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【Great Collaboration】 Chap. 4, Sec. (23)


(23) A new education system

Then, what will the new education system, which underpins such changes in the world, be like? As described earlier, the basic approach to education in the Great Collaboration society is to allow an individual to go through trial and error in various areas at an early age; carefully judge and decide the areas in which the individual’s potentials are likely to blossom; provide appropriate stimuli once the direction becomes apparent; let the individual gain experience of success without damaging the sense of fun; and consequently realize the individual’s full potential.

Here, those specifically engaged in the education system should carefully note the following. The ability that underpins the Great Collaboration society in the 21st century lies firstly in the realization of the potentialities of each individual, and secondly in the synergistic effects generated by the teamwork within an organization or those generated by the collaboration that transcends species, space, and time.

In the coming age, the standard of quality and price required of products will continue to be intensely stringent, faced with competition from both domestic and foreign parties. Hence, no person with a half-baked ability will cut it in society, and by no means will an organization that is a mere collection of people with superficial abilities be able to keep offering products that meet the stringent needs of customers.

Developing people’s full potential as well as eliciting the synergistic effects of teamwork and/or collaboration requires a highly delicate, creative, and passionate form of education. It goes without saying that education that merely crams students’ heads with knowledge won’t do. Education that forces competition among individuals as a means of motivation won’t work either. Nor will stratification by age, on which the current education system is based, do any good in the future school. Henceforth, people should be allowed to come and go freely between business and school throughout their lives. Education should act as a safety net - for both individuals and the society - that provides repose to the tired mind and body; an opportunity to change the course of life; or the competence and motivation that corresponds to the person’s lifestyle in the next stage as he/she grows older. Education needs to function as a field that inspires people to meet new challenges.

In present day Japan, assuming the advent of the Great Collaboration society, I would think the education system is probably the furthest from there. When we look at the present state of the ongoing rapid permeation of Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability in Japan and the spread, this wide, of the goyotashi economy in the world of LOHAS, the following can be safely said: whether or not this develops into a system of the entire society, takes root in the form of the Great Collaboration society, and becomes a success depends on the successful production, through an appropriate education system, of human resources that support that society. The final hurdle to this 21st-century system lies in its education system.

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(Date published / 公開日: 6/6/2021)

(Date last updated / 最終改訂日: 6/6/2021)