On Thursday, we went across the shared courtyard from the attached Junior High School to observe the classes at the attached Elementary School. Like the Junior High, this school is a bit of a testing grounds for new ideas in education. And just like the Junior High, this school seems to have attracted students and teachers of higher than average caliber. Some of my first observations were that the students at this school all wear a school uniform, which is uncommon at such an early age in most of Japan. We were than told by the principal that the teachers at this school - similar to those at the junior high - all have a great deal of experience and a reputation and desire to go the extra mile for their students. This can mean later days, but also the willingness and flexibility to try new approaches to education.
This then brings us to the education of English as a foreign language. When I was an ALT in Wakayama, I remember visiting some of my school's feeder elementary schools. This was done very infrequently, and I didn't know at the time exactly how - if at all - this teaching fit into an overall national plan for English education. On this exchange however, all the teachers and university staff has been very helpful and knowledgable, and has explained that there has been a plan in place for around ten years now to include English education starting in grades 5 and 6. So, in hindsight, my teaching at these feeder elementary schools was quite deliberate, albeit not as complete as it is nowadays. Taken to the most current example, the attached elementary school we visited on Thursday was just plain amazing. Not only did many of the teachers in the school speak English well, and not only did they have an ALT from Canada come the school every Thursday, they also employed an English 'head teacher' and curriculum designer to create all of the year's lesson plans for the elementary generalists. Like Canada, most elementary school teachers in Japan are responsible for teaching all of the core subjects, which now includes English. But - in my opinion, and as stated by a few school representatives - many of the teachers in Japan share a similar discomfort as to how exactly teach a language with which they themselves may only have limited knowledge of, or interest in. I think that the same situation can be observed in Canada's system, when a teacher may personally state a difficult with, or disinterest in one of the assigned disciplines, such as P.E. or math.
In the case of the attached elementary of this HUE campus, one of the most impressive solutions to this dilemma is Kevin, their ALT. Kevin comes once a week to spend one period with each class, and to help support their early English language program. When we visited, he also took some time out of his day to explain exactly how and why he does what he does, and how it connects with the latter junior high curriculum. His goal - or the goal of the overall program - is to attain 35 hours of English per grade per year. What makes this number really interesting to me is that the policy, whether official of simply implied, is that these hours should include little or no writing! For the class we participated in and observed, Kevin wrote almost nothing down on the board, and students were never expected to read or write the English language! Instead, the entire time was designed to practice their listening and speaking skills. The classtime we observed involved introducing some target vocabulary, and then using a game or two to practice it's usage, and to review/assess the students' comprehension. Kevin is also extremely attuned to the climate of the classroom, and infuses his lessons with a ton of energy and sound. He was not only teaching the target vocabulary, but also intonation, body language and a little bit of fun slang. For example, as we introduced ourselves to the students, he insisted that the students respond to each new fact with an UH-HUH (and a head bob!) In an English speaking country like Canada - where Kevin's also from - this is how people communicate on a practical level, so Kevin included it in his lesson.
The net result of this approach according to Kevin was that students build confidence in speaking English, and that they can carry this into junior high school, when they will start to learn about English grammar and more reading based activities. Also, their years of practice with only speaking English and listening to English will hopefully allow them to understanding using the language to communicate and answer real world problems, rather than simply get the correct answer on the test. Much of what is taught later in English education is test-driven, and Kevin said that to some affect this new "no word" policy in elementary English education will help students think more creatively about the language. ( Pictures coming soon!)
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Lost and Found in Translation
I have learned so much so far from our school visits and seminars, but I think I have learned just as much, of not more from my time with my host family. There are many lessons I am still processing, but one has been on my mind a lot. I have been figuring out how to make connections with people despite a language barrier. My host family does not know a lot of English, and I know hardly any Japanese. Apart from the logistical difficulties of trying to communicate, I also worried about how I would create bonds with people that I struggled to have even basic conversation with. I often bond and connect with people over laughter. I grew up in a household where there was always a lot of laughter and teasing and making fun. It is how my siblings and I show affection for one another. My first few attempts at making jokes with my home stay were total flops. I got blank stares, and trust me, after using a pocket translator, Japanese phrasebook and emphatic hand gestures, a joke is pretty much dead. The only laughter the first day was at my pathetic chopstick skills.
The ice between my homestay sister, Hina, and I was broken after a couple days when the four of us were sitting together in the living room. She was getting up off the floor when she accidentally kneed herself in the face. Neither of her parents saw, and once I saw that she was okay, we made eye-contact and both burst out laughing. Her parents had no idea what was going on, which made us laugh even harder. A bond was created in a hilarious instant. Lesson one: physical comedy is pretty much universal.
During my first week, I was fighting off a cold, and my homestay mother bought some cold medicine for me, including this small bottle of liquid I was supposed to drink. I asked what it was, and the three of them struggled for the words to explain it. I wanted to save them the trouble, because I trusted that whatever it was, it would be good for me, so I asked, "Genki juice?" Genki is a Japanese word for health and vitality. My host family thought this was hilarious and it has become a running joke in the house. Hina was tired yesterday after our outing to the zoo, and her mother joked that Hina needed some Genki Juice to revive her. My first attempt at a Japanese/English hybrid joke was a success!!
It has helped our relationship so much that we are trying so hard on both sides. I have been trying to form sentences and use as much Japanese words as I can, and they have been trying so hard to use English. Hina is the strongest speaker, but she is only 9 and I think sometimes it is trying for her to always be the translator. Her parents and some of her friends call her "Super-Helper" and it is so true. It has definitely been a challenging, but rewarding experience. The desire for communication and connection is there on both sides which creates a bond in itself and when we do really connect on something, it feels amazing. One night, we traded well-known sayings, or adages. My favourite on that they shared basically translates as "A journey of 4000 kms begins with one step" I think it is beautiful, and applies to so much of my time here, and my future journey as a teacher.
The ice between my homestay sister, Hina, and I was broken after a couple days when the four of us were sitting together in the living room. She was getting up off the floor when she accidentally kneed herself in the face. Neither of her parents saw, and once I saw that she was okay, we made eye-contact and both burst out laughing. Her parents had no idea what was going on, which made us laugh even harder. A bond was created in a hilarious instant. Lesson one: physical comedy is pretty much universal.
During my first week, I was fighting off a cold, and my homestay mother bought some cold medicine for me, including this small bottle of liquid I was supposed to drink. I asked what it was, and the three of them struggled for the words to explain it. I wanted to save them the trouble, because I trusted that whatever it was, it would be good for me, so I asked, "Genki juice?" Genki is a Japanese word for health and vitality. My host family thought this was hilarious and it has become a running joke in the house. Hina was tired yesterday after our outing to the zoo, and her mother joked that Hina needed some Genki Juice to revive her. My first attempt at a Japanese/English hybrid joke was a success!!
It has helped our relationship so much that we are trying so hard on both sides. I have been trying to form sentences and use as much Japanese words as I can, and they have been trying so hard to use English. Hina is the strongest speaker, but she is only 9 and I think sometimes it is trying for her to always be the translator. Her parents and some of her friends call her "Super-Helper" and it is so true. It has definitely been a challenging, but rewarding experience. The desire for communication and connection is there on both sides which creates a bond in itself and when we do really connect on something, it feels amazing. One night, we traded well-known sayings, or adages. My favourite on that they shared basically translates as "A journey of 4000 kms begins with one step" I think it is beautiful, and applies to so much of my time here, and my future journey as a teacher.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
University Attached Junior High School
This week, we have all been invited to visit, observe and teach at the University of Hokkaido's attached junior high school and elementary school. These two schools are closely related to the work that goes on at the university, making entrance into these schools very competitive. The teachers of these schools are also especially well-trained, and willing to try new techniques of teaching.
Today is Wednesday, and our final day of visiting and teaching at the junior high school. In a de-briefing after our last class, Mrs. Oga mentioned that we should expect to observe a difference in the character or nature of the students in "other" public schools, largely due to the fact that the schools we are at this week have an elite student body as well as some of the more experienced staff in the Ainosato area or Sapporo.
So what did I notice? In general, I would say that I observed teachers practicing inquiry in the classroom, rather than a typical stand and deliver format. For example, we observed a math class - 3rd grade perhaps? - in which students were asked to work in groups to attempt to prove a geometric equation was true. While there are conceivably many different ways to teach such a proof, this math teacher allowed students to come up with varying methods, and to share their different viewpoints with the class. In total, four different student group leaders came up to the board - one at a time - to explain their group's decision, and their mathematic explanation. For most of the time, the teacher remained outside of the discussion, but at times did enter the debate to suggest or to guide the conversation around a particular problem or curiousity in a group's decision.
Only afterward did the teacher summarize everyone's work as having particular strong points, or in fact as having similar solutions. In some cases, students' work involved the same equality of angles or lengths of the given triangle, and these similarities were made clear only at the end of the lesson. In my opinion, this approach fostered a great deal of trust in the students, and they were able to experiment and feel comfortable in the field of geometry to try - and to also accept - various viewpoints in solving a given math problem.
In this example, another extremely interesting event occured. One group came up with a solution that involved mathetic principles that hadn't been taught yet. The teacher commented that while this solution was correct, he couldn't go into further explanation, since the national curriculum of Japan has instructed him - as the teacher - to not teach that particular principle until the fall. He commented quite openly that this was a clear problem with the Japanese education system at large, and that he understood the benefit of pursuing a student's correct - and advanced - understanding of the discipline in real time. After the class, he and I had a great chat about the differences between Canada's and Japan's education models, and I decided to pass on to him the Alberta Program of Studies curriculum guide for K-12 mathetmatics. I just forwarded it on to him today, but I hope to hear something back from him soon. He was very animated and interested in the values behind curriculum development, and was genuinely surprised to hear that - generally speaking - math teachers in Alberta can construct their own timeline for teaching mathematic concepts, and are largely in control of the content itself.
This is in polar opposite to what I have heard about Japan. Our friend and translater Tomoyo said in an aside that the constitution of Japan has mandated that education be uniform in both access and content. While Canada shares the view of access to education for all Canadians, the meaning of "content" clearly has more than one possible interpretation. Tomo also helpfully printed us an English copy of the Japanese constitution as it applies to education. I look forward to reading it... (no pictures just yet! lol)
Today is Wednesday, and our final day of visiting and teaching at the junior high school. In a de-briefing after our last class, Mrs. Oga mentioned that we should expect to observe a difference in the character or nature of the students in "other" public schools, largely due to the fact that the schools we are at this week have an elite student body as well as some of the more experienced staff in the Ainosato area or Sapporo.
So what did I notice? In general, I would say that I observed teachers practicing inquiry in the classroom, rather than a typical stand and deliver format. For example, we observed a math class - 3rd grade perhaps? - in which students were asked to work in groups to attempt to prove a geometric equation was true. While there are conceivably many different ways to teach such a proof, this math teacher allowed students to come up with varying methods, and to share their different viewpoints with the class. In total, four different student group leaders came up to the board - one at a time - to explain their group's decision, and their mathematic explanation. For most of the time, the teacher remained outside of the discussion, but at times did enter the debate to suggest or to guide the conversation around a particular problem or curiousity in a group's decision.
Only afterward did the teacher summarize everyone's work as having particular strong points, or in fact as having similar solutions. In some cases, students' work involved the same equality of angles or lengths of the given triangle, and these similarities were made clear only at the end of the lesson. In my opinion, this approach fostered a great deal of trust in the students, and they were able to experiment and feel comfortable in the field of geometry to try - and to also accept - various viewpoints in solving a given math problem.
In this example, another extremely interesting event occured. One group came up with a solution that involved mathetic principles that hadn't been taught yet. The teacher commented that while this solution was correct, he couldn't go into further explanation, since the national curriculum of Japan has instructed him - as the teacher - to not teach that particular principle until the fall. He commented quite openly that this was a clear problem with the Japanese education system at large, and that he understood the benefit of pursuing a student's correct - and advanced - understanding of the discipline in real time. After the class, he and I had a great chat about the differences between Canada's and Japan's education models, and I decided to pass on to him the Alberta Program of Studies curriculum guide for K-12 mathetmatics. I just forwarded it on to him today, but I hope to hear something back from him soon. He was very animated and interested in the values behind curriculum development, and was genuinely surprised to hear that - generally speaking - math teachers in Alberta can construct their own timeline for teaching mathematic concepts, and are largely in control of the content itself.
This is in polar opposite to what I have heard about Japan. Our friend and translater Tomoyo said in an aside that the constitution of Japan has mandated that education be uniform in both access and content. While Canada shares the view of access to education for all Canadians, the meaning of "content" clearly has more than one possible interpretation. Tomo also helpfully printed us an English copy of the Japanese constitution as it applies to education. I look forward to reading it... (no pictures just yet! lol)
Sunday, May 22, 2011
International Friendship
One unexpected aspect of this experience is getting to meet all the other international students that are taking classes at the Hokkaido University of Education. We actually have met a Linguistics student from the University of Calgary. She was very excited to meet other people from Calgary, after 8 months here in Sapporo. We have also met a couple of people from Alaska, some from Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and some from China. It is a really cool experience for them because they are from all over the world and their common language is Japanese, so they became fluent very quickly. We have also met a lot of Japanese students who are studying English education and are eager to practise their conversation skills with us. All of the students have been so friendly and welcoming to us.One student invited us to a Charity event that she was a performer in called the Meeting of International Friendship. There was live music and a lot of traditional Japanese and Hawaiian dancing. The costumes were so beautiful and it was so interesting to see all of the different types of dancing.
One of my favourite performances was an Indonesian musical performance. They were playing instruments made of bamboo called angklung. It was so cool. 
It is just a multi-cultural love-fest up in here, and I dig it. Hurray for Education!
While it may seem that the main purpose of our blog is to make you extremely jealous of all the adventures we are having, and all of the delicious food we are eating, we also must touch on the educational portion of our time here. After our thought-provoking visit to the elementary school on Tuesday, we had the privelege on Wednesday to discuss the Japanese school system with an expert on the subject, Professor Awano. The four of us shared with him some of our reflections after visiting the school. For example, I was surprised to see a home economics classroom at an elementary school. We all were impressed by the mention of an inquiry-based class that the students have which combines disciplines and allows students to choose the subject of their research. This was exciting to hear about after all of our discussions about inquiry in the MT program.Professor Awano started by sharing with us some of the recommendations for Japanese education from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. One recommendation expressed concern about the highly competitive school environment that exists in Japan. Students have to take entrance exams before being accepted into high school, and even though the birth rate in Japan has been declining, more schools close each year. This puts a tremendous amount of stress on students in Japan. Another recommendation had to do with the increasing number of consultations for ADHD in Japan, which sparked a very engaging conversation between the four of us and Professor Awano about ADHD, learning disabilities and the Alberta system of coding. Japan has separate schools for special needs education (we will be visiting one during our stay) but is slowly moving towards some inclusion, with the introduction of a resource room system. However, there is no extra funding allocated to special needs students. We talked about some of the rewards and challenges of the inclusive practices that Alberta Education is implementing.
Overall, a very stimulating and interesting session.
Now, back to making you extremely jealous.
Now, back to making you extremely jealous.
Sapporo beer factory. Sampling some of Sapporo's finest exports.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
My First Kimono Lesson
Today was memorable for me as I feel honoured to have been fortunate enough to partake in a special piece of Japanese culture-learning to wear a kimono....
Rie, Hono and I pulled up to a house in Sapporo...the garden was immaculate. The bonsai were perfectly trimmed, the flowers luscious and bright as if plucked from a movie. In the doorway of the house stood a woman with jet black hair hanging loosely to her shoulders. She wore a kimono that was picturesque accompanied by a perfectly tied obi. She welcome us in-dozo. We followed her into her living room-we drank matcha. Her living room was very traditional and we sat on our knees on pillows. She told us that she used to be a leading person in the tea ceremonies in Sapporo a few years ago. After we finished our tea, she asked us to follow her upstairs.
We climbed the solid wooden staircase and came across a room with tatami (sp) mats, busts of mannequins wearing kimono`s and a large wardrobe.
She opened the wardrobe, took out a few items and asked Rie and I to change into the kimono undergarments...we did. As we did she took more layers of kimono from the wardrobe and closet. We were ready to begin. Our kimono`s took 15-20 minutes to tie. We watched her every move to ensure we were doing it correctly..she reassured us that we were: `hai, hai, hai.`
When we were finished we looked beautiful in our yukata`s (summer kimono`s: sp). I took a lot of photos as I want to remember this moment. It was so rich, so surreal...
Hopefully I will be able to load a photo soon to share with you...
I was excited to tie my own obi..it is difficult and takes patience but, with the right sensei, anything is possible. I have another lesson before I go home and I cannot wait
<3
Rie, Hono and I pulled up to a house in Sapporo...the garden was immaculate. The bonsai were perfectly trimmed, the flowers luscious and bright as if plucked from a movie. In the doorway of the house stood a woman with jet black hair hanging loosely to her shoulders. She wore a kimono that was picturesque accompanied by a perfectly tied obi. She welcome us in-dozo. We followed her into her living room-we drank matcha. Her living room was very traditional and we sat on our knees on pillows. She told us that she used to be a leading person in the tea ceremonies in Sapporo a few years ago. After we finished our tea, she asked us to follow her upstairs.
We climbed the solid wooden staircase and came across a room with tatami (sp) mats, busts of mannequins wearing kimono`s and a large wardrobe.
She opened the wardrobe, took out a few items and asked Rie and I to change into the kimono undergarments...we did. As we did she took more layers of kimono from the wardrobe and closet. We were ready to begin. Our kimono`s took 15-20 minutes to tie. We watched her every move to ensure we were doing it correctly..she reassured us that we were: `hai, hai, hai.`
When we were finished we looked beautiful in our yukata`s (summer kimono`s: sp). I took a lot of photos as I want to remember this moment. It was so rich, so surreal...
Hopefully I will be able to load a photo soon to share with you...
I was excited to tie my own obi..it is difficult and takes patience but, with the right sensei, anything is possible. I have another lesson before I go home and I cannot wait
<3
Tea Ceremony
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| Some of the tea ceremony students and members of the University club. |
On Wednesday afternoon, we were treated to another traditional Japanese experience, the tea ceremony. It turns out that this university has several clubs, one of which practices the centuries old discipline of serving tea. When I lived in Wakayama, I remember hearing about the extremely refined motions and significance of every gesture in the ceremony, but never was able to experience it myself. So I was super excited to go through the ceremony for the first time in Sapporo with my classmates. Because the master and her students of the club were primarily fluent in Japanese, we were thankfully taken to the club by our new friends Tomo and Eriko, who translated all of the details of the ceremony for us. (arigatou!)
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| Tomo and Eriko enjoying a drink! |
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| Our class, looking our finest, aka before our legs hurt! |
I think that both Tomo and Eriko were also relatively new to participating in the tea ceremony , and were excited like us to learn about its intricate details. I'm writing this on Saturday, but my legs still hurt from having to sit in the traditional - and expected - position of having one's legs underneath the body. This sitting position is brutally difficult to maintain for me, so I made sure to post a picture of when I could actually sit correctly! Special thanks to Eriko for taking most of these photos
The parts of the ceremony which I remember include:
1. The careful and deliberate actions of the tea server in preparing the tea.
2. The deliberate rotating and positioning of the cup of tea by us, the recipients.
3. The step of observing and appreciating the artwork of the teacup itself. (pictures included)
4. The bowing at several key stages to thank the server for bringing the tea, and for taking the empty cup away.
5. The deliberate slurping to signify having finished one's drink.
If I've forgotten anything, hopefully my classmates can fill in the blanks! :-)
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| Each of us had a different cup, from a different maker, with a different design. |
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Photos!
Some of us have been having trouble loading photos to accompany our posts, so I thought I would share some. The first two are of our first of two welcome parties (they are very welcoming here). The rest of the photos are of our excursion into downtown Sapporo, through Odori park, and into Marayuma Park, where we visited a Shinto shrine and saw cherry blossoms. More photos to come!
Last night with Hono, my `sister` was truly amazing and I want to share it with you...
I have been teaching Hono English. She is seven and English is not taught formally in school until students are 12 or so. Each night she asks me to read a story or what something is called in English..I tell her and she will usually reply by pointing at an object and saying `Nihongo onigaishimas. Dore wa nandesko?` (Japanese please. What is this?)..Last night I came into the living room and saw Hono working away...I walk over to the table and she gestures me to come and sit with her. I do. I see that she has written the numerals `one` and `two` on a piece of paper along with the corresponding hiragana for each. She motions to me to trace over her hiragana...
I am Canadian and because of this I form letters with downward strokes first and then horizontal. Hono was not impressed that I did my hragana this way. She labeled which line was to be done first and the order to follow...I re-did my hiragana and passed her test. I wrote, on the bottom of the page `one, two` in dotted lines for her to trace..she saw them, looked at me and fake yawned saying `sleepy`...it was only quarter past 8...she still had daytime clothes on. I said `I traced, you do too`...so finally the seven year old did.
Once she had finished, she flipped that paper over and wrote A LOT of hiragana characters on the back. She then labeled the order to which each character MUST be written, looked at me and said `your turn`...we both burst out laughing. I pointed to her and said `Nihongo Sensei`..she pointed back saying `English Teacher`...more giggles followed...
I am thankful for this experience for the leaning that ensues. I love my evenings teaching English and in return learning Japanese...Without this experience I would not have met a sweet little girl who has a caring mum...nor would I have been smiling through slight jet lag :)
I have been teaching Hono English. She is seven and English is not taught formally in school until students are 12 or so. Each night she asks me to read a story or what something is called in English..I tell her and she will usually reply by pointing at an object and saying `Nihongo onigaishimas. Dore wa nandesko?` (Japanese please. What is this?)..Last night I came into the living room and saw Hono working away...I walk over to the table and she gestures me to come and sit with her. I do. I see that she has written the numerals `one` and `two` on a piece of paper along with the corresponding hiragana for each. She motions to me to trace over her hiragana...
I am Canadian and because of this I form letters with downward strokes first and then horizontal. Hono was not impressed that I did my hragana this way. She labeled which line was to be done first and the order to follow...I re-did my hiragana and passed her test. I wrote, on the bottom of the page `one, two` in dotted lines for her to trace..she saw them, looked at me and fake yawned saying `sleepy`...it was only quarter past 8...she still had daytime clothes on. I said `I traced, you do too`...so finally the seven year old did.
Once she had finished, she flipped that paper over and wrote A LOT of hiragana characters on the back. She then labeled the order to which each character MUST be written, looked at me and said `your turn`...we both burst out laughing. I pointed to her and said `Nihongo Sensei`..she pointed back saying `English Teacher`...more giggles followed...
I am thankful for this experience for the leaning that ensues. I love my evenings teaching English and in return learning Japanese...Without this experience I would not have met a sweet little girl who has a caring mum...nor would I have been smiling through slight jet lag :)
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Was that complexity theory?
At the school visit of Takuhoku Elementary school, we spent a few minutes watching a sports lesson on the school's outdoor field/practice area. What made the lesson unique for me was watching the teacher(s). Instead of having the adult teachers run the class, the students were divided into groups, and led by a student from an older year. This leader had already learned the game they were about to play, and it was her/his responsibility to teach the rules to his/her entire team. We left shortly after, but were told that the students would later compete in friendly competition with what they had learned. Implied in this style of instruction is the desire to win, so each teacher and group must try their best to learn and to listen to the instructions of how to play the game.
Anyways, this all reminds me of Dr. Towers' seminar class, where she introduced complexity theory to us. At the time it sounded very strange, and perhaps I'm misunderstood what she was talking about. However, it certainly reminded me of what I saw yesterday, and gave me serious reason to think about using this strategy with students of my own. I'll post a few pictures later; I didn't bring my camera to this school, but will ask to borrow some from my classmates.
Anyways, this all reminds me of Dr. Towers' seminar class, where she introduced complexity theory to us. At the time it sounded very strange, and perhaps I'm misunderstood what she was talking about. However, it certainly reminded me of what I saw yesterday, and gave me serious reason to think about using this strategy with students of my own. I'll post a few pictures later; I didn't bring my camera to this school, but will ask to borrow some from my classmates.
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