How many people can remain 'completely custom-made'?
This is Kotaro Toyokawa★.
Today's topic is 'How many people can remain "completely custom-made"?'
There is a very attractive phrase in the world of education.
Completely custom-made.
We tailor it to each individual child.
We tailor it to their academic ability.
We tailor it to their personality.
We tailor it to their target school.
We tailor it to their daily rhythm.
We even tailor it to their club activities.
We also tailor it to their strengths and weaknesses.
I see.
If they are willing to tailor it that much, it is no longer education, but rather a tailor shop.
Taking measurements, basting, checking the fit, and fixing it if it doesn't fit perfectly.
It is truly meticulous.
However, Kotaro Toyokawa★ is concerned about one thing there.
If there are three students, it seems possible.
Even with ten, it might be possible if the teacher is meticulous.
Then,
Thirty people.
Fifty people.
One hundred people.
Two hundred people.
When it reaches that point,
how many people can that 'complete' actually remain complete for?
The word 'complete' seems to have no capacity limit.
Is being custom-made just about creating a plan at the beginning?
Creating a study plan tailored to the child.
This is important.
Assessing current academic ability.
Looking at goals.
Checking the school's progress.
Selecting the necessary teaching materials.
Up to this point, I understand well.
However, children do not move according to such plans.
Math progresses faster than scheduled.
English suddenly comes to a halt.
School lessons are faster than expected.
Club activities become busy.
The schedule for regular tests changes.
Even the child's desired school changes.
They could do it yesterday, but they cannot do it today.
This is what a child is.
Therefore, if it is truly custom-made,
just making a plan at the beginning is not enough.
Every time the child changes, the plan must also change.
This is what is important.
Creating a splendid individual study plan at the start,
and even three months later,
Let's proceed as planned.
If that is the case,
rather than a plan tailored to the child,
the child is being tailored to the plan.
There is a possibility of that.
The subject has been swapped without anyone noticing.
Does simply having a different name make it custom-made?
In the individualization of education, there are sometimes truly interesting phenomena.
Student A's study plan.
Math 20 pages.
English 30 pages.
Science 15 pages.
Student B's study plan.
Math 20 pages.
English 30 pages.
Science 15 pages.
Student C also has,
Math 20 pages.
English 30 pages.
Science 15 pages.
However, only the name at the very top is different.
I see.
Fully custom-made.
By this logic, school report cards are also fully custom-made.
Everyone has the same format.
The subjects are also the same.
The evaluation section is the same.
However, names are different for each individual.
This would mean that schools across Japan have already realized a grand scale of custom-made education.
Those involved in the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology would surely be surprised.
There is nothing wrong with using the same teaching materials.
I want to state this clearly to avoid any misunderstanding.
There is nothing strange about everyone using the same teaching materials.
If the materials are good, you should use them.
For calculation practice, use this material.
For English grammar, use this workbook.
For kanji, use this drill book.
There are many things that can be used in common.
In fact, creating materials from scratch for every single student is not necessarily good education.
What is important is
not whether the materials are the same, but whether you can change how they are used
is what matters.
This child does everything.
This child does only the basics.
This child goes back to review once.
For this child, I will provide a different explanation.
This child is already moving ahead.
There is individuality here.
Therefore,
We adjust the necessary parts for each individual while using common teaching materials.
This is already quite respectable.
However, when it comes to educational advertising,
that seems a bit too modest.
Fully custom-made.
And suddenly, it changes into a business suit.
The content is the same teaching material.
Only the words have opened a shop in Ginza.
Truly looking at each individual takes quite a lot of time.
Looking at a child individually is quite a difficult task.
You cannot tell just from test scores.
Math score: 50.
Even just looking at this,
are there many calculation errors?
Are they unable to read the problem statement?
Do they not remember the formula?
Do they know the formula but cannot choose when to use it?
Is it a matter of running out of time?
That is completely incorrect.
It is the same even with a score of 60 in Japanese.
They cannot read the text.
They cannot grasp the meaning of the questions.
They cannot find the evidence.
They cannot write the descriptive answers.
They lack the necessary vocabulary.
Even with the same score of 60, the content is different for every person.
If you are truly going to make it custom-made,
you must watch them as they solve the problems.
Watch how they pause.
Watch where they look.
Look at the equations they erased.
See where they hesitated.
Observe what changes after you give them a hint.
Decide the next task based on that.
And then the following week,
check again to see if your previous assessment was correct.
It is a very plain and tedious process.
When turned into an advertisement,
'We are watching how you pause'
is too weak.
So,
'Fully individually optimized custom-made education'
it becomes.
You were just observing, but suddenly, the scent of a research facility begins to drift in.
As the number of people increases, standardization becomes necessary.
If the number of students increases, a system becomes necessary.
This is only natural.
Standardize the recording methods.
Standardize the teaching materials.
Determine the instructional procedures.
Standardize the confirmation tests.
Share information among teachers.
In fact, if the operation is proper, it should be necessary.
There is no problem with that.
However, something a little interesting happens here.
The number of students increases.
↓
Standardize operations.
↓
Standardize teaching materials.
↓
Unify instructional procedures.
↓
Yet, the advertisement still says,
'fully custom-made'
.
It is quite impressive.
Even though the content is becoming closer to factory production, the wrapping paper says,
'Crafted with care by artisans, one piece at a time'
is what it says.
Production management in the education sector is truly profound.
From 'everyone is different' to 'everyone uses this method'
In educational advertising, there is a flow that I, Kotaro Toyokawa★, find very profound.
First,
'Every child is different'
is how it begins.
That is exactly right.
Academic ability differs.
Personalities differ.
Family environments differ.
Learning styles differ.
And then, immediately after that.
'That is why we will help you grow using our school's unique XX method.'
...
Please wait a moment.
You say that each person is different, right?
Yet, is there only one method?
There are a hundred types of children.
There is only one type of method.
That is quite a bold approach to individualization.
Of course, there are concepts in education that are universally effective.
Retrieval practice.
Spaced repetition.
Appropriate difficulty levels.
Feedback.
These principles can be used for many children.
However, where, how much, and how they are used differs.
It is individual precisely because we adjust for that.
If we say 'everyone is different' and then immediately say 'everyone gets this,'
the educational philosophy resolves itself within a single paragraph.
Would using AI make it 'complete'?
Recently, there is also individual optimization using AI.
Accuracy rate.
Response speed.
Weak subject areas.
Past learning history.
It analyzes these and presents different problems to each person.
This is convenient.
It can make fine adjustments even on a scale difficult for humans alone.
However,
different problems were presented.
Therefore,
fully custom-made education.
I would like to wait a little before jumping straight to that point.
AI does not know,
that you had a bad day at school yesterday.
that you are sleepy today.
I had a fight with my parents.
Just looking at math makes me anxious.
The truth is, it's not that the problems are difficult, but that I'm afraid of failing.
It is not necessarily the case that all such things are visible.
Adapting to learning data and
adapting to humans
have some overlapping parts, but they are not the same.
Vending machines also choose between coffee or tea based on the person who presses the button.
Moreover, these days,
hot or cold
can also be selected.
It is quite individually optimized.
Even so, in front of the station,
they do not call themselves
'Fully Custom-Made Beverage Concierge'
.
Vending machines are very humble.
The mystery that the more 'complete' something is, the harder it becomes to change
There is one more thing that concerns me.
Once you have said 'fully custom-made',
what do you do when the method doesn't fit?
It didn't suit this child.
I misread the plan.
The choice of teaching materials was wrong.
Things like this happen normally in education.
Because we are dealing with human beings.
If a teacher is truly observing the child,
'My initial assessment was wrong'
is something that can happen.
And that is perfectly fine.
However,
if you claim to be 'perfect' from the start,
it becomes difficult to admit mistakes.
The perfect plan didn't work out.
So, what went wrong?
The plan is perfect.
The method is perfect.
The system is perfect.
All that remains is,
the child alone
is what it comes down to.
This is a somewhat frightening structure.
Methods of education should change to suit the child.
We do not force the child to fit the method.
Here is a lesson for you.
Custom-made education is not about creating a perfect plan from the start, but about being able to remake the plan as many times as necessary while observing the child.
It is right here.
There is no educator who knows everything from the beginning.
Try it out.
Observe.
It's different.
Correct it.
Grow a little.
Change it again.
That is education.
Therefore, places that truly look at individuals,
might keep a little distance
from the word "complete".
"For this child, I will try this first."
"If it doesn't go well, I will change it."
"This is as much as I can see for now."
This sounds much more sincere.
Education is not a job of delivering a finished product.
Since the child themselves is changing, there must also be room for the education side to change.
What parents want to confirm is not 'Is it perfect?'
If it says 'fully custom-made',
there is no need to pursue whether it is truly perfect.
You should ask more concrete questions instead.
To what extent are the teaching materials common to everyone?
Who creates the study plan?
How often is it reviewed, every few weeks?
Do you record how things go during class?
What do you do if things do not proceed as planned?
When the person in charge changes, how is information shared?
Will you adapt if the school's progress changes?
If the child does not fit the method, will you change the method?
If you ask like this, the individuality of that education will become visible.
'It is perfect'
rather than,
'This part is common. We will customize from this point on'
receiving an answer like this can actually be more reassuring.
Education that acknowledges common ground makes it easier to see individual differences as well.
This is, unexpectedly, a very important point.
So, for how many people can it remain complete?
In the end, let us return to today's topic.
For how many people can 'fully custom-made' remain complete?
The answer is not determined by the number of people alone.
Time to observe each individual.
A system for recording.
Information sharing among teachers.
Flexibility to change plans.
A mechanism to observe the individual's reactions.
If these are in place, a high level of individuality can be maintained even with a large number of people.
Conversely, even if there are only five students,
if everyone uses the same materials,
everyone has the same homework,
and everyone receives the same feedback,
then it is not really custom-made.
In other words, what is important is,
not how many people there are, but whether you are treating each person as an individual regardless of the number
of people.
This is quite difficult to tell from the font size of an advertisement.
In conclusion
Fully custom-made.
It is a fine phrase.
'I want you to look at my child properly'
It reaches the wishes of parents very well.
That is precisely why you should not be reassured by words alone.
What is individual about it?
What is being changed?
How frequently is it changed?
Who makes the decisions?
When the child changes, can the educators change as well?
Look at this.
If it is truly custom-made, they should be able to explain it concretely.
However, if one can call it fully custom-made just by changing the name, then I, Kotaro Toyokawa★, would also like to start a new business tomorrow.
'Fully Custom-Made Set Meal'
is what it would be.
The first customer.
Fried chicken set meal.
The second person.
Fried chicken set meal.
The third person.
Fried chicken set meal.
The hundredth person.
Of course, a fried chicken set meal.
However, please rest assured.
On each tray, we place
Mr. Tanaka
Mr. Suzuki
Mr. Sato
a tag with the customer's name written on it.
With this, it is one of a kind in the world.
It is fully custom-made.
If a customer asks,
Isn't everyone having fried chicken?
I will say with pride,
No. Mr. Sato's fried chicken set meal is served only to Mr. Sato.
It is perfect.
To further increase the level of customization, let us allow them to choose the amount of rice from
large, medium, or small.
We shall make it so.
It is the ultimate individual optimization.
Furthermore, what do we do for customers who do not like fried chicken?
Beyond that point,
is where true custom-made begins.
Education is likely the same.
Changing a child's name and changing education are not the same thing.
The more pleasant educational jargon sounds, the more one should read it with a bit of distance.
I hope you are not swept off your feet by inspiring words again today.
This was Kotaro Toyokawa★.