C O V I D - 1 9 を 教 材 化 する 試 み

The objective of this paper is to explore some new perspectives on designing classes from the view of international education and to provide some ideas for creating teaching and learning materials on COVID-19. The global COVID-19 pandemic has made us realize that we are truly living in a global society. Infectious diseases are considered global issues in terms of health and sanitation, which are also related to Goal 3 of the SDGs, “GOOD HEALTH AND WELL- BEING“, and Goal 6,“CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION“. On the other hand, compared to other issues such as human rights, peace, or the environment, infectious diseases are not actively treated as teaching and learning topics. However, after the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, we have had to re-acknowledge that infectious diseases are critical global issues, and the pandemic has exposed various problems we are facing after their emergence. Are there any educational approaches or ways to make use of this experience and the issues we are facing right now? When designing lessons on global issues, awareness of involvement or sense of ownership are sometimes mentioned. They are thought to be key factors in promoting willingness to take action to solve problems. In my opinion, materials using COVID-19 will contribute to fostering such an awareness and sense. In this paper, I will investigate the possibilities of treating COVID-19 as a global issue in schools. I will also attempt to offer some suggestions on creating new materials based on this pandemic around the world. A few examples of practices in high school and university and the respective students’ comments are introduced to discuss possibilities for learning through the pandemic. In high school, as a part of their integrated study, papers on the problem of infectious diseases and COVID-19 were assigned to the students once a month ( in total twice for two months) while school was closed due to COVID-19. Another class I created and taught, named“COVID-19 and Global issues“, was conducted in a university using an active learning style. In the conclusion, it will be shown that educational practices connected with COVID-19 are expected to be an effective new approach to raise students’ citizenship and global awareness. It is important not to miss this chance to make students a little more concerned about social issues, and a timely and appropriate approach can attract students’ attention. In order to develop students’ awareness as global citizens, we need to create new educational materials and build a track record of practice.