We Connect Teenagers to
the World’s Most Creative Minds
Passionate innovators, world-renowned entrepreneurs, artists,
indigenous leaders, and more.
Learn with a diverse group of expert guides.
- Comedian・Naomi Watanabe
- Environmentalist・Rajendra Singh
- Firefighter・Jim Casey
- Drag Queen・Panjina Heals
- Filmmaker・Rocce Soderlund
- Animal Photographer・France Lanting
- Robot Developer・Kaname Hayashi
- Fashion Designer・Mindy Scheer
- Photographer・Jackie Kenny
- Photographer・Ori Givati
- Ex-soldier・James Sharman
- Chef・Shabana Basij-Rasa
- School Founder・Pepe Villatoro
- Failure Researcher・Emmanuel Mancura
- Scientist・Issa Miheno
- Entrepreneur・Gina Park
- UN Official・Naoko Takahashi
- TV personality・Jun Tamura London (London Boots No. 1 and No. 2)
- Architect・Kengo Kuma
- Musician・Yojiro Noda (RADWIMPS)
- Fisherman and Writer・Naoko Miura
- Taiwan IT Minister・Audrey Tan
- Film director・Yuka Eda
- Internist・Yusuke Suzuki
- Cardboard Artist・Fuyuki Shimazu
- Rapper・Akko Gorilla
- Television Director・Ryohei Kamide (TV Tokyo)
- Voice Actor・Yuki Kaji
- Social Entrepreneur・Toshiki Abe (Representative of Board of Directors at Riddilava)
- Food Essayist・Sakiko Hirano
- Creative Director・Yu Miura (Shiseido)
- Flower Creator・Emi Shinozaki (edenworks)
- Entrepreneur・Toshiyuki Niino (Representative Director of EXIT Corporation)
- Motekaker・Yukos
- Hotel Producer・Shoko Tatsuzaki (Representative of L&G Global Business, Inc.)
- Poet・Shuntaro Tanikawa
- Artist・Toru Matsushita (SIDE CORE)
- Creative Director・Aisako Tsuji (CEO of arca, Inc.)
Inspire High Features
- Connect with the World
- We offer experiences that expose students to diverse perspectives, values, work, social issues, and ways of life. These are shared by our inspiring adult guides handpicked from all around the world. Access their authentic lessons from anywhere, anytime.
- Explore and Learn
- We leverage education technology to equip students with the skills required to succeed in the 21st century – such as the ability to empathize, think critically, ask questions, and express ideas freely and eloquently.
- Easy to Use
- Our platform is designed to integrate seamlessly into any classroom, with minimum effort from teachers. The Inspire High app comes with easy-to-use feedback and evaluation features, as well as tips on how to facilitate a classroom.
Scenes of Effective Use
- Inquiry-based Learning
- Inspire High’s program leads with questions and explorations, and has been designed to enhance students’ non-cognitive abilities. It can be adapted flexibly to each classroom to meet the unique needs of the students.
- Lessons on Life
- Our diverse, handpicked guides expose students to their unique perspectives and life stories, and encourages them to embark on a journey of living a truly fulfilling life.
- Foreign Language Learning
- Our guides deliver their sessions in English, but you can turn on subtitles in Japanese, adjust the playback speed, and make other modifications to maximize your Japanese/English learning.
- Themed sessions
- Our sessions invite students to investigate various fundamental questions, such as “why do conflicts never end?”, “how can we contribute to positive social change?”, “what is the purpose of education?”, and more.
Ideal Inspire High Class Structure (for a 50-minute class)
An interactive experience, ready with textbooks that promote deeper thinking & learning.
We provide an interactive and connected learning experience with a user-friendly interface, praised for its intuitive design.
Textbooks are available to promote deeper student learning and to support teachers.
Voices of Teachers and Students
- Director of Toda City Board of Education
- Tsutomu Togasaki
Toda City has undertaken various educational reforms in order to break away from "stereotypical answers," "group harmony," and a self-serving mentality that is common in public education. In order for schools to transform from a place of "solution seeking" to a creative and exciting place of "solution creating", an inquiry-based program like Inspire High, based on real life stories, is needed now more than ever.
- Assistant Principal of Nitobe Bunka Junior & Senior High School
- Takao Yamamoto
When a teacher’s language changes from emotional and vague phases such as "everyone please get along" to competency-based language such as "dialogue" and "emotional control", it helps students develop the ability to resolve conflicts autonomously. Inspire High’s videos are a great way to learn about the importance of competencies needed in the future through the words of adults who have real-life experience.
- High School Student, Kochi, Japan
By participating in each session, I was able to learn about other people’s perspective on life, their philosophy and their viewpoint on different topics. I realized that my world was full of interesting "unknowns".
- Kyoto, Japan, High School Student
I used to only say things based on what I could find on the internet, but listening to opinions that were based on actual experiences at Inspire High has broadened my perspective on problem solving.
Impressions after the Inspire High Session
- Do you think Inspire High will help you figure out your future and learn more about your values?
- Do you think we should continue to use Inspire High in your classroom?
Results of a survey of students who experienced Inspire High in their
classes
(April-June 2021 / Respondents: 3,487 students from 26 schools from 5th
grade to 3rd grade high school)
*1 A. Helpful (38.4%), B. Somewhat helpful (49.7%), C. Not very helpful
(8.6%), and D. Not helpful (3.3%). For the calculation of "YES", response
A and B were summed.
*2: A. Yes, I prefer to have it. (35.3%), B. If I had a choice, I would
prefer to have it. (49.8%), C. Would prefer not to have it. (10.7%), and
D. Would prefer not to have it. (4.1%). For the calculation of "YES",
response A and B were summed.
“I want to know more,
but I don't know how!”
This is a comment made by a teenager who attended an Inspire High
session.
What Inspire High wants to deliver can be summed up in one phrase: “to
enlighten students to a world they never knew about, ignite their
curiosity and inspire them to want to learn and know more!”
We are all aware of the unpredictable future that awaits us, such as the
development of AI and the end of the lifetime employment system.
Unfortunately, however, there is no correct answer that says, “If you do
this, you won’t face any problems,” or “As long as you have this skill,
your future will be guaranteed.”
What I think may be true is that it is better to stay optimistic about
the future than to fear it, or be enthusiastic about something that may
lead to a wonderful future.
Inspire High’s programs for schools are designed to provide students
with the opportunity to learn about the fascination and richness of the
world from diverse guides they would not normally come into contact
with, to extract the creativity that lies dormant in all of us, and to
engage in dialogue with other students from around the world.
We have created this site with the hope that we can provide as much
support as possible to the teachers who are trying to inspire their
students for a better future.
Please reach out to us at:
info-en@inspirehigh.com
Introduction
Goal: understand the purpose of the sessions and learn some basic things about the guide
Role of the facilitator: making sure the students are aware of the the theme, purpose, and guide of the session.
Guide Talk
Goal: to learn about the life and work of the guide through a pre-recorded video interview
Role of the facilitator: encouraging the students to listen as closely as possible to the guide.
Output
Goal: For the students to think individually and express their thoughts in response to a question posed by the guide.
Role of the facilitator: To support struggling students with additional prompts and words of encouragement.
Feedback
Goal: To foster horizontal learning through students sharing their comments and opinions to works created by other students.
Role of the facilitator: To support struggling students with additional prompts and words of encouragement.
Reflection
Time to reflect on the session and think about how you may apply what you learned in your future.
Role of the facilitator: To record, share and summarize the main takeaways from the session.