6.28.10

6/28- The past few days have been really interesting. On Friday we went to visit a Japanese Elementary school. Although I had worked in one for a year, I was amazed at how much I was able to learn. I feel like I was able to see the school from a more neutral standpoint than previously. When I worked there, I was able to compare differences in the two cultural systems, but I tended to be a bit judgmental, seeing differences as "good" and "bad" (usually the good being the US system). This time I might have been able to see the differences as just different. In fact, I noticed many great aspects of the Japanese system this time that I had not previously seen. 1) I like the idea of having a common lunch for everyone. I think this takes a lot of stress off of those students that are not as able to bring the same quality meals as other classmates. 2) I used to hate the "ceremony" in every action in the school. -before class -before meals -before programs -before breathing (or so it used to seem). Maybe after being out of the society for a little while, It feel as monotonous, but it also seemed to help with the idea of "togetherness". 3) I love the inconsistency of the scheduling. I used to hate this, thinking that the kids needed predictability and the teachers needed consistency to achieve their goals in the class. Now I have to go back an re-evaluate what those goals are. In order to be a successful 21st Century teacher, more than just your subject material must be taught. In order to prepare the kids for the adult world, we have to prepare them for things like collaboration, unpredictability, connections to other areas, inconsistencies, etc... All of these can be touched on in some way by an ameba-like schedule that never seems to take shape.

I also appreciated the amount of effort that must have gone into the preparation for our visit. The kids really must have worked so hard to make their speeches, practice their music, know their roles in the performance, and all on our behalf. Wow, what respect!!!! The whole experience will be hard to forget!

The following day we went and visited Yasukuni Shrine. The lecture beforehand was great! I think a lot of other teachers didn't enjoy Mr (Dr. ?) Baldwin's way of speaking, but it was great for me! It felt like his message was a little biased, but it was a nice balance to what was presented in the museum. It also gave a great view into the minds and opinions of those who have such heavy objections to the Visits by the Prime Minister(s). As a personal note, I was a little concerned about going, as was at least one other person, because of either the meaning of going to the shrine or the message it would send. Though I have very strong Christian beliefs, I was able to visit the shrine in a purely educational capacity.

After listening to the lecture and visiting the shrine, I can understand why other countries would be upset by the "worship" at that shrine be anyone! Unfortunately this is where there war memorial lies. It would be fine if it were placed in a setting that is a bit more neutral and not so agenda sensitive. But, as Mr. Baldwin suggested, if it were, others would find different areas to be critical of and try to cause controversy over that.

It's a new week and I hope to keep learning a lot more. My goal for this week is to get a good grasp of the types of themes I'll be using in my classes and start inventorying the materials I need, I have, and I need to get while I'm here.