5:15 PM - 6:30 PM
[G02-P01] Astronomy outreach with multiple perspectives by music, painting, and tourism
★Invited Papers
Keywords:astronomy outreach, astro-turism
As stated in the Strategic Plan 2020-2030 of the International Astronomical Union, astronomy is deeply related to and has a significant impact on the fields of “culture and society” in addition to “science and research” and “technology and skills.” Although the discussion here stands from a point of view of astronomy, the same point of view can be applied to any discipline and field in the broad field of earth and planetary sciences. In the area of “culture and society,” we would like to focus on the inspiration and the raising of awareness of the need to create communities for sustainable development that come from a sense of awe in contact with great nature. Music, painting, and tourism have a high affinity with astronomy, and many of such outreach activities have been conducted to acquire the above-mentioned power in the “culture and society” area. On the other hand, many researchers have been struggling with the methodology of how to measure and evaluate these powers.
The outreach that will be examined here is the practice at Deti, a facility for Japanese students to study English in Negros Island, Philippines. It is a residential school that aims to help students acquire English through encounters with local people, culture, and values. The schedule was 12 days, from August 5 to August 16, 2019. Participants included parents and their children studying abroad from Japan (5 adults and 7 children), Filipino English teachers (about 20), Japanese tourists (several), Japanese staff and their families (6), and Japanese interns of students and adults (7).
The practices included, (1) “Star storytelling and star-watching party” was held almost every day, (2) “Storytelling about constellations and the arpa” while playing the arpa (a South American harp), concerts at night pools while looking at the stars, self-help and healing music, “Obon” music ceremonies, etc, (3) Psychological counseling sessions to look at the way of life, (4) Mural painting on the wall of the child house in the Deti campus, (5) Projecting illustrations of picture books and reading them, and reading anti-war picture books with background music by a local harp player. The participants’ comments and actions during the practice were recorded in writing, and from the records, we found cases that led people to have a broader perspective and to think about their way of life and community, and examined the conditions of the environment in which the cases happened. This is the material and method we have adopted for the measurement and evaluation.
Twenty-four episodes were identified as examples to focus on. For example, they noticed that the night sky was different due to the difference in latitude, and became aware of the planet Earth. They also learned about each other’s thoughts and way of life, and at the same time, began to talk about the changes in each person’s behavior and mental attitude. For each case, we wrote down the timing of the case, the participants’ actions, and the educator’s impression and evaluation. The four physical environments needed for the cases are: (1) the good atmosphere and climate of the region, (2) the good physical settings (building, educational discipline), (3) the appropriate timing (period and time of year), and (4) a simple and highly functional astronomical software. The three human environments needed for the cases are: (1) the collaborative and ambitious mind of the staff (mediators and collaborators), (2) the high level of awareness of the participants, and (3) the educator’s wide range of skills and knowledge.
The outreach that will be examined here is the practice at Deti, a facility for Japanese students to study English in Negros Island, Philippines. It is a residential school that aims to help students acquire English through encounters with local people, culture, and values. The schedule was 12 days, from August 5 to August 16, 2019. Participants included parents and their children studying abroad from Japan (5 adults and 7 children), Filipino English teachers (about 20), Japanese tourists (several), Japanese staff and their families (6), and Japanese interns of students and adults (7).
The practices included, (1) “Star storytelling and star-watching party” was held almost every day, (2) “Storytelling about constellations and the arpa” while playing the arpa (a South American harp), concerts at night pools while looking at the stars, self-help and healing music, “Obon” music ceremonies, etc, (3) Psychological counseling sessions to look at the way of life, (4) Mural painting on the wall of the child house in the Deti campus, (5) Projecting illustrations of picture books and reading them, and reading anti-war picture books with background music by a local harp player. The participants’ comments and actions during the practice were recorded in writing, and from the records, we found cases that led people to have a broader perspective and to think about their way of life and community, and examined the conditions of the environment in which the cases happened. This is the material and method we have adopted for the measurement and evaluation.
Twenty-four episodes were identified as examples to focus on. For example, they noticed that the night sky was different due to the difference in latitude, and became aware of the planet Earth. They also learned about each other’s thoughts and way of life, and at the same time, began to talk about the changes in each person’s behavior and mental attitude. For each case, we wrote down the timing of the case, the participants’ actions, and the educator’s impression and evaluation. The four physical environments needed for the cases are: (1) the good atmosphere and climate of the region, (2) the good physical settings (building, educational discipline), (3) the appropriate timing (period and time of year), and (4) a simple and highly functional astronomical software. The three human environments needed for the cases are: (1) the collaborative and ambitious mind of the staff (mediators and collaborators), (2) the high level of awareness of the participants, and (3) the educator’s wide range of skills and knowledge.