Some concluding thoughts...

Pull up a chair, grab a cup of coffee or tea, relax, and settle in. I know that I’m never short with words on this site, but I believe that this is going to be the longest post. As I’m now flying back to the US, it feels like this is the conclusion to a book. The acknowledgments section is joining in. It's a real party over here. :)

Conclusion

After my experience with how much time it takes to craft some sort of writing each day, I’ll never look at serious blogging casually again. Because I encouraged participation, both before I left by soliciting questions people wanted answered about Japanese culture and throughout in the form of comments, the blog was a dynamic medium. Because I was using multimedia formats and responding to reader interest, it became progressively harder to draft it in Microsoft Word then simply paste into the Blogger site. I also realized that I underestimated the ease of WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) software. I have a new-found respect for people who follow tightly prescribed formatting rules for fonts, type size, picture placement, etc. Frequently, “what I saw” on my compose screen was substantially different from “what I got” in the preview window. Some days, more time was spent on formatting than content. I’ve also learned that you see the world around you differently when you have an “audience.” I don’t know how many conversations among JFMF participants began, “Wait until the people on my blog read about this…” I also had this in the back of my mind, which was perfect for this trip, an educational venture. At the same time, I can see how documenting your life and your thoughts becomes an exercise in narcissism and self-promotion. I think it feeds into these tendencies, and also keeps people from experiencing the moment they’re in.

So, my (unsolicited) advice to you is two-fold. 1. Don’t embrace something just because it’s new. 2. Don’t fear something just because it’s new. Simply being new isn’t a value judgment; new things aren’t in and of themselves dangerous or safe, worthwhile or worthless, good or bad. If you come across something that interests you, take the time to learn about it and decide for yourself if it’s worth your time. Before this trip, I had never blogged, and before October 15th, I had never commented on anyone else’s blog. (Yes, I actually prefer to lurk in the background of blog reading...) As much as I’m going to miss recording my experiences (and the experiences themselves), I’m very much looking forward to a computer-free weekend with my husband and parents when I return. Then, I’ll be back on track and tech-friendly Monday morning. I will be writing a few more posts and encouraging a few more caption contests.

One last paragraph before I step off my soapbox. (Ah the perils of a captive audience---oh wait, you're free to skip ahead or stop reading anytime I’m boring you.) I’m relatively certain that I’m the youngest person on this trip. That’s probably because the application asked for applicants who’d been teaching 2 or more years. In my application, I was honest about my lack of teaching experience. I said that I was new to my job but that I loved it and was planning on spending many years in school libraries. I also said that I brought the enthusiasm of a student, one who’d been working in graduate school for two years so she’d be able to have the job she had just begun. Thank goodness I didn’t let the “requirement” stand in my way; after this year, there’s no more JFMF. (Which is a huge loss to teachers and students across the United States!) As the Japanese like to say to their students, “Find your purpose, find your heart.” Whatever it may be, as Thoreau said, "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined.” For me, as a travel opportunity and an educational experience, this opportunity was priceless. (Although it's amazing how the incidentals on an 'all-expenses paid trip still add up quickly!) Personally, I value travel highly, and I am so glad that I spent this summer traveling the states. There were at least 2 attendees from each state, and I felt like I had a logical starting point for conversation when I knew something about their hometowns. You live in Champaign; I ate in a great restaurant there. You went to grad school at Berkeley; on the Fourth of July, I was playing wiffleball near the campus. Wisconsin? I just mail ordered apples from there. I understand that not everyone values travel the way that I do, and that's fine. I just encourage everyone to try to surround themselves with things and people that make them happy and fulfill them.

Acknowledgments

And now I’m down from the soapbox conclusion and ready for acknowledgments. Thank you Mrs. Klein for sending the initial email last fall. Without you, I never would have heard about JFMF. Thank you Mr. Snodgress, Mr.Lisk, and Ms. Gunst for recommending me. Whatever you wrote must have been great. Thank you Mrs. Orr for proofreading my application. I know that lots of people take advantage of your proofreading skills. Thank you Mrs. Pullen, Mr. Snodgress, Mrs. Wolcott, and Dr. Watts for supporting this professional development opportunity and allowing me to miss classes for most of the month of October. I will definitely utilize what I’ve learned. Thank you Tech Office, Mrs. Potwin, Library Monitors, Mrs. Bermudez, and Mr. Whelan for keeping the library running at base level while I’m away. Thank you Ms. Heap for the promotional hoopla you’re so excellent at. Thank you to everyone who offered advice about Japan and overseas travel, especially Mr. Yanelli, Mr. Moran, Ms. Spector, and Mr. Whelan. I have an adapter and lots of related reading thanks to you. Thanks to everyone who wanted to collaborate on a lesson about Japan or who sent me on an information-finding scavenger hunt throughout my stay.

One of my personal goals for my role in the school involves increased collaboration between classroom teachers and me, and I think JFMF is going to prove very productive in helping me work towards that goal. I’m also grateful to the JFMF selection committee, the trip organizers, the other teachers who taught me how education “really works” in much of America, and the Japanese government for allowing access to government officials and schools and for supporting me in a style way above my means. And, last but not least, thank you to everyone who read my blog and shared in this experience with me. I didn’t know any other participants when I stepped off the plane, but I never felt like I was out of the thoughts of my family, friends, and colleagues back in the states. Despite being an ocean away, I felt like this trip brought me closer (or back in touch!) with many of you.

In some way that’s meaningful to you, embrace the spirit of the Atlas Initiative. Show curiosity and care for the world around you!

(Thank you Karen for the suit. I got so many compliments on it. I kept saying to people that I had nowhere else to where it, and they said it looked like a great 'dinner suit.' I don't know where they go to dinner, but "dinner suit" is not in my vocabulary. I was also told to wear it for my presentation next Friday. It seems just a tad overdressed, but we'll see. I'm considering it...)

Happy Halloween!

Like pumpkins? Me too! But this one is 2700 yen, meaning about 25 dollars when we arrived or about 30 dollars in the current market. I've been told many many times that Japan doesn't celebrate Halloween. Imagine if it did???

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Tampa Airport Thursday Night

I have a few minutes in the Tampa Airport before heading back to Bradenton---I'm hoping for 10pm, which would be 23 hours door to door. (They actually held our second plane so they could load more drinks; I think everyone would have gone without soda for two hours to leave 20 minutes earlier. As for me, I just wanted to take off so I could put the tray table down and rest my head on it. It's like I pulled an all-nighter.)

While I'm not planning on keeping this blog up indefinitely, I'll be posting tomorrow and through the next week. Please keep reading...I'm at the conclusion of my trip but not quite there yet in my posts!

A great way to end our first flight was the announcement to put up tray tables, pull seats into the upright position and "a special thank you to the delegation of teachers, for all they do everyday."

I'll also be announcing the winner of the participation contest on Monday.
Right now, in the running are...
-Gina Anderson
-Ellen Carruthers
-Dominique Craft
-Mary Ann Ewert
-Paula Heap
-Sarah Potwin
-Dave Snodgress (I decided Smilebox comments counted.)
-Beth Teske
-Heather Von Seggern
-Ann Wolcott
-Lori Wolcott
If you should be on this list but aren't please let me know ASAP. Thanks!

Caption Contest 6

You know you've got a good caption (or limerick!) for this poster. I'm waiting to see the best of the best. :) I'll accept the mediocre as well...

What I've learned

It's all a question of framing....

I'd love comments on the idea of how our nationality frames our worldview.
Here's a 10 list to open up the discussion.

1. If you remember one of my first posts about education, I mentioned that teachers switch schools every few years. In talking with faculty members at various schools, they couldn't believe that the US did not do this. Every teacher that we spoke with thought that this process was necessary to ensure equality among the schools, that one school didn't become a magnet for a certain type of teacher. Others reasons we were given as to why this system is superior is that it refreshes relationships, keeps teaching from becoming stale, and stops bad patterns with co-workers at any one school.

2. Japanese elementary schools have one class hour of moral education each week, learning age-appropriate social morals as set forth nationally by the Ministry. Students also learn social rules through outdoor experiences and school excursions where they stay together in the same hotel. (This is loosely related, and I don't want it to take up another point, so I'm adding it here. In our group of 15, there were 2 strict vegetarians, 2 part-time vegetarians, and 2 with food allergies. School lunches are the same across the district and schools frequently plan student trips. I never once heard about a student having a food allergy or needing a special meal.)

3. People in Japan get an average of 20-30 vacation days annually. The actual number people take is only 2 to 3. (50% of high school teachers work 7 days a week during the school year and also come in to work over school breaks.)

4. The most common former profession of school principals is math teacher. (Japan values logical thinking and problem-solving!)

5. Toyota's "Five S" system (seiri, seiton, seisou, seiketsu, and shitsuke) has been recognized as one birthplace of cooperative learning. They roughly translate to best arrangements, cleanliness, and discipline. Businesses value these values. :)

6. Japan follows strict rules of propriety, reserved public behavior, and professional dress. Yet, the country also has a tradition of bathing together in hot springs, in the nude. One Japanese woman explains that communal bathing is an important part of Japanese culture because the hot baths relax and soothe you and because being naked together cements relations. It leaves people vulnerable, which is essential for building trust.

7. I sadly missed watching the elementary school students do this, but before they eat lunch as a class, they brush their teeth together. Each child keeps a toothbrush and toothpaste at school, and they brush at their desks. I did, however, witness the women who work for the Tomigusuku city government brushing their teeth simultaneously in the city hall bathroom during their lunch hour.

8. It isn't only schools that are lacking in debate and discussion. There isn't even a model on tv programs. Instead, Japan holds "panel discussions," during which "each panelist usually delivers his own message regardless of what others have to say, and the role of the moderator is often limited to designating the next speaker or simply introducing various opinions." No actual debate occurs, and you will rarely seem Japanese people directly contradict or confront each other.

9. Most societies are either guilt- or shame-based. In the US, we do something, then feel bad later. In Japan, they worry ahead of time about how something will be perceived, individually and as part of a family and community. Japan is definitely a shame-based society.

10. Illiteracy is not a problem in Japan; over 99% of the population is literate. Here's what the keynote speaker had to say on the subject. "We do not have any special programs regarding literacy because we assume that it is quite natural for all Japanese to be able to read and write Japanese language without any problems. Enrollment rate in elementary schools has been over 99% since 1940's and as all the parents can read and write Japanese, their children can learn it from their parents even before they go to school. (Essentially, there aren't reading coaches and literacy coaches in Japan.


There you go. I told you that the observations would go slightly deeper by the end of the three weeks. Yet for all the differences in a group versus individual-based society, there are some ways we just seem the same. Tell me that this video couldn't have been taken on the streets of America.

Appreciation of Saint Stephen's

****IMPORTANT-READ BEFORE READING THIS POST*** I wrote this on the airplane on the way to Japan, but I wanted to wait to bookend it with reflections at the end of my trip-coming later today. It's not meant to be disparaging towards public schools, just reflections on the public school system based on what I've heard from other teachers, and an honest appreciation for the Saint Stephen's community.

Even though I’m on the plane and haven’t yet set foot in Japan, I’ve learned so much from my colleagues at schools across the United States. Over 90% of the teachers in this program are public school teachers. Since I attended and worked at Catholic schools before my job at Saint Stephen’s, I hadn’t realized just how broken, in many ways, our public school system is. When caught up in the daily grind of life at Saint Stephen’s, it can be easy to forget that we are, in many ways, an academic bubble. In the first 5 hours of meeting my colleagues in San Francisco, I began to feel like I wasn’t worthy of this fellowship. I love my job and my school, and I feel that I’m supported in pursuing what is best for the library. I already bought into the notion that teachers are great people who are passionate about sharing knowledge with young people. But I didn’t realize the adversity that many of them encounter in order to do the work that they love. Here are some comments that I heard on day one:

1. “We strive for around 30 (students) per class, but frequently it's around 35.” –Elementary school teacher
2. “No one asked me for lesson plans, and I know they don’t have the budget for a sub, but I’m hoping they’ll (the students) be supervised by a para. I also left Halloween coloring sheets and crayons. That’s probably what will happen.” –Elementary school art teacher
3. “We have lcd projectors in every classroom. My bulb burned out. I put in a request last fall. I still haven’t heard back.” –High school teacher
4. “We teach to the TAKS!”-Texas middle school teacher
5. “Over 75% of my students are obese. None have ever left the country. I don’t know if any have left the state. They can’t even picture Japan.” High school teacher
6. “All our principal cares about is pursuing the Assistant Principal and test scores.” Intermediate school teacher.
7. “I’ve got it pretty good. Every other year, my kids are scoring at a second grade level. This year, they’re coming to me at 4.” -5th grade teacher
8. “Everything’s about the FCATs.” –Florida high school teacher
9. “We had to cut gifted classes. They’re (the gifted students) already fine.” –Middle school teacher
10. “Why don’t they (the parents) care? Can’t they see they’re hurting their kids when they shoot up!” –Special Education teacher

Two teachers had to drop out because their schools wouldn’t support this once-in-a-lifetime professional development opportunity. Two are here on unpaid leave. One of those two said that she’s been assured that her position won’t be eliminated while she’s away. When I asked Mr. Lisk and Mr. Snodgress about applying for the program last fall, when they had only known me for three months, both immediately responded, “Go for it!” and wrote recommendation letters. Having been at the school almost another full year, I can’t believe how little they must have known about me when they agreed to write the letters. I want to give the Saint Stephen’s administration a heartfelt thank you for supporting professional development in general and my participation in this program in particular. I can’t wait, figuratively speaking (I definitely want to experience the Japan portion of my travel!), to return to Saint Stephen’s and teach our students and teachers. One of my main goals as a librarian is to serve as a resource to students and faculty in the school, and I am excited to think about the potential impact of this program on the Saint Stephen’s community.

One girl in this program is working on her PhD thesis on community-school relations. She described her ideal school environment as one in which the parents trusted the administrators’ expertise in running the school and in which families would use the school on nights and weekends. This is far from the case at her school. I immediately thought to the volleyball games late in the evenings, Boy Scout meetings after school, Mr. Yanelli’s study skills program, the booster club car washes on Saturdays, and the Sunday AP review sessions. I know that it’s easy to lose perspective; we’re experiencing an unstable economy, have the need for an honor council, and sometimes have to track students down for mandatory community service. Yet, we are so so fortunate to have the strong, intentional, Saint Stephen’s community. Every family has made the choice to send their child to Saint Stephen’s and every teacher has made the choice to make this their home away from home. Other teachers in this country are dealing with a 50% drop out rate, authoritarian principals, metal detectors at the doorways, daily false fire alarms, and 5th graders writing curse words across the school hallways. The one girl I’ve spoken with in-depth who works for an independent school is the school’s curriculum coordinator and teaches an environmentality/sustainability class that she created to fourth through sixth graders. It’s highlighted at the end of each year by a trip to Yosemite (4th), Catalina Island (5th), and a working farm (6th). Teachers in inner city schools are struggling to find outdated textbooks for all of their students. I don’t think it’s a difference in teaching ability but in facilities and opportunities to connect with students and share our passions. Let us continue to strive for the best for our students and for ourselves.

One person said, in response to my feeling like the spoiled little rich kid in comparison to others that she was glad I was here because the kids I teach are going to be the ones creating the policy one day. I can’t argue with her; she’s right. Even though we must continually strive to improve Saint Stephen’s, it is a successful school environment. Our students have a wide range of intellectual abilities, but everyone has a family support structure and the ability to use the school support structures. “We’re not just teaching reading and writing. We have to teach them how to be human beings. We have to teach them to say please and thank you. All they know at home is being yelled at.” This was said by an inner city elementary teacher. We also are concerned with educating and nurturing the “whole child,” but I believe that our bar is raised a bit higher right from the start. I don’t think of my job as just a job and I certainly don’t think of this as a vacation. I think of all of the teachers I work with in the middle and upper divisions (I’m sure it’s true in the intermediate and lower divisions as well; I just don’t know you well enough enough yet!) and I’m motivated by their intensity, challenged by their scholarship, and in awe of their knowledge. We were all hired as teachers and administrators, but we’re not just passing along subject material, we’re also sharing ourselves. Some teachers were saying that they can’t hire people from the same family in the same district, let alone the same school. I can see how this could be an issue for concern but I think our school benefits so much from trust it entails; the entire lives of some of our teachers are tied to the school. We all have a vested interest in improving the Saint Stephen’s experience.

And whether or not you are connected with Saint Stephen’s, you have a vested interest in the US educational system. Remember the 80’s song, “I believe the children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the future they possess inside. Give them a sense of pride.” As a group of 158 teachers coming together from all states in America, we have a wide range of political opinions represented. Yet, I haven’t heard one teacher who believes that No Child Left Behind is reaching all children. The elections are coming up soon…

Here’s a brief addition to my earlier writings. (There’s also going to be a long ending reflection piece posted tonight.) When we visited the schools, I kept hearing from the other teachers about how respectful and welcoming the students were. I’ll agree; as you know from my earlier posts, I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent with Tomigusuku students. I did not think that their behavior, however, was out of the ordinary. Saint Stephen’s students greet visitors politely, smile, and include them in their school day when appropriate. We had an incredible all school welcome for our Chinese guests last year! Students (and some parents) volunteer to come to school early to meet with students at the Lugalo School! Other teachers said that their students would ignore (best case scenario) or curse at, spit at, or mock school guests. Thankfully, I have no point of reference for that. I have always been very impressed with the public behavior of Saint Stephen’s students, and that’s one of the reasons I think it was necessary to start the Ambassador program. I’m proud of our students and think that they do an excellent job of representing the school. I know we all get worn down by the daily grind, but we need to count our blessings!

Mission Unmet...

To all who asked me about finding a Skype partner class, I unfortunately had to abandon my quest once I saw the Japanese schools. Even in wealthier districts, technology is not used in Japanese classrooms the way that it is in American classrooms. I think that this has to do in large part with Japan being an older, more traditional, society. Historically, the core of Japanese society was in the power of its education. Parents gave everything they had to educate their children, or one child, because you could pass a national examination and be accepted into the upper echelon of society. The test was entirely memorization-based! Here's a 10 list with things I noticed or heard about technology and Japanese society. 1. In Japan as a whole, 50% of the population has Internet in their homes.

2. Over 90% of the Japanese population has cell phones. Most are Internet-enabled.

3. The University we visited requires two computer courses for all students,one typing course and one 'computer science' course. When we asked to hear more about this course, it turned out it's a course to teach Excel and PowerPoint.

4. Even the IT track of the senior high school we visited did not offer one computer programming course!

5. University students have the option of typing papers. Papers are hand written in secondary school.

6. In the senior high school, the students shared a computer lab for their weekly computer course. Teacher prep rooms had 2-3 shared computers. The school was working on providing teachers with laptops.

7. As a whole, the schools still use videos, not DVDs. In the schools we visited, some classrooms had televisions but most classes had to sign up to use the school's AV room. Multimedia materials are not frequently used by teachers. (The photo posted here is the high school's video collection.)

(This is the AV room)

8. After the broadcast, the radio station wanted to give us casette tapes of our program. We explained that we didn't really use them anymore, and they said, given a week or two, they could probably get the program in cd format. Young people still use I-pods though! So, there's a wide range of musical formats, something probably also true in the US.

9. In a question about distance education, a professor emeritus at Sofia University responded that Japan has no need for distance education programs. "How do you verify that the person taking the course is the person taking the test or writing the paper? Why would you need this?" (They do have "non-traditional" part-time programs for people currently in the workforce at his university. This, however, is more a response to the low birthrate, and thus greater need for recruitment activities, among universities. Meaning it's guided by economics over academics...)

10. The university students we interviewed had never heard of white boards. When we described it, the closest they got to understanding it was "like a quiz show." There are also no clickers, tablet PCs, document cameras...you know, all the necessities for modern teaching....

When we asked students and guest speakers about the lack of technology, they seemed confused by the question. US teachers repeatedly said that there's a stereotype in the US that Japan is one of the most technologically-advanced countries. I think the reason that schools in Tanzania actually have more technology hardware and more interest in using it is because they want to model themselves after US schools using "modern" techniques. In Japan, the attitude seems to be "we've always had a great school system. We'll keep using the methods that have been known to work." It isn't like teachers are frantically writing grants during their prep time, figuring how technology would help them teach better. Also, Japan still uses teacher-centered instruction. If the student doesn't learn, it's the student's fault. There isn't the same push for differentiated and active instruction. Because this is the case, the teacher lecture format is sufficient. The marketing departments of companies like Promethean, Leapfrog, and Pearson play on US notions of competitiveness and promise to give an extra edge to learning. I also wonder if teachers switching schools every few years plays a part. You probably don't get as attached to integrating technology into your lesson plans if you know that the school you'll be working at in a year or two might not have the same technological capabilities. And you can imagine the bureaucracy of implementing a certain technical component in all elementary and junior high schools in Japan!

Do you think that schools in the US are integrating technology effectively? Is technology actually necessary in schools or is it a cultural necessity?

By the way, if you want snail mail penpals, I can probably hook you up!

Arts Education in Japan

There was an Arts Education seminar on Tuesday morning that I didn't attend because I attended the environmental education seminar instead. The arts education seminar was led by Mr. Chihiro Tada, the Arts Education Institute Director. I kept hearing compliments about his presentation all morning, so I got notes from an art teacher who attended his presentation. Art teachers, this one's for you!

Tada believes that art education should be conducted when children are very young because art enhances creativity and imagination. Art produces the ability to express and becomes the sensibility of a person. "To know is not even half as valuable as learning to sense." But, Japanese education stresses learning by knowledge and memorization, and more emphasis is placed on science and math education than on arts education. In part, this is the tradition of Japanese education, but in part it's because industry and engineering respect knowledge more than creativity. Tada thinks that this needs to change and worries that if it doesn't, the arts will become an elective course of study in Japan. He also cited research on scientists who have won the Nobel Prize in Physics; the research showed that the winners spent a lot of time drawing as children. Drawing teaches you to see details. Tada has also created the Tokyo Toy Museum this past year. It sounds like a fascinating place, and I've included a link to the article at the end of this post. And let the comments begin with creativity, brainpower, toys, and car navigation systems....

"Children are ingenious players by nature. They can easily be excited by playing with a mere stone or sandbox," said Chihiro Tada, 47-year-old head of the Tokyo-based nonprofit association. "But nowadays, high-tech games and toys offer children little opportunity for being creative, and those high-tech games have significantly undercut their ability to play." "It is just like a car-navigation system. Once you start using it, you won't use the atlas anymore to find where you are," he said.

Here's the link to the May 15th Japan Times article.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20080515f1.html

Wednesday was spent listening to each group give a 15 (well, that was the time limit...but unlike a lot of student presentations, the teachers weremuuuucchhhh more likely to go over their allotted time limit, rather than under it) minute presentation describing their host city and the schools there. So, my job here is to condense their condensed presentation into one post. 10 list time heading from north to south.

Minamisoma, Fukushima is known for the July Soma Nomaoi Horse Festival which celebrates the tradition of the samurai class. Approximately150,000 people attend, even though the city only has 71,000 residents.

Iida City, Nagano is the 1995 birthplace of the Hybrid Synergy System, now used in seven Toyota models.

Hiroshima senior high school's philosophy is that “Students are little baby phoenixes.” The goal of the school is to help students grow into full adult phoenixes that will spread a message of peace around the world.

Senyo-Oneda, Yamaguchi's university offers chabu-dai dining around a circular table modeled after the family dining room. It allows for non-hierarchical interaction and fellowship as university students and professors informally discuss education and learning as they eat together.

Fukutsu, Fukuoka was founded on the ruins of a Chinatown that traces back to trade between Japan, China, and Korea beginning in the 12th Century. Main trade objects were pottery, ceramics, tools, jewelry, and coins. The elementary school is built on a site that has been excavated, and it contains artifacts from Chinatown.

Takeo City, Saga has the world's largest ascending kiln. It's fired once a year and takes 15 people and 7 days to fire up. It's so big that it can fire 140,000 tea cups at one time!

Unzen, Nagasaki is the home of Obama High School, a vocational school preparing 60% of its students to go straight to work after high school. There's a mock hotel, bar, and restaurant in the school, so that students can get practice for their future jobs.

Uki City's main industry is still agriculture. It's known for its hybrid mandarin oranges and it's super-sweet tomatoes that grow well in the salty soil.

Miyazaki is known for being the birthplace of the deities and the first emperor of Japan.

Tomigusuku is indeed much more casual than the prefectures. We didn't have the sweeping scale of mountain photos or the photos of steaming hot springs, but we also didn't have photos of teachers in suits and children in pressed uniforms. Also, everyone laughed when we showed a picture of our traditional "rustic" ryokan, probably the nicest beach resort I'll ever visit. (In order to keep ours moving, we recorded our impressions ahead of time, and one of our group members, an Apple consultant, made an I-Movie, ensuring that none of us would clam up or go overboard with description when standing in front of our colleagues. And the representatives from our host cities-yes,Tomigusuku flew a city official up for our presentation and our banquet. And he brought the miniature bottle of hairspray I had left in the hotel! That's the level of service here in Japan. Incredible!)


(FYI-Some people listed their blog address on the JFMF website before the trip. To get these photos of other regions in Japan, I just went to that site, went to the blog, and clicked to save the pictures to my computer. This is why you need to be so careful with what you post to the Internet. Anyone with basic computer skills and a connection to the Internet can do this!)

Caption Contest 5-A change of pace

We're taking a short break from the poster-style caption contest.
Although there are many more captions to be had...
Please describe this meal for me.

"Sticking to bacon parching combustion"

Seth and others interested in cuttlefish---did you see the entry 9: fried cuttlefish?

Junior and Senior High Comparison

(If you're following the blog and received something like 10 notifications about this post, it's because it keeps showing up fine in preview but changing my formatting when it posts....grrrrr!)

The little kids at the elementary school were so excited and I took so many photos, I felt like had to post right away. I wanted to wait before I wrote about Nagamine Junior High and Tomishiro Senior High School. Curriculum is prescribed by the national ministry at the elementary and junior high level, but I hoped to hear from teachers assigned to other prefectures before writing about my school experiences, to limit my generalizations to their applicable comparisons.

Out of the three schools, the junior high school was my favorite. (Just like I love the Saint Stephen's middle school students and their energy!) Little kids are excited no matter who visits; you have to work a little harder with preteens. Yet I found them intensely curious about my life and about life in America. They wanted to practice their English, or pantomime, and I'm sure we were a huge distraction to whatever lessons teachers were attempting to teach. In their free time they asked similar questions to what our students might ask. "Do you have a boyfriend?" "Do you have a cell phone?" "Do you like school?" While I'm not going to say that they were always focused in class, they always had an intensity about them that I appreciated. 80% of the junior high students are involved in clubs, like sports (super-competitive, plus they only play one sport year round), brass band, and engineering (robotics, technology, and solar car competition). The clubs meet Monday through Friday after school through dusk, and they also meet on Saturdays! Another co-curricular program sounded a lot like Saint Stephen's IQ program, cultural trips to other parts of the country and work experience days with local businesses. The reasoning behind the work days, however, is quite different. As I mentioned in describing the elementary school, we visited a poorer area of Japan. The school instituted the work days help students make knowledgeable decisions about work, since high school is not mandatory. Last year, 4 students of 198 graduates chose not to attend senior high school, either because they didn't pass an entrance exam, couldn't afford the fees, or weren't interested.

If you haven't looked at the slideshow yet, now's the time to do so. (Separate email in order to comply with privacy laws) My group members kept commenting, especially in the junior high, about the deteriorating condition of the school building. It's only 29 years old, but the humidity has not been kind to the structure. I didn't think it was bad; the building was very clean, just not aging well, and in keeping with the style of many schools I've seen in tropical areas. But depending where you're from, like the big box brick schools of the American midwest, I guess it could be jarring.

The motto of the senior high school we visited is “academics and sports.” (I think this says quite a bit about the type of school that we visited.) The administrators said that their school is a lower-performing academic school, but “they are nice and good students.” The school focuses not just on scholarly learning, but also guides the students in life choices. The school operates on the principles of diligence, cooperation (the principal said something here about “healthy bodies, healthy minds” but I’m a slow note taker, so I didn’t get more than that recorded), creation, and producing functioning adults. The school offers three tracks: sports (for athletes and future gym teachers), IT (for university and vocational students), and academics (for smarter students who are willing to take two extra classes, one before school and one after.) I’ll be bringing back a copy of the curriculum and the three year plan for anyone who is interested in learning more about the specifics of the academic system. The school has a college and career office. While the administrators stressed student interest and individual attention, most of the work of this office is completed in group sessions. After graduating, 60% of the students attend university and 10% find jobs. The school’s biggest challenge is helping the other 30% of the students find a purpose in their lives.

We were not given the same amount of freedom to wander the halls and classes of the high school. In fact, we only got one period on our own; otherwise, we saw part of a computer class and part of an English class. Unfortunately, many of the students that we did see seemed bored. (While I’m not going to claim that the junior high students were always paying attention, it’s because they were talking or otherwise engaged in an activity, not because they were sleeping.) We found out, however, that many of the more motivated students attend one of the other, more highly-respected, high schools in the city. Even clubs, for which Japanese schools are renowned, are not as active at Tomishiro because many students have to work after school.

In both the junior and senior high schools, we noticed what we would consider old-fashioned, teacher-centered, teaching methods. (It turns out this is indeed representative of schools in prefectures of schools across Japan.) The teacher stood at the blackboard and lectured. Students sat in their rows of desks, listened, took notes, and completed worksheets. I wondered if this was the case because we visited a poorer district, but this is true across Japan. I was going to write here about technology in the classroom, as you might imagine, it’s nothing like technology use in US schools, but expect a later post about this...

I greatly enjoyed both my days in the schools! The above should be seen as a comparison and description, not a judgment. I'd love this to be the beginning of a discussion of different education styles and different ways of learning. I've learned so much on this trip and in visiting the schools! With all of the traveling I've done, I've never been able to get an inside view of education in that area. We were welcomed with open arms, and I feel like I made some wonderful connections with students and teachers.

Environmental Education in Japan

I spent Tuesday morning in an environmental education session with Hari Srinivas, the Chief of the Urban Environmental Management Unit of the United Nations Environmental Programme and visiting professor at 7(!) universities. He put forth a well-balanced argument for environmental education, touching on past successes, future goals, and problems with the current system. Throughout, I sat scribbling notes; there were 61 slides in the first hour, then an hour of questions and answers. Srinivas believes that we need to switch from an idea of "environmental education" to "education for sustainable development." An integrated vision of sustainability deals not just with the environment, but also with the economy and equality. The starting point for environmental education is that "real environmental action is local - at the micro level, reflecting the problems and capacity of individuals and groups," our work and actions need to be contextualized, justifying local activities with global language. Here's a 10 list of what I learned this morning, and I'm even more aware than usual of just how much I'm leaving out.

1. In Tokyo, the ecological footprint is 3 1/2 times the size of Japan. In other words, the citizens of Tokyo consume over 3 times more resources than the country can produce.

2. Environmental Education (EE) is a process in which individuals gain awareness of their environment and acquire knowledge, skills, values, experiences, and also the determination, which will enable them to act - individually and collectively - to solve present and future environmental problems.

Environmental education is a learning process that increases people’s knowledge and awareness about the environment and associated challenges, develops the necessary skills and expertise to address the challenges, and fosters attitudes, motivations, and commitments to make informed decisions and take responsible action (UNESCO, Tbilisi Declaration, 1978).

Environmental education enhances critical thinking, problem-solving, and effective decision-making skills, and teaches individuals to weigh various sides of an environmental issue to make informed and responsible decisions. Environmental education does not advocate a particular viewpoint or course of action.

The components of environmental education are:

1. Awareness and sensitivity to the environment and environmental challenges
2. Knowledge and understanding of the environment and environmental challenges
3. Attitudes of concern for the environment and motivation to improve or maintain environmental quality
4. Skills to identify and help resolve environmental challenges
5. Participation in activities that lead to the resolution of environmental challenges

3. Real environmental action is local - at the micro level, reflecting the problems and capacity of individuals and groups. 'Environment' means different things to different people. For some, it means separating the garbage into burnable and non-burnable items. To others it means saving on electricity or using less water. The term 'environment' may be associated with restoring the vitality of tropical rain forests, maintaining biodiversity and arresting desertification. Developing healthy, sustainable and safe communities becomes important to others. The environment also means agricultural and industrial production that is sound and 'green'. Some associate man-made chemical and nuclear hazards with concrete environmental policies. All of these views are right in their own way, and are united in its concern for the effects that the environment has on the day-to-day lives of current and future generations.

4., 5., 6., 7. Essentials of Environmental Education for Sustainability

.
Environment Economy Society Institutions	living in harmony with nature proper use of natural resources responsibility towards other societies responsibility towards future generations common but differentiated responsibilities of individual countries precautionary principle
.
Environment Economy Society Institutions	integration of environmental protection into processes of development change in unsustainable patterns of production and consumption new technologies open economic systems, fair market conditions developing countries’ conditions internationalization of environmental costs
.
Environment Economy Society Institutions	human development concern for human health eradication of poverty and ensuring equity demographic policies role of citizens and states, public participation indigenous people and major groups international co-operation
.
Environment Economy Society Institutions	environmental legislation environmental impact assessment co-operation among states regarding laws information, science and capacity building
.

8. Three issues with environmental action are access to computer, access to the Internet, and access to value-added assistance. (The third might involve teacher comfort with the material or technology programs or it might involve the lack of knowledge about how to build a partnership with local government or NGOs.)

9. Core themes of Environmental Education

• 1. Lifelong learning-The potential for learning about sustainability throughout one's life exists both within formal and nonformal educational settings.
• 2. Interdisciplinary approaches-Education for sustainability provides a unique theme to integrate content and issues across disciplines and curricula.
• 3. Systems thinking-Learning about sustainability offers an opportunity to develop and exercise integrated systems approaches.
• 4. Partnerships-Partnerships forged between educational institutions and the broader community are key to advancing education for sustainability.
• 5. Multicultural perspectives-Achieving sustainability is dependent upon an understanding of diverse cultural perspectives and approaches to problem solving.

• 6. Empowerment-Lifelong learning, interdisciplinary approaches, systems thinking, partnerships, and multicultural perspectives empower individuals and institutions to contribute to sustainability.

These underlying themes lay the foundation for a set of strategic actions and initiatives outlined in the report, "Education for Sustainability: An Agenda for Action" This report was produced at a meeting held in San Francisco, California, in 1994.

10. Environmental education cannot work if schools are going at it alone. We need scalable partnerships with the community, stretching community goals and linking them to national and global ideals. There is so much going on at the different levels; organizations on various levels need to collaborate with each other and target their messages accordingly.


If this is too much for you to process in this format, I'll be bringing back a print copy of his Powerpoint, my notes, and links to several websites he recommended. I can't overemphasize how incredible it is that Saint Stephen's has been using the word "sustainable" all this year and has been making strides towards sustainability. I think we're ahead of the curve because it's something we're hearing more frequently in non-traditional settings, and it's a term that's going to gain popularity across all disciplines.

Libraries and Book Dorkdom :)

I'll start off with the question for comments. Does this make me a total book dork? (Be kind in your answers!)
On my massive walk of Tokyo Monday afternoon, I came upon a library. Of course I entered. There were two free temporary exhibits (unfortunately both entirely in Japanese), one on kimono history and the other comparing historic and present-day photographs of Japan. When I saw that the OPAC had an English option, I had to check it out. I've been trying to figure out why all the books in the school libraries are catalogued as 933. (Unfortunately still no answer as to why the Japanese equivilant of Dewey seems to be one number...) So, who do I look up but my favorite young adult author, John Green. And after fighting with the Japanese keyboard, I eventually realize that the library 'should' have a copy of some John Green book. The next 10 minutes were memorizing kanji and searching the stacks. Eventually....presto! Here I am with Looking for Alaska, John Green's Printz award-winning book. Success! I had to get my picture, even though I couldn't read a word of it. I was so excited that his book was part of the collection of some random library tens of thousands of miles from his home that I had to get my picture pretending to read. (Don't rule out a new Read poster.) I was extra excited because John Green's third and most recent book was published in mid-October, after I left the US. It's a sure bet that if I had been in town on October 23rd, I would have driven to Orlando to hear him speak. As it is, I can't wait to read Paper Towns when I return to the states. Any other 'Nerd Fighters' among my readers?

If all invasive species looked like this, I think we’d be more active in making sure we didn’t introduce them to new environments.

(Horror!!!! The obese red-eyed, bushy-tailed, double-fanged Mammal will come after you in the night.)

It was interesting to note, however, that a lot of native Okinawan birds are the same ones we see on our coast. Okinawa is working on rebuilding wetlands as a flood barrier, just like Bradenton is doing in Robinson Preserve. They just have about a 15 year headstart; luckily, mangroves grow quickly.

On another unrelated note, I found a church in Tokyo and decided to see how it compared to churches in the US and Europe. Fr. Roy, take note. They’re a little more strict over here! Do you like cantaloupe? How about gold-plated ribbon? These beautifully decorated cantaloupe are 15,000 yen, about $18 in the rapidly (!) declining US dollar. And I had trouble paying $1 for 1 apple...

Caption Contest 4

I really have NO IDEA what might be going on here. I'm ready to be entertained!
I don't want to influence your writing, so don't feel like you need to read (or read into) this next line.



(I found this sign in a library...)

Homestay, Radio Broadcast, and Misconduct

First off, I’d like to start this with a huge and belated thank you to my parents and my friends’ parents who drove me around in middle and high school! I had a wonderful time with my host family, a mom and her 13 year old boy. One of the more enlightening points of our time together was when we picked her son up from his friend’s house around 9:30 at night. She’d been waiting for his call since the early evening, and when he finally was ready to come home, we rushed out to go get him. Then we waited a bit while he hung out with his friends outside the apartment where he’d been hanging out all day. Two got in the car with us, and we drove one home. Most of the way back to my host’s house, her son finally told her that the friend’s mom was not coming to the house to pick him up. We needed to drop him off at his house. We turned around and drove back to his house and dropped him off. Then we finally went home. This took a little over an hour in total. I’m sure it was just noise as usual to everyone who spoke Japanese, but all I could do was pay attention to the intonation and volume of the voices. These teens were loud, frequently pushing each other enthusiastically and breaking out into song. I wanted to video, but it seemed somehow inappropriate. It was great to see everyone so animatedly interacting and definitely a fun car ride, but I could see how it might wear on someone to always be the driver. And I didn’t hear any “thank yous” (a word I recognize) when the friends got out of the car. I’m betting that I didn’t say thank you either, so here it is, 15 years later. :)

Sumako had never hosted anyone before, but she had been so touched by the kindness of her host family when she studied abroad in Australia that she wanted to give back now. Because of the year she spent in Australia in college, she was mostly fluent in English, something not true among many of my group members’ host families. We were able to talk comfortably, and I was more worried about whether I was asking questions that were considered probing or inappropriate than whether I was understood. (Of course, she started off our meeting with “You look so young; how old are you?,” a question I’ve been asked countless times by the students and teachers on this trip. Which isn’t usually how you start a meeting in the US…) I feel so lucky to have met her and to have the experience to be welcomed into a Japanese home. Overall, it was a pretty emotional experience; her husband was recently killed in a car accident, and I was able to witness some of the mourning process. I think it’s the most meaningful experience I’ve had, and I’m tearing up just thinking about it. If you’re interested, I’ll tell you more in person, but it was very personal and intense, and I don’t think that a public forum is the appropriate place to share.

I will say that Okinawa is a culture with a strong system of ancestor worship. The picture book that I was given by the librarian is about respecting ancestors (it has a drawing of the particularly Okinawan style of grave, a family grave built into the hill shaped like a womb). This is what wealthy families have, as well as families who have lived on Okinawa for many generations.

At the homestay, Sumako was the most gracious host, and she shared everything she had. When I mentioned my interest in the environment, she took me to the mangroves and the bird sanctuary, and since her son’s first grade teacher now works there, we got a personal tour into the wetlands. We also visited the caves where the Okinawan people hid during the war and where many of them died in attacks, Shuri castle, an UNESCO Heritage site, and a parade of traditional Okinawan dances and songs. On Saturday night, she took me to the most incredible restaurant. She said that it was like a house, and she wasn’t kidding. An older woman decided she wanted to cook, and she set up a restaurant in a house on a hill. There are three rooms and one dinner seating a night. It’s a set menu, but Sumako had arranged ahead of time for a vegetarian meal, including checking on ingredients with me earlier in the afternoon. The setting was beautiful, sitting on tatami mats surrounded by art and woodwork. An hour and a half flew by, which normally would seem like a long time for a meal but wasn’t in this place. We were served trays of small dishes, many of which I’d never tried before, but the meal was more about fellowship than food. It’s hard to describe, only that it was an excellent meal.

I ate persimmons and dragonfruit (the latter of which I had previously only seen on the trees at The Land in Epcot) and both were delicious. If I could sneak either into the US as souvenirs, I’d do it in a heartbeat. And onto my second to final story of the day, the one that will guarantee that I shouldn’t share the blog address with JFMF officials. :) When we went to the grocery store, I bought two dragonfruit to eat during the remainder of my stay. Since dragonfruit have quite the protective covering, you need a knife to cut through the cactus-like peel. I packed a (dull) knife in my backpack for the plane flight back to Tokyo, and as my backpack went through security, the machine beeped. So they ran it through again. Same result. They asked if I was carrying a knife, and I shrugged and said I was living out of my backpack and didn’t really know all that was in there. (Believe me, it is packed solid!) They started going through it manually and found the knife. I quickly pulled the dragonfruit out of my bag, and pantomimed cutting it excitedly, as though I wasn’t standing under a big NO sign with knives, lighters, and boxcutters. They ran the bag through security again. This time, no beep. The security man carefully placed the knife back in my bag, saying, “Please don’t use on the plane.” I share this story to illustrate the differences in the US and Japanese systems. I told a friend from my group about security, and she said that when she arrived in Japan, she couldn’t find her passport at Customs. The agent said, “I trust you. Find it later.” Wow!

The radio broadcast went well, with only one main surprise. During the rehearsal, I was told that there would be two question and answer sessions, one for me and one for Karen, the other member of our group chosen to take part in the radio broadcast. I would talk about life in America, and she would talk about our experiences in Tomigusuku. Each session would be about 15 minutes, 7 minutes of talking interspersed with 7 minutes of translating. Five minutes before the broadcast, I asked what questions I was likely to be asked, and the radio personality in charge of the show smiled at me uncomprehendingly. The translator repeated my question. She said, “I told you. I will ask you a question about life in America, then you will talk for 15 minutes.” Oh……hmmmm, that wasn’t quite what I was expecting, so I was more than a little playing it by ear as we started the program a few minutes later and I opened the show. They had also asked us to think of two songs we like to have played as they transitioned from our Q and As to their sponsors. We immediately thought of this one popular Okinawan song we’d been hearing all week and also wanted to come up with a popular American song. But you know how it is when you’re on the spot. And despite the claim that they had 10,000 American songs, they wouldn’t give us the name of any, and I kept running through my music collection and thinking that the songs I listen to most frequently are probably not ones they would have. We finally hit on the idea of 1980’s Madonna, quintessentially American music that’s fun to listen to. ‘Holiday’ seemed like an appropriate choice, so after much laughter and deliberation, we chose that. Yet what happens when my talk time ends? The radio personality says, “Now Christina, would you please request your favorite song?" Hahaha-perhaps now Holiday by Madonna, little did I know...

(If you're wondering about the Peter Rabbit teacup photo, I included it because it was one of the first things I saw upon entering the house. And the only other place I've seen that mug is at my parents' house. My mom used to drink out of an identical mug every day when I was younger. I thought it was a sign that I should feel comfortable in Sumako's home.)