More Important Than 'What You Do' Is 'Who You Do It With' — Why I Want to Nurture People Who Explore Together with Others

Many students who join the science club have some kind of 'what I want to do' from the very beginning.

'I want to do research.'
'I want to do biological research.'
'I want to raise living creatures.'
'I want to try something different and unusual, unlike what I've done before.'

These are all wonderful motivations.

I myself used to think a lot about how to connect these students' interests to research.

What should I have them research?
How can I help them acquire research skills?
How can I help them achieve results?

If they find an interesting research theme and master experimental methods, students will proceed with their research on their own.

I think that, at some point, I was thinking in that way.

However, as I continued to watch the students, there were many things that could not be explained by that alone.

'Interest' alone is not enough to keep going

Of course, people act because they are interested.

However, there are not many people who can keep moving for a long time just because something 'seems interesting'.

In inquiry-based learning, there are times when you don't get the results you expected.

Experiments fail.
You don't know what you should do.
You can't find the answer even after looking it up.

And it takes time to be able to set your own questions, think of methods, and engage in trial and error.

Before reaching that point of 'self-propulsion,' 'boredom' or 'giving up' can arrive before the initial interest.

However, even for the same student, their behavior can change once they form relationships with others.

A student who rarely came to club activities alone starts coming as soon as they make friends.

Once they feel needed by their advisor or seniors, they start thinking and acting on their own.

I have seen such figures many times.

That is when my way of thinking gradually began to change.

In educational activities, especially those outside the curriculum,

isn't it important to consider not just 'what to do,' but 'who to do it with'?

Interest is the power to start. Connection is the power to continue.

Interest is an important catalyst for beginning an inquiry.

However, if you cannot feel the meaning or value in that activity, it is difficult to keep moving forward.

That meaning and value are not necessarily born solely within oneself.

Thinking together with someone.
Being expected to do something by someone.
Having a role of your own.
Helping a friend in need.
Being helped yourself.

Within such relationships,

'Let's try a little more.'
'I need to do my best too.'
'I've come this far, so I want to try the next step.'

Feelings like these can emerge.

I currently believe that

interest becomes the power to start an inquiry, and connections with others become the power to continue it.

I think this is true.

There is a limit to what one can reach alone.

Others are not needed only for continuing an inquiry.

There is also a limit to the growth or research one can reach on their own.

Research is not inherently an activity that is completed by one person alone.

Receiving advice from a researcher.
Getting comments from people who heard your presentation.
Gaining perspectives you didn't have from people with different expertise.

Sometimes, the hypotheses you held dear may be denied by others.

However, it is through those exchanges that research is refined.

In fact, the best research is created through connections with many people.

That is why I have come to want my students to become

not 'people who can do everything on their own,' but 'people who can explore while needing others'

.

Being able to rely on others is also a skill for exploration

At school, there are situations where 'being able to do it alone' is highly valued.

Think for yourself.
Research for yourself.
Solve problems for yourself.

Of course, these are important.

However, the more you take on truly difficult challenges, the less you can do them on your own.

If you don't understand, ask.
If necessary, ask for help.
Get cooperation from people who have strengths you lack.

I believe this is also a skill for exploration.

And what is important is not just one-sidedly 'getting help'.

Rely on others.
Be relied upon by others.

Be grateful for the help you received.
Next time, act for the sake of someone else.

Within such relationships, your interests stop being yours alone.

Engaging with others, relying on them, and being relied upon, while working hard on what you are interested in.

I believe that the exploration activity itself has educational value.

I want them to become students who are supported by others

There is one more thing I value.

That is,

I want them to become people who are supported by others.

That is what I mean.

When a student is preparing for a research presentation or a contest,

their homeroom teacher tells them, "Go give it your best." Their parents send them off saying, "Go do your best." Their peers tell them, "I'm rooting for you."

I want my students to be that kind of person.

They are not supported because they won an award.

It is because they have valued the people around them up until that point that they are supported in their challenges.

They do not strive only for themselves, but strive together with someone else.

When they receive help from others, they are grateful for their presence.

And they, in turn, lend their strength to someone else's challenge.

Because they are that kind of person,

"I want to support this child"

is what people think of them.

In the future, when they achieve great things, there will be limits to what they can do on their own.

People will gather, lend their strength, and support their challenges.

Through research activities, I want to nurture the very humanity that serves as the foundation for that.

My perspective has also changed

Since arriving at this way of thinking, my perspective on viewing students has also changed.

Previously, I focused on:

"What research should I have them do?"
"How can I help them acquire research skills?"
"How can I ensure they produce results?"

I thought about it a lot.

Of course, those things are still important.

However, even more than that,

“Is my current action one that values others?”

I have come to think this way.

I look not only at the results of the research, but also at how the students interact with people during the process.

Even if the research is progressing, if someone is being treated poorly behind the scenes, I do not want to overlook that as a “good inquiry.”

Conversely, even if there are no major results, if they need their peers, are needed by their peers, and are seriously exploring while supporting each other, I believe that figure has great educational value.

That is why, as one of the types of students I want to nurture, I advocate for

“a person who values connections with others, needs others, and explores together with them.”

I hold this up as a goal.

Not just “what they researched,” but “who they explored with and how.”

That experience should remain within the student even after the research is finished.

So,

“What are the specific differences in behavior between students who explore while valuing others and students who explore without valuing others?”

I would like to think about this in the next article.