The daily lives of Chinese students are far more active than one might imagine.

DENTSU SOKEN INC.'s " Active Learning: What About This?" Laboratory was established in October 2015 in anticipation of the full-scale introduction of active learning in school education. The laboratory provides know-how applicable to active learning, which aims to cultivate versatile abilities enabling students to independently identify and solve problems for real-world application, and is committed to supporting the "activation of learning."

This series features columns by researcher Nadezhda Kirillova and dialogues between Professor Masashi Okuma, a member of the institute, and other members.

The theme of the third discussion is the "Japan-China Project."

Over its 20-year "Japan-China Project," Dentsu Inc. has conducted active learning classes focused on the advertising industry. Initially, they taught advertising techniques to many Chinese students primarily through classroom lectures. Recently, however, they have been developing next-generation talent by engaging students in designing the business itself.

Professor Okuma, Ms. Kyoko Ikeda of Dentsu Inc. in charge of the Japan-China Project, and researcher Teppei Moriguchi served as facilitators, discussing active learning in both Japan and China.

From left: Professor Okuma, Ms. Ikeda, Mr. Moriguchi
'Mass Entrepreneurship' means "Let everyone start their own business." 'Mass Innovation' means "Let everyone engage in innovation." Both are national policies championed by China.

【Japan-China Project】
The official name is the "Dentsu Inc.-China Advertising Talent Development Fund Project." It is a Chinese national project initiated in 1996 between then-Chinese President Jiang Zemin and then-Dentsu Inc. President Yutaka Narita. Its objectives are to support advertising education and talent development in China and to enhance Japan-China friendship.

Initiated at China's request as part of Dentsu Inc.'s CSR activities, it marks its 20th anniversary this year. Recognized for its long-term support to China's advertising education sector, it received the Most Valuable Partner (MVP) Award from China's Ministry of Education (equivalent to Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) for the second consecutive year.

The Education Project in China That Evolved Toward Active Learning

Morikuchi: Ikeda-san, you've been involved with the Japan-China project since its inception 20 years ago. Could you tell us about Dentsu Inc.'s approach?

MVP (Most Valuable Partner) Trophy

Ikeda: Over these 20 years, more than 2,000 employees of Dentsu Inc. have been involved in this project. Many universities in China have advertising departments or faculties, and over 10,000 students have taken Dentsu Inc.'s advertising courses to date.

Additionally, Dentsu Inc. headquarters accepts six teachers from Chinese universities annually as trainees. While the training period initially included longer courses of six months, it has been three months for the past ten years. The number of Chinese university teachers who have participated in this training has reached 155.

Ōkuma: Japanese universities don't have advertising departments, but China does, right?

Ikeda: They didn't exist in the past. Recognizing the urgent need to cultivate advertising talent, the number of universities establishing such programs began increasing in the early 1990s. However, around 1996 when Dentsu Inc.'s project started, there still weren't that many.

However, the growth was rapid, and by around 2000, the number of universities with advertising departments across China suddenly exceeded 300. While the number increased, issues like a lack of teaching materials and the quality and quantity of faculty members also came into sharp focus. Against this backdrop, expectations for Dentsu Inc.'s support project were very high.

Morikuchi: It seems teaching methods have changed over these past 20 years.

Ikeda: The first decade focused mainly on lecture-style advertising courses. But in the last ten years, interactive programs like forums and workshops have been introduced. If the early approach emphasized "teaching," the latter phase gradually shifted toward a "collaborative learning" style where students stimulate each other.

Okuma: That evolution is fascinating. It shows that active learning methods were needed in China about ten years ago.

Policy is implemented on the ground in the blink of an eye.

Morikuchi: One reason for this shift in teaching methods is China's rapid economic growth. China has achieved in the last decade what took Japan 40 years during its high-growth period.

Regarding marketing, Japan has a long history where advertising culture was cultivated over time. China, however, had very little time for that; its communication culture rapidly transformed into one centered around social networks. As an advertising company, Dentsu Inc. spent its first decade talking about advertising, but China's growth speed outpaced that, causing a divergence in needs.

Ikeda: Furthermore, in China, once an education policy is announced, schools must immediately comply and implement it. Around 2010, a "curriculum review" began, and in response, classes like active learning increased.

Morikuchi: In 2012, we decided to take a practical approach. Hidetoshi Kurashige, Director of the Active Learning Research Institute, first led classes in Shanghai. After three months of practical lessons, the response was, "We've never had classes like this. We definitely want to continue." The following year, I took charge in Beijing, and since then, we've gradually upgraded the program in Shenzhen and Beijing.

Ōkuma: The speed is astonishing. In Japan, even after the Ministry of Education said "We must implement active learning," we still have teachers asking, "Does active learning just mean one hour of class per week?" China has this overwhelming speed where national policy can dramatically overhaul the curriculum. That difference is huge.

Ikeda: What I constantly feel in China isn't just the speed, but the students' high motivation. Officials from China's Ministry of Education say, "What drives this country forward is a hunger for learning." That's what keeps this nation moving. Plus, with such a large population, the competition for survival is fierce.

Morikuchi: Universities run classes from 8 AM until nearly 10 PM. Students live in dormitories and study constantly. Even when creating materials, they're trained to be fast and high-quality. Our classes were swept up in this change too.

From "Advertising" to "Entrepreneurship," from "Teaching" to "Direction"

Ikeda: In 2014, China began promoting nationwide entrepreneurship and innovation as a new national policy. The slogans were "Mass Entrepreneurship" and "Innovation for All." Within this movement, last year in Beijing, we gathered student teams from 10 universities and had Moriguchi's team run an "Innovation Camp."

Morikuchi: The team I lead, "XDS" (Dentsu Inc. Experience Design Studio), doesn't work with clients' advertising or marketing departments. Instead, we challenge ourselves to prototype new businesses and services, collaborating with R&D and business divisions.

Simply put, we're a team exploring Dentsu Inc.'s business potential beyond advertising. This coincided perfectly with China's policy shift from "advertising" to "entrepreneurship," which saw a surge in students wanting to start startups or drive innovation. That's why the approach my department was pursuing fit perfectly into the curriculum.

The content of this course has been published in China as 'EXPERIENCE DESIGN'.

Ikeda: Many Chinese universities have their own publishing houses. The publisher affiliated with the university where Mr. Moriguchi taught proposed turning his lecture content into a book, leading to its publication. It has now sold 8,000 copies, which is said to be an unusually strong sales figure for a book in this genre.

University professors often don't know how to teach startups or innovation, so this book, packed with innovation know-how, was first welcomed enthusiastically by the professors themselves.

Ōkuma: With a slogan like "Mass Entrepreneurship," schools spring into action immediately. And it's amazing how eager the students are too.

Morikuchi: Even within Dentsu Inc., we haven't actively promoted what our team does. So, ironically, Chinese universities know about "XDS" more than Dentsu Inc. employees do. It's not that we aren't teaching in Japan, but the result is that we're being pulled along by the Chinese people's eagerness to learn.

Japan has companies like LINE, but China's success stories are numerous and massive, with a huge economic impact. There are startups known as BAT – Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent – which are globally famous.

Tencent, which grew to global scale, was founded by friends from their student days. Chinese students aspire to be the founders of the "next Tencent." That's why they desperately want to learn the know-how to achieve that. It's truly urgent.

Okuma: When learners are active, teachers adapt accordingly. I hear China also has excellent teacher evaluation methods.

Morikuchi: We receive detailed evaluations of our classes. They clearly state which sessions were effective, what parts were easy to understand, what worked well, and specific requests for improvement. We received full explanations of all this feedback when submitting student scores.

I prioritized real meetings outside of class, where I gave students constructive criticism from a director's perspective. This creates a team dynamic, just like in a real job – it's not "teaching them," but working together. As they started proposing more and more ideas, it shifted from teaching to actual work direction. This, I realized, is the essence of China's active learning.

Ōkuma: So it's about becoming a team that thinks together, not just teaching. Rigorous evaluation is great, but in Japanese education, evaluation doesn't seem to fuel the next motivation. What's the difference?

Ikeda: Chinese people are mentally tough, so they might be relatively accustomed to being evaluated. Also, since university professors in China don't have tenure, they might actually feel a sense of crisis if they aren't properly evaluated.

Morikuchi: The education sector operates with a business-like mindset. Chinese teachers are constantly competing; if they don't keep changing, they risk being left behind.

The proactive attitude of immediately consulting experts when something is unclear

Ōkuma: These approaches will be very instructive as Japan moves to adopt active learning.

Now in Japan, the curriculum guidelines are accessible online anytime, and Ministry of Education officials explain upcoming changes on platforms like YouTube. This means information reaches parents and teachers at the same speed.

In China, this would likely lead to questions like, "The curriculum has changed, so what exactly are you teachers doing?" Japanese teachers will probably face similar situations.

Moriguchi: Chinese people have a proactive learning attitude of "asking experts immediately when they don't understand something." I think Japanese people are perhaps too reserved.

Chinese students will forcefully ask questions regardless of the lesson flow, and they get frustrated if they can't get an answer. When they have something to say, they come at you full force. We get drawn into that competitive dynamic too, so teaching becomes a serious contest.

Ōkuma: The more I hear, the more uneasy I feel about how Japanese classes are conducted.

The ideas generated by the students, not the teacher's words, are the true outcome.

Morikuchi: When we talk about the "results" of what we're teaching in China now, it's not about what was said or the "lecture notes." What matters is the business ideas the students have created.

Even without me promoting how well I taught, the quality of the class becomes clear just by seeing what the students have created.

Ōkuma: In Japanese education, the focus is on how well students grasp the curriculum and textbook content. But in China, the evaluation of education is based on what the students actually create. It seems China is about ten years ahead in active learning.

Mr. Ikeda, what do you foresee for the future?

Ikeda: Through this 20-year project, mutual understanding and trust have deepened between us, China's Ministry of Education, and Chinese universities. New policies and needs will surely emerge in China going forward. For us, it's essential to always prioritize communication with the Chinese people and ensure our projects address genuine needs.

Ōkuma: You mentioned advancing through discussion—that's wonderful. Innovation can't happen just by us conveying what we think is "good." We also want to discuss future education with that mindset.

Morikuchi: Exactly. Moving forward, whenever opportunities arise, I want to explore with students what we can achieve in fields completely different from Japan's.