Snapshots from Japan
By Peter Barnes

Graduate classes, summer school, planting a garden in the backyard – these are some of the ways in which teachers traditionally spend their summer vacations. I've found that more exciting opportunities exist.

I recently traveled with 200 teachers from all parts of the United States on a three-week educational tour of Japan. As guests of the Japanese government, we were funded by the Fulbright Memorial Fund (FMF) teacher program. Since 1996, FMF has sent over 3,000 American teachers to experience Japanese culture, stay with Japanese families and get a first hand look at the Japanese education system.

Changing perspective. I soon found that observing classes in another country changes your perspective and challenges long-held beliefs about teaching. During our classroom visits, we thought much about our curriculum, classroom management and teaching strategies. We found some aspects of Japanese education preferable to our own and others less desirable. Regardless, we learned much by comparing and constantly questioning how our methods compare to those of our Japanese counterparts.

A few photos from the "Japan Corner" Peter Barnes displayed in his school's cafeteria.

One of the most visible differences from U.S. schools was the student-led cleanup time that we observed at all the K-12 schools we visited in Japan. The cleanup is a fun time, with students laughing and talking loudly as they do their jobs. It was obvious that the students take pride in their schools, a powerful lesson for American teachers to consider.

Student teachers. In a few classrooms, we saw deep involvement of students in the education process as well. Seventh grade science students had caught bass from a local river and worked in groups to scrape scales off the fish and observe them under microscopes. This lesson had been created entirely by the students.

Many of us were also impressed that the Japanese curriculum is much more condensed than our own. The emphasis is on mastering the basics through repetition and repeated practice. A compact curriculum is rarely a reality for American teachers, but the idea of spending extended time on major concepts is compelling.

We soon realized that the engaging and interactive classes we witnessed were the exception in Japan, not the rule. Classes are most often taught using whole group instruction, with the teacher writing notes or practice problems on the chalkboard. Equally surprising was the fact that classroom management is not emphasized. We saw many students talking over the teacher and leaving their desks without permission. Japanese schools also have less technology than ours, with teachers using fewer visual aids to capture students' attention.

These negative aspects reminded us that there are great things happening in American schools that we take for granted. Japanese teachers asked questions about our use of technology and cooperative learning, which led us to reflect on our teaching philosophies.

Soaking up the culture. Much of our time in Japan was spent exploring the Japanese culture. We ate traditional Japanese cuisine, sang karaoke, attended a professional baseball game and spent two days with a Japanese family. Our collection of cultural experiences will be translated into a myriad of learning opportunities for students and teachers in our home schools. So far, I've displayed a "Japan Corner" in our cafeteria complete with pictures, artifacts and written impressions of my trip. To engage students in learning about Japan, I included a "Do You Really Know Japan?" quiz with questions like, "How many different alphabets do Japanese students have to learn?" (Answer: Four – Kanji, Hiragana, Katakana and Romaji). These questions will pique students' curiosity about Japanese life and hopefully lead them to ask their own questions.

Special education teacher and fellow traveler Christina Choi plans to teach a writing unit on the Japanese comic books called anime. She will use comic books, posters and other writing materials collected in Japan to get her students excited about this popular form of writing. Fourth grade teacher Melanie Campbell is using pictures and written observations from our travels to create a Japanese garden on her school grounds. Barbara Borer was so impressed with a tea ceremony demonstration by kindergartners at Kurihara Kita Elementary that she recreated the ceremony at her own school in Minnesota. Ms. Borer collected tea ceremony artifacts and received private instruction on the ceremony so that her recreation would be authentic.

Celebrity sightings. Participation in programs such as the Fulbright Memorial Fund affords unique opportunities to meet important people. Our group met members of the Japanese Ministry of Education, city mayors, school superintendents and university professors. Our most powerful connections though, were undoubtedly with Japanese teachers and students. The schools we visited treated us like rock stars, with students vying for autographs or business cards from the American teachers. The Japanese teachers were also excited to meet us and learn all about American schools.

Many happy returns. We carried these connections across the Pacific Ocean to our home schools. I plan on having my students write pen pal letters to fifth graders from Kurihara Kita Elementary this year. This is possible since most Japanese students begin English instruction in kindergarten. I am confident they will discover many similarities, particularly regarding their common interests in American music, sports stars and of course, video games.

I'm also planning to make a video documenting a day at our school to be sent to our sister classroom of Japanese fifth graders. This will give the Japanese students a first-hand look at life in America, which we hope will inspire them to create a video in return. The possibilities truly are endless.

Peter Barnes teaches fifth grade in Williamsburg, VA.

October, 2003, Vol.34, No.2