[Summer school held for elementary school students in collaboration with Aoyama Gakuin University’s Faculty of Global and Social Coexistence] A guest lecturer was invited from San Francisco to conduct a 4-day exploration class
STEAMS LAB JAPAN Co., Ltd. Press release: October 3, 2024 [Summer school held for elementary school students in collaboration with Aoyama Gakuin University’s School of Global and Social Coexistence] Invited a guest lecturer from San Francisco to conduct a 4-day exploration class STEAMS LAB JAPAN Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Meguro-ku, Tokyo, Representative Director: Yutaro Suzuki) will hold Tinka at Aoyama Gakuin Elementary School for four days from August 12, 2024. Ring Summer School was held.
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https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/80262/79/80262-79-30e2dc58b3ab58fb5e08883576f64322-800×533.jpg This time, we invited Mr. Gever Tulley and Mr. Matt Brocchini, who hold such tinkering school (problem-solving inquiry class) in San Francisco, USA, to Japan, and we will talk about the summer they actually hold in San Francisco.・We brought the school’s methods and management know-how to Japan in their original form and held the event at Aoyama Gakuin Elementary School. Both are founding members of Brightworks, a school that develops cutting-edge new education in the United States, and are also the developers of Tinkering Labs, an inventor’s kit that is a toy handled by STEAMS LAB JAPAN Co., Ltd. Last year, Aoyama Gakuin University’s School of Global and Social Studies invited both of them to the Sagamihara campus, and as part of the department’s FD, they held a special lecture titled “What is the power to survive in the 21st century global society? – The practice of 21st century education in the United States.” held. We received very positive feedback from faculty and students. Taking advantage of that connection, they are planning to hold the Tinkering Summer School, which is actually held in San Francisco, at the elementary school. In cooperation with Aoyama Gakuin Elementary School, we held a Tinkering Summer School, with 10 students from Aoyama Gakuin Elementary School and 6 children from outside schools participating.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/80262/79/80262-79-746beec002cc4d05dd74af261844b6a9-800×657.jpg Tinkering Summer School is a four-day program, with a work period from the first to third days, and a presentation on the fourth day. On the first day, we began with a thorough safety training session on the use of dangerous tools such as chop saws and screwdrivers. At first, the children were scared of things like loud noises and the smell of burning wood, but they gradually realized that they could handle dangerous things by themselves if they learned how to use them properly and safely. Now we can use them like our own hands and feet. After the safety training, Mr. Gever announced the school’s mission. The mission is “Mission to Mars.” The idea is to go to Mars and spend four days making things needed to live there. We solicited ideas from the children and ultimately created a “vehicle to go to Mars,” “a house to live on Mars,” “a circular farm to grow and farm food to live on Mars,” and a “space suit.” It was decided to produce four of them. All of these are large-scale projects that cannot be completed by one person alone. It was up to the children to decide which one to make or not. I was also free to join another production team during the work period. The process of achieving the mission was entirely up to the children’s own will and decisions.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/80262/79/80262-79-71dc9fbdfa6478f4c8b17b48cd539ecb-800×600.jpg Mr. Gever’s school does not have any adults in the position of teachers. All adults involved in education are called
“collaborators,” and they never give instructions to children to “do 〇〇.” We always ask the children, “How do you solve this problem?” and leave everything to the children’s independence. In this summer school for elementary schools, we faithfully followed this educational method. This is exactly what Mr. Gever and his colleagues are doing in San Francisco. The cooperation of the children’s parents was also essential for this school. Parents were only able to observe the presentation on the final day, and during the presentation period, they also told their children at home, “Don’t tell them the answer,” “Don’t guide them,” “Don’t scold them,” “Don’t encourage them,” and “Simply like!” Five things were required: “Don’t give praise.” All of these are things that parents tend to do to their children, but at this summer school, all five of them were prohibited. This is also one of Mr. Gever’s educational methods to avoid “putting a brake on children’s free minds due to parents being overly involved with their children,” and is something his collaborators regularly use to help children. It’s about how we interact with each other.
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https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/80262/79/80262-79-d27681ba8f6972d74e1236d0dd2bf1cb-800×533.jpg After three days of work to accomplish the mission, on the final day, the children finally welcomed their parents and presented their results. The products produced by the children were larger-scale and more creative than the adults had imagined. After the presentation, children were seen teaching their parents how to use a chop saw. Over the course of the four days, it was natural for the children to have conflicting opinions and emotions, and there were also scenes where they looked for mutual compromises, but the collaborators felt that the children themselves had to rely on their own strengths. In order to overcome the problem, we focused on providing only the minimum necessary and appropriate intervention. Children will definitely thrive in the 21st century by “being faced with questions for which there are no correct answers, exploring with curiosity, using real tools and materials, finding their own role, and solving problems through team play.” I have acquired the strength to survive. In addition, after the presentation, a talk session was held with Mr. Gever and Mr. Matt, Mr. Eric Matsunaga, Dean of the School of Global and Social Coexistence, Mr. Kizaki of NewsPicks Studios, Inc., and together with the parents of the children who participated, we held a talk session with Mr. We reviewed the school.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/80262/79/80262-79-3c446ba060c88808f63ddfc86dd44fee-800×533.jpg At this school, Kokoro Yamamori (4th year) and Yuka Okano (2nd year) from Aoyama Gakuin University’s School of Global and Social
Coexistence also participated as interpreting assistants, but as the school progressed, they started to work beyond interpreting. I also interacted with children as a single collaborator. Mr. Yamamori and Mr. Okano, who received training on teaching methods before the summer school, said, “Collaborators are not in front of or behind the children, but rather stand next to them and watch over the children’s failures and successes. When something went wrong, I actively talked to the children, but instead of giving them answers or hints, I encouraged them to think about their own solutions, and when they were successful, I asked them what they thought was good. Looking back on the four days, he said, “It was a very valuable experience.” Together with the participating elementary school students, the girls also grew significantly over the four days. In particular, based on his experience at this school, Mr. Yamamori decided to visit the Brightworks school in San Francisco later this year in order to acquire skills for working as a member of society after graduation. Comments from participating student collaborators ■ Kokoro Yamamori (4th year, Faculty of Global and Social Coexistence, Aoyama Gakuin University) I feel very honored to have had the opportunity to study with people involved in cutting-edge education in the United States. While participating as an interpreter, I gradually became more involved as a collaborator and was able to share the process of discovery and creation with the children. It was a meaningful four days filled with the joy and excitement of witnessing the moment of growth. I am also convinced that the skills cultivated through STEAM education will form the basis of my future career. We will further deepen our learning in San Francisco, and aim to become human resources who can contribute to society as new members of society starting next spring. Finally, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to everyone who was involved in the implementation of the summer school. thank you very much. ■Yuka Okano (2nd year, Faculty of Global Society, Aoyama Gakuin University) Participating in this summer school was an important learning opportunity in educational practice. It is important to note that it is necessary to build a relationship by standing on the same level as the children, acting as an escort, and understanding the role of a collaborator. At first, I felt anxious about the four-day period, but in reality, the time went by quickly. The lesson I learned from this experience was the importance of shifting from a result-oriented to a process-oriented view of education. I deeply understood that true educational value lies not only in visible results, but also in non-cognitive skills such as cooperation, perseverance, learning from failure, and problem-solving ability. These are perspectives that are often overlooked in modern educational settings, and I would like to explore how they can be utilized in future educational practices. Comment from Professor Takuya Hayashi (Faculty of Global and Social Coexistence, Aoyama Gakuin University) “When faced with a question for which there is no correct answer, explore with curiosity” and “Find your own role and solve problems through team play.” This is also in line with the philosophy of the Faculty of Global and Social Coexistence, which makes studying abroad in Asia one of the pillars of the curriculum and fosters a “coexistence mindset” in its students. In the future, the Faculty of Global and Social Coexistence will continue to explore and put into practice what only Aoyama Gakuin can do, in collaboration with the secondary school.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/80262/79/80262-79-c5544d86b0951693ab7fdfa43c411bc6-2363×2363.png STEAMS LAB JAPAN With the motto of finding what you like and developing what you are good at, we discover excellent STEAM toys from around the world that strongly arouse children’s curiosity, and provide them with STEAM teaching materials and exciting experiential learning opportunities. Masu. ・Company profile Trade name: STEAMS LAB JAPAN Co., Ltd. Established: April 24, 2020 Capital: 13.5 million yen Phone number: 03-6281-9823 Representative: Representative Director Yutaro Suzuki Business content: Development of educational materials, educational support business, import sales Corporate site:
https://steams-lab.jp/ Online store: https://shop.steams-lab.jp/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/steams_lab_japan_co._ltd/ X: https://twitter.com/SteamslabJAPAN ・Products available Thinkering Labs： https://shop.steams-lab.jp/shop/products/TEMC001 Groovy Lab in a Box : https://groovylabinabox.jp Engino:
https://shop.steams-lab.jp/shop/product_categories/5 The Purple Cow: https://shop.steams-lab.jp/shop/product_categories/6 Smartness: https://shop.steams-lab.jp/shop/product_categories/4 Origami plane ORIGAMI WINGS： https://item.rakuten.co.jp/steams-lab/orig001/ ・STEAMS LAB JAPAN’s mission STEAMS LAB JAPAN provides exciting and superior STEAM toys and services from around the world, along with original content and know-how, and contributes to the development of “future earthlings” who will live their lives in a vibrant manner. ・Our philosophy Find what you like and develop what you are good at. A child’s curiosity is ignited and they become absorbed in playing. We believe that this early childhood experience is the most important opportunity for children’s growth. Find something you like in a variety of games and experiences, immerse yourself in it, and play with it (with creativity). By repeatedly accumulating this experience, each child will eventually develop and develop their own “field of expertise.” We believe that as a result, children will develop healthy sensitivities, the ability to think, the ability to persevere, and the ability to stand up for themselves, and grow into adults who live freely with confidence and self-affirmation.