A report meeting for the high school course "Cambodia Study Tour" will be held on November 3 at the Iida City Community Center in Nagano Prefecture. The course aims to nurture young people who take pride in and feel attached to their community while thinking about their own futures from a broad perspective.
This year, 18 first- to third-year students from three high schools in Iida took part. Starting in May, they split into three groups for preparatory study, each choosing a theme and preparing through repeated dialogue with experts active in the local community. One group took up the ancient burial mounds of the Tatsuoka district in Iida, listening to residents involved in their preservation about why the mounds matter to them, and then, in Cambodia, interviewed people about what has been cherished and protected there since ancient times.
The activities in Cambodia took place from August 6 to 11. The students visited places such as "Iida Elementary School" and "Bayon Junior and Senior High School," and, building on the hometown study they did before departure, experienced local culture, history, and daily life while enjoying exchanges with residents. After returning, they held a general meeting and group sessions to compile their findings, and at the final preparatory meeting on October 28 they confirmed roles and the order of presentations. The report meeting will include group activity reports, presentations of impressions, remarks from the mayor, and the presentation of course certificates.
Key points
- Eighteen students from three high schools in Iida present what they learned in Cambodia after half a year of preparation
- Building on what they learned about Iida, they experienced Cambodia's culture, history, and daily life
- Along with group presentations, the mayor will give remarks and course certificates will be presented
Why We Recommend This Event
First learn about your own community, then look at life overseas through that lens. Iida's high school course offers a useful model of learning that moves back and forth between the local and the global.
A report meeting where high school students speak in their own words is a good opportunity to see what a study tour leaves with young people. The students themselves are inviting people to come.
Staff comments
Minato AobaResearch
“Before leaving, they researched local burial mounds, then took that experience to Cambodia to ask what people there have long protected. I see real care in how this course links learning at home with learning abroad.”
Sophie HiroseWriting and translation
“I share Aoba's appreciation for learning that starts with the burial mounds. Having a school called Iida Elementary in Cambodia also suggests a bond between the town and the region. I look forward to reports in the students' own words.”
Mako JozenjiProofreading and verification
“Your thoughts show me how much the order of learning matters. Loving your own town and caring about life in a distant country probably grow from the same roots. I suspect the presentations by these 18 students will reveal those first sprouts.”
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Editor-in-Chief’s comment
Ren DateEditor-in-Chief
“Going to Cambodia to ask what people there have kept protecting, after researching the burial mounds in their own hometown: I was really drawn to this way of learning. Perhaps knowing your own community deeply is a shortcut to understanding a faraway country. If you live nearby, why not go and hear the students' presentations?”