Yasushi Omatsu: The Shape of a School Where You Can Be Yourself

Suppose there is a river flowing. That flow eventually merges into the sea. On a map, you can draw a line saying the river ends here and the sea begins there. But physically, does a clear boundary between the river and the sea exist? The area where freshwater and seawater mix is called "brackish water," but even then, the boundary of where it starts and ends is constantly fluctuating and truly ambiguous. I call this ambiguous boundary between the river and the sea a "gradation."

Gradations can be found everywhere in the world. For example, the "engawa" (veranda) in a Japanese house is a place where neighbors can visit and sit down with their shoes still on, while the residents can serve tea and entertain them while remaining inside the room. This ambiguous space functioned as a device that gently connected the inside and outside of the house.

Furthermore, the existence of an intermediate zone called "satoyama" between the "sato" (village) where people live and the "yama" (primeval mountains) allowed humans and mountain beasts to coexist without interfering too much in each other's living environments. There are endless examples, but the characteristic common to all is that "by ensuring rich gradations, the richness of both sides flanking them increases." It is precisely because of these gradations that a river can remain a river and the sea can remain the sea.

In places like brackish waters and tidal flats, unique creatures breed and pass through, and there are many examples where precious ecosystems found nowhere else are built; as a result, the biodiversity of the surrounding rivers and seas becomes richer. Conversely, when satoyama fall into ruin due to a lack of caretakers and the gradation between the village and the mountain becomes poor, it leads to problems such as the collapse of ecosystems due to biased vegetation and an increase in damage caused by wild animals.

Human beings are often connected by "en" (fate/connections) or "kizuna" (bonds), and I believe gradations exist here as well. From a small connection born of a light bow at first, to the narrowing of distance triggered by shared hobbies or topics, being stimulated by unique thoughts, or the cultivation of kindness that complements each other's strengths and weaknesses, a unique gradation where each other's presence blends together takes shape.

If one can have interactions based on trust and mutual gratitude within any connection—be it between spouses, parents and children, friends, or children and adults—it directly links to physical and mental health and a sense of happiness. Conversely, we already know that dominance through violence or power, peer pressure, irresponsibility, indifference, and insensitivity do not produce gradations.

If we view the basic academic skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic, as well as the skill-based subjects of music, arts and crafts, home economics, and physical education, as "literacy useful for enriching gradations," then it might not be an exaggeration to say that the true duty of education is to foster the power to form and enrich diverse gradations—between oneself and others, oneself and the Earth, oneself and the world, oneself and society, and one's own inner and outer self.

My name is Yasushi Omatsu, the representative of the free school San-no-mori Gakusha in Itoshima City, Fukuoka Prefecture. The children call me "Yasu-san."

We renovated the barn next to my house ourselves and opened the school in April 2015. Currently, four junior high school students and 19 elementary school students attend every weekday. While the circumstances and backgrounds leading to their enrollment vary, they all attend with a common will to be here.

Stepping out of the entrance, the calm Karatsu Bay is visible to the east, and looking back to the west, the mountain behind us, which enshrines the deity of childbirth, looms close. Nearby is a river where icefish and sweetfish swim upstream; it is a truly luxurious natural environment. "Free school" is a general term for private institutions and facilities used by children (students) who do not attend "schools" as defined by the School Education Act, and they vary greatly in scale and activities.

Under the main theme of connecting "living," "playing," and "learning" into one, San-no-mori Gakusha values experiential and proactive learning, dialogue, and expression. In the morning, there are two-hour class blocks. Lunch is prepared by the children on duty. After the meal, elementary students spend their time freely, while junior high students engage in inquiry-based learning called "projects."

At San-no-mori Gakusha, we have not used majority rule since our opening. Even if opinions are split between Plan A and Plan B, we derive a solution through discussion. Naturally, discussions take a long time, but after hearing each other's opinions, there are many cases where people agree that Plan A is fine "for this time," or a newly created Plan C reaches a unanimous consensus.

Every year, we only set the date for the sports day and recruit "Sports Day Executive Committee" members from among the children. During the preparation period, the executive committee members use their free time to participate in weekly meetings and handle everything from preparation on the day of the sports day to proceedings and guidance—it is a job that requires perseverance. If no one raises their hand, the sports day is not held, but so far, we have been able to hold it every year without fail.

In a committee meeting a few years ago, before entering discussions on events and team formations, the children's opinions were split on "whether or not to decide winners and losers." Each had a different orientation following the thought, "I want to make it a fun day, so..." After several hours of debate, no conclusion was reached. When a staff member acting as a facilitator suggested they talk to their families and others to hear their thoughts and discuss it again the following week, the opinions of all the committee members who gathered a week later had flipped 180 degrees, and they ended up split again.

Through subsequent discussions, the children came up with a compromise: to have some events where winners and losers are decided and others where they are not, and to decide a champion by competing in three blocks. Then, on the day of the sports day, no one cared about the wins or losses of the blocks they had debated so much by the end of the day, and the event closed with everyone's applause without any announcement of results.

If we had used majority rule, it would have been decided one way or the other on the first day, and we would not have had the opportunity to recognize the logic of each other's opinions and come up with a compromise after reaching an understanding. The fact that "dialogue can be used for problem-solving" creates a foundation for recognizing differences in thinking and contributes greatly to the enrichment of gradations.

For small children, I believe the gradation with adults is particularly special. Just as the "placenta" delivers oxygen and nutrients from the mother to the fetus, children absorb various things through their interactions with the adults close to them. Both adults and children are inherently beings who can "choose" what to learn. Everyone should be able to change and grow while remaining "themselves." When adults want to convey something to children, they tend to "instruct" or "evaluate," but I believe that it is precisely when adults as adults and children as children each richly foster their own gradations as themselves that adult culture is "selectively" passed down to the child's personality.

San-no-mori Gakusha uses a former cowshed built 80 years ago, which the staff renovated themselves. Sometimes, major work such as replacing floorboards is carried out right next to where the children are spending their time. Both I and the other staff members love woodworking and carpentry, but we make many mistakes and often face struggles.

At such times, the children observe the adults' attitudes very closely. Messages like "Let's just try it first" and "If you fail, you can just start over" are received not through words but through the attitudes of the adults, and are passed down as culture.

At San-no-mori Gakusha, six adults currently serve as instructors for the morning "class" time. The classes I handle are "Letters" and "Numbers." The content is mainly like a workshop where children interact with letters and numbers while making picture books or kamishibai (paper plays), or thinking of new ways to play cards.

What I want to convey to the children is not just "knowledge," but the "passion" of how I personally face the letters and numbers I love and what kind of fun I find there. Besides me, adults who love art, adults who love books, adults who love farming, adults who love calligraphy, and adults who love living creatures each bring what they like and are good at to provide time to convey their passion to the children.

Of course, just because an adult's passion is conveyed doesn't mean children will immediately come to like letters, numbers, or living creatures. However, the sight of adults enjoying the world becomes a "window" for them to peer into the world, and if their interest is piqued, children will lightly cross that window and begin their exploration. In this way, the gradation fostered between "child and adult" often transforms into a gradation that connects the "child and the world."

The smiles of the children coming to school every morning, the greetings we exchange, the casual conversations that start with "Yasu-san, listen to this!"—all of these foster the gradation between me and each one of them every day, and I am made to realize that I am incredibly happy. How happy and irreplaceable it is for both adults and children to be able to be themselves as they are. Children who know the joy of being themselves, having their own opinions, and exercising their own power will continue to create new gradations wherever they go.

The wording in the Constitution of Japan stating that one "has the right to receive education" is part of the determination that "each individual must be valued as an individual living their own life." If we question the meaning from those roots once more, "education" and "schools" should be able to be the heart that continues to send such happy people out into the world.