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Vol.92
Education |
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Nov.06,2025 |
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This is a story when my father was in a pre-war middle school. His biology teacher Hisamatsu Shindo asked his students to give him names that contain "matsu (松)" ("pine tree" in Japanese). One of the students raised his hand and answered, "Akamatsu, Kuromatsu, and Hisamatsu Shindo." Everyone in the class roared with laughter, and the teacher also smiled with some embarrassment.
I myself have similar heartwarming experiences. When I was taking a cooking class in junior high school, our principal came to see salt-grilled saury we cocked and told us to eat the whole fish from head to tail because it makes bones stronger.
In my high school days, my English teacher once told us, "I watched a movie yesterday. Gary Cooper said in a threatening tone, 'Who are you?' It was amazing."
At a law class in college, the professor said, "If you do not attempt to pass the bar exam, there is no need to memorize legal principles. Just open the Book of Six Major Laws whenever necessary. The more important thing is to think about why they were enacted and what they imply."
I do not remember what was written in textbooks but what was spoken by my teachers and professors.
The essence of education is to help children learn about the minimum knowledge and wisdom, vitality, and physical strength required to get through rocky roads in their lives in preparation for when they grow. For other things, teachers and parents should guide children in the direction where their capabilities or interests develop. Only conventional textbook-based teaching does not solve talent issues that startup companies have recently faced.
To make children flexibly creative, I recommend that inexperienced young teachers talk about historical anecdotes and experienced teachers talk about their own stories once in a while by stopping teaching by textbooks.
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