【Report】NIC July Summer School

NIC Summer School was an awesome success and an incredible summer experience for the thirty-eight students who took part in a full week of fun trips, classes and making new friends!

The diversity of the students nationalities, language abilities, interests and age levels created the perfect environment in which everyone could work together as a team on daily projects and activities. Under the title of “The Pathway to Achievement: Leadership, Collaboration & Life Skills,” NIC Summer School 2021 was geared towards a younger audience with a passion for learning and concern for world and all of its citizens.

The core theme of the programme was the UN SDGs workshop. This  programme, running during the whole week, combined corporate visits, cultural points and classrooms, with the aim of supporting the students in their reflection and goals to design the perfect SDGs school. Together, they completed tasks related to such important topics as the environment, gender equality, ending poverty and ending hunger. Finally, each team worked together to complete a project in which they competed to design 'the perfect sustainable school.' On the last day, the groups presented their project results. Everyone from the students to the teachers to friends and family were truly impressed at the presentations. Most of all the students themselves left with great memories, new skills, personal growth and many new friends.

All activities, field trips and classes revolved around topics related to the Sustainable Development Goals. For example, the participants visited Higashiyama Zoo to learn about preservation of wildlife and later visited NUCB Business School, where its faculty offered special workshops that included active learning, design thinking and case method approach while focusing on the particular learning, collaboration and leadership skills required for high school. It was driven by a variety of carefully planned projects and activities that students designed and worked on together in small groups.

Case Method Challenge

This teaching method, commonly used in the world's leading business schools, places the student at the centre of their own learning. It is this method, which is still not well-known in Japan and especially in high schools, that was presented to our participants, with the collaboration of Prof. Goi and Prof. Hakeem of the NUCB Graduate School, GSM. The two-day workshop introduced the students to the marketing concepts of the 4Ps (product, place, promotion, price) and the platform economy, through 2 original cases: Hello Konichiwa 2021 and Youtube 2021. This gave our students a first glimpse of the teaching and learning approach of NUCB International College.

Creative Projects

At NIC, we believe in the importance of creativity in the development process. During NIC Summer School 2021 students were organized into groups and introduced to “Creative Projects” workshop in which they had to work as teams to used recycled materials and create an imaginary animal and a complete ecosystem.

Field trips & outdoor activities

During a full-day excursion to Gifu, participants enjoyed an all-you-can-eat 'Gramping BBQ'! Following lunch, the students then went on scavenger hunt in the scenic folk village of Magome-juku, which is nestled in the beauty of the Nakatsugawa area.
Other outdoor activities, such as the Engage Experience, allowed students to participate in sports or to (re)discover traditional Japanese arts such as Kyudo -- the Japanese archery. Thorough such programmes, NIC Summer School 2021 helped these students to grow and develop personally and socially through by learning about team spirit and interpersonal skills.

We would like to thank all the participants for their great motivation, cooperation and participation!