Developing a curriculum is a comprehensive process that involves constant exploration, experimentation, implementation, and reflection of not only what students need to succeed, but also what teachers and the overall educational community need as well (Richards, 2001) (1). A curriculum document serves as a vision and mission statement for an entire institution. The document is divided into more parts by the active professionals – administrators, teachers, general educators – who lead the educational community while also being instructions for faculty and guidance for students. Eventually, the curriculum document becomes specific classroom objectives, content, and materials that are consumed by the student body. This is a constant process that requires active and critical engagement at every stage because curricula will need to be adjusted based on specific educational communities and the external factors that impact their environments. There is, however, a danger to repeat a process that is known and comfortable, even if it has dysfunctional elements. This paper is an attempt to identify and confront challenges to curriculum reform when tendencies and organizational cultures can lead us to remaining content even while external factors demand progressive change.

At a national university in Japan, the authors developed a cross-department and team-taught project-based learning (PBL) English course. The participants were 2nd-year mechanical engineering and architecture students working in mixed discipline teams. Their goal was to complete various engineering projects while developing critical-thinking skills. The authors will briefly outline the course then describe the components of the research study focusing on (a) grounded theory principled analysis of class participants’ 2014 qualitative data, (b) an explanation of how this analysis informed the classroom instructors to add a critical thinking activity in 2015, and (c) an analysis of participants’ reactions to the critical thinking activity. Finally, the authors will discuss future directions for PBL instruction in an English language teaching context.

日本の国立大学で、筆者たちは複数学科混合でチーム指導型の英語の課題解決型学習（PBL）の授業を開発した。この授業では、建築と機械工学専攻の2年生の混合グループで、架橋モデル制作などの工学プロジェクトの完成を目指し、クリティカル・シンキング（批判的に考える）能力（critical thinking skills）の開発を目標にした。本論では、最初に当授業の課題解決型学習などの教授法の原理を説明する。そして、研究報告として：（1）2014年前期の初回の授業にて参加学生から収集したジャーナル及びアンケート形式データの、グランデット・セオリー・アプローチに基づく分析、（2）2015年後期に行った二回目の授業にて上記の分析がよりクリティカル・シンキングに焦点を当てた授業内容を発展させるうえで与えた影響についての説明、（3）その具体的な活動に対する参加者のフィードバックの分析について述べる。 最後に、英語教育におけるPBL教授法の今後の方向性について考察する。

Part of the Life and Education in Japan series by Candlin & Mynard, the book consists of chapters about professional development, critical friendships, and reflective practice. I co-authored a chapter focused on leadership in an organization and how leaders can develop via interacting with colleagues as critical friends.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) have become ubiquitous throughout many sections of our society, industries, and fields of study. As language educators, we are on the front lines of building a world that understands and communicates using this language of sustainability. Japan’s business community is seeking a labor force that can understand global issues and interact in such a way that allows Japan to grow, innovate, and be sustainable. All levels of education, in particular tertiary, are being asked to develop and train global human resources (global jinzai) because the language of the global marketplace will be the UNSDGs. In this session, we will bring participants into our classrooms to show how we teach English using the UNSDGs. Participants will see how we used task-based and project-based learning techniques to get the students to understand and present complex ideas using simple English. Students participated in debates, made short documentary videos of local businesses, and led interactive discussions to try and achieve the objective. Initiatives like the UNSDGs can seem daunting to implement, but if you want to see, share, and create methods to incorporate these goals into your context, this session will be for you.

I spoke about connection leaders through critical friendships and such a process can be a rewarding professional development experience.