Thinking About Educational Reform: Listening to Professor Ryoji Noyori, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry
On Saturday, October 25th, I attended the "1st National Movement for Educational Reform Promotion Committee" held at the Tokyo Women's Plaza.
There, I was able to listen to a lecture by Professor Ryoji Noyori, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2001. It was a truly interesting and valuable experience.
This time, I would like to write about what I thought, along with the words of Professor Ryoji Noyori.
My words are by no means as confident as Professor Noyori's, but I will write freely about what I, as a 16-year-old, have thought about from my own perspective.
On universities and career paths.
・Does the "name" of the university you happen to enter at 18 determine your life?
・The question of which is tastier, an apple or an orange, is similar to the question of which is better, University A or University B,
and the two are not comparable.
Though, you can forcibly compare them using numerical values like sugar content or deviation scores.
・There should be alignment between each university's philosophy and goals and the students who enroll.
These are words that make me think about why we go to university.
I wonder if it means there are things more important than the name.
When I was taking high school entrance exams, I had the experience of narrowing down my preferred schools based on deviation scores.
But what is originally required of students is the initiative to say, "I want to learn this" or "I want to do this." I want to choose a school that matches those feelings with a broader perspective.
However, even if I look at university brochures or go to open campuses, I still don't know if that university is right for me.
Even if I get into my first-choice school, it might not be fun at all.
I also think that an environment where you can learn what you want to learn is something you can obtain regardless of which school you go to.
Whether or not you can reach that point depends on your own will and effort.
If your life's purpose and core are clear, maybe it doesn't matter which university you go to.
Though, I also think, "How can I decide my life's purpose at 18?!"
On evaluation.
・"Evaluation" is to praise and thank people. It is by no means an "assessment."
・Faith in numerical evaluation causes initiative to decline.
・The purpose of evaluation is to recognize and reward effort and dedication toward meaningful goals.
・Current evaluation methods are harmful to academics, art, and education.
I felt it was very profound that Professor Noyori, who was "evaluated" globally with the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, said these words.
With current one-dimensional evaluation criteria like "test scores" and "submitted assignments," everyone conforms to them and ends up acting the same way (= behavior to get grades).
However, that behavior has the goal of "getting a numerical grade."
There, no initiative is born to think with one's own head and take action.
I think it's strange for people to put numbers on other people to evaluate them, or rather, it's something that shouldn't be possible in the first place.
In the first place, is "evaluation" necessary in a school setting?
If we could just acknowledge each person's realizations, efforts, and good points with words and feelings like "That's great!" or "That's nice!", wouldn't that be enough?
"Diversity is the keyword!"
・Aim to be one-of-a-kind while encountering differences.
・The root of creativity is the accumulation of diverse intelligence.
・It is important to prepare diverse universities, diverse evaluation methods, and personnel who can (and do) evaluate, in accordance with diverse students.
・Currently, copy-clone humans are being mass-produced.
I still think that current education is too uniform.
It's unreasonable to cram 40 people into a box called a classroom and have them learn the same thing at the same time.
(I am not criticizing the teachers at all. I think it's a problem with the system.)
On that basis, what I, as a high school student, should do from now on is to meet diverse people.
I will place myself in communities outside of school and interact with people of various ages and backgrounds. I will go abroad, meet new friends, and learn about cultures different from Japan's.
While getting help from the people I meet, I will try to do things that only I can do.
I hope I can keep doing things like that from now on~
Thank you for reading!
Regarding the National Movement for Educational Reform, I recommend reading this article for more details.