Inquiry Project Part 1 – Documented Pedagogical Travel Log
Choosing TAB was one of the reasons I decided to enroll in the University of Calgary’s Education program. I had spent several years prior to the degree teaching English in Japan and Korea across different age groups and in both the private and public school systems. These experiences are largely what have convinced me of the value in education and helped inspire me to become a teacher. When choosing a university with which to study, I was looking specifically for a program that would allow me the opportunity to return to teaching abroad. I wanted the opportunity to meaningfully reflect upon what I had learned in the past two years, and to hopefully see for myself the ways in which my behavior and decisions as a teacher were affected. Without the stressful constraints of immediately entering the workforce and teaching fulltime, I really hoped to experience a placement – like those I had in Calgary – that would allow me to focus on my skills as an educator, and to take time examining my own practice. Having said all this, returning to Japan is probably one of the most valuable experiences in my two years studying at the U of C, since it gives me a real chance to accomplish all of these goals.
To prepare for this placement, I haven’t had to do a great deal. Learning Japanese is something I’ve always enjoyed, although some days – like today – I don’t always have the conversational success I would like! From my past working and academic activities in Japan, I have been steadily improving my skill at the language, which is a bit of a necessity when you leave the more touristy areas of the country. Despite having at least six years of mandatory English schooling, the average Japanese person is not likely to be able to carry a conversation with me, so it is certainly useful to be able to communicate in Japanese. This communication is also affected by the cultural differences between Western and Japanese societies. Often times, there is a discomfort among Japanese people to speak with a westerner, whether in Japanese or English. Even if a person I meet is capable of speaking English, he or she is often intimidated, shy, or just uncomfortable using the language, and will avoid having to communicate. While this could be said to be true of many countries, it is a common reality in Japan, and something that very few people – Japanese or foreigner – would try to deny. In these types of cases, extending my weak Japanese skills will often help lower the overall tension, and begin some sort of dialogue, meaning I can find what I’m looking for/ get help / buy stuff, etc. I’ve brought several books on Japanese language with me to Tokyo, and plan to spend a little time everyday studying and speaking with Japanese people in the community. This later goal may be a little more difficult than I first thought, since I have a relatively full schedule between my placement school and my coursework. Additionally, most of my coworkers have busy schedules outside of work that don’t necessity immersing them into Japanese language environments.
The school I’m volunteering at is called Columbia International School, and is located in Saitama city, one of the many cities that make up the greater Tokyo area. I was in email contact with the principal of the school for several weeks before leaving Calgary, which helped prepare me for what I’d be doing here. The school itself offers students from grades one through 12 an education in a full English immersion environment. On top of that, the curriculum is matched to the province of Ontario, meaning that graduates from Columbia can apply to Canada and American universities with little difficulty. Almost all of the teachers are from Ontario, and many of those who originally are from other cities or countries took their teacher training certification in Ontario. I’ve only been here a week, but have heard that the job prospects for teachers in that province are bleak. It sounds like teaching in the international school system is a good option for teachers like me if I’m not offered a position in Canada upon graduation! ^^
In terms of my own preparation to student teach here in Saitama, following the Ontario curricular outcomes meant that I had to spend some time before coming – and am still – reading up on that provinces guidelines for the different disciplines. The principal said that in addition to this curriculum, accommodations were made at pretty much all grade levels to make the outcomes applicable to the context of Japan. In social studies for example, it meant changing the content of the lessons on aboriginal peoples from a Canadian context (Huron and Iroquois) to have more relevance to the students. In Japan’s own history, they have some of the same conflict in their past with the Ainu people who originally lived on Hokkaido island in the north. Since I was in Hokkaido last summer as part of another University of Calgary student exchange program, I have been able to connect what I learned from our visits to the Aino cultural museum with the goals of Columbia’s adapted units in social studies.
Before I left, the principal also asked if I would be able to help with the school’s music program. They don’t currently have a music specialist at either the primary nor secondary level, and because of my background in classical music, he asked whether I would be interested in supporting the teachers who felt music was especially difficult. Since my degree is a general degree as an elementary generalist – and doesn’t focus on music for any significant time – I thought this would be a good development opportunity for me, and said yes!
In my last few weeks before leaving, I met with two friends of mine who currently teach music across the different grade levels in the Calgary and Calgary Catholic boards, hoping to find out what resources and approaches they were using. This brought back memories of my first degree, over 10 years ago, when many of my friends and classmates at the time were studying music education. Much more recently, I had been reading about the lives of Zoltan Kodaly and ~~~Suzuki, two music pedagogues whose influence on music education in Canada are strong, especially in Alberta. I was really happy to hear their responses and to have their advice on the topic. Both friends recommended the Kodaly method – and its accompanying resources – as the most beneficial and productive approach to music education. I say I was happy to hear this, since during my undergraduate in music, many of the professors were actively incorporating Kodaly’s teaching pedagogues in their classes, even for us musicians who were at the time not education bound. Music theory and musicianship were two who class sets that often and significantly included Kodaly’s patented techniques of moveable do and also his style of rhythmic notation. After being reassured by my friends that those practices had for them produced real results, I felt confident in collecting resources that I would be able to use at the school. Some of the books were even donated by a colleague at my last student teacher placement, for which I’m very grateful. (Thanks Anne!)
Regarding my itinerary and schedule, I tried as best as possible to find the middle ground of what would work out best for everyone. I originally had heard from the school – or perhaps the University of Calgary (I can’t remember which) – that Columbia was interested in having me start as early as December 3rd, coinciding with the start of their term. That was far too short notice at the time, but we came to the agreement on January 19th through March 19th. This is also fitting with the school’s schedule, as their school term and year finishes on that day. In further conversation with the principal and teachers at the school, we’ve currently been kicking around the idea of having me stay just a little longer, so that I can also see the start of a new school year. In my previous school placements, we’ve always entered the classroom weeks after the beginning of class. I can understand how being there on the very first day could be unnerving for any partner teacher, but I would really like to see it at least once before starting up my own classroom. Overall, I tried to have my placement overlap with the semester at the University of Calgary and match the general schedule of classes on campus. Ideally, I wanted to be immersed in this culture and community while writing most of the assignments, which it looks like I’ll be able to do. I also wanted to return to Calgary in time for convocation, since I missed the convocation of my first degree. And, above all of these considerations, I had to remember that I only had a maximum of 90 days to stay in Japan, since that’s the limit to a tourist visa. I guess I could do a quick visa run to Korea, but like most students in TAB, I’m funding this trip out of my own pocket, with no financial support from the University of Calgary. That being the case, it pays to plan carefully, and not accrue too many extra costs.
Japan is a fully developed country like Canada, and has an excellent healthcare system and high standard of living. I’ve had to prepare very little in terms of looking after myself while I’m here, aside from the basics like overseas healthcare coverage, and making sure I packed those things I’m likely to need in the next three months. Because I’ve been here before, I had a good idea about exactly what I’d need. I packed two umbrellas, since it rains all the time in Japan. However, I left my purple full-sized umbrella at the Vancouver airport by mistake. L Having prepared well (enough) means that I won’t have to run around too much in Saitama buying things I already have. Thankfully, it’s Japan, which means I wouldn’t have to go far to find anything I need!
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