2015.08.10
During the learning exchange program organised by Aichi Prefectural Asahigaoka Senior High School, 30 students from our school and three other schools of Meijo University Senior High School had a 4 days 3 nights program at the Nature School (Rinkangakusha) in Takayama City in Gifu Prefecture as well as hotels within the city.
From the third day onwards, students from Takayama-nishi High School joined the program. The 3 main pillars of the study meeting are as follows:
(1) Forum featuring a lecture by an invited lecturer
Day 1
NHK commentator Mr. Toshifumi Kataoka
Shite Kanze Noh actor Mr. Takahiro Kitanami
Day 2
Takayama city brand overseas strategy department manager, Mr. Akira Tanaka
Former Cirque du Soleil Dancer Ms. Yoko Tani
Day 3
Professor Mitsunori Miki, Professor of Science and Engineering, Doshisha University
Mr. Kazuhisa Mitani, Toyota Motor Corporation, Technology Engineering Department
By learning from lecturers who are active in the front lines of each field, the diversity of the world is deeply felt from their lectures that used not only the brain but also the body.
(2) Seminars conducted by university students and international students on their specialized fields for high school students of the group (5 persons: sorted in advance)
6 seminars
・Current state of electronic device research and international exchange through research
・Study of the solar observation at Hida Observatory Observe the origin of the planetary magnetosphere
・ Let's think about your future with the world as your stage!
・Think about Education
・Let's think about world peace
・The Science of Food
Lastly, each group decided on their group themes and presented them to the rest, thereby feeling a great sense of fulfillment and achievement.
(3) Workshop for university students and International students and groups of high school students (5 people per group)
Students from other SGH schools interacted with both local and international students whom they were looking after started the day with an ice-break activity during the bus journey to the campsites. They then attended workshops and various interacting activities, and at the end of the day, they wrote a in-depth reflection on the 4 days.
9 students from our school participated. 6 Life Groups were formed with 9 students from Yokkaichi high school, 10 from Asahigaoka, 11 from Meijo University attached Senior High School, 7 graduates (from Asahigaoka) and 5 international students. Three students who became the center of focus displayed leadership quality and teachers were able to proceed with little involvement in their living aspects.
At the forum, lecturers were invited from various fields to deliver lectures. Interestingly, high school students were listening keenly to the stories of those who are active on the front lines. Seminars and workshops are organized in groups of six, mainly by students and international students. These seminars were conducted according to the students' fields of specializaiton. Workshops on topics such as streets in Takayama were carried out in as much English as possible. The high school students tried their best to communicate in English.
It seemed to have been a very good experience for participating students. However, it seems that there was a group in which the expertise of seminars (especially the science fields) could not be fully beneficial because of the low knowledge of the topics in high school students. Besides, it seems that there is a problem on whether the results achieved is reflective of the effort put in by the Asahigaoka High School hosts .
