At the Future Teacher Exhibition, Dentsu Inc. conducted a "Lesson on Words, Design, and Presentation."

The "Future Teacher Exhibition 2018" was held on September 15 and 16 at the Sacred Heart University for Women in Shibuya, Tokyo.

This second iteration of the event, following its 2017 debut, is Japan's largest experiential education event, billed as a "showcase for the future of education." Organized primarily by the non-profit Teacher's Lab., it aims to broaden connections of knowledge and perspectives by gathering diverse educational initiatives under one roof and creating a space for exchange beyond individual boundaries.

Numerous pioneering educators from Japan and abroad participated, drawing attention with programs spanning not only subject-based education but also sports and the arts. Last year's event was highly successful, attracting over 3,000 attendees.

This year's theme, "Restructuring," expanded coverage to broader fields including ICT and alternative education. It featured over 160 programs, surpassing last year's scale, including symposiums such as "Reforms Aimed for in the Next Curriculum Guidelines and Challenges in the Field," "Will the International Baccalaureate Change Japanese Education?," and "Fostering Leaders Who Guide Us to a Better World," along with corporate exhibition booths and poster sessions.

Among these, the "Advertising Agency-Led! Words, Design, and Presentation Class" conducted by Dentsu Inc. Active Learning's "How About This? Research Institute" drew significant interest with its unique content.

Titled "Word Painting Class: Depicting All Things with Words," this lecture was a program designed to hone observational skills by harnessing the power of language. Participants expressed objects before them using words, much like sketching them.

Toru Oyama, a copywriter and game designer at the institute, explained the program: "It aims to leverage the byproducts of active learning—like not seeking one fixed correct answer, incorporating various opinions to create something new—to generate ideas and apply them to business." He added, "We aren't education professionals, but through advertising production, we engage in repeated dialogue with teachers, making diverse proposals without clinging to a single method. If classes become interesting, the world becomes interesting. If education changes, the future changes. I want to create the kind of lessons I wished I had experienced as a student."

"Word Painting," as the name suggests, is "painting a motif using words." Participants were instructed to first "draw what they see" using motifs like bananas or apples placed at the center of each group's table, expressing them solely through text.

Next, they were tasked with "adding a story" to the exact same motif. Finally, given the challenge of conveying "something big" without a visible motif, participants grappled with their assignments while facing their manuscript paper.

After each group presented their work, Mr. Oyama concluded the lecture: "This program aims to utilize 'perspective and viewpoint.' Physically viewing the motif from different angles within the group changes your perspective. Adding a story allows you to shift beyond perspective to change your viewpoint. How you see things is how you convey them. By drawing three times, you can discover your own perspective and the tendencies of others' perspectives."

 

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