Hi. Long time no see.
Today I’m going to talk about the school childcare facility that I planned and produced.
A completely new schoolchild childcare facility
Mirai Gakko “DaVinci-Box” is a 21st century school childcare facility launched by ZIG-ZAG together with my company as a value creation type edutainment school childcare facility that nurtures the kids’ ability to create the future. The service started from the summer holiday period of elementary school in July 2018.
It should NOT be “Well done, kids” but “Kids are amazing!”
I have a dream of “creating a world that anyone can improve the world.” What is useful and valuable to people is respected no matter whose idea it is, and it is a world where people who want to help achieve it can easily support. I especially focus on children’s ideas. Kids’ instantaneous, ingenious, genius idea or flash of a child have so much potential. Isn’t it a crystal of human’s original ability which can not absolutely be imitated by artificial intelligence?
Though kids are amazing..
But sometimes just because it is a child, ideas get buried and ignored. Maybe it may have been abandoning species that brings innovation to mankind. Actually, such a flexible thinking also stimulates the head of adults, and it also becomes a trigger to increase creativity. Indeed, there are many people in the world who have started entrepreneurs in their teens.
For that reason, I am trying to revitalize “knowledge” of all human beings, by making a mechanism that makes people of any age useful for other people.
Mirai Gakko DaVinci-Box was made after I met Takuya Harukawa and Naoyuki Hashimoto, just when they had a plan to independently establish an educational facility just by themselves. I became involved in launching including concepts, curriculum, branding, and so on.
The world’s first? School children shape ideas with cloud funding + crowdsourcing
The Da Vinci Box has all the programs and curriculums created under the following three educational policies based on the concept of “make kids crazy about creating the future”.
1.Acquire a self-learning attitude
2.Develop the attitude to find a question
3.Use plenty of chances available in DaVinci-Box to try your question
All the kids’ actions carried out within the facility are supposed to be carried out according to this educational policy. The main class symbolizing this DaVinci-Box concept is “Entrepreneurship Development Program (EDP)” and “Play Creation Program (PCP)”. EDP is for fourth to sixth grade students, while PCP is targeting for lower graders.
EDP (Entrepreneurship Development Program)
In this class,
1.Children get interested in entrepreneurship, give ideas to solve social problems
2.Training presentation skills to get people sympathize with their ideas
3.Realize the joy and pleasure of creating things
4.Gain feedback and learn process to improve what they made
the above are the goals in this program. “Entrepreneur” is a means to make your idea come true and it is useless if it is itself a goal. For that reason, Goal #1 is almost equal to “know the pleasure to realize ideas”. To convey this pleasure to schoolchildren, this class is supposed to watch short movies at the beginning in each class. It is a message and advice for children by entrepreneurs and programmers leading the current startup scene in Japan.
Super fun! Entrepreneur interview movies
Fortunately, I have worked with a lot of startups, I have asked the CEO and CTO to shoot videos and there are a lot of clips edited for kids to enjoy. These videos are insanely funny and useful!! (By the way the shooting is still continuing and they are supposed to introduce a next entrepreneurs.) To introduce you a few, Yuki Shimahara from LPixel (Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2017), Takahiro Miura from GO (Japan PR Awards · Campaign ASIA Young Achiever of the Year · ADfest · Fuji Sankei group advertisement grand prize), and a lot more CEOs are involved. I asked them to talk about how they became entrepreneurs, childhood episodes and messages for children. By watching this every time, kids keep motivation to make themselves keen to make their ideas realize.
Company that elementary school students make!
They start with “What kind of the world do you want to make?” Then they think about a solution that will make it possible. That made, they can now create a company. In this class the first mission is to create a company, so that each child can act as president of the company. They then think of the name of the company and make a business card.
Shoot video every time
They will think about how to create a mechanism to solve people’s problems by being inspired by entrepreneurs and make presentations. We shoot kids talking about the ideas every time and make it public on the website. Presentation abilities are naturally trained. Adults, please watch the presentation progressing steadily and get inspired!
Cloud Funding + crowdsourcing!? What?
Depending on the idea, there may be unexpected things that can be created in conjunction with other members, or with even different concepts together to make surprising results. In that case, we will combine ideas to create one new concept. The idea that they brush up in this way is announced on the net, calling for financial support to make the business plan actually work (crowd funding) and at the same time, they also ask for help for someone with skills that will help with it together (crowdsourcing). When an application from an adult arrives, kids will interview adults.
Part of the fund gathered in the crowd funding will be paid to those who have requested work in crowdsourcing. The client will have several lessons to attend so that the kids will experience the making of things together.
When it is completed, they release an announcement, prepare crowd funding’s thanks and return. They will also experience marketing. I think that it is probably the only place in the world where kids at a school nursing facility can experience this all.
Elementary school student and PDCA
It is not over yet. If you actually let users use the product or service, various opinions come out naturally. That should not be just praise. Positively recognize such voices, improve and upgrade the products. From elementary school age, they will acquire the attitude to make PDCA work.
When those children repeatedly experiences such experiences, graduate and became adults, I just get excited just by thinking about what they will accomplish.
Progress is all on the net
We will publish the ideas and presentations of kids in this program on the net. Please take a look and sometimes help children. I would be happy if everyone could feel this excitement.
