It’s a joy to be back in Japan, even though the temperatures in the Osaka region (which is on the same line of latitude as North Africa) are currently six or seven degrees colder than England and its summery 16C.
Is it the personal, social, emotional or spiritual intelligences that make people inJapan so civilised, so considerate, so restrained, so non-aggressive and so empathetic? Clearly it’s all of them. This is far more than good citizenship, common decency and general politeness.
We went through a whole day yesterday without any piercing sirens or blasting car horns – not one! – without speeding vehicles, without raised voices, without any kind of aggravation or hassle. This is the norm in Japan. If only it were so elsewhere – to have a deep level of culture and cultural traditions that cause people to reject pushiness, self-obsession and sheer selfish and oafish behaviour.
It was delightful to meet up again with Professor Yamasaki at her university, and to re-make the acquaintance of some of her colleagues and students. Our forthcoming sessions at the university have been in preparation since last summer, and it’s a real pleasure to be here at last, and moving on with them.
Regular readers of this blog will know that a continuing theme this week has been differentiating between managing learning (and schools as a whole) and being a leader of learning. There’s obviously a need to manage learning – meaning setting a curriculum and clear targets for achievement. But there’s also a need to be a leader of learning in the sense of having a clear philosophy of what learning is actually for.
Leaders of learning also understand how to enable students to become self-motivated, independent learners who love learning for its own sake – for whom learning is as enjoyable as any other creative activity, and an activity as essential to their wellbeing as breathing and eating.
We’re looking forward to our continuing discussions and conversations during the week ahead on the 3Di view of multiple intelligences, on our 3D model of those intelligences, and on how schools, colleges and universities (and indeed businesses) can enable learners to move ahead with the development of all of their intelligences in a creative, imaginative and stimulating environment.
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It appears certain hotel chains in Japan have meditation rooms as well as physical fitness rooms and swimming pools.
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Haiku
A calm state of mind –
Samurai Son and ZenDog
Are minding the house.
3D Eye 