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Broadcasting to an audience of three (and a goldfish)...
Comment, ramblings and musings... life through the eyes of a Japanologist...
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Wednesday, August 28, 2002 |
 Went to taiko an hour late this evening- Kawanoue-san had been at a
meeting- but still played as much as normal (which shows how strict the
practice is...). I played 'Matsuri Daiko' for the first time in about
three years, which meant that I wasn't quite perfect- but I'll remember
it with a few more practices. 'Matsuri Daiko' was the very first piece I
learned, so I don't want to forget it...
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CDs, or pieces of music, worthy of mention...
'Tommy' by The Who
It's great to be able to order from the HMV Japan website and get CDs
delivered! The delivery charge is about 300 yen, but this is far cheaper
than the 2000 yen it would cost if I were to go into Hiroshima to buy
the CD.
Anyway, 'Tommy'. I'd heard much about this 'rock opera', but
I really had no idea about what it would be like. I didn't even realise
that 'Pinball Wizard' was from the album! But I have to say that after a
couple of listens, I like it. The story is interesting (whimsical?), and
there are some extremely catchy songs. I'm sure it'll grow on me even
further.
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Actually, the Festival Etajima meeting was useful in one sense- in the
sense that it gave me some time to put some flesh on the bones of a
little plan I've come up with to get foreigners to Etajima. Basically
the biggest problem with the International Club is that many people
assume that by becoming members they can meet foreigners, which leaves
them bitter and disappointed when they realise that this isn't the case-
so if we can get some foreigners to visit, then hopefully we can
reinvigorate the International Club. In addition, I'll also be able to
take some foreigners along to the elementary schools, so the children
will have a chance to meet non-Japanese people other than me. Anyway,
the idea centres around inviting foreign students at Hiroshima
University to the island, and giving them the chance to do a night's
homestay, discover the island, and meet some of the townspeople. I know
that from my own time in Hiroshima University that it's not too easy to
make Japanese friends, and that even if you succeed the vast majority of
these friends are students, so hopefully the chance to come and
experience traditional Japan, mix with some Japanese people who aren't
students, and perhaps visit a Japanese school should be tempting.
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No rest for the wicked- after lunch, another meeting (albeit with rather
less chance of being pilloried)... the first meeting of the Organisation
Committee for Festival Etajima 2002. As ever, thoroughly uninspiring. We
were supposed to split into groups to talk about the area of the
preparations we were overseeing, but the person who is supposed to be
organising the 'bunka-koryu bumon' with me had no clue.
Whatsoever. Which didn't make for a particularly useful discussion...
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I have to say that I was annoyed at the outcome of the meeting, although
not particularly surprised. But I felt depressed about school visits as
a whole: the town thinks them important, I think them important; I get
the impression that the schools see them as a pain in the neck they just
have to suffer. There are two or three teachers who understand the whole
concept, but, in the main, 'get them over with with as little planning,
as little effort as possible' seems to be the schools' mantra. I'm
depressed not just at the failure of the schools to listen to my
suggestions in a constructive way, but also at the fact that I know that
the seven teachers who attended the meeting will go back to the schools
and give their own version of events, painting me in an unfavourable
light. Of course, it goes without saying that the teachers' version of
events will be accepted and supported by the other teachers, which means
that I'll be seen as the villain of the piece, and that school visits
from September are going to be like a Christian walking into a den of
lions...
I enjoy teaching, and I love my shogakusei, but, by
God, I would never want to become so petty, small-minded and territorial
as the majority of the Elementary School teachers here seem to be. It's
not that they can't understand International Understanding, it's
that they don't want to.
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Hmmm. Not quite a mauling, but fairly close.
As I expected, the teachers didn't take kindly to... well, to anything, really. Admittedly my handout might have been a little strongly worded, but everyone in the BOE thought it was fine, so I don't really think that the handout was the major part of the problem- and in any case, I stand by the content of the handout absolutely. I am not allowed to be used as an English teacher- and even if I were, there is no point in asking for 'English' lessons. The teachers showed their hypocrisy by saying that they didn't see the need to practice English outside of my lessons, while insisting that they wanted English during the lessons. Well, this is something I'm not moving on- there is no point in English for the sake of English- although I don't mind using English for some other purpose (for example, for a game, or something). However, when I said this, the schools that had written 'English conversation' for their requests suddenly said that, although they'd written 'English conversation', they didn't in fact mean 'English conversation'. Well, call me stupid, but if I saw a request asking for 'French', I wouldn't assume that this actually meant 'German'- and it's the same thing. If I see a request for 'English conversation', then I assume that (oddly enough) the school wants 'English conversation'...
Speaking of French and German, another point I mentioned was that if the schools were so dead set on communication, then they should bear in mind that in stressing only English, they were creating the impression that all countries outside Japan were English-speaking, or that non-English-speaking countries were irrelevant. But of course, such a simple point stood absolutely no chance of being accepted- instead, the teachers chose to interpret this as my saying that I wanted to teach French and German. This brought howls of 'if we wanted to learn about Thailand, we'd like to get a Thai person to come!'
Excuse me? Who mentioned Thailand?
In any case, I accept that getting someone to talk about their own country is the ideal option- but it's not always possible, which is why I mentioned that if the schools wanted, I might be able to talk simply about countries other than my own.
Anyway, the meeting went on in this pattern- anything I brought up as a suggestion to improve International Understanding lessons was (willfully?) misunderstood by the teachers. I think that the simple fact is that my lessons are seen as an excuse for the teachers to take a break- they don't have to plan or teach the lesson- and so anything that leads to their having to do something- anything!- for these lessons will be rejected out of hand. This is ultimately why they are so keen on English- not because they think it's beneficial (if they did, they'd make the children practice outside lessons), but because it obviates the need for them to think about what sort of International Understanding lessons would be most beneficial. Whose interests are they putting first, I wonder?- I don't think it's the children's...
In the end, we didn't quite come to blows, but there's certainly a gulf between me and the teachers now. I'm not looking forward to school visits from September... Interestingly, though, the teachers all admitted that my lessons had made the children more used to foreign culture, etc., and that the children all looked forward to my lessons, which means that (despite the best efforts of the Japanese teachers) I'm doing something right. It's just a shame that my suggestions for improving these lessons- (1) No English for English's sake (either English for some purpose, or better still, culture-based lessons), (2) Decide on a purpose to the lessons, (3) Discuss topics, (4) Provide backup outside lessons, and (5) Use the CIR in normal lessons too- were seen as criticisms, and rejected out of hand without any serious considerations as to their merit...
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It seems that there's no problem about my International Understanding
handout. Having the BOE's support makes things a little easier, but
nevertheless I'm still not looking forward to the meeting. I really
expect at least a little hostility...
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Finally got the handout for the International Understanding Lessons
meeting completed. I still have a little, lingering doubt as to whether
I might not have been just a little too critical (albeit implicitly),
but we'll just have to see. To be honest, I get the feeling that
whatever I say, it's not going to go down too well- for the simple fact,
more than anything, that no matter how I phrase it, I'm effectively
telling the schools that I'm no longer going to accept their treating
International Understanding lessons as an excuse for a 45-minute rest.
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Breakfast Show Staple Randomhaiku of the day (from The Genuine Haiku Generator)
raw fish ravages
charitable forlorn soft
mask bloating, tiredly
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© Copyright 2003 Nathan Duckworth.
Updated: 8/1/03; 8:33:03 pm.
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