Advisers Voices & Feedbacks

Hello, everyone. It’s been a while since I last met you. I want to thank you for letting me participate in all six TYCAs so far. I am sorry that Vol. 7 has been postponed this time, but thank you for creating this web project. Every meeting brought great experiences and opportunities for all the students and advisors involved. I want to read all the messages you contributed and know how much you have developed yourselves after participating in TYCA. As the world has expanded globally, the distance between us, both physically and mentally, is getting closer and closer, and meeting people at TYCA  is evidence of this. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has stopped communication not only internationally but also domestically. The situation seems to be different in each country, but how are you all doing?

At the school I work, we had to close in March, and lessons were conducted online from April to June. In July, students started coming to school again in small groups.  After the summer the pandemic, all the students came to school at once. That time, students were divided into some groups and came to school twice a week based on the group. In September, after the summer vacation, students started to attend school six days a week as usual. However, the government declared a state of emergency in January 2021 and we had to change our system again. Our school consists of a junior high school and a high school, so we decided to divide them into two groups based on the grade. From the latter half of January, students came to school three days a week, and the rest of the days, they had online classes at home. When junior high school students attended face-to-face classes, high school students were at home doing the online lessons. We suppose ran this system until the end of February. We saw some good points with the online classes, yet, we had many issues such as working conditions for teachers, ensuring the quality of education, and providing efficient interactions for students.

In Japan, we consider school events such as club activities and cultural festivals as important as learning in the classroom. However, we had to conduct the cultural festival online and cancel our school trips and sports festivals. We also had to cancel many club activity matches partially. We are concerned about the future impact of the reduced opportunities for students to grow.

On the other hand, the students of the “Volunteer Group Environmental Project,” for which we have a representative from our school, are taking on new challenges by exploring what they can do online.

1. Participating in university lab seminars online and getting a chance to speak
2. Taking part in online workshops for high school students across schools organized by university labs
3. Organizing the High School Environmental League and hosting an online workshop
4. Shooting an online workshop for junior high school students
5. Giving a online class for 3rd graders
6. Holding an online exchange meeting between alumni of the High School Environmental League and current high school students
7. Making plans for the development of community activities through online meetings with university laboratories
8. Planning the opening of an lnstagram page to solve the food loss problem

The possibilities of online activities are expanding both in and outside the classroom. In the future society, we need to think about creating face-to-face relationships and interactions offline while maintaining a balance. We also have to think of the connection between education and community.I want to develop human resources with environmental awareness and good communication skills, step by step, despite the constraints we face.

I believe this web project will be a good opportunity for us to share our current situation. It will also let us interact online with other advisors, alumni, and administrators. In this way, we can develop our existing relationship even further.

Lastly, I would like to wish alumni, advisors, administrators, and everyone involved in TYCA good health and success.

みなさん、こんにちは。ご無沙汰しております。これまで、６回すべてのTYCAに参加させていただき、ありがとうございました。また、今回はVol.7の延期は残念ですが、このようなWebでの場を作っていただき、ありがとうございます。毎回の出会いが、参加した生徒達も、私にとっても、大きな成長と経験を受け取ってきました。今回の同窓生達の寄稿文から、この経験も含めたその後の成長・活躍を聞くのが楽しみです。グローバルに世界が広がり、物理的にも精神的にも、距離感がどんどん近くなっていました。TYCAでの出会いもその一つでした。しかし、コロナ禍で国際間はもとより、国内の交流も止まってしまいました。国ごとに状況は違うようですが、皆様は、いかがお過ごしですか？

　私の勤務校では、３月から学校が突如休校になり、４月から６月はオンラインで教育を進めました。７月に分散登校がはじまり、生徒は週２回の登校、夏休み後の９月から週６日の平常登校に戻りました。しかし、１月に緊急事態宣言が政府から出され、１月後半から２月いっぱいは、中等部と高等部の生徒が交互に登校し、週３日登校、３日自宅でオンライン教育という形です。オンライン授業の可能性を感じた時間となりましたが、テレワークのあり方、学力の確実な育成、オンライン上での交流機会の設定等、課題は山積しています。

また、日本においては、部活動や文化祭等の学校行事は学習と並んで重要視されていますが、文化祭もオンラインとなり、修学旅行や体育祭は中止、部活動の試合も一部のみの実施でした。生徒の成長する機会の減少について、今後の影響を憂慮しています。

　一方、本校から代表で参加者を出している「有志団体　環境プロジェクト」の生徒たちは、オンラインでもできることを大いに模索し、新たなチャレンジをしています。

1. 大学の研究室のゼミにオンラインで参加、発言の機会をもらう。
2. 大学の研究室主催の学校を超えた高校生対象オンラインワークショップの参加
3. 高校生環境連盟を主催し、全国の高校生を集めてオンラインワークショップを開催
4. 中学生対象のオンラインワークショップを開催
5. 小学生３年生１学年への出前授業をオンラインでも行う
6. 高校生環境連盟のOBOGと現役高校生のオンライン交流会を開催
7. 大学の研究室とオンライン会議で、地域活動の展開について企画構想を立案
8. フードロス問題解決のため、インスタグラムの開設を企画

　オンラインでできることの可能性は、教育現場でも、生徒の活動でも広がっています。今後の社会においても、いかにオフラインでのFace to faceでの関係性・交流を作りながら、オンラインでの交流と合わせて、バランスをとりながら社会と接点を持って行くべきか、考えていく必要があります。制約のある中でも、一歩一歩、環境意識をもった、コミュニケーション能力の高い人材育成をしていきたいです。

　今回のWebをきっかけに現状を共有し、アドバイザー同士、参加した生徒、事務局のみなさんとのオンライン交流の機会があると、これまでの関係がさらに発展すると思います。 　最後になりますが、アルムナイの皆さん、アドバイザーの皆さん、事務局、ここに関わるすべての皆様の健康と活躍を願っています。