チュートリアル (Tutorial Time & Mastery Tutorials)

チュートリアル制度について

当スクールでは既定のカリキュラムを生徒に強いることを善しとしていません。
しかしながら、生徒（特に10代の若者）にとって、脳を鍛えることは非常に大切なことです。
自分のやりたいことを追究すること、そのために大人（スタッフ）に教えを請うこと、議論を重ねること…これらは生徒の脳を鍛える行動に他なりません。そこで、このような機会を保障するため、普段の学校の時間だけでは物足りない生徒の学びに対する欲求を満たすため、放課後にTUTORIAL TIME を設けています。

○対象
１２～１９歳：必須（全員参加）
４～１２歳の生徒：選択（希望者が参加）

※ただし、４～１２歳の場合は生徒とスタッフの相互同意（契約）に基づいて行われるため、そこに至らなかった場合は参加をお断りする場合があります。

○時間　任意の日の放課後１６～１８時

○費用　週２回で年間 １１１,０００円

○費用　週４回で年間 ２２２,０００円
※週3回以上をご希望の方は割引価格をご用意しておりますので、ご相談ください。

○内容
新たなことへの挑戦、興味があることの熟達等を目的として、自身のやりたいことを”集中して”行います。その際、スタッフは先生（指導者）となり、コミュニケーションを通してより専門的な物事の追究が可能となります。
※例：ゲームを通した数学講座、哲学・人類学・経済学のディスカッション、など。

  • Autonomy（自律性）生徒の自発的な方向性を大切にします
  • Discovery（発見）ディスカッションをベースに発見に導きます
  • Comprehension（理解）試行錯誤、特に誤りを通して理解を深めます
  • Mastery（習得）実際に練習を通して習得に導きます

Summary.

Tutorials take place during school term-time. A tutorial can be booked for free at any time during the school day, and is designed to be 35 minutes with a 5 minute break between each one. For regular teen tutorials we have 3, running from 4:05 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

For under 12s who wish to book regular tutorials after 4 p.m. there is an additional fee. One or two tutorial days per week is 105,000 per year.

Three, 4 or 5 tutorial days per week is charged at 210,000 per year.

Tutorial days should be fixed in advanced, but may be changed by the staff. There may not be replacement lessons for absenteeism.

Outside F.I.D.S. we encourage the study of musical instruments, choral practice, sports such as Rugby or Shorinji-Kempo, Swimming and Soccer.

We do not encourage Base-ball at all. And Juku is out of the question, especially for under 13s.

Children regularly organize Tutorial Time during school hours. These tend to be practical activities such as how to use a drill, how to cut down a tree, a game, bake a cake, or even just how something works. Older children (10+) sometimes use Tutorial Time for a complex games and discussion. Usually they are very casual affairs and last for 20 minutes or so, but sometimes hours. Occasionally, they become regular (everyday or weekly) but after a while, they move onto something else and the Tutorial Time evaporates.

When it comes to more academic subjects that require concentration and focus, small children are less likely to make requests for such Tutorial Time during school hours. There are many reasons:

  1. They are too busy during the day.
  2. Their time spent freely is very precious so they are reluctant to let that time go.
  3. They own their time outright, and wish to practice their empowerment over it fully.
  4. Their friend is not interested, so they forgo the chance to study in order to spend time with their friend.
  5. Too many interesting things around them prevent concentration.

For teenagers there are also the irritations of loud elementary school voices and the need to be able to discuss ideas of a more mature nature without intrusion from the young ones.

The Elementary Solution.

For the above reasons, F.I.D.S. opens after hours to enable children to be directed towards an environment that lends itself to concentration. These are Mastery Tutorials. Although there are limits during Mastery Tutorials that are not there during the day, the staff still maintain enormous respect for the autonomy of the children (this is not a juku). We assist children in looking in the right direction.

Everything except Japanese writing is done an English Japanese mix with a push for English only. The curriculum is ‘anything that the children come up with’ / guided by the staff. Our educational philosophy and practice is in four parts:

  1. Autonomy (Children maintain a large degree of self direction)
  2. Discovery (finding things that they find interesting, via discussion)
  3. Comprehension (via trial and error, especially error, and discussion)
  4. Mastery (via practice)

Parents may NOT assist their children in the work they undertake. It is essential that Staff see and discuss all the reasoning and answers, especially the mistakes.

The Teen Solution.  (updated 2020)

For children who originally enrolled before their tenth birthday, compulsory teen enrollment occurs after their 13th birthday.

For children who enroll after 10 years old, compulsory teen enrollment occurs after their 12th birthday. The curriculum is ‘anything that the children come up with’ / guided by the staff. Everything except Japanese writing is done an English Japanese mix with a push for English only.

Usually at the start, this comes in the form of answering any and all questions that they can come up with. These range from the ordinary (What was the first money? What is inside a black hole? Why are there 60 minutes to an hour and sixty seconds to a minute? Who were the first humans?) to the more philosophical (Is it always wrong to kill people? Why do humans go to war? Why can humans tell that there is a future? Where does the ‘you’ go when you die? What is consciousness? and Are there Aliens?) to the difficult (How does RNA work? Why is myelin so important for healthy brain cells? Why are the heaviest elements all radioactive? and How does consciousness work?).

Inevitably these discussions reach into history, science, philosophy, anthropology, economics and reasoning. While staff are able to answer -any- question that might be posed, the aim is to introduce children to a wide variety of general knowledge in order that they may position themselves in the world before the tutorials give way to gaining gaining narrow technical mastery.

Additionally, they may choose to concentrate on a specific topic. This might be Speaking English, Poetry, Mathematics and Sciences, Product Design and Illustration, Music Production, Computer Programing  or Moving Animation.