Presentation Information
[O09-02]Lessons from a Tea Cup: Moving Hands, Heads, and Hearts
Experiencing Holistic Learning through Slow Looking★Invited Papers
*Isao Kashima1 (1.Division of Educational Transformation, Komaba Organization for Educational Excellence, College of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo)
Keywords:
Object-Based Learning,Holistic education,Trada Terahiko,liberal arts education,Slow looking,Playful learning
This presentation reports on the practice and effectiveness of Object-Based Learning (OBL) and holistic education in "Lessons from a Tea Cup," a liberal arts course at the University of Tokyo that has been offered continuously for ten years since 2015.
OBL is an educational approach that promotes awareness and learning through observation centered on tangible objects. This course references physicist and essayist Torahiko Terada's essay "Lessons from a Tea Cup" (1922) as a model for applying OBL and analogy. The course particularly emphasizes two principles: (1) slow looking -observing an everyday tea bowl and hot water "slowly and without rush" and (2) respecting the free ideas that emerge from observation.
Through iterative cycles of hands-on work, experiments, observation, and dialogue completed within a single class session, students integrate and actively engage their hands, minds, and hearts. They come to class to enjoy it as a space for exploring the essential truths hidden in objects of observation and for shifting to alternative modes of thinking (different from familiar ways of thinking) in other words, as a lesson in awareness.
The approach of this course shares many commonalities with Kitchen Earth Science, which is why we participate in this session to facilitate interdisciplinary exchange. The presentation will include: (a) an introduction to the course with hands-on demonstrations, (b) specific challenges faced during ten years of course development and their solutions, and (c) concrete examples of unexpected insights reached through playful learning activities in "Lessons from a Tea Cup."
Finally, we invite your ideas for Kitchen Earth Science developments of this course - ideas that spark students' curiosity! Please send us your thoughts.
------
Let's Begin from a Teacup!
------
01 | Here and Now - Slow Looking
" Here is a teacup filled with hot water. At first glance,
it seems utterly ordinary - nothing interesting, nothing mysterious.
But if you look carefully, subtle details gradually begin to catch your eye,
and all sorts of questions arise.
Even this simple cup of hot water can become a fascinating object of observation
for those who love to study the phenomena of everyday life. "
- Torahiko Terada, Lessons from a Tea Cup (1922)
- Translated and adapted by Claude.ai 4.5 and CahtGPT5.2
--> Simple questions, phenomena in our daily life
--> Who is Torahiko Terada?
------
02 | Hands-on Activities
The presenter will perform short hands-on activities.
Audience participation is welcome for some activities.
Details will be revealed on the day.
------
03 | Diverse Goals
--> "Like something"
--> To be revealed on the day
------
04 | Sharing What You Notice
Participants can join via a Google Form on their mobile devices.
Share your discoveries anonymously in real time - please join us!
------
05 | Reflection
------
00 | Ten Years of Course Development - Instructor's Insights
--> To be revealed on the day
--> To be revealed on the day
------
About the course, Lessons from a Tea Cup
This course begins with physicist and essayist Torahiko Terada's celebrated essay Lessons from a Tea Cup. We value simple questions and scientifically explore the essential truths hidden in everyday objects through observation, hands-on work, and simple experiments.
This is a lesson in awareness - an opportunity to free ourselves from preconceptions and biases, to traverse academic disciplines freely, and to reconnect knowledge while training our thinking from diverse perspectives.
The course has been offered to first- and second-year University of Tokyo students (both humanities and sciences) since 2015 in the autumn/winter semester. We invite guest lecturers from diverse backgrounds and fields and continue to enjoy Lessons from a Tea Cup together with our students.
Course Objectives
- Focus on familiar, seemingly unremarkable everyday phenomena and examine them scientifically and critically. Explore these familiar matters from multiple perspectives across academic disciplines. In some cases, we also incorporate humanities themes, such as customs, culture, and history, into everyday phenomena.
- Learn how the discovery of new phenomena and laws not only contributes to science but can also be closely related to identifying and solving real-world societal problems.
- To be revealed on the day
------
Transcending time and space, pursuing universality, and embracing diversity
freely traversing academic disciplines, beginning with a teacup in everyday life,
Our holistic challenge continues.
OBL is an educational approach that promotes awareness and learning through observation centered on tangible objects. This course references physicist and essayist Torahiko Terada's essay "Lessons from a Tea Cup" (1922) as a model for applying OBL and analogy. The course particularly emphasizes two principles: (1) slow looking -observing an everyday tea bowl and hot water "slowly and without rush" and (2) respecting the free ideas that emerge from observation.
Through iterative cycles of hands-on work, experiments, observation, and dialogue completed within a single class session, students integrate and actively engage their hands, minds, and hearts. They come to class to enjoy it as a space for exploring the essential truths hidden in objects of observation and for shifting to alternative modes of thinking (different from familiar ways of thinking) in other words, as a lesson in awareness.
The approach of this course shares many commonalities with Kitchen Earth Science, which is why we participate in this session to facilitate interdisciplinary exchange. The presentation will include: (a) an introduction to the course with hands-on demonstrations, (b) specific challenges faced during ten years of course development and their solutions, and (c) concrete examples of unexpected insights reached through playful learning activities in "Lessons from a Tea Cup."
Finally, we invite your ideas for Kitchen Earth Science developments of this course - ideas that spark students' curiosity! Please send us your thoughts.
------
Let's Begin from a Teacup!
------
01 | Here and Now - Slow Looking
" Here is a teacup filled with hot water. At first glance,
it seems utterly ordinary - nothing interesting, nothing mysterious.
But if you look carefully, subtle details gradually begin to catch your eye,
and all sorts of questions arise.
Even this simple cup of hot water can become a fascinating object of observation
for those who love to study the phenomena of everyday life. "
- Torahiko Terada, Lessons from a Tea Cup (1922)
- Translated and adapted by Claude.ai 4.5 and CahtGPT5.2
--> Simple questions, phenomena in our daily life
--> Who is Torahiko Terada?
------
02 | Hands-on Activities
The presenter will perform short hands-on activities.
Audience participation is welcome for some activities.
Details will be revealed on the day.
------
03 | Diverse Goals
--> "Like something"
--> To be revealed on the day
------
04 | Sharing What You Notice
Participants can join via a Google Form on their mobile devices.
Share your discoveries anonymously in real time - please join us!
------
05 | Reflection
------
00 | Ten Years of Course Development - Instructor's Insights
--> To be revealed on the day
--> To be revealed on the day
------
About the course, Lessons from a Tea Cup
This course begins with physicist and essayist Torahiko Terada's celebrated essay Lessons from a Tea Cup. We value simple questions and scientifically explore the essential truths hidden in everyday objects through observation, hands-on work, and simple experiments.
This is a lesson in awareness - an opportunity to free ourselves from preconceptions and biases, to traverse academic disciplines freely, and to reconnect knowledge while training our thinking from diverse perspectives.
The course has been offered to first- and second-year University of Tokyo students (both humanities and sciences) since 2015 in the autumn/winter semester. We invite guest lecturers from diverse backgrounds and fields and continue to enjoy Lessons from a Tea Cup together with our students.
Course Objectives
- Focus on familiar, seemingly unremarkable everyday phenomena and examine them scientifically and critically. Explore these familiar matters from multiple perspectives across academic disciplines. In some cases, we also incorporate humanities themes, such as customs, culture, and history, into everyday phenomena.
- Learn how the discovery of new phenomena and laws not only contributes to science but can also be closely related to identifying and solving real-world societal problems.
- To be revealed on the day
------
Transcending time and space, pursuing universality, and embracing diversity
freely traversing academic disciplines, beginning with a teacup in everyday life,
Our holistic challenge continues.