小・中学校における⻑期欠席者のうち、不登校児童生徒数は 196127 人(前年度 181272人)であり、児童生徒 1000 人当たりの不登校児童生徒数は 20.5 人(前年度 18.8 人)である。不登校児童生徒数は8年連続で増加し、過去最多となっている。

参考:R2 児童生徒の問題行動・不登校等生徒指導上の諸課題に関する調査結果の概要(mext.go.jp)(2023/08/28 参照)

また生活保護世帯に属する子どもの大学など進学率は 39.9%、児童養護施設の子どもの進学率(高等学校卒業後)は 33.0%、全体の大学進学率(短大含む)は 58.9%となっている。

参考:令和3年度学校基本調査(確定値)報道発表資料 (mext.go.jp) 令和3年度子供の貧困の状況と子供の貧困対策の実施の状況 (cao.go.jp)(2023/08/28 参照)

経済的な問題やいじめなど人間関係の問題から教育の機会を失う子どもたちがいる。その他にも学校の授業についていけなくなった子どもたちがいる。
では、スマートフォンさえあればいつでも無料で授業を受けられる環境が整っていたらどうだろう。YouTube は塾や学校に次ぐ学びの場にはならないか。
そんな思いから教育 YouTuber 葉一さんのチャンネル「とある男が授業をしてみた」は生まれた。

 

YouTube というプラットフォームを発見するまで

─教員嫌いが教育に携わりたいと思うまで
現在は教育 YouTuber として活躍される葉一さんだが元々は教師嫌いだったと言う。中学生の時いじめにあい当時の先生が相談に乗るどころかクラス全体の前で体形をいじってきたことがあり教師全体を斜に構えていた。
しかし高校に入学し、とある先生との出会いで考えが大きく変わる。その先生に関して「恩師に高校時代のことを聞いてきました」というタイトルで動画を出してもいる。その動画の中で葉一さんはこう語る。「すごいなって思ったんです。先生一人の存在でここまで自分が変わるんだって」
その後、教員を目指した葉一さんだが教育実習の時に教員の多忙さ、生徒のメンタル面でのサポートをする余裕の無さを感じた。また教育に携わるとしても一度教職以外の仕事を経験したいと営業職に就く。その後塾講師として働き始めると塾の月謝が予想以上に高く驚いたそうだ。家庭の経済事情により子どもの教育の選択肢が制限されているのが実情だった。そして子どもが無料で学ぶことのできる場を、と思いついたのが YouTube だった。

─どうして制度改革に携わろうとは思わなかったのか
経済状況による格差やいじめ問題を改善するなら政治家などとして制度改革を行うのでもよかったのではないか。私が問うと即座にこんな答えが返ってきた。
「制度改革って時間がかかるじゃないですか。もっとフットワーク軽く、自分がダイレクトにやりたかった」
動画の中でも葉一さんは「裏方」という言葉をよく使う。輝くのは子どもたちであって、自分はあくまで子どもたちを支える側という意味だ。
YouTuber は時にきらびやかな仕事と思われがちだが、彼の発信からはそばで寄り添おうという姿勢が感じられるように思う。そんな姿勢が改めて見えた、迷いのない返事だった。

 

「答えは見つかっていないですね」

─「狭すぎても違うんだよね。マスになりすぎても違うんだよね」
葉一さんの活動は 2012 年に始まり、今年で 11 年目となる。当初はバッシングも多かったというが、今では 193 万人もの登録者がいる。それでも活動をするうえで悩みがなくなったわけではないようだ。
「YouTube ってマスメディア化してきているじゃないですか」と語る葉一さん。確かにYouTube の全世代における利用率は 85%を超えている。

参考:令和2年度情報通信メディアの利用時間と情報行動に関する調査報告書(総務省情報通信政策研究所)(soumu.go.jp)(2023/08/28 参照)

しかしながら葉一さんの活動のきっかけは「目の前にいる、悩んでいる子とか苦しんでいる子たちを、それが少ない人数だとしても支えられたらいいな」という思いだ。
「自分の活動は YouTube から始まったしそこで救える子もいるから」と YouTube を続ける意思は示しつつも他の活動場所も模索しているようだ。実際に Voicy やツイキャスなど少ないコミュニティでの活動も行い、100 人から 200 人規模を対象にする講演会にも力を注いでいる。だが、明確にこれだと思うものには出会えていないとのこと。今のところは「答えは見つかっていない」「(YouTube と他の活動を」並走する」と、少しはにかんだ笑みを浮かべた。

─意図しない誤情報を程度によっては容認することも含め「情報の真偽を見極める力」
葉一さんは営業職の頃車内でよくラジオを聞いていたこともあり自身のチャンネルでも定期的にだらだラジオという音声だけの動画を投稿している。そのラジオの「子どもたちに必要な力は何だと思いますか?」と題した回で「情報の真偽を見極める力」をあげている。
この力について今回もう少し深く聞いてみた。具体的に言えば、ミスインフォメーション(発信者の意図しない誤情報)についてだ。
SNS が普及した今「マジョリティが強く出過ぎる」と言及したうえで過剰に責めず、程度によっては容認する姿勢も含め「真偽を見極める力」なのではないだろうかという答えが返ってきた。
そこで多数派の意見が強くなり過剰に人を責めたり少数派の意見が埋もれたりする風潮をどうしたら改善できると思うか続けて聞いてみた。すると完全にこうした風潮はなくなることはないかもしれないと真剣な表情で述べたうえで、自分の発信を受け取ってくれた子たちだけでも変わっていってくれたらいいと少し目元を和らげた。柔らかさの中に確かな芯を感じさせるような眼差しだった。

─『無料なのに』と『無料だから』
「無料なのに『こんなクオリティーのものが見れるの』という衝撃を与える」と「無料だから、ちょっと仕方ないよね」。この2つの考え方が活動を継続するコツだと言う。
授業に正解はないから 100 点は求めない。そうするとつぶれてしまう。自分の機嫌を自分で取るために作った、大事なマイルールとのこと。
これはだらだラジオの「自分に期待しない」と題した回でも話されていたことだ。サムネイルには「継続のコツ」という言葉が黑の背景に白で描かれている。
この動画には、勉強が思うように進まず落ち込んでいたがこの動画を見て気持ちが落ち着いたというコメントが複数寄せられていた。継続できないと自己嫌悪に陥った子どもたちに、動画を通して葉一さんの考えが届き1つのヒントになったのではないだろうか。

 

思いの届け方

─横のつながりが大事
子どもの悩みや学校問題に関心のない人に関心を持ってもらうには縦よりも横のつながりが大事だと言う。
子どもが対象ならひとまず学校問題に関するワークなどをやってみる。そこで興味を持ってくれるのは少数かもしれない。だが子どもにとって友人の影響は大きい。1人が興味を持てばその友人も興味を持ってくれるかもしれない。そうして興味、関心の輪が広がっていくことが期待できる。
一方、親が対象の場合関心を持ってもらうのはやや難しいかもしれない。仕事で忙しく他人のことを気遣う余裕が失われていることもあるだろう。あるいは今までの人生の中で価値観がある程度形成されていることもあるだろう。「価値観を変えることは過去の自分への批判となる」と葉一さんは指摘した。だがやはり横のつながりに注目し、ママ友などからの影響を受けることはあるのではないかとのことだった。

─「自分の身内くらいプレゼンで説得しよう」
ここまでは横のつながりに焦点を当てて話を進めたが子どもから親に何か伝えたいことがあることも多いだろう。その時子どもが意識したら良いことはあるかと聞くと、葉一さんの口から出てきたのが「自分の身内くらいプレゼンで説得しよう」という言葉だった。
家族というのは特別だ。他人より近い。だがその近さが時に厄介だ。意見が食い違った時に感情的になってしまうことがある。だからこそ感情でぶつからずに理屈で説得する意識が大切なのだ。

 

教育の主役は子ども

─『大人がどうするか』ではなく『子どもがどう感じるか』
子育ての話となるとつい親が子どもをどう育てるかと親が主役の話になってしまいがちだ。だが、葉一さんは教育の主役は子どもだと述べる。
まずは子どもが何に興味、関心を持っているか知ること。そして子どもが興味を示したことに対して一緒に調べる姿勢が大切だと言う。子ども1人では専門家の話にアクセスすることは難しい。だが親がサポートすれば、子どもは関心のある分野についてより知識を深めることができるだろう。
親からのそうしたサポートがあれば子どもはのびやかに自分の興味、関心を広く深く掘り下げることができるはずだ。

─1本化しないこと
子どもの好きなことがずっと同じものとは限らない。「好き」が変わることもあるだろう。その時に親が子どもの「好き」を1本化しないことが大切だと言う。
興味、関心が変わったらその都度それに寄り添うこと。興味、関心が変わっても良いと伝えること。
この2点をご自身も意識されているそうだ。「子どもは親の顔色をうかがってしまう」と述べ、息子さんに「習い事がつまらなくなったらすぐ言って」と日頃から声掛けされていることを教えてくれた。

─親がモデルケースになる
もし子どもが自分の「好き」を見つけられなかった時はどうしたらいいのだろうか。あれをやれ、これをやれと親が子どもに過干渉をするのではなく「親がモデルケースになる」ことを葉一さんは提案する。親自身が自分の「好き」に敏感であれば子どもも自然とアンテナを張っていつか「好き」を見つけることができるかもしれない。

今回の取材は zoom で行った。その取材の最後、葉一さんがこんな言葉をかけてくれた。
「いつか実際に会おうね」。
今回の記事を通して葉一さんの、『教育 YouTuber』という言葉からはみ出る部分が読者に伝われば幸いだ。

【プロフィール】
葉一(はいち)。1985 年福岡県生まれ。東京学芸大学卒業後、教材会社の営業職、塾講師を経て独立。登録者 193 万人を誇る YouTube チャンネルとある男が授業をしてみた -YouTubeを運営。

「人が輝いていくのを支えていたい」(葉一さんインタビュー)

教育YouTuberとして活躍されている葉一さんの、教育YouTuberから溢れる部分。親や人として日々迷い悩みながら選択されている様子が親世代に伝わるように文章による表現を選びました。

• ▶︎表現形式:文章のみ

• ▶︎想定される受け手：子育てをしている人たち

▶︎制作：月橋さやか

 

---

• こちらは、

D4Pメディア発信者集中講座2023

• の参加者課題作品です。全国各地から参加した若者世代（18～25歳）に講座の締めくくりとして、自身の気になるテーマについて、それを他者に伝える作品を提出していただきました。

 

 

“I want to support others from behind the scenes” (interview with Haichi)
By Tukihashi Sayaka

According to the MEXT official website, across all elementary and junior high school students, 196,127 (181,272 one year before the research) do not attend. This makes 20.5 students per 1000 students (18.8 in one year before). The number of students who don’t continue to university increased for the eighth consecutive year, reaching an all-time high.

Some say school refusal is a matter of emotions or laziness. However, in most cases, there are some deeper reasons behind it such as financial struggle, bullying or some other issues. If nothing else, we can observe the gap in the rate of students going to universities based on a student’s environment in a report from NHK News. Nationwide, the percentage of students going on to attend university is 58.9%. In contrast, the rate for students in households offered public assistance is 39.9%, and the rate for students in children’s homes is just 33.9%.
What if students in such situations can take education online as an alternative? What if the classroom could be transported into their hands? Haichi, who runs the
YouTube channel “Toaruotokogajugyouwoshitemita”, whose name literally translates to “A man who tried teaching a class”, has made it a reality. His channel delivers quality education content to students for whom school is not a comfortable place through the accessibility of YouTube.

Before realizing YouTube can be an educational space

As a person who used to hate teachers

Haichi now actively engages in education, but he once hated teachers. The reason lies in his junior high school days, when Haichi was bullied. His teacher was supposed to help him. Rather, Haichi’s teacher made fun of him in front of his class about his body shape.
Haichi experienced a turning point in his life thanks to a teacher he met during his time at high school. This teacher genuinely supported him, both as a math teacher and as an emotional supporter. He created a video about this teacher, titled “I interviewed my former teacher”. In that video, he said “ I was truly amazed. I never knew just one teacher’s presence could change me this much.” Ever since his encounter with this teacher, Haichi aspired to become a teacher as well.
However, Haichi ended up reaching a conclusion; becoming a schoolteacher is not
what he wants to do. First, Haichi noticed that what he most wanted cannot be achieved as a teacher in the classroom while experiencing teaching practicum. He felt that teachers were so busy as it is that there seemed to be no time to care about students’ mental health. Secondly, he had one concern which made him hesitate to become a schoolteacher. He felt like he needed to know the world outside of educational institutions, and dove into other industries. At first, he took a sales position and worked in cram schools. Looking back on that, he said teaching in cram schools was surprisingly more lucrative than expected. This helped him realize that financial situations are strongly tied to educational opportunities. After all of these experiences, the idea to make educational videos on YouTube came up in his mind.

Why Haichi didn’t consider changing the education system itself

As an interviewer, I wondered why he didn’t engage in changing the overall educational system. If his focus was on economic inequality and bullying and other issues surrounding children, he could have taken a more classic career path. He can take a “privileged” position such as a politician and work on reforming the education system. To my question, he quickly answered like this.
“Changing systems takes time, doesn’t it? It is not my thing. I want to be more hands-on and able to take action quickly”
Haichi always pays attention to children, and not himself. Indeed, he uses the words “behind the stage” more often than not in his videos. The ones who stand on stage and get a round of applause should be children, not adults.
This idea is impressive no matter who says it. But it was especially impressive given that he is a YouTuber, an occupation that sounds quite often like a job for those seeking attention toward themselves. However, he started his career with a pure genuine will to help children, and still continues to do so.

“I haven’t found the best balance for me”

“Not niche, not mass”

Based on his genuine supportive purpose, he has suffered to find the best balance as a famous YouTuber. He is now widely recognized and accepted by many people, but this was not always the case. Haichi used to receive a lot of hate in the early days of his YouTube career. In 2012 when he started to make content on YouTube, he had no followers and received a lot of critiques and malicious comments. Over the past 11 years, Haichi has gained 1.9M subscribers as of the day my interview with him. His comment section is now filled with grace and appreciation. He has received wide recognition, but also mentioned “YouTube itself has become mass media.” Indeed, the
usage ratio of YouTube across all generations is over 85% according to a report from MIC.
Haichi seems to have found nothing but success, but he questions his role since the purpose of his activity is to support children unwaveringly. Ha YouTuber since he wants to “help children suffering and carrying emotional burden, who are in my sight. The number doesn’t matter.” He sometimes feels like YouTube is not fitting for what he wants to do. This doesn’t necessarily mean he is thinking about quitting YouTube since “my journey started on the platform and I have children I can help there.” That being said, Haichi has tried to find spaces in addition to YouTube where he can reach children in a different way. Every once in a while, he creates content on Voicy, Tsuikyasu (TwitCasting), and other relatively smaller platforms. Also, he holds seminars for 100-200 people more frequently. Nevertheless, he is still in the phase of finding his own answer. When I asked about this, he just smiled and gave me an honest answer:“so far, I haven’t found my own answer. I just try a lot of things besides YouTube”.

What is media literacy?

As one of the activities he has done besides YouTube, Haichi has created content for his podcast “Darada Radio”, a play on words of ”Daradara” which is an onomatopoea that captures a sense of lazing around. This name was inspired by the
radio he would listen to in the car while working in his sales position. Once during the podcast, he talked about his own definition of media literacy. He says it is a skill that children should possess in the current world. I asked him to elaborate a little more about this, especially on his idea regarding misinformation. He feels like misinformation tends to be blamed more seriously than necessary because it is easy to blame someone who provides wrong information. Whether it is intentional or not can be easily overlooked. Through echo chambers, such as with the rise of social media, certain types of information spreads quickly and are considered true without being questioned. However, we should pay attention to the intention behind the information, not only the information itself. Misinformation should be reduced, but it should be differentiated from disinformation.
How can we deal with this tendency that minorities’ voices are easily buried? Haichi was realistic when it came to this point. He sharply said that it is next to impossible to eradicate this tendency. However, he is not overly pessimistic. He says, “I hope the children who watch my videos change their mindset. It is not a big number but still it is worthful.” Haichi smiled softly, but I could see his unshakable mindset behind his soft smile. He always cares about children in front of him, fully believing in them.

“Even though they are free” and “Because they are free”

To consistently create content, Haichi has two ideas which are superficially contradictory but compatible. One idea is to try and surprise viewers with high-quality videos even though they are free. The other is to not aim to be a perfectionist in his content because they are free.After all, he decided to make a promise with himself to do his best to maintain a good balance with these two ideas. Haichi has a perfectionist tendency, and it is often hard on him mentally when trying to create the “perfect class.” He maintains his mental health by reminding himself that a “perfect class” doesn’t exist, telling himself to “Just create a better class,” not necessarily perfect, but better.
This idea is widely spread and accepted by his viewers, helping not only Haichi himself but also his followers. When his viewers suffer from self-destructive thoughts such as thinking of themselves as lazy, applying Haichi’s mindset might help them acknowledge their own efforts so far and get back on the right track. He introduced this rule in the video titled “Don’t impose too much exception on yourself”. One viewer left a comment on this video saying, “I was really depressed at myself but this video helps me settle down.”

How to deliver your voice

Peer to Peer connections

Not everyone pays attention to problems in school and other children’s environments. How can we get more people to be engaged in these issues? Haichi points out the importance of the influence of peer-to-peer connections, and not top-down connections. Opinions from peers can be more influential than ones from different groups since similar positions can show empathy for the same problem, difficulty, and joy to some extent. It implies a mutual understanding, and it can make their voices convincing and relatable. For example, children are easily affected by other children, and parents are easily affected by other parents. In children’s cases, bullying and other issues can be taught in classrooms. However, not every student is interested in these issues just by doing so. However, one student interested in such topics can influence others. One step can amount to a huge change. In parents’ cases, it is more complicated than just changing children’s minds; adults have concrete values, whereas children do not. Grown-ups have many responsibilities, and might lose capacity in their daily life for caring about others. Also, their values might be tied to their lived experiences. “Changing someone’s values without deep consideration can be equal to denying their past-self”, Haichi said. It doesn’t mean an adult’s values never change. Compared to the younger generation, changing their mind is more difficult, but still worth trying with the influence of the same generation.

“Convince your own parents”

I have previously mentioned the impact of the same generation, but is there anything we can do about conflicts of opinion(s) between parents and children? Haichi advised children to convince their own parents, specifically choosing the word “presentation” here. This word illustrates convincing reasonably, not emotionally. This is critical since family is a unique relationship, much closer than others. However, this closeness tends to lead to emotional conflicts. In these situations, we must be especially careful not to be driven by emotion.
I want to add my personal opinion. Of course, most cases, talking with your parents genuinely does matter but there are some parents who never listen to their children unfortunately. In that case, children might have to cut their losses and consider giving up being understood by their parents.

Education should be for children

Not how parents raise children, but what children themselves want

When I watch content on education, those in the video are inclined to talk about how parents raise their children based on what they want their children to be. However, education should be about children according to Haichi. What parents should
concern themselves with first is what their children themselves want to be, not what they want their children to be. To do that, parents must understand their children’s curiosities, try to have interest with them, and help them deepen ideas and knowledge in the fields they are interested in. From subtle moments in daily life such as what kind of books they like, parents can pick up on their children’s interests. Next, they must get curious about what their children are curious about. In this process, parents might find experts and other opportunities to help their children’s curiosity grow. Lastly, parents can set up situations to help their children access such resources.

Not consolidating into one

Some parents try to consolidate their children’s interests into one. However, it might not be a good idea since their interests can change later. If they narrow down their interest into only one, it becomes difficult to shift their focus. It is important to tell children that they can change their interests, and that it is normal. Otherwise, children might worry about how their parents feel about their change in interests. This concern can hinder children from following their passions. This is what Haichi himself does as a father. He always says, “when you find lessons and other extra activities boring, let me know.”

Parents as a good example

If children cannot find something they can be passionate about, what can parents do? Parents shouldn’t suggest this and that. Children might find it overbearing and feel like they are imposed to pick up something among their parents’ suggestions. Instead, parents can be a good role-model. Parents themselves can demonstrate the to their children, because children naturally mimic their mindset.
This interview was held online. At the end of the zoom meeting, he said “See you in person sometime”. Haichi engages in education on online platforms but tries to do new things. He holds events in person. He thinks about what he has to do as a father. He has built a successful career, but he is still on his way, looking for something better.