CRAZYTANK News vol.229／“Nouenchi (Play on the farm like in an amusement park)” (Hoken Vegetable Service Event) is a learning opportunity for the future.
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The winter-like weather has finally arrived, but at the same time, the heavy snowfall caused by the cold wave may be unsettling for some people in some areas.
This year has been marked by disasters and accidents since the beginning of the year, and we hope that at least the end of the year will be as peaceful as possible for as many people as possible.
In this week's newsletter, we would like to write about what kind of abilities are needed in education in the coming era through the planning and management of the “Nouenchi (Play on the farm like in an amusement park)” event we held the other day.
Please take a moment to read it.
“Nouenchi (Play on the farm like in an amusement park)” (Hoken Vegetable Service Event) is a learning opportunity for the future.
We recently opened a “Nouenchi (Play on the farm like in an amusement park)” in the field of “Naito Farm” in Ina-machi, Saitama Prefecture, which is a farmer affiliated with Hoken Vegetable Service.
The report of the day is also available on “Hoken Vegetables” note site, if you are interested.
You can read about the day's events in this report...
From CRAZYTANK, where we are involved as an advisor for Hoken Vegetables Service, we would like to tell you about the possibilities of “learning opportunities” that this “Nouenchi” has, along with the current educational situation.
Thanks to Naito Farm's generous understanding and cooperation, this Nouenchi was opened to the public on this day only as a “free day to play and spend time in the field“.
Mr. Naito of Naito Farm told us,
“We are able to hold this event because we grow our produce without using any pesticides.“
When using pesticides, the vegetables that can be used and the timing for each are strictly regulated. Therefore, if you want to hold a “free to play farmland” in a field that grows many vegetables like Naito Farm, it is difficult to set “freedom” such as limiting the places where you can enter and the vegetables you can touch.
In other words, it is clear that the "environment" in which the "Nouenchi" project can be held is not just any field.
We hope to continue to hold this "Nouenchi" project in the future, but
we are aware once again that this is an extremely valuable and valuable opportunity made possible only with the cooperation of Naito Farm, and we hope to continue to carefully nurture it in the future.
The Houken Vegetable Team had the following thoughts and aims in mind when planning the Nouenchi.
“In everyday life, there are many things around us that we would like to try but are not allowed to do. We wanted to lift the lid on those things and let people face their own “I want to try it” with all their might.
At the same time, we felt that this “Nouenchi” had a value that would lead to the future, as if we were creating something that would shine brightly in the distant future, and not just temporarily.
Many of the CRAZYTANK members are in the midst of raising their children, and we are constantly concerned about the “education” of our children.
Through our children, we are often exposed to information on the educational field and their living environment, which often makes us think not only about our own children but also about the children around us.
Furthermore, we are not only concerned about the problems and issues at the present stage, but also about the future of children who will have to live in the rapidly changing era of the rise of AI.
We believe that any adult who has children or has many opportunities to work with children may feel this way.
Although many people are still at the stage where it is difficult for them to grasp the predictions of a future in which society will change drastically due to the evolution of generative AI, changes in the field of education that everyone can understand are already beginning to emerge.
For example, take a look at this. This is an article dated December 5, 2024.
The data shows that in a six-year comparison from 2016 to 2022, the percentage of successful applicants for university entrance examinations has been decreasing for general entrance examinations that measure so-called academic ability, and increasing for comprehensive entrance examinations, known as AO examinations.
About a year ago, we had the opportunity to speak with a professor in the field of educational psychology at a university, and he told us that many universities are moving toward the generalization of comprehensive entrance examinations.
The changes in university entrance examinations will naturally have an impact on the state of high school education and on high school and junior high school entrance examinations, so it is expected that changes in the “quality” of children's education will be the focus of much attention over the next several years.
Changes in examinations are just one example.
However, there is no doubt that the abilities necessary to live (and survive) in the future society will change.
Educational institutions will be constantly examining what those abilities are and what kind of learning they can offer to help students acquire those abilities.
This brings us back to the topic of “Nouenchi".
We believe that this “farmland” will serve as a receptacle for children and adults who are lost or troubled in the current chaotic framework of education.
Regardless of what happens to one “social selection index” of entrance examinations, including college, there are many things that will not go as expected in the society that we will go out into, like the fields, and there are variables like climate and nature.
(Furthermore, in a future where AI is on the rise, it is even predicted that humans will be able to do their jobs without bothering to move their heads or hands.)
We believe that no matter what the environment, it will be essential for people to have the energy to find value in their own way, keep moving, and have fun while doing so.
Learning opportunities to cultivate this energy will be extremely important no matter what direction society changes in the future.
Farmland provides us with a question that is actually difficult for those of us living in the modern world: “to play freely".
When you bring back to your daily life the values and sensitivities you discover with your own eyes and senses in the “free” place called “Nouenchi,” we believe you will feel the energy that sustains you in the chaos of society.
At CRAZYTANK, we always work with the major theme of “for the next generation".
The Hoken-vegetable service is growing every day as an OS-like service that can be filled with many things that we can hand down and pass on to the children (and adults) who will live in the coming age.
Our entire team is committed to nurturing projects that will continue to be a source of solid sustenance, such as the Nouenchi and the “Children's Yasai Research Club”.