Learning Through the Eyes of Another Culture: Reflecting on Our Craft

Learning Through the Eyes of Another Culture:Reflecting on Our Craft Dr. Bradford L. Walker University of North Carolina Wilmington

I wish to express appreciation to my colleagues at Osaka Kyoiku Daigaku for sending students to our university and for hosting our students as they come to Japan. • Their insightful assistance, wonderful hospitality, and tireless effort have been incredible and are the key to the success of this program.

Japanese College Students Visiting Schools in North Carolina • Opportunities to learn about a different culture • Opportunities to learn about ourselves and reflect on our craft

American Students Learn About Different Cultures • “Our students look forward to the visit of the Japanese students. Some of them even remember some words in Japanese.” • “The Japanese students help us help our students learn to understand and appreciate diversity.”

Comments Made by Japanese Students as they Observe our Classrooms • Why is PE talk, talk, talk, talk, do? • American teachers seem to have too many don'ts.

Comments Made by Japanese Students as they Observe our Classrooms • Why do students go from place to place in a straight line behind the teacher? • Why are American teachers so quick to discipline?

Comments Made by Japanese Students as they Observe our Classrooms • In Japan, if you are a good teacher, you talk less than your students.

Comments Made by Japanese Students as they Observe our Classrooms • In America, it seems that you see your task as taming children. In Japan, we see our task as nurturing children.

Comments by American Students as They Visit Japanese Schools • The trip to Japan was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that taught me so much about myself and the kind of teacher I hope to become

Comments by American Students as They Visit Japanese Schools • It is amazing how much more they do with music and art in their schools. • “We don’t attempt to screen the use of the Internet in this school. We attempt to put the screen on the heart of the child so that he screens himself.”

Comments by American Students as They Visit Japanese Schools • I am so impressed with the Japanese teachers’ belief in the innate goodness of children. • The biggest idea I have internalized about our school visits in Japan was the pervading atmosphere of trust and respect I saw in all of the schools I visited. • Their teachers and elders believe in them.

Comments by American Students as They Visit Japanese Schools • Everyone shares responsibility for education in Japan. Parents, teachers, students, the government, and many more all realize the importance of a good education. In the US, it seems that everyone is always passing the blame.

Comments by American Students as They Visit Japanese Schools • I now truly understand what an English language learner must feel on his or her first day in the United States. I will carry this memory with me as I welcome new students for years to come.

Comments by American Students as They Visit Japanese Schools • I left the schools every day wondering if we expect too much from our children. We expect them to do things beyond their realm, but do not give them the independence and freedom to do it. We don’t want to give them responsibility because they are children, but then expect them to act like they are little adults. We expect them to work to national standards, but do not give them time to master the skills to do so.

Comments by American Students as They Visit Japanese Schools • I discovered what I must teach my own students. Through the literature about Sadako and my pictures of the Peace Park, I can teach my students about the Japanese ability to forgive. Hopefully, this can lead to open and frank discussions of our American need for forgiveness and who we want to be as a nation.

Japanese College Students Visiting Schools in Japan • “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us” –Emerson

Japanese College Students Visiting Schools in Japan • Opportunities to learn about a different culture • Opportunities to learn about ourselves • Changing the world one small step at a time

Learning Through the Eyes of Another Culture: Reflecting on Our Craft