Thank you very much for your kind response and for inviting us to a public interview here.
Our name is Fuka Sasahara and Chisato Hayashi, editors of the magazine Recruit Career Guidance, which is a career education magazine geared mainly towards teachers at the nearly 5,000 high schools in Japan.
In our May 2021 issue, we are planning to feature the importance of dialogue.
With the advance of technology and globalization, our world is changing rapidly, and although our lives are easier to live in some ways, we are also more divided, with cultural confrontation and various inequalities on the rise all over the world. Unfortunately, the pandemic is only exacerbating the situation.
In view of this situation, education in Japan, as in other countries, is going through a major overhaul. We are departing from the style of education that focuses on acquiring knowledge and skill and moving towards fostering children who can find convincing answers to problems by working with people with differing opinions and values to pave the way for a better future.
We believe that dialogue and collaboration are two important elements that are needed to make that possible.
You introduced ways to collect the views of many people using technology and made it possible for individuals, governments, and industries to work together to generate new solutions by contributing their various perspectives and personalities to solve the issues. Our questions to you are below.
- As we enter the era of VUCA, we believe social division and various inequalities are expanding and becoming more apparent all over the world. What is your take on this situation/problem?
- As the Digital Minister, you are working on making the world a better place by using technology. What are the issues that you think need to be addressed, and why is it important to address those issues?
- What role does dialogue among people play and what kind of hope and outlook does it provide for the future? On the other hand, what kind of issues does the lack of dialogue create?
- What do you think we can do to make sure that people with different backgrounds and views will not be divided or be confrontational with one another so that we can create a world where everyone can live happily and be ensured well-being?
- Can you provide a message to high school teachers in Japan who are working hard to adjust to the sudden and drastic change from knowledge-based to inquiry-based learning and to the focus on ICT learning?
- We are so grateful that you often make time to communicate with Japanese students in online symposiums and other platforms. Can you tell us your thoughts behind doing this? We would also appreciate it if you can provide a message to the Japanese high school students.
*Please also send photo data of your portrait to include in the article.
Thank you very much in advance for your time.