Magazine "Everyone's Wish" is a monthly magazine published by the National Study Group on Disability Issues.
For about a year and a half, I have been writing a series of essays and photographs for this magazine.
Under the title of "See You Tomorrow," I followed the special needs class of the elementary school attached to Nara University of Education for about a year, and wrote about the school's unique approaches and my personal thoughts on education.
The final issue of the series was published this month, entitled "Everyone's School," in which I wrote about my personal aspirations for the state of schools and education.
Please take a look at it along with the photos.
For about a year and a half, I have been writing a series of essays and photographs for this magazine.
Under the title of "See You Tomorrow," I followed the special needs class of the elementary school attached to Nara University of Education for about a year, and wrote about the school's unique approaches and my personal thoughts on education.
The final issue of the series was published this month, entitled "Everyone's School," in which I wrote about my personal aspirations for the state of schools and education.
Please take a look at it along with the photos.
Everyone's School
At the end of last year, I visited the special needs class at the elementary school attached to Nara University of Education.
It was a beautiful morning and a perfect day for taking pictures. I arrived at the school building ahead of the children, and after greeting the teachers, I looked at the new pictures on the wall of the classroom.
It was a powerful picture that looked as if it had captured the very essence of life. The children who drew the pictures were in their classrooms getting ready for the morning and spending time in their own way. The teachers were talking to the children and checking their homework.
The soft light gently enveloped the peaceful morning time. It was so beautiful that as I was clicking the shutter, the morning assembly began. All the first through sixth graders gathered in one classroom to go over their plans for the day one by one, and to present what they had done on Saturday and Sunday.
While they were taking their time, I went to the next empty classroom. The lights were off, but instead the light from the south was bathing the blackboard, desks and chairs in yellow.
As I listened to the cheerful voices of the children and teachers coming from the next classroom, I felt glad that I had been able to come to this school for the past year.
A school where everyone is valued, affirmed, and accepted.
A school where teachers are creative and thoughtful, and where each and every day is for each and every one of us.
A school where "people" are making things right.
It may not be a new thing, but schools should always be such places, and I hope they will continue to be so.
With this in mind, I pointed my lens at the classrooms, shining in the sun, and took some pictures.
It was a beautiful morning and a perfect day for taking pictures. I arrived at the school building ahead of the children, and after greeting the teachers, I looked at the new pictures on the wall of the classroom.
It was a powerful picture that looked as if it had captured the very essence of life. The children who drew the pictures were in their classrooms getting ready for the morning and spending time in their own way. The teachers were talking to the children and checking their homework.
The soft light gently enveloped the peaceful morning time. It was so beautiful that as I was clicking the shutter, the morning assembly began. All the first through sixth graders gathered in one classroom to go over their plans for the day one by one, and to present what they had done on Saturday and Sunday.
While they were taking their time, I went to the next empty classroom. The lights were off, but instead the light from the south was bathing the blackboard, desks and chairs in yellow.
As I listened to the cheerful voices of the children and teachers coming from the next classroom, I felt glad that I had been able to come to this school for the past year.
A school where everyone is valued, affirmed, and accepted.
A school where teachers are creative and thoughtful, and where each and every day is for each and every one of us.
A school where "people" are making things right.
It may not be a new thing, but schools should always be such places, and I hope they will continue to be so.
With this in mind, I pointed my lens at the classrooms, shining in the sun, and took some pictures.
