Why am I in Japan?

Excellent question! I am here with a program called Human Ecology Lab on Island Osakikamijima (HELIO) and our mission is to redesign the Japanese higher education system.

How did it start?

It all started with one women, Nago Sensei, who wanted to change the way students learned in Japan. She wanted to move away from memorization and stress over choosing the “right” answer, and focus on experiential and hands on learning. She wanted to design a school that didn’t have different departments for each subject, but she wanted to fuse them together and make an interdisciplinary course where the students could “choose this and that.” Little did she know, the dream she had created was the same as a little school that already existed on the other side of the planet. However, many people she talked to were hesitant to agree; they were scared of mixing departments and didn’t know how to combine subjects. Despite some disagreement with others, she got enough support to be given a grant to help build this school (which would also be handicap accessible – which is uncommon in Japan). It was time to make this dream a reality. She met with the founder of Ashoka Japan, an organization for social entrepreneurship and social change (they are located in many countries around the world), and also met a professor from that tiny college on the other side of the world – College of the Atlantic (COA). She began to talk with the COA professor and said “I want to have a partner, but not one in Japan, one in the US, I want to work with you.” She partnered with us and with a few other US universities, including Brown, and the ball started rolling. Through the partnership with COA, the team decided to bring students to the small island of Osakikamijima, Japan to help brainstorm and shape the school.

But why on the island of Osakikamijima?
Nago Sensei wanted the school to be somewhere unique, not in a “convenient” place where students would also be looking for part time work and become tired. She wanted somewhere where they could fully invest themselves in this learning style. The decision to choose this island also came from the desire to save it. Over the past few years, the population has been declining, and about half of the population that’s left are 65+. Many houses have become abandoned as people have moved away. One of our goals while there was to show the people of this island why it’s so amazing and special, and why it’s worth it to bring people back.

So now that we made it to the island, what are we doing?
We are outlining an education reform. The world’s problems are more complex than one major. Perhaps this education institution can be an engine for social innovation. The addition of this school could help the island with economical development, setting an example for others of getting a project off the ground, cultural exchange, communication variety, educational innovation, community development, guest speakers in a variety of fields, and coalition building.

Layout of the program:

Together, 24 students (8 from COA, 8 from Japanese higher education, and 8 from other partner universities) will come together on the island of Osakikamijima to make this dream a reality – To get an education platform started on this island. Our objective is to show the town people how excited we are about this island, to help them realize what they’ve overlooked or have become used to, and to remind them of why it’s such an incredible place.

We are here to serve the community, not to prescribe a solution or “fix” anything, because nothing is broken. We want to bring insights from around the world, but we also want to listen.

Our projects:

We will break into 3 different groups to gather information and to determine 3 things: 1. Why would students be interested in coming here? 2.What will they do once here? And 3. How does this fit in and help this town move into the future.  

The first group will stay on the island and interviewed the local people. This includes everyone from the mayor and his thoughts on education on the island, to blueberry farmers and how they go about daily life. The goal of this group is to see what the island already has to offer, and what this new college could bring to them as well. 
The second group will travel to Fukuyama (for 3 days) to study traditional art forms.

There will be a series of workshops from masters in their fields to look at architecture, traditional Noh theater, the Koto (Japanese Harp), and calligraphy. The goal here is to see what kind of performance work happens in these areas already, and how can we bring them to the island with this college.

The third group will go to the island of Teshima (for 3 days), which used to be an area of toxic waste. Here, the community came together and remediated the island and this group will talk with the community and gain insight on that project, while also visiting local people, art museums, and areas of interest on the island. 

Brainstorm:

Once the 3 days of field work are finished, the groups will all come back to Osakikamijima and start creating their presentations for the people of the island.