"Kurashiki Mirai K Juku" is a seminar held once a month at the nationally designated important cultural property "Ohara House Katalyzer" located in the Bikan Historical Area.
In the 2020 fiscal year, it is also being held as the "Takahashi River Basin Future Career Education Seminar" commissioned by Kurashiki City.
The 20th session reflected on the 2020 seminar, with the theme "The Community Changes, Teachers Change, Children Change - Creating New Value through Community-School Collaboration," featuring presentations from three speakers.
I participated in the "20th Kurashiki Mirai K Juku" held on December 26, 2020 (Saturday), and I would like to introduce what I felt should be known by as many people as possible.
What is the Takahashi River Basin Future Career Education Seminar?
The "Kurashiki Mirai K Juku" for the 2020 fiscal year is also being held as the "Takahashi River Basin Future Career Education Seminar."
The "Takahashi River Basin Future Career Education Seminar" is a monthly seminar that supports the creation of connections among teachers, businesses, and the community, in collaboration with Kurashiki City's projects.
This is the final session, the 5th of a total of 5 seminars.
Similar to the 3rd session, this seminar was held as a hybrid seminar with both in-person and online participation, with a limited number of participants.
For reports from past sessions, please see the articles below.
- 1st Session: Creating a Sustainable Education Model through School and Community
- 2nd Session: Understanding SDGs through Keywords
- 3rd Session: How to Utilize the Curriculum in a with-Corona and Post-Corona Society
Overview of the 20th Kurashiki Mirai K Juku / 5th Takahashi River Basin Future Career Education Seminar
The theme for this session is "The Community Changes, Teachers Change, Children Change - Creating New Value through Community-School Collaboration."
The flow of the seminar was as follows:
- Practical presentations by three speakers
- Breakout session
- Presentation of discussion content
There were about 20 participants in total, both in-person and online.
Various individuals, including those involved in education, participated.
Presentation by Yamazaki Yoshimi
The first practical presentation was given by Yamazaki Yoshimi, who is involved in the education of children with disabilities at Okayama Prefectural Health Forest Academy.
Yamazaki presented on the use of the OriHime robot in educational settings.
She shared a story about a student with respiratory issues who was unable to participate in outdoor learning but was able to join through OriHime, along with photographic records.
Additionally, she mentioned that at a support facility for people with disabilities located on the same grounds as the Health Forest Academy, OriHime is being used for customer service due to the inability to conduct face-to-face interactions because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Currently, it seems that there are not many institutions in Okayama Prefecture using OriHime.
I personally learned about OriHime for the first time during Yamazaki's presentation.
In the current situation where it has become difficult to interact with others due to the pandemic, I believe that the opportunities for OriHime to be utilized are increasing.
Presentation by Kawasaki Yoshimi
Next to present was Kawasaki Yoshimi, who works as a teacher at Okayama Prefectural Kurashiki Commercial High School while also engaging in activities to promote the Regional Economy Analysis System (RESAS) and working within the community.
Kawasaki presented on the theme of "Inventorying Inquiry," sharing insights and inquiry themes from activities conducted in the 2020 fiscal year.
In high school, there seem to be the following characteristics of inquiry related to one's career path:
- General high schools: "Life Inquiry" aimed at making decisions about one's career path
- Vocational high schools: "Destination Inquiry" focused on employment prospects
Having attended a general high school, I had the impression that inquiry learning was primarily about career exploration, so I found it interesting that the content of inquiry learning differs between general and vocational high schools.
While both types of schools learn about the community within inquiry learning, there are distinct characteristics.
If opportunities arise for students from vocational and general high schools to learn together, I believe it would widen their perspectives even further.
Presentation by Toi Kengo
The final presentation was given by Toi Kengo, the representative director of Haretoco General Incorporated Association.
Toi shared his thoughts on the collaboration with high schools and the connection between the "Kurashiki Tocotoco" he operates and education, presenting from a perspective that is not that of an educator.
After being invited by Kawasaki to speak in a high school class, he realized that his image of schools changed.
Previously, he had a rigid image of schools, but he discovered that they are actually more flexible than he had thought.
Toi discussed the significance of utilizing "Kurashiki Tocotoco" as a platform for presenting community activities in high schools, stating that it is meaningful to publish results on a web media platform.
By publishing articles written by students themselves rather than articles as news reports, the results of their activities can be seen by many people.
Furthermore, since the published articles remain on the internet, they can be easily accessed even after graduation.
Creating a space where high school students can independently share information online is not easy.
Additionally, the experience of having one's writing published on web media is not something everyone can have.
By using platforms like "Kurashiki Tocotoco," many people can see the activities of high school students.
Having articles summarizing their activities published is likely to be a significant confidence boost for high school students.
Breakout Session
In the breakout session of this Kurashiki Mirai K Juku, we formed groups of 4 to 5 people to discuss the question, "What can we currently do through collaboration between the community and schools? What are the challenges?"
A total of four groups engaged in discussions.
In the group I participated in, there was an opinion that the fact that high school students are engaged in community activities itself is something that has been achieved through collaboration between the community and schools.
Additionally, some participants mentioned that by publishing the activities on "Kurashiki Tocotoco," more people can learn about the activities than if they were presented only within the school.
On the other hand, a challenge raised was that it is difficult to gather the necessary funds for activities.
For example, while sports and cultural clubs receive subsidies for participating in national competitions, there are cases where no subsidies are provided for commercial contests even if they achieve national participation.
Currently, Kurashiki City has a system that provides incentives (Kurashiki City Young Skilled Workers National Competition Participation Incentive) to schools that achieve national participation in commercial contests, and there were voices expressing a desire for this to spread beyond Kurashiki City.
In other groups, it was discussed that while outdoor learning is possible regardless of whether one is in a general or specialized course, there are challenges regarding equal opportunities.
Additionally, while community activities can be conducted within schools, there were opinions that there may not be sufficient understanding from parents and society regarding these activities.
There was also discussion about the differences in perspectives on community activities between companies that accept students and schools.
Summary
In the 20th Kurashiki Mirai K Juku, we learned about collaboration between the community and education through the practical presentations of three speakers.
Participating in the seminar made me realize that collaboration between the community and education is about "considering the future of the community."
Currently, it is the adults who support the community.
However, it is the future adults, namely today's youth, who will carry the future of the community.
Through this Kurashiki Mirai K Juku, I learned the importance of communicating students' activities.
When I was in high school, I knew that my classmates were engaged in community activities during integrated learning time, but I hardly had the opportunity to know what they were actually doing.
There was a booklet summarizing the activities placed in the school library, but the speed of reporting activities cannot compare to that of web media.
I hope that in the future, there will be an increase in the communication of students' activities using open platforms like web media.
Kurashiki Mirai K Juku is a learning space that anyone can easily participate in.
Regardless of age or position, all participants can discuss on equal footing and think about the future.
I felt this from my position as the only university student among the participants.
Articles about Ohara House Katalyzer
Data for the 20th Kurashiki Future K Seminar / 5th Takahashi River Basin Future Career Education Seminar
| Name | 20th Kurashiki Future K Seminar / 5th Takahashi River Basin Future Career Education Seminar |
|---|---|
| Date | December 26, 2020 (Saturday) 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM |
| Location | 1-2-1 Chuo, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture |
| Participation Fee (Tax Included) | Free |
| Homepage | Takahashi River Basin Future Career Education Seminar |
