The modern world is known as the "VUCA era," and is characterized by rapid change and an uncertain future. In such circumstances, what is needed are people who can create the society of the future.

What does it take to become such a person?

One person tackling this issue in the field of education is mathematician Ken Kawazoe, who also served as dean of the Faculty of Policy Management at Keio University. Kawazoe is currently the principal of Tokyo Jogakkan Junior and Senior High School, and is working on various educational reforms with the aim of nurturing talent who can face a variety of issues, think from multiple perspectives, derive solutions, and use their leadership to realize those solutions.

In 2020, the school launched a new curriculum incorporating data science. Why is data science necessary in junior and senior high school education? How can data science education change the future of Japanese society? We spoke to Kawazoe, who is at the forefront of driving educational reform at the school.

Director and Principal of Tokyo Jogakkan Junior and Senior High School
Takeshi Kawazoe

Professor Emeritus at Keio University. Completed his doctoral course at the Graduate School of Engineering at Keio University. Doctor of Science. After working as a full-time lecturer at Keio University's Faculty of Engineering, he became a professor at the Faculty of Policy Management in 2000, head of Keio Shonan Fujisawa Junior and Senior High School from 11 to 13, and dean of the Faculty of Policy Management from 13 to 19. He has held his current position since April 20. His specialty is harmonic analysis.

Data science education can prevent Japan from "destruction"

── Tokyo Jogakkan has made data science a compulsory subject in junior and senior high schools since 2020 and is developing its own unique curriculum. How did you come to be the first school to take on this new challenge?

In 2020, our school launched a new educational program called "Data Science, Design & Arts (DSDA)."

Our school defines the five skills shown in the diagram below as necessary to live a happy and fulfilling life in this modern age of rapid change and uncertainty, also known as the VUCA era (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity).

Data science provides the ability to think about phenomena through data and numbers, while design and art provide the perspective to see things that were previously invisible.

It is necessary in an era where we need to face a variety of issues and think of solutions from multiple perspectives."The power to see the invisible" "The power to give answers that cannot be given"DSDA was started to help people acquire these skills.

"STEM education" and "STEAM education" (*1) have been gaining attention as a way to educate global talent who will lead the next generation of society, but these are educational plans aimed more at science majors. DSDA expands this further, and is an educational program that combines the arts and sciences with data science at its core. Students will acquire data science literacy over the course of six years in junior high and high school.

It all started when I met with the president of our school prior to his retirement as Dean of the Faculty of Policy Management at Keio University in April 2020. The number of students entering the junior high school had been steadily declining, and in recent years the number of students had fallen far below capacity, so reform was urgently needed.

So, coupled with my long-held awareness of education issues, I proposed creating a completely new educational program that had never been seen before.Education that develops talent to change the future of Japan.That's DSDA.

(*1) STEM education is an educational plan that aims to develop talent who can contribute to the development of science and technology in the future by learning the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in an integrated manner. STEAM education adds art to this.

── Professor Kawazoe is a mathematician and also served as dean of the Faculty of Policy Management at Keio University. Did your background and experience have a bearing on the introduction of data science education this time?

As a mathematician and an educator,Japan's mathematics education to date has been a "failure"That's what I think. and,If we do not move away from the traditional education system as soon as possible, Japan will perish in the not-too-distant future.I even think that.

Japan's education system is unique in the world in that it places the highest priority on academic ability. Student grades and the evaluation of schools, including junior high schools, high schools, and universities, are all based on academic ability scores and their rankings.

Rather than there being a problem with the deviation score itself, it is more that raising the deviation score has become the goal,It is becoming harder to nurture the spirit of nurturing one's dreams and taking on new challenges.The problem is that 4% of young people in Japan today have no dreams (*2). As a result of uncritically pursuing the "orthodox path" of getting good grades on tests, going to a good university, and getting a job at a good company,Lacking the ability to set goals and solve problems, Japan has become a country unable to make important decisions.I feel.

(*2) Nippon Foundation "18-year-old consciousness survey" (2019)
https://www.nippon-foundation.or.jp/app/uploads/2019/11/wha_pro_eig_97.pdf
The survey asked 17 people aged 19-1000 in each of India, Indonesia, South Korea, Vietnam, China, the UK, the US, Germany, and Japan about their attitudes toward their country and society. In response to the question, "Do you have dreams for the future?", high levels of 8% to 82.2% were recorded in the eight countries other than Japan, while in Japan the figure was only 97%.

Also, in an education system that places too much emphasis on deviation scores, I think that the fact that the curriculum has been divided into humanities and science has also had a negative effect. Those who choose the humanities end up not studying mathematics, and those who choose the sciences end up not studying Japanese or English. In either case, only biased knowledge and skills are accumulated.

And the fear of failure is making the divide between the humanities and sciences even deeper. If you get a bad score on a test, you think "I'm not good at this subject," and try to distance yourself from it even more. This tendency is particularly evident in mathematics.Japanese education, characterized by its emphasis on academic ability and separation of the humanities and sciences, has resulted in the mass production of people who dislike math.That's what I think.

I think the division between the humanities and sciences is also a distant reason why GAFA has not been born in Japan. Japan has excellent technology and a very high level of business. In terms of the amount and variety of knowledge it possesses, it is undoubtedly one of the world's leading countries. However, it is extremely weak at combining diverse knowledge in a cross-sectional and comprehensive manner to create new things and ideas. Nothing new will be born if there is only the humanities or only the sciences.New value is created by integrating the humanities and sciences--This is evidenced by the many companies creating innovation around the world.

And while no one believes this situation is right, no one has been able to change it or is trying to change it. Now is the time to change the education system and social structure that are at the root of the problems that threaten Japan's future. We want to make this clear through the introduction of data science education at Tokyo Women's University and the practice of DSDA.

What I want to teach is "data science as a liberal art"

── Education that combines the humanities and sciences is essential to fostering the talent that will create innovation and shape the society of the future. And data science has been established as a pillar of this new education.

As I mentioned earlier, Japanese people have a strong dislike for math. Even if you directly confront students in an all-girls junior and senior high school, saying "Let's study math!" just because science education is important, it won't go well.

Therefore, we thought it would be a good idea to focus on data science, which is an essential element for living in the future society of the digital and data era and will continue to attract more and more attention in various fields including business. However, since most of the teachers are not familiar with data science, we had a hard time gaining their understanding and cooperation at first. Prior to the start of DSDA, we established a system for teaching by setting aside 15 to 20 minutes of lecture time at each weekly teacher meeting.

── What kind of data science education is there for junior and senior high school students? Do they teach specialized knowledge, such as training data scientists?

DSDA is not intended to train data science specialists.

What we teach is data science as a liberal arts subject.To acquire a framework for thinking and perspective to grasp the future societyOur main focus is on.

As the name DSDA suggests, the classes will cover not only data science, but also design and art. Some people may feel uncomfortable with the combination of data science and design and art, but both areSensitivity is important in solving various problems and creating something completely new.They have one thing in common.

Additionally, many people may feel that the words "data science" and "statistics" are unrelated to them and have a vague aversion to them.

That's why DSDA has designed a curriculum that is problem-driven and experience-oriented. As you tackle the question, "There's a problem in the world. How can we solve it?", you will unwittingly come into contact with the essence of data science and acquire basic knowledge. This is the kind of program we have prepared.

With the support of the whole country, more and more universities are establishing faculties, departments, and courses to study data science. The idea is that by teaching data science as an academic subject and knowledge, companies like GAFA may be born in Japan. I am somewhat skeptical of this trend. If data science is taught in a knowledge-cramming curriculum with a framework that places too much emphasis on deviation scores, won't it end up creating a "data science hater" like mathematics did in the past?

Data science is a world where open source is the basis. For those who want to become specialists, there are many places and opportunities available, and the doors are wide open. One well-known example is the free tuition-free French university.IT engineer training school "42"and Kaggle (*2017), a data analysis competition platform acquired by Google in 3. You can acquire as much knowledge and skills as you want through practice, even if they are not taught in school.

Data science literacy is essential for the general public, regardless of age, including junior high school students, high school students, university students, and business people who will live in the society of the future.

(*3) A platform that connects companies and researchers with data scientists. A large number of data scientists well versed in statistics, information science, economics, and mathematics are registered on Kaggle, and they compete to analyze data from problems posted by companies and researchers and derive optimal models. Kaggle's system uses a competition format, and models submitted by participants are instantly scored and ranked.

── Could you please tell me the specific content of DSDA's curriculum?

DSDA is incorporated into the "inquiry learning" time set aside for the academic study of the five subjects (Japanese, social studies, mathematics, science, and English) stipulated in the curriculum guidelines.

In the first year of junior high school, students will begin by understanding how computers work, and then learn the basics of statistics through graph interpretation and representation exercises. In the second year, students will learn about information literacy through current themes such as "How to avoid being fooled by fake news," and in the third year, students will learn about digital fabrication through "making things with 1D printers."

When students reach high school, they will learn how AI works through "Learn the Basics of AI" and participate in design thinking workshops with the theme of "Improving your home with design thinking." Many of the programs incorporate project-based learning in collaboration with nearby companies and organizations, allowing students to naturally experience the connection between data science and society.

Data science perspectives are incorporated not only during inquiry-based learning, but also in the study of each subject, such as Japanese, social studies, mathematics, science, English, physical education, art, and home economics. For example, as part of a home economics class, we collaborated with Kojiya Saburouemon, a miso brewery in Nerima Ward, Tokyo, to create a miso paste. At first glance, this may not seem related to data science, but in fact, making delicious miso requires the use of various data such as temperature and humidity. In this way, we hope that students will experience the fun and potential of data science while having fun in various ways during their six years of subject and inquiry-based learning in junior and senior high school.

The future is interesting because we think proactively and combine the humanities and sciences

── Could you please tell us more about the skills that can be acquired through data science education?

To reiterate, what you gain from the data science education at our school is literacy, not knowledge of data science.

The amount of information circulating in the world continues to grow explosively, and we are now at a saturation point.The basic skills required to select and interpret the appropriate information from a vast amount of information, and use it to solve problems.This is a perspective and framework of thinking that is essential for living in "Society 5.0(*4)," a rich and livable society that will be realized through the use of digital technology and data. We want students to acquire this ability, which is necessary regardless of their academic background.

(*4) A concept proposed by the Cabinet Office in the "Fifth Science and Technology Basic Plan" in 2016. It refers to a series of efforts to realize a "super smart society" that highly integrates cyberspace (virtual space) and physical space (real space). It is also said to be a human-centered society in which "economic development" and "solving social issues" go hand in hand.

In addition, we would like you to wear the following:Ability to think independently.

The ability to think independentlyThe ability to think outside the box, from multiple perspectives, choose the right path, and proceed independently and autonomouslyWithout initiative, the "world dominated by technology" depicted in science fiction movies could become a reality.

Looking at today's younger generation, it seems that many of them are passive towards society and think that it's enough if they can live a reasonably happy life within the set framework. But will they really be happy living that kind of life? Will they enjoy it? What should they do and what do they want to do to live in a better society in the future? DSDA is the basic education to think about and put these things into practice.

A society in which each individual is independent is a society that accepts diversity. When each individual is independent, various opinions will emerge, so accepting diversity becomes a basic rule of society. On that basis,The type of people most needed in the coming era are leaders who can determine the true direction from among diverse opinions.However, at present, there are still very few independent opinions, so we must start by increasing the number of people who think and act independently.

I hope that data science education will be a catalyst for breaking away from the Japan that is so bound by old customs, outdated systems, and stereotypes that it is unable to create new value, and creating a society full of initiative.

── Regardless of generation, all modern people should have this education. You taught me that this is the essence of data science. Thank you very much.

[Interview and text] Chiaki Saito
[photograph]Daisuke Koike
[Planning and editing] Yuko Kawabata (XICA)