Expanding financial and economics education | An introduction to the economy: "The T-Shirt Shop"

Nomura Group has sponsored many initiatives in line with our commitment to truly enriching our society by providing a broad range of finance and securities literacy programs.
Our efforts to spread knowledge about the securities markets and financial services stemmed from the unfortunate reality that Japanese youth know very little about the world of finance, and are not taught how the economy and society work together. In 2004, Nomura Group conducted a survey of teachers in elementary and junior high schools asking, "What are the obstacles that impede successful education in finance and the economics?" More than half of the respondents pointed to the lack of teaching materials.
We gave this problem a great deal of thought, and wondered if we might be able to create some teaching materials that schools could use. The result was "The T-Shirt Shop," a supplementary textbook for junior high school social studies classes, which was completed in March 2006. To date (as of April 2008) we have donated 200,000 copies to some 2,000 junior high schools nationwide. It has been an exceptionally popular textbook, and we asked junior high school teachers who have used it to share their thoughts on it with us.

Introductory economics textbook The T-Shirt Shop and teacher's manual.

"You won't believe this!" a junior high school teacher, Mr. Takeo Muto remarked on his experience in using "The T-Shirt Shop" when he was teaching at the Ota City Public Kaizuka Junior High School.
"They were so bright and lively! In a class of forty with each student having different interests and levels of aptitude, they got much more involved than usual and had fun using their own imagination to create their own companies." The class began with a brief introductory explanation, followed by the students breaking up into five small groups where they engaged in free discussion. Every student had to present his or her own ideas about starting a shop, then the leader of each group appointed a member with the best ideas to represent them, and these five representatives made presentations to the whole class.
For example, the student who came up with starting a company called "Safe Agro Company" to realize the dual objectives of providing food safety and improving the agricultural self-sufficiency of the country was one of the top students in his grade. Meanwhile, "Sweet Red Bean Shop" was born with the idea of providing a respite for students who are not very academic to drop in on their way home. Mr. Takeo Muto, the teacher, found there was an unexpected bonus for him. He was able to get a better understanding of each child's unique character through this activity. He also realized that his students were all very responsive to the idea of corporate social responsibility. "It was a surprise to me," Mr. Muto told us, "that some students were able to think from their own perspective about the social responsibilities of companies that are willing to have interns in the workplace." One can see how a lesson on "entrepreneurship" can expand students' interest in basic economic mechanisms.

"The T-Shirt Shop" was designed to teach third-year junior high school students about finance and economics through a realistic story about starting a T-shirt business.
It was completed in March 2006, under the direction of Professor Takamitsu Sawa, then Director of the Institute of Economic Research at Kyoto University (currently Professor, Graduate School of Policy Science, Ritsumeikan University), who has long been involved in economics and finance education, and with the cooperation of Nomura Group. To produce the book, a group of ten Nomura Group staff convened for a total of more than 30 hours, with Professor Sawa providing advice from an economist's perspective. The book embodies Professor Sawa's wish that children of today will become wise players in the market economy when they grow up to be tomorrow's adults.
In March 2006, samples of the book were distributed to junior high schools nationwide and we set up a contact point to receive requests for free copies to use in class. Initially, 110,000 copies were printed, but the book proved to be so popular that 50,000 additional copies had to be printed to meet the demand from a larger than expected number of junior high schools (800 schools). In March 2007, we surveyed all of the junior high schools that had used the book in their curriculum. Results indicated that 97.1% of the schools felt that students had been interested in the book. In addition, 85.3% of teachers told us they used the book in class and/or were planning to do so, and 86.4% said that finance and economics education will be necessary in the future.

Mr. Muto told us that "on receiving 'The T-Shirt Shop' package by mail I just had the feeling that it would be a good book to use in class. One of its good qualities is that there is just the right amount of content on each page and it includes worksheets for teachers to use. Ideally, teachers want to make their own worksheets but simply do not have the time. What's wonderful about worksheets being provided is that they can always be altered to suit one's purposes. I felt strongly that someone who was familiar with teaching had been involved in creating the set." Professor Sawa commented, "The book is popular because it contains the ABCs of economics. If the content was focused on teaching about entrepreneurship or investment, it would not be successful in teaching them the basics of economics."
After devoting himself to finance and economics education for most of his life, Professor Sawa now feels his "efforts are at last bearing fruit." He then went on to say that in the United States economic principles are taught in a manner that suits the target age group. "Economics is like social grammar in the U.S.", he stated. In line with this idea, Nomura Group has established a portfolio of educational programs targeting a wide range of students, from elementary school children to adults, with each program designed to match the users' level of knowledge.