■ 6月のコラム
■■ 国際協力学専攻
■■■ 鈴木綾教授
学校というのは、その国の社会や文化をよく表している。社会がこうだから、学校がこうなのか、あるいはこういう学校システムで大半の人間が教育を受けたから、こういう社会になるのか。因果の方向性は定かではないが、双方向で更に強化されるということかもしれない。
在外研究で滞在したニュージーランドで、子供が現地の学校に通った。普通の公立校だが、根底に流れる教育方針は日本のそれとは真逆のようなシステムだった。例えば、学校の音楽室の壁にかかっているのは、ベートーベンの肖像画ではなく、メタリカとレディーガガのポスター。授業で最初に行ったのは作曲で、リズムマシンのソフトを使い、グループで曲を作り、発表する。Readingの授業では、500ページもあるような長編小説を数週間かけて先生が生徒に音読し、生徒が聞き入る。年間何冊も読み、所々で議論をする。課外学習では3日間のサーフィン研修に参加し、その後に詩を書いた。数学の授業では、各自のレベルに合った問題に取り組む。体育は芝生に霜が降りる冬でも裸足。終日裸足で過ごす生徒も先生もいる。お昼休みには毎日、先生が多数のイベントを用意していて、生徒はその日の気分で好きなものに参加する。サッカー、ラグビー、陸上、アルティメットフリスビーなどのスポーツはもちろん、演劇、数学、外国語、小説の執筆、E-スポーツ、クッキングなどの機会も用意されていて、自分が何で輝けるかを探す時間と位置付けられているようだった。先生が宿題の説明をするときに、生徒に言ったのは、“I’ll make sure that you guys have some room to be creative.”という言葉。創造力を広げて、楽しむこと。そこからの学びを最大限に重視する仕掛けが、そこここにあった。そもそも国に定められた教科書はなく、先生自身の裁量が大きい。その分当たりはずれも多いだろうし、分散の大きい結果になるだろうが、教育に携わる身としても学びの多い経験だった。
■ The Column of June
■■ Department of International Studies
■■■ Professor Aya Suzuki
School is a good representation of the society and culture of a country. It is unclear whether society shapes schools or schools shape society. It could be a combination of both, where the social characteristics influence the structure of schools, and the educational system, in turn, plays a role in shaping the society. The direction of cause and effect is not clear, but it may be strengthened in both directions.
While conducting research abroad in New Zealand, my children attended local schools. It was a regular public school, but the underlying educational philosophy seemed to be the opposite of Japan’s system. For example, instead of Ludwig van Beethoven’s portrait, the music room walls were adorned with posters of Metallica and Lady Gaga. The first class they had was composition, where they used music software and worked in groups to create and present their own songs. In the reading class, the teacher would read aloud a 500-page long novel to the students over several weeks, and the students listen attentively. They would read multiple books throughout the year and engage in discussions at various points. As extracurricular activities, they participated in a 3-day surfing workshop followed by writing poems. In math class, they worked on problems tailored to their individual levels. Even in winter, with frost on the grass, physical education classes were conducted barefoot. Some students and teachers spent the entire day barefoot. During lunch breaks, the teacher prepared numerous events, and the students were free to choose which ones to participate in based on their mood. In addition to sports like soccer, rugby, athletics, and ultimate frisbee, they also had opportunities in theater, mathematics, foreign languages, novel writing, e-sports, cooking, and more. It seemed like they were given time and space to explore where they could shine. When explaining homework, the teacher said to the students, “I’ll make sure that you guys have some room to be creative.” The emphasis was on expanding creativity and enjoying the process of learning. Such mechanisms that prioritize learning from there were present throughout. There were no textbooks designated by the country, and the teachers had a lot of discretion in how to teach. Indeed, students’ performance likely result in a wide range of outcomes in this kind of systems. However, as someone involved in education, it was a valuable learning experience.
