By Jenna Somers
In February, Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development welcomed two distinguished Japanese scholars as part of Vanderbilt’s Global Scholars in Residence program. Emmanuel Manalo, a professor of educational psychology at Kyoto University, and Yuri Uesaka, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Tokyo, were hosted by Bethany Rittle-Johnson, professor of psychology and the Anita S. and Antonio M. Gotto Professor of Child Development.
The Global Scholars spent two weeks engaging with the Peabody community and visiting several Nashville schools. They also gave presentations on their research about the use of diagrams in mathematics learning and building sustainable research-practice partnerships.
During their visit to Peabody, Manalo and Uesaka engaged with Professor Xiu Craven’s Education in Asia class and Professor Rittle-Johnson’s Helping Children Learn Math seminar, participated in a fireside chat and dinner with Carmichael Head of House Emily Pendergrass and dorm residents, visited the Teacher Learning Lab with Professor Ilana Horn, and met with Professor Cristina Zepeda and Rittle-Johnson’s graduate students.
“I found it truly inspiring to see the work that Bethany, her colleagues, and their graduate students are doing in partnership with teachers to address learning challenges that genuinely matter in real educational settings,” said Manalo, who is also editor-in-chief of the journal, Thinking Skills and Creativity. “Their work, for example, on ‘exit tickets’—brief, 3- to 5-minute reflections or assessments at the end of a class—does more than refine teaching practice. It also has the potential to generate valuable insights into how instructional strategies shape students’ thinking processes and, ultimately, their learning outcomes.”
The Global Scholars also visited math classes at the University School of Nashville, John Overton High School and John Early Museum Magnet Middle School.
“It is such a joy to meet people who share a similar vision of the kind of children we hope to nurture, and to be able to think about research together,” Uesaka said. “Visiting multiple schools allowed me to look beyond surface-level differences and recognize what American teachers truly value. I was deeply impressed by how much importance they place on each individual child—their motivation, enjoyment, and sense of belonging.
“I was once again reminded that the challenges surrounding researcher–practitioner partnerships are a matter of shared global concern. At the same time, I was deeply struck by the fact that each country has developed its own unique and innovative approaches, and I strongly felt the importance of connecting these efforts across countries.”
Mathematical diagrams and research-practice partnerships
Both scholars delivered complementary presentations on the use of diagrams in mathematics learning in the Cognitive Science of Learning and Development research seminar. Manalo emphasized how diagram construction supports three cognitive mechanisms—abstracting, linking and clarifying—essential for meaningful learning. Uesaka addressed why students rarely use diagrams spontaneously despite instruction, identifying that students view diagrams as “teachers’ tools” rather than personal strategies. Her interventions that emphasized diagrams as communication tools in collaborative learning contexts successfully increased spontaneous diagram use.
Uesaka and Manalo also presented international models demonstrating how research-practice partnerships can transition from special projects to sustainable, system-embedded work through structured initiatives that build genuine equality between researchers and educators. They discussed this work with the Humphrey Fellows and with members of NashvillePeer, a research-practice partnership between Peabody College and Metro Nashville Public Schools.
“Faculty and students at Peabody were eager to learn more about education in Japan and around the world, as well as to learn strategies for supporting productive collaborations between researchers and educators,” Rittle-Johnson said. “Yuri and Emmanuel generously shared their insights and engaged in meaningful dialogue with a broad range of people at Peabody. We had the opportunity to discuss and build on our on-going collaboration, as well as spark new potential collaborations with other faculty and students at Vanderbilt.”
