The Possibility of Dialogue Expanding from a Small Island

The sea separating Ishigaki Island and Kohama Island. On calm days, it offers a beautiful view; depending on the weather, however, it can have a major impact on island life and school operations. Photo taken from the Ishigaki Island side.

Introduction

Kohama Island is part of the Yaeyama Islands in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Surrounded by beautiful seas and shaped by its own rich culture, the island is home to Kohama Elementary and Junior High School, part of the Taketomi Town school system. Here, an inspiring educational practice is taking place through the use of LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®, a dialogue-based method that uses LEGO® bricks as a tool for thinking, expression, and communication.

Leading this initiative is Aya Jiroku, a teacher at the school and a trained LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® facilitator. Ms. Jiroku had already introduced the method into her classes at her previous school, Ishigaki Elementary School, where she explored how LSP could help bring out children’s thinking and expressive abilities.

During a special lesson at Ishigaki Elementary School, students were invited to use LEGO® bricks to build “the shop they would like to open.” They then discussed where on the island their shop should be located, and why. The children engaged in lively conversations, offering surprisingly mature perspectives on local revitalization. One student, for example, suggested opening a shop in a place where few people usually go, precisely in order to attract more visitors there.

Behind this kind of dialogue lies the concrete power of the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method.

Now that the setting has moved to Kohama Island, what kind of changes is LSP bringing to children and to the school community? Through an interview with Ms. Jiroku, we explore the real challenges of education on a remote island, and the future possibilities that can emerge through dialogue.

1. From Ishigaki Island to Kohama Island: A new environment and the tension of living close to nature

Moving from the lively Ishigaki Elementary School, with around 300 pupils, to Kohama Elementary and Junior High School, a combined elementary and junior high school with around 60 students in total, represented a major change in educational environment.

Because the community is smaller, teachers can observe each child’s expressions, feelings, and subtle changes much more closely. The physical and emotional distance between the school, parents, and local residents is also very small. There is a warmth in the way the whole island watches over its children, almost like one extended family.

This sense of “relationships where every face is known” forms one of the strongest foundations of education on Kohama Island.

At the same time, teaching on Kohama Island also means constantly living alongside the severity of nature. Like Ms. Jiroku, some teachers have their homes on Ishigaki Island and commute to Kohama Island by boat every day. As a result, rough seas or cancelled ferry services caused by bad weather can have a significant impact on school operations.

If the weather suddenly worsens during the school day and the boats stop running, teachers may not be able to return to their homes on Ishigaki Island that same day. As Ms. Jiroku explains in the interview, there are times when teachers may have to “stay over there, on Kohama Island, for two nights or so.” In some cases, they may be stranded for several days.

If ferry cancellations continue, teachers from Ishigaki Island may not be able to reach Kohama Island at all. The school then has to find a way to run classes for all grades with only the limited number of teachers currently on the island.

Even if lessons are running normally today, no one can fully predict what the weather will bring in the near future. The management of Kohama Elementary and Junior High School is therefore always shaped by a particular kind of tension — one that is unique to education on a remote island.

2. The challenge children face today: difficulty putting thoughts and emotions into words

In nearly 20 years of working in education, Ms. Jiroku has noticed a change in children in recent years. She sees a decline in their ability to put things into words, and with it, an underdevelopment in their ability to regulate emotions and express what they feel verbally.

“More and more children are unable to put feelings such as frustration or sadness into words. When trouble occurs, they cannot explain what upset them or what they would like others to do. Instead, we often see situations where they can only communicate by crying and shouting, ‘Hey!’ in anger.”

Behind this lies a broader change in the environment surrounding children.

In the past, island communities offered many opportunities for children of different ages to gather, play together, and grow through natural interaction. These vertical connections — play and learning across age groups — gave children many chances to negotiate, express themselves, and learn from one another.

Today, however, such opportunities have decreased. Instead, children are more often surrounded by adults. Before a child can express something, nearby adults may step in and interpret the situation for them: “This is what you mean, right?” or “You didn’t like this, did you?” They anticipate and speak on the child’s behalf.

As a result, children lose important opportunities to think for themselves and express their feelings in their own words.

3. LEGO® bricks as a “translator of the heart”

For children carrying thoughts and feelings that have not yet become words, LSP can be highly effective.

One day at school, a child’s emotions suddenly erupted, and the child began crying and shouting. Once the child had calmed down a little, Ms. Jiroku gently said, “Why don’t you try building your ‘frustration character’ with bricks?”

The child refused to explain verbally. But as soon as the bricks were in their hands, they quietly began building.

When Ms. Jiroku asked about the completed model, the child began to speak through it: “This part is like this, and this part is exploding.” Through the model, the child described the storm taking place inside their heart in a surprisingly expressive way. Ms. Jiroku was then able to respond, “I see. So this is how your frustration felt.”

Even children who are usually quiet in the classroom and rarely assert themselves can change visibly when they start working with LEGO® bricks. They become absorbed in building, and feelings that had been hidden deep inside begin to come to the surface. Suddenly, they start saying, “Look, look!” and begin to speak on their own initiative.

In LSP, enough time is given to making with the hands before speaking. This means that even children with a limited vocabulary can express their inner world through the model they have built, without feeling strong resistance to verbal communication.

Teachers and adults around them can then look at the model and ask questions such as, “What is this?” or “This part is really interesting.” Through these questions, they can help translate the child’s vague emotions and gradually add words to them.

Because the bricks act as a medium, children are able to look at their emotions from the outside and slowly acquire the words they need to understand and express them.

4. Transforming the school organization: A safe space for dialogue among teachers

The potential of LSP is not limited to children’s learning. Ms. Jiroku also uses LSP in staff training and dialogue sessions within the school, including as an introduction to teachers’ meetings.

In schools, staff meetings and opportunities for exchanging opinions can often feel formal and rigid. Because of hierarchy, roles, and interpersonal dynamics, discussions may remain superficial. The things that truly matter — what teachers really want to protect, or the deeper passion they hold for education — can remain hidden.

When LSP is introduced into dialogue among teachers, however, a significant shift occurs.

Everyone speaks only about the model they have built. Others focus their questions on the model as well. This helps reduce personal defensiveness, emotional confrontation, and the pressure of direct judgment. The LEGO® model acts as a buffer, allowing simple truths and deeper educational visions — the kinds of things that are often difficult to say directly — to emerge with surprising ease.

By learning more deeply what each colleague truly values, teachers gradually strengthen psychological safety in the staff room.

5. Preparing for “leaving the island” at 15: Helping children feel a positive connection to their future

Children growing up on Kohama Island face an unavoidable reality. The island has schools only up to junior high school. As a result, most students leave the island when they graduate at the age of 15 in order to continue on to high school. This moment is known as shimadachi, or “leaving the island.”

Some go to Ishigaki Island, others to the main island of Okinawa, and some even move outside the prefecture. At the sensitive age of 15, they leave their parents’ homes and begin living in dormitories or on their own. They are asked to start standing on their own feet very quickly.

For these children, the end of junior high school is also the end of childhood. It is a moment that demands rapid independence.

That is why Ms. Jiroku wants to help them build a solid foundation while they are still on the island — something that can support them from within.

Many remote islands around the world face a similar question: whether young people will stay on the island, or leave to seek work and opportunities elsewhere. It is a wonderful thing when children who leave the island build careers, pursue goals, and grow in the wider world.

At the same time, what Ms. Jiroku values most is the mindset of those who return to the island, or those who choose to remain.

“I don’t want them to come back with a negative feeling, as if they had no choice but to return because something did not work out. I want them to be able to choose their lives positively and say, ‘I came back because I love this island. This is what I want to do here.’ And even if they leave the island and live far away, I want them to carry a strong sense of identity and pride — the feeling that they are always connected to this island.”

In the future, Ms. Jiroku hopes to use LSP with junior high school students as well, creating opportunities for them to share “the things they love about Kohama Island” and “their vision for what Kohama Island could become in the future.”

Precisely because island education allows teachers to face children slowly and carefully over time, the seeds of dialogue planted through LSP can take deep root in children’s hearts. They may become a source of strength that continues to support them throughout life, even after they leave the island at 15.

Interviewee

Aya Jiroku
Teacher, Kohama Elementary and Junior High School, Taketomi Town
Certified facilitator of the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method and materials

Since her time at Ishigaki Elementary School, Ms. Jiroku has been developing classroom practices using LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®. Today, on Kohama Island, she uses the method to support children in putting their thoughts and emotions into words, to encourage dialogic learning, and to promote dialogue among teaching staff.