My KKC Fellowship Experience and Future Lesson Plans on Japan

Susie C. Alvarez-Tostado September 30, 2004

Japan on My Mind

87 days ago I left Narita Airport en route to LAX, and for 2,088 hours I have yet to stop comparing Japan to the United States. On my way home from the airport, I thought about how the spacious multi-lane Los Angeles freeways could easily become a virtual parking lot. I remembered how the narrow Tokyo toll road paved a concrete trail to the Imperial Hotel, a path lined with “mansions” and open windows brandishing sunlight-thirsty futons. As I drove to work today, I swerved to avoid a collision with an SUV, a common animal in Southern California. I thought about how I could count the number of those super-sized monsters on one hand during my entire two-week stay in four major cities in Japan.

I may have to enter Green Tea Drinkers Anonymous as I am convinced I am an addict. To fuel my addiction, I discovered an establishment that offers green tea by the drum, in a city less than 9 miles from my home. Another new “must-have” in my house- I change out of my street shoes before entering the living room.

The humidity still clings to my skin as I recall walking up the stairs to the Okonomiyaki restaurant in Hiroshima, and as I long to once again stand where the shadow cast by Sadako’s statue would have been were it not for the gloomy sky. Walking down Ginza-dori, the 360- degree view of Tokyo from Roppongi Hills, hill-top temples and peaceful shrines, drinking Sapporo, meeting a college professor hanging out with his students at a bar, and schools without significant tardy or truancy problems - these recollections find their way into in my dreams at least once a week.

Learning from One Another

Our educator cohort had the opportunity to observe obstacles and opportunities in Japanese education and to discuss how they compare to our own experiences. The comparison of the two systems reveals how our societies try to keep up with worldwide economic competition. Our tour of the schools proved to be both a humbling and an empowering experience. Coming from an ethnically diverse city like Los Angeles, visiting a homogenous society opened my eyes to the possibilities that diversity is not always positive, and that people can maintain organization and balance in an over-crowded city. However, preserving the status quo can be equally counterproductive. In education, teaching in the traditional lecture based format to students trying to compete in today’s world does not allow for independent thinking. Instead, it encourages regurgitation of facts, fosters rote memorization and stifles creativity. Today’s schools all over the globe must be open to change in a world that continues to shrink rapidly with the incorporation of new technology, advanced communication systems and the desire to satisfy the consumer’s insatiable desire for the better product.

1 Evaluating how Japanese students stay competitive in an increasingly interdependent world was an invaluable experience. Learning about compulsory education in Japan, student and teacher expectations, family obligation to education, and juku (or “cram schools” developing from the desire for stellar high school and university entrance examinations) provided insight into what works for Japanese schools. Our cohort discussed the ways we might learn from the standards Japanese societies sets for education. We also reflected on what works for schools in different regions of the US, on school-based support systems (like counseling services), and how teachers act as catalysts for change in classrooms where we work. It was also interesting to talk about how both Japan and the United States strive for education reform (The US’ “No Child Left Behind” and Japan’s “Zest for Living”-a movement toward relaxed, more interactive learning to foster original thought), yet change does not occur because the financial and/or human infrastructure fails to exist to support development.

Lesson Plans

My first overseas trip provided the impetus for research and development of programs I will use with my 10th grade World History classes for the 2004-2005 academic year. My appreciation for the KKC fellowship and facilitation of US-Japan collaboration will continue through the following three programs sponsored by the USC School of International Relations:

CALIS, TIRP, and TEAP

A. USC created the Center for Active Learning in International Studies, which in turn created TIRP-Teaching International Relations Program. TIRP sends teams of undergrad students into schools once a week for four weeks to facilitate activities geared to aid students in understanding themes in diplomacy and world affairs. As we start in on our collaboration, we will focus on Asia. These teams will be in the classroom during the month of October.

B. A spin-off of TIRP, TEAP-Teaching East Asia Program, two teams of undergrad students received fellowships to study in Tokyo and Kyoto. As part of their fellowship requirements, TEAPers will pool resources to create four lesson plans, one for each week in November, to compare and contrast our experiences in these two cities.

C. 2004 World Affairs Competition is an academic competition held this year in Los Angeles, in which teams of 7-12 students spend 12 weeks preparing for a formal presentation that centers on an international theme. While this competition does not focus solely on Japan, the interactive components follow suit with the other activities planned for the classroom.

2 Museums in Southern California

In addition to simulation activities, students will attend workshops around the Los Angeles area, bringing into light the social and cultural traditions of Japan:

A. Students will create their own woodblock prints similar to those on display in exhibit on the occupation of Showa Japan at the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena, California.

B. The Japanese American National Museum, located in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles, will provide a docent led tour of an ongoing exhibit chronicling130 years of Japanese American history. A walking tour of Little Tokyo will follow.

Final Project

As a closing assessment to the fall semester, students will plan the details of an overseas trip, using my KKC fellowship itinerary and details as a model, to explore educational and performing arts opportunities abroad.

My Expectations

I am eager to see my students thrive in the interactive forums I will set up for my students this semester. My hope is that the students will gain an appreciation of Japan through interesting and challenging lessons. Sharing customs and traditions can make us think about how societal rules differ around the world and how we can learn about ourselves through sharing our own ways of life. Living in Los Angeles, I am very fortunate to have many opportunities to learn from diversity. In my own preparation for the trip to Japan, learning more about Japan’s traditions and customs made me feel confident about being able to change and flourish in new situations. As I adapt my lesson plans daily from one class to another to support varying degrees of skill and interest, I want to emphasize to my students the importance of the ability to adjust quickly to the demands of an ever-changing world.

3 Resources

University of Southern California CALIS www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/ir/calis

Contemporary World History Project www.cwhp.info

Teaching International Relations Program Activities Database www.usc.glo.org/calis/db/

Teaching East Asia Program-TEAP www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/ir/calis/teap/index.htm

School of International Relations www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/ir

The World Affairs Challenge www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/ir/calis/wac/index.htm

Children: resources in the United Nations system www.un.org/parners/civl_society/m-child.htm

Convention on the Rights of the Child www.unicef.org/crc/introduction.htm www.unicef.org/crc/fulltext.htm

Children’s Rights: Amnesty International’s Human Rights Concerns www.amnestyusa.org/children/index.do

Human Rights Watch: About the Children’s Rights Division www.hrw.org/childrenabout.htm

Pacific Asia Musem www.pacificasiamuseum.org/calendar/occshowa.htm

Japanese American National Museum www.janm.org

Plan Your Trip www.travelstate.gov/abroad_trip.html