Friday, June 26, 1998

Finally, the day I've been waiting for. Today, we visited Fukuda-Minami Junior High School. As a middle school teacher, this was the school visit that I most wanted.

It started in the usual fashion. We were shepherded into a small conference room where we waited for the opening ceremony. Even though it was only 9 am, we were already sweating like crazy in the tropical heat. The principal finally arrived and started with an opening speech. This speech was different from the others. This principal chose not to speak about his school and his students. Instead, he spoke about himself. At length.

After impressing us by telling us all about his career. Hallie was set to make our reply speech, when she was asked to go to the TV studio and broadcast her speech to the whole school via closed captioned TV. At first Hallie was reluctant. Someone then had the bright idea that the whole group should stand behind Hallie when she spoke. With the group as a backdrop, Hallie delivered a fantastic speech. She even opened with a few words in Japanese.

After Hallie's four minutes of fame, we returned to the conference room to find that it had gotten about ten degrees hotter. Oh well.

At this point the vice-principal took the entire group on a tour of the school. As we passed a classroom or stopped to look in one, the kids started acting like kids. They would wave or say hello (in English). The tour was fun, but we didn't get a chance to really see what was going on. We returned to the conference room.

When we got back to the conference room, one of the interpreters told us to take our things and go to the next room because there was in air conditioner in that room. We practically ran. It turned out that the new, cold, room was the principal's office. I must admit, I enjoy being treated like a VIP.

After a short cooling down period, we split into groups to visit classrooms. My group stopped first at an 8th grade social studies class. this class was in the middle of a lecture on Manchu-Ching wars in 17th and 18th century China. After observing for a few minutes, our interpreter asked if I could show that class my map of the US. the teacher seemed very interested and the kids were either interested or glad that the lecture was over. After my explanation of the where the group came from, we opened the floor to questions. Fortunately, the kids acted just like kids do. At first, only the class clown asked questions. Gradually, the other kids began asking questions. Even the teacher asked a few. He seemed like a really good teacher who did not want to miss a good teaching moment. Eventually the teaching moment ended (well, the bell rang), and we left.

Our next stop was a 7th grade technology/industrial arts class (shop). Today, this class was learning isometric and perspective learning just like Rashi's middle schoolers. Since I love that stuff, I sat with the kids and tried to complete the activity. I started out by drawing on the back of my business cards. After a few minutes, a student approached with a photocopy of the textbook page. Apparently, the teacher saw what I was doing and sent a kid to make the copy. Cool.

Speaking of cool, I left the shop to return to the air conditioned principal's office. After another short cooling off period, I was escorted to a 7th grade classroom for lunch. The process was very similar to the elementary school, but less structured. This time was different in one key way; I got to sit in a grown up's chair while I ate. This lunch was similar also. As I ate, at least two kids stared at me the entire time. After I'd had a chance to eat, a nice girl approached me and asked me a question. She wanted to know what movies are popular in the US. I answered and she walked away. I saw another girl approach the first and whisper to her. Moments later, I realized that the first girl was the translator when she approached me again to ask another question. We continued like this for several minutes. Eventually she stopped walking away. As I started asking her questions, a small crowd gathered. Several kids decided to stay in and talk to me instead of going outside to play ball. (In this heat I didn't blame them).

When it was time to go, I gave out some pens and business cards. One of the boys thought to return the gift by giving me a photo-sticker of him and two friends. I promptly put the sticker on my name tag. The kids loved that. Finally, lunch ended and I returned to the air-conditioning.

Once school ended for the day, we met with the teachers. I learned some interesting things about Japanese middle schools. The students are not tracked at all. The teacher visits each student's home. The teachers file lesson plans to show how they will follow the National curriculum. There is a weekly morals class to teach rule-following and how to have a gentle heart. Western and world music is taught, but not Japanese music. Japanese parents questions the amount of homework (just like American parents). They often let the students decide how to handle discipline issues. Fukuda-Minami Junior High School has three objectives.

1. Students will be gentle and enriched in the heart; they will think about others.

2. Nurture a strong willingness to participate and be active.

3. Train the sound body and sound mind to be resilient and exert power.

I find these objectives fascinating because they do not even mention knowledge or content. In a strong way, these fit with the American middle school movement.

The visit to Fukuda-Minami Junior High School was a great experience. Once it was over, I was glad to back to town. After a relaxing dinner and some time in town, we called it a night. Another great day.

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