PC
We nurture children’s curiosity, sense of adventure, and craftsmanship, based upon the preciousness of life, using space as educational material.
The mysteries of space stir children’s curiosity and imagination, while the history of human endeavors in space stimulates their spirit of adventure. Their strong curiosity and adventurous minds trigger children’s interest in science. However, in addition to curiosity and a sense of adventure, we believe in one more important spirit. It is the spirit of craftsmanship – the desire to create things – which will lead children to the very targets of their curiosity and adventurous minds. Every child has these three spirits. Once the spirits are awakened, children will drive themselves with their inner inquisitive minds and will expand the scope of their knowledge and experience, without help from adults. With the aim of providing such a trigger to children, the Space Education Center started its activities in 2005 under the philosophy of “Space ignites spirits within children.”
Amid drastic changes in society, with incessant globalization and innovations in information and technology, what children need if they are to lead the next generation are multi-faceted perspectives and ways of thinking, in addition to the readiness to learn voluntarily, autonomously, and continuously. Our aim is to provide support in nurturing young people who will explore our future society with the spirits of curiosity, adventure, and craftsmanship, based on the preciousness of life.
Archives of Activity Report
A greeting from the Director of the Space Education Center
From the Director
on May 1, 2005, JAXA Space Education Center was formed by merging and upgrading the teams that had previously been in charge of education.
The History of JAXA Space Education Center
By encouraging children to learn “with space” rather than “about space,” we aim to lead them to a world of continuous and lifelong learning, where they create knowledge and techniques on their own.
With the aim of using the wealth of knowledge and other benefits gained from space development as educational materials, our activities are built on three pillars.
The Space Education Center develops activities in cooperation with schools and teachers. Students can learn not only through science but through various approaches, including social studies, home economics, and integrated studies. For the purpose of continued deep learning through the effective use of space educational materials, we provide training programs for teachers, in cooperation with schools and boards of education nationwide.
Formal Education Support
The Space Education Center helps with space-related extra-school activities for children on the weekends and during long vacations. Programs are designed that will kindle children’s curiosity as well as a spirit of inquiry, fostering rich minds through their experience of the fun and mystery of science. Informal education programs are provided across Japan. The family programs consist not only of materials directly connected to “space,” but also materials that at first glance have nothing to do with space. Based on the belief that leaders play significant roles in these activities involving children, we also focus on building a network to interconnect regional leaders.
Informal Education Support
The Space Education Center operates experience-based learning programs for high school students. They stay at JAXA facilities in Japan and work in teams to fulfill their given missions, with support from JAXA staff and university students majoring in space. We also organize an international water rocket event, in worldwide cooperation with other space institutions. Through our participation in various international conferences and the activities of international institutions, we disseminate information to children around the world. The dissemination of information related to space education and the various educational materials resulting from these activities is also an important part of our mission.
Experience-Based Learning Opportunities（Domestic）
Experience-Based Learning Opportunities（International）
Activities
We will develop an integrated education support network to bring about children’s comprehensive growth, both physical and mental, by sharing knowledge with various research institutions and cooperating with them in practice.
Our goal is to provide children with multi-faceted perspectives and ways of thinking, and to nurture attitudes among children to learn voluntarily, autonomously, and continuously, with “space” as a keyword. For this purpose, we develop effective education programs using space education materials for various educational settings, through partnerships between space specialists and practitioners in the field of education.
The targets of space activities range widely across the fields of life: elementary particles, the Earth, the environment, and technology; and also to the fields of civilization, art, and sport. It is through interest in these broad fields that children’s approaches toward space proliferate. We believe it to be an essential part of our mission to share knowledge with research institutions in various fields and to develop partnerships in our practices.
In order to create educational programs which meet our requirement, cooperation is indispensable: with boards of education, universities, youth development organizations, science museums and other museums, and with volunteer leaders of local communities. We also need people who will promote space education in local communities, so that we can develop education activities across the country and produce new learning opportunities.
With this in mind, we have been cooperating with local people to build a regional partnership, for the creation of a network to facilitate the comprehensive development of children. We will continue our efforts to further develop that network of cooperation, to create an environment where local people take initiative in developing education activities. This, in turn, will trigger more such activities in surrounding regions.
The Space Education Center will develop a regional partnership for space education through cooperation with related regional institutions.
Space Education Partnership
3-1-1 Yoshinodai, Chuo-ku, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252-5210, JAPAN
