eSOM
The Road to D, or the Story of Singularity High School (SHS) and Cowa
2025.05.09
eSOM: The Road to D (16) New HP/Pamphlet 2 The Brain and Exercise, or Analytical Writing Skills and Computational Thinking
1. Inquiry-Based Learning We create what we “should build / want to build,” and while doing so, we learn what we “should learn / want to learn.” This constructionism is the core educational philosophy of SHS. To practice constructionism, it is necessary to enter a state of flow (a state of being so engrossed in something that you lose track of time). A state of being so engrossed that you lose track of time? There’s no need to think of it as something difficult. Flow is that state when children are absorbed in building plastic models or playing with dolls, and they don’t hear adults calling them. So, how can we enter a state of flow? In this way, inquiry-based learning involves deriving a series of in-depth questions (challenges) from an initial understanding (e.g., “To practice constructionism, it is necessary to enter a state of flow”) and solving them one by one. The greatest goal for SHS students is to become inquiry-based learners. In other words, to become vagabonds. (Refer to ‘eSOM’ (15)) constructionism, flow, inquiry-based learner, vagabond. We first learn about these things in Home Economics. 2. Flow and Zone So, how can we enter a state of flow? Health and Physical Education at SHS explores this question. The facilitating teacher for Health and Physical Education is Mr. Hiroki Hata. Mr. Hata, who was also an accomplished soccer player, is the coach of the SHS soccer team. He has had many flow experiences as a soccer player. Flow is said to be very similar to the “zone” often talked about in sports. Q. Mihály Csíkszentmihályi’s concept of “flow” is said to be very similar to the “zone” often talked about in sports. Please explain in detail why flow is essentially the same as the zone. x.com/shinkoukouwa/s Q. Please explain in detail how runner’s high is a type of zone (= flow). x.com/shinkoukouwa/s We hope that Mr. Hata will guide (facilitate) SHS students’ inquiry-based learning about flow in Health and Physical Education, drawing on his own experiences with the zone (flow) as a soccer player. In this way, at SHS, facilitators guide students’ inquiry-based learning based on their own experiences. That is the meaning of kyoiku (共育, co-education) rather than kyoiku (教育, education). 3. The Brain and Exercise Now, kyoiku (共育) at SHS must be based on constructionism (refer to ‘eSOM’ (15)). Inquiry-based learning in all subjects is conducted so that each student can build what they need for themselves. What we build in Home Economics is “the path to becoming a vagabond (= the path to flow (zone) work = the path to one’s own well-being),” in other words, a “life blueprint (roadmap)” (as for “flow work,” refer to ‘eSOM’ (15)). Based on this, in Physical Education classes, we will explore various ways to build our own bodies. Without a well-being body, we cannot walk “the path to becoming a vagabond” (refer to ‘eSOM’ (15) for well-being). And the goal of “the path to becoming a vagabond” is to be able to spend our lives doing “flow (zone) work.” Therefore, building the parts of the body related to flow (zone) is particularly important. That is the brain. And the guide for building the brain is the book The Real Happy Pill: Power Up Your Brain by Moving Your Body by Anders Hansen (The Real Happy Pill, hereafter). Therefore, at SHS, The Real Happy Pill will be the main textbook for Health and Physical Education. The most important point of The Real Happy Pill is extremely simple. Exercise (especially walking or running) creates a brain that easily enters and maintains a state of flow (zone). That’s it. The author, a psychiatrist, Hansen, explains this scientifically, meticulously, and very clearly. If walking or running creates a “flow brain”, then we must build a body suitable for walking/running (running seems to be more effective than walking in building a brain suitable for flow). In the end, we have to build the entire body, including the brain. In addition to The Real Happy Pill, the Taishukan Shoten textbook Modern High School Health and Physical Education, which all SHS students have purchased, will be useful as a guide for this. 4. Physical Education: First Schooling Session The first schooling session, starting in the third week of May, will involve the facilitator explaining the tasks that each student should complete at home before the second schooling session: First, after the first Physical Education schooling session, you will read the “Book of Emptiness (Ku no Maki)” from Miyamoto Musashi’s The Book of Five Rings and the commentary by Alexander Bennett (Professor at Kansai University’s Faculty of International Studies). In this commentary, Bennett argues that Musashi’s “emptiness (ku)” is connected to Mihály Csíkszentmihályi’s flow (zone), which is the most important concept at SHS. You will read the same material in the first schooling sessions for Calligraphy and Language Culture. After understanding flow (zone) = emptiness, you will walk or run for at least 30 minutes at least twice a week until the next schooling session, and take screenshots of your app records. Then, you will write a report on how this regular walking/running has affected your body and the brain, and submit it along with the screenshots of your app records. For the second schooling session, you will read Chapter 1 “Modern Humans Are Mostly Cavemen” and Chapter 3 “Bring Back ‘Concentration’!” of The Real Happy Pill as preparation. 5. Physical Education: Syllabus (Course Outline) The syllabus (course outline) for all four Physical Education schooling sessions is as follows (note:subject to change depending on the progress of the class): Schooling Session 1: Flow, Brain, Exercise Explanation of what to do before the second session: Walking/running and report writing (see above) Submission of walking/running records with the report (method of recording, submission method, submission address will be specified in the syllabus) Preparatory assignments for Schooling Session 2 Miyamoto Musashi, The Book of Five Rings (copy distributed) The Real Happy Pill, Chapters 1 and 3 Schooling Session 2: Building the Brain for Flow (The Real Happy Pill, Chapter 3) What to do before the third session: Walking/running and report writing The questions to be answered in the report will be distributed during the schooling session Preparatory assignments for Schooling Session 3 The Real Happy Pill, Chapter 2 Schooling Session 3: The Enemy of Flow 1: Stress (The Real Happy Pill, Chapter 2) What to do before the fourth session: Walking/running and report writing Preparatory assignments for Schooling Session 4 The Real Happy Pill, Chapter 4 Schooling Session 4: The Enemy of Flow 2: Depression (The Real Happy Pill, Chapter 4) What to do before the final report submission: Walking/running and report writing The themes for the third and fourth sessions explore and seek the solutions of stress and depression, which are common issues during adolescence and also trouble many people across generations in modern society. In this way, all learning at SHS is aimed at building something to solve real-world challenges that humans face. Learning itself is something that everyone should engage in throughout their lives as such. At SHS, we do this in practice, imprinting it on our bodies while we are in high school. 6. Computational Thinking as Argumentation Skills Computational thinking is a construct that helps solve any kind of problem. Computational thinking may sound difficult, but there is nothing to fear. Q. Please explain computational thinking clearly and in detail using concrete examples that will make high school students excited and want to learn more about it. x.com/shinkoukouwa/s At SHS, we first learn about computational thinking soon after enrollment. And from then until graduation, we cultivate computational thinking through report writing, which is assigned in most subjects. This is because good writing reflects computational thinking. Q. It is often said that good writing itself reflects computational thinking. Please explain in detail in what specific ways this is the case, following the four elements of computational thinking in order. x.com/shinkoukouwa/s However, trying to write a report based on a complete understanding of what computational thinking is goes against constructionism. The motto of constructionism is to start building first and learn through practice. And the role of the facilitator is to devise ways to ensure that this practice leads to the acquisition of what should be learned as efficiently as possible. Such efforts at SHS are as follows: The report question for the second Physical Education schooling session will be as follows (note: subject to change): Read pages 113-144 of The Real Happy Pill and explain how the reward system, nucleus accumbens, dopamine, exercise, and prefrontal cortex are related and how concentration (≒ flow ≒ zone) is enhanced. Your answer should be between 300 and 400 characters. Please cite the page number where each piece of information is found, as in the example below. Example: “The ‘reward system’ is the driving force that compels humans to engage in certain behaviors.” (The Real Happy Pill, p. 125) How does writing a report answering this question (task) train computational thinking? First, since you have to cite the source page for each piece of information, you cannot simply submit an AI-generated answer as your report. If you input this question as a prompt into an AI, you can easily get an answer. Q. Please explain how the reward system, nucleus accumbens, dopamine, exercise, and prefrontal cortex are related and how concentration (≒ flow ≒ zone) is enhanced. x.com/shinkoukouwa/s However, the AI will not tell you which page of the book each piece of information is on. Moreover, this AI answer is written in different words and in a different order from what is written on pages 113-144 of The Real Happy Pill. Furthermore, you must write this AI answer, which is over 1300 characters long, in 400 characters or less. Therefore, even though the AI may provide a guideline for the answer, if you try to write it according to the instructions, you will have to utilize the four elements of computational thinking: “decomposition,” “pattern recognition,” “abstraction,” and “algorithm design.” Exploring which element corresponds to which part in writing an appropriate answer according to the instructions will also be training for computational thinking. Also, by using AI in this way, rather than weakening thinking skills, it will become the best companion for training computational thinking, which is the most sought-after thinking skill in the age of AI. Everything depends on how the facilitator guides (by setting questions, correcting, and facilitating). (To be continued)
