A case study of teachers’ evidence-based decision-making with regard to silent eating during the COVID-19 pandemic

TOSHIRO MORI, TEACHER, TOBU JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL; DOCTORAL STUDENT, NAGOYA UNIVERSITY, JAPAN This article is a reflection report suggesting that evidence-based education (EBE) (Haynes et al., 2002) was helpful in difficult decision-making during the COVID-19 pandemic. In February 2020, Prime Minister Abe called for the closure of classes in Japan nationwide. As a result, 98 per cent of public elementary and junior high schools were closed. After their reopening, we were faced with a difficult situation as school teachers: the government and the schools’ policies were so different from the real-life situation of the children in front of us that teachers in the field did not know how to make decisions. To explain one such situation in detail, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology recommended silent eating for all schools as a measure to prevent infection. In response, there was a movement among school managers to firmly adhere to such a notice. In some sc