In recent years, junior high and high schools throughout Japan have started
implementing programs to help equip students with the ability to participate
proactively in society. As potential future employers, many companies —
including Asahi Shimbun, one of the country’s
national newspapers; and Lawson, Japan’s answer to
7-11 — endorse this action, and the spotlight is increasingly focused on
study programs that teach students about real-world corporate issues, corporate
philosophies and practical workplace skills.
A new subject was added to the Japanese high-school curriculum in 2019: The
Period for Inquiry-Based Cross-Disciplinary Study is an extension of the
Period for Integrated Studies taught in elementary, junior high and high schools
since 2000.
In Inquiry-Based Cross-Disciplinary Study, students form a hypothesis on an
assigned theme, which they then repeatedly pursue, investigate, express and
summarize. The lesson is designed to help students apply the inquiry skills
acquired through deeper consideration of issues to building robust life skills
as responsible adults. Many educators in Japan hope that career education can
nurture the skills students will need to actively participate in society after
leaving school, since companies are potentially best-positioned to understand
which skills they will need.
Companies are keen to get involved in school education for various reasons: to
fulfil their corporate responsibility duty as a global citizen to create a
better future; to pursue a long-term vision of nurturing human resources and
potential future employees, and simply to improve awareness and understanding of
their products and industry.
The Twice Research Institute’s Company Intern Work program seeks to combine
the needs of schools and companies and promote student capability-building.
Linking corporate products, services, student awareness, ideas to revolutionize learning
The Company Intern Work program seeks to help address cooperating company
issues. Participant interns investigate the company’s philosophy, history,
products and technologies, and present potential solutions to specific problems.
Cooperating companies include top names from every industry, such as Asahi
Shimbun, Lawson, Otsuka Pharmaceutical, Morinaga Milk Industry and
telecom giant KDDI. Let’s look at a few concrete examples.
In 2018, KDDI’s directive asked students to: Propose an
entirely new school that KDDI and high school students could produce together
using the power of smartphones and tablets to transform learning!
First, the intern students surveyed how students and caregivers viewed
smartphones and tablets. They collected information on people’s expectations and
concerns, and KDDI’s existing schedule management and video conferencing
systems. They then used this information to explore solutions to certain study
problems they themselves experienced, and to devise new learning methods, and an
entirely new school format.
The Meiji University Meiji High School team, which won the Grand Prix
runner-up prize at the FY2018 Twice Awards — which recognize significant growth
and success on the TWICE PLAN study program — addressed the directive by
proposing an app that features a virtual character to help manage study
progress. The virtual character, which grows as learning progresses, also deals
with idle grumbling about studying. The added motivation and diversion of
nurturing a virtual character is designed to help resolve concerns many students
face, such as concentrating for long periods or studying consistently.
Learning to perceive social issues as your own
In 2019, seven companies cooperated on the Company Intern Work program. Their
directives give us a glimpse of the attributes companies want students to
acquire, and bring to the table:
Asahi Shimbun: Propose a new medium for Asahi Shimbun that would serve as a
partner for young people tackling social issues. Today, people are surrounded by
a variety of media from newspapers to TV, radio, computers, tablets and
smartphones. Asahi Shimbun is currently developing digital and other web-based
media; and using data and social media to transmit feature articles, primarily
about Japanese and global social issues. The Asahi representative encouraged
students to apply the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) to social issues.
Nowadays, SDGs are frequently mentioned and taught in
school,
but this emphasized their usefulness in actual society.
Lawson: Propose a PR event where local stores join with local machi
(communities) to achieve a positive outcome that bolsters Lawson’s reputation as
the No.1 recommended store among customers. Lawson has approximately 15,000
stores in Japan, which serve 11 million customers daily, so students are
familiar with the company. So, its representatives aren’t there to promote
familiar products and services, but to convey the company’s social contributions
— including reducing instore power consumption and other eco-friendly
initiatives; fund-raising activities for next-generation children; and the role
of mobile catering and home delivery in building local shopping communities.
Lawson recognized the essential role of social contribution in building its
reputation, and encouraged students to explore the social issues in their own
local communities.
The presentation rounds off the Company Intern Work program. Learning how to
create an attractive plan, deliver a readily comprehensible presentation, and
compile easy-to-view materials are all vital skills, both here and later in the
workplace. What is even more important for companies, however, is to convey to
students through direct interaction and joint learning the aims that inspire
their product and service planning, and the future perceptions that shape their
business activities.
If, during the Company Intern Work program, students become interested in
addressing social problems and learning about relevant corporate initiatives,
that alone would be a huge plus for cooperating companies and their promotion of
sustainability.
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Published Jan 24, 2020 7am EST / 4am PST / 12pm GMT / 1pm CET