Student teachers learn how to apply Toyota’s principles for success in the classroom
University of Mississippi students are Learning Beyond the Classroom as part of partnership
BLUE SPRINGS, MISS. (WCBI) – As Katherine Moore was making a Lego car to exact specs, Caroline Halley was acting as quality control.
Both are studying to be special education teachers at Ole Miss. They took part in a hands-on training tool that is used for Toyota Team Members. The goal is to complete the task correctly and quickly. And then find out what improvements can be made in the process. Skills the student teachers can apply in the classroom.
“Blending their curriculum, their discipline together, with some of what we use at Toyota, it is all very similar, right, critical thinking problem solving, those are essential skills,” said Toyota Mississippi Spokesperson Tiffannie Heddin.
A key pillar of the Toyota Production System is kaizen, a Japanese word meaning continuous improvement.
David Rock is Dean of the School of Education.
He said the partnership between the university and Toyota has many benefits.
“We use improvement science, kaizen training, to teach several of our classes, graduate and undergraduate classes. If you truly want to improve, you have to get down to the root cause of what is actually happening,” Dean Rock said.
The student teachers said they appreciate the opportunity to learn how to transfer proven strategies for success at Toyota to the classroom setting.
“Interventions in student behaviors, the way Toyota tweaks things for their employees, like we need to do for our students, is the key to a good functioning classroom,” Halley said.
“Having a certain way you would have your classroom run, or a factory run, makes the process go a lot easier,” Moore said.
The same principles Toyota uses to make the Corolla can also be used in the classroom, so teachers and students can have even better outcomes.
The student teachers also took a tour of the plant as part of their trip.
