Tuesday, June 23, 1998

Today was our first school visit. We drove to the industrial area to the Mizuma Technical High School. This school, of nearly 1200 students, looked very industrial. The buildings were concrete with little effort at beautification. Each building had three floors and outdoor hallways. Anyway, we met the principal in a conference room. The principal made a brief speech about his school and how glad he was that we were visiting.

We were also glad to be visiting. In fact, we were so glad that Stephen made a fantastic speech. After he spoke, I presented a rather large box filled with gifts from each FMF participant. The principal seemed very excited to get the gifts.

We left the conference room to go on a tour of the school. Provided for us was a map and schedule of the school. We walked into many classrooms and stayed for only a few minutes. I saw a chemistry lab, a computer controlled machine class, a drafting class, a machine shop, and an English class. The English class was taught by an American named Benjamin. He lived in Kurashiki with his wife. Ben seemed to like working at the High School; he doesn't take it too seriously.

It is a good thing that Ben had a sense of humor because his class was full. His 40 students seemed only partially interested in learning English. Many of the Tech students will go on to work in the local factories. They have little need for speaking English. In fact, most of the classes were designed to provide direct training for the factory jobs.

I think that the lunch was also provided to prepare the children for the working world. The lunch was Korean rice. That is rice with sauce and a fried pork cutlet on top. It was tasty, but I would not want to eat it ever again. After lunch, we met with the faculty and the principal.

The Japanese teachers asked us first to tell about our impressions of the High School. We had mostly positive things to say. We, then, went about asking questions. Some of us did not know what to ask because none of us teaches at a Technical High School. After some general questions, one of my group asked about safety in the labs and shops. The question itself was barely appropriate. The problem I had was with the way the question was asked. The FMF participant who asked it sounded accusatory. I was embarrassed. The Japanese teacher who answered should be a diplomat; he answered very skillfully. The only complaint that he made was class size - something that the principal has no control over. He did offer to meet with us and discuss school in private, away from the principal. Other than that he did not say much.

Although the Japanese teachers did not say much to answer our questions, we said tons. For almost every question, several FMF teachers answered based on individual school. I guess that tells a lot about American education, but it was frustrating. I should have known enough to get used to this because this would be a theme of our answers for the remaining visits.

When we finally left the Technical High School, we had learned a great deal about the Japanese tech schools. About 30% of the students want to go to college. The rest of the students are resigned to the fact that they will be working in factories for the rest of their lives. The lab and practical classes had a ten to one ratio. The general subjects (English, math, history) had a ratio of one to forty. The priorities were quite clear.

The priorities of my group were also quite clear -shopping. We got back to the Bikan district (the historical area where the hotel was). Most of the group went out to buy. The day was fruitful in experience and loot. I finally slept.

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