample consisted total of 286 pre-service teachers of Science Teacher Training Program. Bioethical Values Questionnaire was applied to determine pre-service teachers’ bioethical values. As a result of analyses, it was determined that pre-service teachers’ bioethical values increased according to their class levels they attended. It was stated that pre-service science teachers’ bioethical values related to sub-dimensions of “Benefits of Biotechnology Applications”, “Science and Ethics”, “Reproductive Technologies and Cloning” and “Control of Genetic Interventions” were increased based on participants’ class levels. In addition, the results of the study revealed that pre-service teachers also had some concerns about the benefits of biotechnology applications.

674-685

Authors: Barbara Zaman, Francka Lovšin Kozina

Today’s world is facing a problem with the growth of textile products and in particular, textile waste, which already represents a serious environmental problem. From the point of view of ensuring sustainable handling of textile products, it is thus very important that individuals have the appropriate knowledge, attitudes and skills for sustainable handling of textile products or that they are properly ‘textile literate’. After all, appropriate textile literacy enables individuals to act according to the concept of sustainable development. The purpose of this research, which included 80 students from three Slovenian schools, who had completed their lower secondary education in the 2018/2019 school year, was to find out what their basic textile knowledge was and how they transferred it into their daily lives. Ninth graders were found to be deficient in basic textile skills, with girls having statistically significant better knowledge than boys. The girls were also statistically significantly better at recognising the connection between the acquired knowledge and everyday life and achieved a better result in terms of sustainable handling of textile products. The research findings can help teachers to be aware of the critical points in textile teaching in the context of sustainable development. The results also suggest that the current placement of textile content in the fifth grade, without further upgrading of the content in higher grades is not optimal. Most of the surveyed students had high grades in the fifth grade, but knowledge that is vital from the point of view of the sustainable behaviour of an individual is low in the ninth grade. These results can provide useful information for school policy makers who want to follow modern concepts of sustainable development.

339

Authors: Editorial Board

Contents, Vol. 79, No. 3, 2021, PEC

343-359

Authors: Emine Akkaş Baysal, Gürbüz Ocak

Student misbehaviors in the classroom both disrupt students’ attention and affect negatively teaching and learning process. With the increase of online courses after Covid-19 pandemic, the type of student misbehaviors changed a lot. The aim of research was to examine student misbehaviors encountered during online courses, to identify the most common and disruptive student misbehaviors from teachers' perspective and to put forth teachers’ suggestions about proper behaviors. The research was a phenomenological study. Data were gathered from 71 teachers teaching different courses and working at various levels. For data collection, a semi-structured interview form developed by the researchers was used. It was assessed through descriptive analysis. According to findings, a list containing 27 different student misbehaviors was generated. Results showed that the most common misbehaviors were indifference to course, not attending course, turning off webcam and slanging. The most disruptive misbehaviors were making noise, absenteeism, and distractibility. Findings revealed that teachers had some ideas to overcome these misbehaviors such as taking attendance, getting family support, encouraging students to turn on webcam, creating intrinsic motivation and organizing parent meetings. It can be concluded that some unwanted student behaviors can be seen during online courses; however, it can be overcome with the help of some precautions taken by teachers.

381-396

Authors: Rolién J. V. Cirilo, Elaine A. Colagrande

This research presents an integrative review about the methodological procedures adopted in the research of the Chemistry PCK, with the aim of identifying the data collection instruments used to explain the PCK in this field, seeking to observe its frequency of use and also contribute to the advancement of knowledge established by previous reviews. 89 articles published in magazines well evaluated by CAPES were selected, indexed to the Scopus (Elsevier) database. The treatment of the data was based on the technique of content analysis, resulting in six categories constructed a posteriori: a) period of publications; b) country of origin of the research; c) relationship to a specific topic; d) the teaching experience of the target audience; e) research approach and data collection instruments; and f) the use of PCK models as a theoretical framework. The results suggest a methodological predominance of a qualitative nature, with interviews, field diaries, observation of the practice, and questionnaires some of the most used instruments. Besides, a trend related to the specification of topics in the Chemistry discipline can be identified, as well as the lack of clarity regarding the variety of PCK models present in the literature and the failure to adopt these as a theoretical basis in most of the research studies analysed. There is also an express need to investigate the PCK of Chemistry teachers in practice in higher education since the results reinforce the scarcity of papers for this specific audience.

412-424

Authors: Ramazan Gürbüz, Muammer Çalık

Since contemporary learning theories, strategies and models offer the interdisciplinary approach, educators need new pedagogical alternative ways to attain it in practicum. For this reason, the current research aimed to illustrate how to intertwine mathematical modeling with an environmental issue that recruits waste management (e.g., reuse-recycle-reduce) to live an environmentally friendly lifestyle. Through a case study research, 6 seventh-grade students (3 females and 3 males; aged 13-14) voluntarily participated in the research. The researchers videotaped and analyzed all interactive learning processes to elicit the students’ environmental dialogues. The results indicated that the interdisciplinary mathematical modeling afforded the students to acquire the targeted environmental concepts/issues and somewhat supported their arguments. Since the current research illustrates an alternative pedagogy to integrate science/environmental education into mathematics, it may be used to facilitate dissemination and applicability of the STEM education.

451-466

Authors: Nomsa Mabena, Patricia Namayammu Mokgosi, Selina Serole Ramapela

Learners’ mathematics performance globally and locally has been a major concern. Learners are generally not performing well in mathematics. This is also true of learners in Kwagga West Circuit, Nkangala district in Mpumalanga province of South Africa. Performing badly in the subject negatively affects them, preventing them from progressing to the next grades. This research employed a qualitative case study design with observation and semi-structured interviews with a sample of three school management team (SMT) members, six teachers, nine learners, and three parent component members of the school governing body (SGB) to determine factors affecting learner performance in mathematics in the senior phase. The results showed that numerous factors influenced learners’ confidence and performance. The factors found to have an impact on mathematics performance were learner related, such as ill-discipline, language barriers and learner attitudes. Teachers’ factors included lack of pedagogical content knowledge and skill, and lack of appropriate professional training. Finally, the study offers suggestions for further research and recommendations regarding learners, teachers, schools, school management teams, the parents, as well as for the national education ministry.

485-504

Authors: Alexander Zureck

The range of study programs in finance and the ways how to study due to place, time, and focus has increased in recent years. Students can choose what and how they want to learn. If someone finds an appropriate program he must decide to study face-to-face, online, or in a hybrid format. Finance is often a duty in business administration or related study programs. For many students in those classes the financial topics are bleak. This leads to a passive consumption of contents and ends often in dropping out. The aim of this research was to discuss methods to activate and keep learners motivated by using well selected media in teaching. To identify which media is used in teaching, a literature review was done. Teaching annual reports and other official reports available in English and/or German from several international educational institutions are read, compared, and analyzed. Additionally, secondary academic literature is checked for further examples. In a first step, therefore, different techniques to active students, such as collaboration or interaction, are discussed critically on a literature base. In a second step, based on the techniques, a selection matrix was obtained that supports educators to select the right medium to deal with a certain technique. Many examples were found that might assist educators in the practical use of the selection matrix.

191

Authors: Editorial Board

Contents, Vol. 79, No. 2, 2021

194-206

Authors: Hasan Yücel Ertem

Central exams which are reflection of structure of education systems determine many schooling processes. Especially, scores coming from these exams are indicators for student performance. Transition to upper-secondary school from lower-secondary school is based on “System of Transition to Upper-Secondary Schools” (LGS). The current study aimed to examine the relationship between scores on System of Transition to High Schools (LGS) and student, classroom, and school level variables. The design of the study is a correlational research. The random sample consisted of 731 students from 47 classrooms in the 15 lower-secondary schools. Secondary data coming from educational institutions via school information form were analyzed by Hierarchical Linear Modelling (HLM). School success score as a student-level variable, experience of a class teacher as a classroom-level variable, and a number of exam branch teachers, and a number of teachers assigned in support and training courses as school-level variables predicted significantly students’ performance in LGS. Considering the results of the current study, activities for professional development of teachers is recommended urgently to increase performance of the students.

220-228

Authors: Robert Krause

Being overconfident in one’s abilities is connected to poor self-judgment and it is essential to find ways how to reduce this phenomenon. The aim of the study was to research whether the act of taking a reading literacy test can be an effective means of reducing the overconfidence effect in the sample of Slovak teachers. Using purposive sampling method, a sample of 225 teachers from across school levels was obtained. The levels of overestimation (OE) and overplacement (OPE) effects were compared before and after having undergone the reading literacy test. The results showed that even just taking the test can reduce OE and to a lesser degree also OPE in all participants regardless of the feedback, which was in contrast to the original belief that just the experience itself does not affect overconfidence. Greater reduction in OE was observed in less competent participants, whereas none was observed among the more competent. These results showed that experience is also a form of debiasing.

241-254

Authors: Magda Francisca Cejas Martínez, Mercedes Navarro Cejas, Gina Silvana Venegas Alvarez, Carlos Enrique Proaño Rodríguez, Derling Jose Mendoza Velazco

In February 2020 Ecuador declared a health emergency due to the Covid-19 pandemic. On-site classes were suspended. The Ecuadorian university population does not adapt to virtual educational platforms. The objective of the study was to analyse student perception of Ecuadorian educational platforms in higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was quantitative. The sample was non-probabilistic participatory, consisting of students from different universities in the Province of Chimborazo. For data collection, a questionnaire with four study variables was applied. The results were analysed with T student and MANOVA. There is a positive perception of students using the educational platforms. There were significant statistical differences according to gender variables, contrary to the levels of study and location, there is a greater sympathetic affection of students when receiving virtual classes by female teachers. It can be concluded that the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of online learning by higher education institutions.

273-295

Authors: Eka Tkavashvili

Teacher professional diaries are teacher reflections on their own and their colleagues’ observed practice. They are effective tools of increasing teacher qualification. Few research studies worldwide, while no such research studies in Georgia have been conducted on the impact of the application of reflective diaries on teachers’ reflective, communicative, and professional skills. Therefore, the aim of the research was to find out whether teachers’ reflective, communicative, and professional skills developed as a result of the application of reflective diaries, and if so, to what degree they increased. Quantitative research (an experiment with participation of 62 teachers) was held, with an experimental group whose participants wrote reflective diaries for 9 weeks and a control group which did not undergo any special treatment. A 5-point Likert scale questionnaire was developed, and its reliability and validity were assessed. Pre-experimental and post-experimental self-assessment questionnaire was held, the results were assessed and compared through descriptive statistics and a T-test. The results revealed that there was a positive average relationship between the application of diaries and reflective thinking, communicative and professional skills. According to the study results, the application of teacher reflective diary can be recommended as an effective tool for the development of reflective thinking, communication, and professional qualification.

312-332

Authors: Lars-Frederik Weiß, Gunnar Friege

Few teaching concepts have received as much attention in recent years as the Flipped Classroom (FC). This is clearly linked to media attention on the concept, which is currently being intensified by the Corona pandemic. In this research, the media rise of the concept is explained and the discrepancy between popularity and empirically validated research results is clarified. While the literature basis for the FC has grown enormously over the last decade, reviews and initial meta-analyses have shown, through their filter criteria, that not many of studies can meet scientific standards. The comparison of individual studies is particularly difficult, because there is no uniformly accepted framework and no uniform definition of the concept. For this reason, one of the goals of this research was to give an overview of the variety of FC definitions, discuss its most controversial characteristics, and to provide the key elements for a definition of the FC. A comparison of selected studies and reviews shows an assessment of the effectiveness of the teaching concept. The findings shed light on potential problems and challenges, and provide directions for future research.

3

Authors: Editorial Board

Contents, Vol. 79, No. 1, 2021

13-33

Authors: Patrik Böhm, Gabriela Böhmová, Viktória Šimková, Jana Gazdíková

Financial literacy, specifically its measurement and education in this field, is a very current topic. The main aim of this research was to find out whether secondary school education had a positive impact on the level of student’s financial literacy and to identify other important factors that affected its level. All 363 first-year bachelor's students of the Faculty of Operations and Economic of Transport and Communications (FPEDAS), University of Zilina, Slovakia, took part in the research. The research consisted of two parts – a questionnaire and a test. The questionnaire focused on demographic, educational, and socio-economic factors influencing students' financial literacy. The test included items aimed at finding out whether students could correctly define selected concepts of the financial area, whether they understood these concepts, and were able to analyze them. The most important finding of the research was that the number of lessons dedicated to mathematics and financial literacy in secondary school did not have a statistically significant impact on the level of student’s financial literacy. On the contrary, the level of financial literacy was correlated with the overall performance of the student at the secondary school and the type of secondary school the student attended. The research also aimed to verify the hypothesis that the student's study program affected the level of his or her financial literacy. It turns out that increasing the number of mathematics or financial literacy lessons is not sufficient to improve financial literacy levels, but more important is teacher education, the content and form of the education and the effectiveness of the teaching process.

47-59

Authors: Shuti Steph Khumalo

School leadership research has provided extensive empirical evidence which shows that women as school leaders face challenges on many fronts. The objective of this study was to provide insight regarding the challenges that female primary school principals face, in the Waterberg Education District, Limpopo Province, South Africa. These challenges were in respect of the perception of staff members towards women as school principals. This study was qualitative and interpretive in nature. The theory of social justice was used as a theoretical framework. Social justice theorists argue that social institutions have the responsibility to dispense justice, fairness, and equity. The researcher used semi-structured in-depth interviews to gain rich descriptive data on the experiences relating to the leadership roles of the principals. Findings indicate that female principals face challenges, such as insubordination by male staff members, frustrations of not progressing beyond the position of principalship and sexual harassment. This study is of great value as it extends the body of knowledge on the challenges that primary school women principals face in their leadership practices.

80-103

Authors: Ricardo Moutinho, Andrew P. Carlin

Learning is an omnipresent feature of social life. However, in educational fields, learning is often studied through indirect instruments, such as surveys, interviews and coding schemes. In this paper, a praxiological approach to observe learning moments is proposed. This means that learning moments are not explored here through schematic reporting or statistical evaluations, but as accountable and inspectable phenomena as they became available in the corpus explored. Using a video-recorded fragment of interaction that occurred during a second language (L2) class in a primary school in Macau (China), the practical, collaborative instructed experiences of participants (teacher and students) in a lesson are analysed. It was observed that classroom participants attend to the categorial and sequential features of learning environments, which provide the contextual details that afford members’ realization of phenomena as learning moments. Stated differently, learning moments should not be confused with the successful accomplishment of a lesson plan just to satisfy programmatic (and disciplinary) requirements, but as something produced and accountable by participants as learning in and through their very practices of concerted interaction. As learning moments are ubiquitous characteristics of educational environments, the discussion of the results has pedagogical implications for teacher training, and for the assessment of teaching.

118-132

Authors: Julius Ssegantebuka, Patrick Sserunjogi, Ritah Edopu, Timothy Tebenkana, John Bosco Kanuge

This research aimed to determine IVATs’ perceptions of the effectiveness of their pre-service visual arts program in equipping them with the professional skills needed in VA teaching. Prompted by the persistent complaints about the teachers’ lack of competencies that they should have acquired during their pre-service art teacher preparation, it specifically examined the VAC focusing on content, teaching methods, resources and assessment in VA and their relationship to the content gap IVATs are observing in VA teaching at the secondary school level. A qualitative approach was used to solicit participants’ views about the effectiveness of their pre-service teacher education. The research was supported by the constructivist and interpretive philosophies which offer IVATs as well as tutors with the opportunity to construct their knowledge through social interaction, communication, and inquiry learning. The research was carried out at Makerere University-School of Education, which was conveniently selected because all the IVATs who participated in this research were students in this University. The researchers used a probabilistic sampling technique which uses a simple random sampling. A lottery method was used to select the desired number of 30 out of the 42 IVATs in total. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from 5 focus groups of second and third year IVATs. Findings revealed that there was inadequate content coverage, less use of active teaching methods, and concentration on summative assessment. The researchers recommended that the M.o.E.S together with NTCs restructure the VAC to allow adequate content coverage, use of active teaching methods and use of formative assessment for they equip the learners with knowledge and skills required in VA teaching.

162-184

Authors: Carlos Arturo Torres-Gastelú

One of the educational challenges faced by Latin American universities is the development of digital citizenship competence in their students on issues of digital identity, security and privacy online. The aim of the study was to identify the perception of Mexican and Colombian university students towards the preventive measures of online privacy. For that purpose, a mixed-cut study was carried out. For the quantitative part, a survey made up of 20 items was applied to 1,245 university students. Meanwhile, for the qualitative part, 42 university students were asked to answer open questions. The quantitative analysis was carried out using descriptive and inferential statistics for data by country and gender. In order to test the hypotheses about the existence of significant differences, the Kruskal-Wallis test was chosen. While for the qualitative part, the university student responses were transcribed, the information was organized, and the main contributions of the students were presented. The results indicate that Mexican and Colombian university students have a favorable attitude towards preventive measures of online privacy. No significant differences were detected in the items on preventive measures of online privacy with respect to the variables Country, and Gender. The stories of the university student show a late development in the attitudes and skills regarding preventive measures of online privacy that begins with entering university, and that is consolidated over time. In addition, inconsistencies were detected between the favorable attitude expressed by students towards a broad use of online care with respect to the informants' narratives.

1061

Authors: Editorial Board

Contents, PEC, Vol. 78, No. 6A, 2020 Special issue: "Educational challenges in East Asia"

1065-1080

Authors: Mei-ying Chen, Geneva Gay

International marriages have increased the population of new immigrants in Taiwan. Most Taiwanese educators are unaware of the expectations of the new immigrant parents. This ethnographic research explored whether Taiwanese primary school teachers implemented culturally responsive teaching to help the children of new immigrants become academically accomplished from the perspectives of the new immigrant parents. The findings indicated that most Taiwanese primary school teachers were aware of the challenges the children of new immigrants faced but culturally responsive teaching approaches were rarely implemented in any meaningful way, and that Taiwan still lacked effective communication styles, multicultural curriculum design and culturally congruent teaching. While most Taiwanese teachers recognized cultural differences, they failed to pursue measures to achieve educational equity. The new challenges and relevant issues are discussed.

1096-1106

Authors: Mayumi Kanazawa

Autonomous learning is one of the most important factors in the field of language learning. Leaning a language demands a considerable amount of time and learners have to work inside and outside the classroom to develop their language skills. The present study explored ways of promoting autonomous learning skills in mixed-level of students of English at a Japanese university. The course syllabus, which employed various methods was developed in order to increase students’ autonomous learning skills and incorporate a self-study period during the semester. The students set their own goals, then planned, developed and followed strategies to achieve them. Learners also kept a weekly learning-log, culminating in a presentation and a written report about what they had done to achieve their goals, including self-evaluation. The results showed that the students recognized some improvements in their English learning skills, motivation and learning habits, including an increase in learning hours. In addition, the students gained confidence in their English learning. Further practical improvements are suggested for supporting students to become autonomous language learners.

1126-1136

Authors: Yumiko Takagi, Paul Batten, Karen Rattenborg

International collaborative research has great value in helping each of the participant’s view their respective situations from novel and various perspectives. When people involved in the same work tackle problems from different perspectives, new awareness arises, and innovative solutions are created. Kagawa University and Colorado State University have conducted excellent research exchanges in the field of early childhood education based on their international exchange agreements. As the trend in Japan towards nuclear families continues in tandem with Japan’s aging society and low childbirth rate, a number of parents and guardians are becoming increasingly isolated and unsure of how to raise their children. The process of introducing a new childcare support system based on Japan’s national policies and the problems Japanese regional prefectural governments face in early childhood education were clarified through exchanges between Kagawa University and Colorado State University. By sharing information and giving an overview concerning efforts and successful cases in Japan and the U.S., mutual clues were found for problem analysis and problem solving. This research analyzed the factors for constructive interaction and provided clues for the problems highlighted by the results. It enabled several researchers in Kagawa who have experience in this field, overseas as well as locally, and those at the prefectural level involved as leaders in professional guidance in this field of childcare, to understand the current situation and trends for childcare in the U.S. This has the potential to lead to improvements in the quality of childcare and the training of teachers in Japan. It also put forward a direction and recommendations for development in international collaborative research.