So in a few hours I get to see which of the teachers will leave and who will stay. In Japan, government workers (and even some non government workers) are often transferred around after 3-8 years. Teachers, police, hospital workers, post office employees, etc., are all moved around. I understand why the system is in place where teachers move schools every few years, but I think that's just because Japanese higher ups don't like to get rid of the bad apples, so they just let each school share them for a while before moving them. My school currently has one of those. He sucks at teaching to the point that the school won't let him teach, but yet he's still at the school and they won't get rid of him. There's a lot of problems in Japanese business that differ from Western business problems, this is one of them. It seems like it slows things down, to constantly shift people around places where their main job might even change, forcing them to learn new things and constantly be behind.
Kevin's last night in Japan was last night. It was pretty simple, just me and him, eating dinner at Yeti and then a few drinks at Kyuusaiya, then games at the apartment for a bit. His leaving is a clear sign that my life in Japan is quickly drawing to a close. There's so many things I'll be happy to get away from here, so many things I'll be sad to leave, so many things I can't wait to get back to. The emotions are definitely flooding.
I still haven't figured out for sure what I'm doing for spring break, but I will be going to Tokyo on the 26th to meet Marika, a girl I met in the Yatai Mura a few weeks ago who will be going to Oregon for a 1 year study abroad. I'll also try meeting up with Ami and Atsushi if they are available.
Thinking of trying to get on those online dating sites a month before I go back. I'm tired of being single.
転勤【てんきん】 (tenkin) job transfer; job relocation; intra-company transfer
Monday, March 24, 2014
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
March 11th Anniversary, Graduation
This is my 100th post of the Dustin in Japan blog! It's unfortunate that I'm writing on such a downer of an entry this time.
Just a few minutes ago here at Jonan we all gathered outside. Every year at 2:46 PM on March 11th they ring the city warning bell for 1 minute for the anniversary of the March 11th earthquake and tsunami that ravaged a great part of the coastal Miyagi cities and towns. Even though I didn't experience the tsunami firsthand I couldn't help but think what a fearsome sound the warning bell was producing. As we walked back in a lot of my teachers were fighting back tears and one was letting them flow. While I am happy to join in on the remembrance of the anniversary, I don't feel exactly right crying along with people as I didn't experience it myself, nor did I lose anything in the disaster. I know others (including the people who were here at the time) would tell me it's ok, but that is just how I feel personally.
On the radio and TV they are talking about how Miyagi has to do its best and to dream of the future. But lately I've been hearing a common sentiment among the Japanese people and that is that those messages aren't exactly right. I agree with them. Japan is a country that doesn't express its feelings and I feel this severely hurts its people. It's important to talk about things, but Japanese people are apt to just bottle it up and move on. A common theme here includes the word 我慢 which, in the most honest translation, as its often used, is "just deal with it." It doesn't matter how you feel about things, it doesn't matter if it's right or not, just deal with it. It's how they get all the Japanese people on one page, and there are benefits to that, but overall I feel it's very unhealthy for the Japanese people's mental well being. One Japanese girl was telling me how the people lost in the tsunami have become taboo even, that they're not supposed to talk about them. It's only been 3 years and to think that those people are supposed to just be pushed to the back of others' memories so they won't make others sad anymore is nothing short of ridiculous. Japan needs to get over it's "but talking about feelings is embarrassing!" attitude. For the betterment of its people. Unfortunately, it either won't, or I won't live long enough to see it.
Graduation was this last weekend on the 8th. I went to Jonan this year. Actually I wanted to go to Jonan's graduation last year and to Niitsuki's this year, it sucks I didn't get to go to those respective graduations. But it was still cool to go to Jonan's. I've had these kids since halfway through their 1st year, and now I watched them graduate as 3rd years. It was the last graduation I'll see as an ALT. I didn't cry though. I thought I'd be able to change my social skills for the better when I came here, but so far, that's not the case. I hope my kids now will get a much better ALT than I. Someone told me that it'll be a shame when I leave back to America. I wish I could live up to those words.
I am back to Oregon in roughly 21 weeks!
我慢【がまん】 (gaman) patience; endurance; perseverance; tolerance;
Just a few minutes ago here at Jonan we all gathered outside. Every year at 2:46 PM on March 11th they ring the city warning bell for 1 minute for the anniversary of the March 11th earthquake and tsunami that ravaged a great part of the coastal Miyagi cities and towns. Even though I didn't experience the tsunami firsthand I couldn't help but think what a fearsome sound the warning bell was producing. As we walked back in a lot of my teachers were fighting back tears and one was letting them flow. While I am happy to join in on the remembrance of the anniversary, I don't feel exactly right crying along with people as I didn't experience it myself, nor did I lose anything in the disaster. I know others (including the people who were here at the time) would tell me it's ok, but that is just how I feel personally.
On the radio and TV they are talking about how Miyagi has to do its best and to dream of the future. But lately I've been hearing a common sentiment among the Japanese people and that is that those messages aren't exactly right. I agree with them. Japan is a country that doesn't express its feelings and I feel this severely hurts its people. It's important to talk about things, but Japanese people are apt to just bottle it up and move on. A common theme here includes the word 我慢 which, in the most honest translation, as its often used, is "just deal with it." It doesn't matter how you feel about things, it doesn't matter if it's right or not, just deal with it. It's how they get all the Japanese people on one page, and there are benefits to that, but overall I feel it's very unhealthy for the Japanese people's mental well being. One Japanese girl was telling me how the people lost in the tsunami have become taboo even, that they're not supposed to talk about them. It's only been 3 years and to think that those people are supposed to just be pushed to the back of others' memories so they won't make others sad anymore is nothing short of ridiculous. Japan needs to get over it's "but talking about feelings is embarrassing!" attitude. For the betterment of its people. Unfortunately, it either won't, or I won't live long enough to see it.
 | ||
| 2 girls that wanted a pic w/me |
I am back to Oregon in roughly 21 weeks!
我慢【がまん】 (gaman) patience; endurance; perseverance; tolerance;
Friday, March 7, 2014
Japanese Education System
The Japanese education system is like any other, ripe with beneficial and detrimental points. I'm going to give my take on each side.
Beneficial points.
1. They have this thing called "Integrated course" (Best I can translate 総合) where they do all sorts of different things ranging from learning how to cook rice in aluminum cups to going out and assuming the roles of fire fighters, store clerks, elementary school teacher assistants, and so on. I love this aspect of the system because they get a very real taste of what the work force feels like. It's as real as it can get for junior high school students at least, and I feel is a very good addition to the education system.
2. Students clean their school. There is a "janitor" of sorts, but he doesn't clean the classrooms, the bathrooms, or anything else besides the staff room and some areas outside. The students clean their classrooms and their bathrooms and generally keep the school clean. This gives them a respect for their classroom (and ultimately a higher respect for things in general) that Western students don't have. Of course, a lot of students don't actually take the cleaning that seriously and the next morning dust bunnies can be found without much effort. Also, in elementary school, leaving cleaning the bathroom to 1st and 2nd graders is not a good idea. I know from walking past it multiple times. All this said, I'm glad I didn't have to do this during my middle school years!
3. Students don't cook their own lunch but they serve it to each other. At least in America, our lunch is handed to us by a lunch lady/guy if you buy it at school (in Japan there is a forced school lunch for elementary school and some middle schools. Possibly some high schools but that would be rare if there are any). Again this serves to the respect and autonomy of the students.
4. They have school trips for each grade, and big events like Culture Day (文化祭) and Sports Day (運動会). These make the students work together to feel a bigger sense of togetherness and sportsmanship. On top of all that, the students organize and plan everything, adding to their maturity and planning skills.
Detrimental Points
1. Club activities. In middle school, every student is forced into after school club activities. I'm not really sure where I stand on the whole after school club activities thing but I definitely feel this is the worse of two (or more) evils. I would have hated middle school if they forced me into a club, and I'm sure there are students here who feel similar. On top of that, many clubs force their students to go to tournaments and come in on Saturday and even Sunday to practice. Every weekend is too much and takes away from family time that they already don't have enough of. This also forces teachers to work often 7 days a week, and many of them already work 12+ hour days on school days already. Of course there are benefits to joining a club, but the way it's done here, I feel the disadvantages outweigh the benefits.
2. Cram schools. As if club activities don't already take a ton of time away from the students, a lot of them are going to cram schools after school, arriving home past 9 pm. When kids are kids they should be allowed to be kids! There will be plenty of time to study later, and it's not like they aren't already studying now in school. Some kids go to these in elementary school as well. Cram school in elementary school? Really?
3. The teaching system is a very one-way style of teaching and it's very formulaic. The teacher gives information, the students write it down and memorize it. You rarely, if ever, see students and teacher engaged in a discussion, where students are asking about points they don't understand, asking questions that demonstrate critical thinking, or even really thinking for themselves during a lesson. I remember trying to give a lesson where the students had to think a bit, and most couldn't do it because it was "too hard." They were right. Their critical thinking skills aren't like their Western counterparts and I should have rethought the lesson.
4. Obviously I'm going to write about the English classes since that is the bulk of my experience here in the Japanese education system. Again, English is presented in a very formulaic manner. This is fine as language has rules that you can learn and follow to use it to communicate, but the formulas are very fluid. Especially in English, where one sentence won't fit every situation that it looks like it could fit. Japanese is a very rigid language without much variety. One sentence works in a multitude of situations and it is rarely changed. This is difficult to teach because the students and teachers are so used to their native tongue. So when you teach them one sentence in English and ask them to change it, it takes them forever. They also never study true conversation in school. There are times where students can recite big chunks of text in front of the classroom, but it's never really conversation. They can't sit there and have a conversation despite studying the language for years. It's because they study strictly for entrance exams to high school or university. It makes sense to study for these, but in the process, students are seeing English as a tool to get into schools, instead of what it really is: a tool for conversation. I have English teachers that can't speak English. They mark things correct that are out of this world wrong (Engrish is not the correct spelling). They import us as assistant language teachers but to be honest, in the classroom, we don't do much. We are overpaid for the jobs we are allowed to do. The English teachers are only concerned with finishing the textbook and in order to do that they have to focus on it and we aren't allowed any time to teach conversation or anything about other cultures (to a large extent. Some of us may get a few classes a year, if that. This year I'm getting none). Also so far I haven't heard any teacher say that to learn a foreign language you have to learn about it's culture, and this is more important than I think most people realize. I'm flat out saying that the English education in Japan is not good. It's just not good.
I think Japan has some good points in its education system, but it does need an overhaul, like most countries' education system.
Beneficial points.
1. They have this thing called "Integrated course" (Best I can translate 総合) where they do all sorts of different things ranging from learning how to cook rice in aluminum cups to going out and assuming the roles of fire fighters, store clerks, elementary school teacher assistants, and so on. I love this aspect of the system because they get a very real taste of what the work force feels like. It's as real as it can get for junior high school students at least, and I feel is a very good addition to the education system.
2. Students clean their school. There is a "janitor" of sorts, but he doesn't clean the classrooms, the bathrooms, or anything else besides the staff room and some areas outside. The students clean their classrooms and their bathrooms and generally keep the school clean. This gives them a respect for their classroom (and ultimately a higher respect for things in general) that Western students don't have. Of course, a lot of students don't actually take the cleaning that seriously and the next morning dust bunnies can be found without much effort. Also, in elementary school, leaving cleaning the bathroom to 1st and 2nd graders is not a good idea. I know from walking past it multiple times. All this said, I'm glad I didn't have to do this during my middle school years!
3. Students don't cook their own lunch but they serve it to each other. At least in America, our lunch is handed to us by a lunch lady/guy if you buy it at school (in Japan there is a forced school lunch for elementary school and some middle schools. Possibly some high schools but that would be rare if there are any). Again this serves to the respect and autonomy of the students.
4. They have school trips for each grade, and big events like Culture Day (文化祭) and Sports Day (運動会). These make the students work together to feel a bigger sense of togetherness and sportsmanship. On top of all that, the students organize and plan everything, adding to their maturity and planning skills.
Detrimental Points
1. Club activities. In middle school, every student is forced into after school club activities. I'm not really sure where I stand on the whole after school club activities thing but I definitely feel this is the worse of two (or more) evils. I would have hated middle school if they forced me into a club, and I'm sure there are students here who feel similar. On top of that, many clubs force their students to go to tournaments and come in on Saturday and even Sunday to practice. Every weekend is too much and takes away from family time that they already don't have enough of. This also forces teachers to work often 7 days a week, and many of them already work 12+ hour days on school days already. Of course there are benefits to joining a club, but the way it's done here, I feel the disadvantages outweigh the benefits.
2. Cram schools. As if club activities don't already take a ton of time away from the students, a lot of them are going to cram schools after school, arriving home past 9 pm. When kids are kids they should be allowed to be kids! There will be plenty of time to study later, and it's not like they aren't already studying now in school. Some kids go to these in elementary school as well. Cram school in elementary school? Really?
3. The teaching system is a very one-way style of teaching and it's very formulaic. The teacher gives information, the students write it down and memorize it. You rarely, if ever, see students and teacher engaged in a discussion, where students are asking about points they don't understand, asking questions that demonstrate critical thinking, or even really thinking for themselves during a lesson. I remember trying to give a lesson where the students had to think a bit, and most couldn't do it because it was "too hard." They were right. Their critical thinking skills aren't like their Western counterparts and I should have rethought the lesson.
4. Obviously I'm going to write about the English classes since that is the bulk of my experience here in the Japanese education system. Again, English is presented in a very formulaic manner. This is fine as language has rules that you can learn and follow to use it to communicate, but the formulas are very fluid. Especially in English, where one sentence won't fit every situation that it looks like it could fit. Japanese is a very rigid language without much variety. One sentence works in a multitude of situations and it is rarely changed. This is difficult to teach because the students and teachers are so used to their native tongue. So when you teach them one sentence in English and ask them to change it, it takes them forever. They also never study true conversation in school. There are times where students can recite big chunks of text in front of the classroom, but it's never really conversation. They can't sit there and have a conversation despite studying the language for years. It's because they study strictly for entrance exams to high school or university. It makes sense to study for these, but in the process, students are seeing English as a tool to get into schools, instead of what it really is: a tool for conversation. I have English teachers that can't speak English. They mark things correct that are out of this world wrong (Engrish is not the correct spelling). They import us as assistant language teachers but to be honest, in the classroom, we don't do much. We are overpaid for the jobs we are allowed to do. The English teachers are only concerned with finishing the textbook and in order to do that they have to focus on it and we aren't allowed any time to teach conversation or anything about other cultures (to a large extent. Some of us may get a few classes a year, if that. This year I'm getting none). Also so far I haven't heard any teacher say that to learn a foreign language you have to learn about it's culture, and this is more important than I think most people realize. I'm flat out saying that the English education in Japan is not good. It's just not good.
I think Japan has some good points in its education system, but it does need an overhaul, like most countries' education system.
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