Deeper Learning

Middle school left me feeling empty. As an 8th-grader who just moved back to San Diego after 5 years in Japan, I struggled to maintain new friends through a global pandemic and I didn't have many adults that cared for my academic learning and growth. Disillusioned, I began to disconnect from the things around me. Staring at a Zoom screen where none of the other students would turn on their cameras, it wasn't just that I was bored out of my mind, it was that I felt like my time was wasted and I was boxed in with no way out. I had to expose myself to something new, something different, so I could discover more about what actually mattered to me and luckily that's what high school ended up being for me.

In retrospect, attending High Tech High Mesa was one of the best decisions that has set me up for an upward trajectory in life. It's through this school that I became interested in educational change and I finally had something I could engage with intellectually. Through the connections I made through the High Tech High network, I'd end up meeting people in the educational field who aligned with my goals, find teachers who cared about who I was and who’d become close mentors to me, and I’d go on to make friendships that would last long after graduation.

Naturally, I became a student ambassador which mostly involved taking educators, who were new to project-based learning, on tours around our school so they could see first-hand what it looked like in practice. When I led tours, I didn’t just talk about the pedagogical theories and ideals but I gave my first-hand reflections and analysis of what worked and what didn’t as a student going through who had lots of things to say about school. As an extension of that role, I volunteered over spring break at the annual Deeper Learning conference that gathered over 1000 educators for a 3-day event with workshops, Deep Dives, keynote speeches and other offerings. It was an opportunity to meet people exploring the future of what education could be and it wasn't just about building my professional network or hearing new ideas being brought into the classroom—it was about how this community legitimized my conviction that the traditional paradigm needed changing and it gave me a vehicle to channel my dissatisfaction with the status quo into value. Suddenly, the thought of reshaping education wasn't just some far-fetched dream, it was something I could actually contribute to.

At my first Deeper Learning conference in 2023, I met Ron Berger as I assisted him with his Dive into Disco Deep Dive. Later he would become a mentor of sorts as we collaborated further in Japan, and although Ron is known for being the author of An Ethic of Excellence, a book that laid the founding principles of project-based learning, he's also an avid disco fan and has been teaching it to grade school students for decades. In his Deep Dive, we explored Disco's significance as not just a one-off dance movement, but as a cultural revolution where marginalized communities found spaces to celebrate their diverse identities. The session crackled with energy especially since people were eager to reconnect post-pandemic, and after analyzing primary sources and drawing parallels between the social upheaval of Demolition Night with contemporary trends, it culminated with a disco dance party as we invited all of the people around us to boogie with us and feel alive in that moment.

Ron Berger’s book would end up being translated into Japanese by my mom and distributed to educators in Japan, many of whom resonated deeply with the message. After I returned to DL24 the following year to host my own workshop about practices to nurture connection in the classroom, I learned that there were talks about bringing Deeper Learning to Japan for the first time and that I might have the opportunity to play a role in it.

Much of my frustration with education began in American middle school and I'd only experienced Japanese education as an elementary schooler, but I knew that the traditional paradigm of textbooks and exams were pervasive across Japan which made me wonder what educational change might look like in that context. But as whispers turned into formal plans, I realized this might open doors to a new realm of possibility.

The inaugural Deeper Learning Japan was organized by Kana Ashida, a former HTH GSE graduate, Sato Fujiwara, Oka Yuka, and Etsuko Tsukagoshi. Tomotake, a former 10th-grade theater teacher at HTHM, emceed with Kana and in collaboration with Hanako Fujiwara, professional calligrapher Charlotte Suzanne Tournet, DJ Midori specializing in Hawaiian reggae, and Ron Berger as keynote speaker, we were the dream team that organized two conferences in Tokyo and Kyoto gathering 150 educators from across Japan to explore the theme of beautiful work, why prioritizing the creation of quality work within school will serve society in the long-run. In the bustling heart of Tokyo, we secured a fitting venue called the University of Creativity where the very architecture of the space felt inspiring.

Even in Japan where educational systems face immense pressure to conform to high standards, I witnessed a powerful force embodied in the people there. They, like me, carried a strong desire to reshape education for the next generation and in the middle of the conference, there was a moment where I felt at ease knowing that good things are happening in a place I consider home and that I was just one of many working to shape a brighter future for tomorrow.

The Deeper Learning community will forever hold a special place in my heart. Some might describe it as just a conference, or a set of competencies, or a philosophy, or maybe just a feeling. But for me, Deeper Learning is about the people dedicated to reimagining education and who acknowledge that the way we raise our children is perhaps the single most important thing we should strive to get right. These conferences are places when people doing hard work in distant places can laugh together, open up about their challenges, and remind each other they're not alone. With the next Deeper Learning Japan scheduled for January of 2026 and knowing that there's plenty of initiatives ongoing all across the world, it gives me hope that we are building something that will outlast us, and I am committed to carrying that vision forward wherever I go.