2006年度USEJプログラム参加者による報告会を開催

USEJに参加した先生方からの活発な報告に、JBAスタッフも聞き入っていた


ビデオプレゼンテーションでは、先生方が着物を試着している姿なども映写された

　USEJプログラムは、日本理解や日本に関する教育をアメリカで促進してもらうことなどを目的として、アメリカ現地校の教育関係者を2週間にわたって日本に送る制度だ。2006年度は、6月25日から7月8日にかけて、教育関係者ら合計12人が日本に派遣された。参加者は、東京、秋田、京都、奈良を訪問し、また、オプションで広島も訪問するなど、各地で日本の教育現場や文化を体験した。

　プログラムの報告会には、12人の参加者のうち9人が出席。日本での経験を報告し、プログラムへの提案などを行った。また、JBA関係者ら16人も参加し、今後のプログラム改善への聞き取りを行った。

　当日は、教育部会のローリン昌子さんの司会のもとに、教育部会長の宮崎亘弘さんがまずは挨拶。「参加していただいた皆さん、本当にありがとうございます。今回のプログラムの様子はKTLAテレビでも放映され、これによって一般の方にも文化交流の重要性が伝わったと思います。参加された方々には、ぜひ今回体験したことをアメリカの教育現場で伝えていただきたいと思います」と語った。

報告会の後のランチの様子。日本での体験話で盛り上がった

　「日本の先生方とディスカッションしたおかげで、どのようにアメリカにいる日本人生徒に対応したら良いかといったことも学びました。もっと教室で生徒と過ごす時間や、先生とディスカッションする時間を増やしても良いかもしれません」(シャーリーン・アンダーソンさん)。

　「どちらかと言えば、アメリカの教育と日本の教育の違いを探そうと思っていましたが、結果的にアメリカも日本も教育に求めるものは同じだと思いました」(エイミー・フェデリーさん)。

　「最初は日本人の家庭に行くのにナーバスになっていました。でもドアをくぐったとたんに、私を家族の1人として迎えてくれました。ホストマザーが英語の先生だったので、彼女が全部通訳してくれたんです。とても仲良くなって、今度は彼らがアメリカに遊びに来ることになっています。もう飛行機のチケットも買ったそうです」(キャロル・フラネリーさん)。

　また広島ツアーに行った参加者からは、「広島のことは知っていたけれど、実際に平和資料館に足を運び、自分の目で見ると、その意味の大きさは想像以上でした。広島で起こったことに関して深い悲しみを感じました。今後のプログラムにも広島ツアーは取り入れたほうが良いと思います」という意見もあった。

日本の小学校の子供たちと一緒に

　I feel so fortunate to have been able to participate in the 2006 IEJ program, and found my experiences from the trip to be ones that I will never forget. The focus of this trip for me was to learn more about the culture of Japan so that when I have young Japanese students in my class, I will be better able to meet their needs and understand cultural differences. By visiting both of the ele-mentary schools in Tokyo and in Akita, I learned a lot to help me in this endeavor. I definitely had pre-conceived ideasof what Japanese schools would be like, and they were extremely different than what I experienced. I expected that students would be lined up, quiet unless spoken to, and that most of the work would be pen and paper tasks. This was just not the case! Students were com-pletely engaged in a variety of activities ranging from music, sculpture and various fine arts, cooking, sewing, hands-on measurement activities, and much more. This was definitely not the image that I had in my head. I was thrilled to see that the attitude at the schools was more relaxed, and that students were given the opportunity to express themselves through the arts, etc.

　It also became apparent that no matter where you go, kids are kids. For the most part, they all want to learn, they all want to fit in, and they all want to feel that they have importance. The students that I met seemed to enjoy being at school and were active participants with smiles on their faces! They felt a sense of importance by being in charge of announcements, serving lunch to their peers, and by taking pride of their school by working together to keep it clean. It there is a message that I can take back to my class in the U.S., it's that of working together for the betterment of the whole. I look forward to working with my students so that they under -stand their importance in their school community and the greater world around them. I hope that by doing so, they have a feeling that they can truly make a difference.

着物を着せてもらって大喜びのリサさん(右)とご主人のクリスさん(左)

　I hough every encounter on our journey fur-ther enriched my appreciation for Japan, its culture, and its people, it was my brief time in front of an 8th grade classroom at Tokai Junior High School that set the stage for my most profound learning experience. From my observations of the students, their social interactions, and academic behaviors, I have developed a better understanding of the challenges experienced by middle school and high school Japanese students as they make the transition to California schools and classrooms. One such challenge is the standard expectation in most California classrooms for academic discourse between teachers and students, and students with students.

　Providing opportunities for students to engage in high-level discussions, encouraging them to ask questions, and fostering the development of their own thinking are integral parts of a California public education. Such a learning environment requires teachers to create curriculum and implement teaching and learning strategies that facilitate the development of the literacy, language, and social skills necessary for academic discourse to be effective and productive. Without similar opportunities, many of our second language students are at a disadvantage when they enter language intensive and interactive classrooms. I became painfully aware of this as I tried to engage students in what I thought was a well-structured, age-appropriate lesson focused on English language writing conventions and oral language development. Using the vocabulary associated with the familiar game of baseball, I had hoped to activate the students' prior knowledge as well as pique their interest in an effort to enhance the learning that was to take place. I felt extremely prepared with appropriate materials and every contingency plan possible. I had anticipated that the students' limited English language proficiency would interfere with their comprehension, but I had no way of knowing to what extent. Yet, what I neglected to do was consider how my teaching style and strategies might be entirely different than with what the students were familiar.

　As I stood in front of the class, a sudden fear swept over me as I realized I was the only one who was truly limited in language. It is from this uncomfortable realization that I gained new insight about what our students encounter as they enter our classrooms for the first time. I quickly understood how it felt to be away from what was familiar and comfortable, and thrown into something totally and frighteningly foreign. I remember I had to remind myself to breathe. Though I attempted to go about the business of teaching, I recognized there was so much more preparation for learning that should have been done. Here I was introducing a new way of teaching, a new language, and new expectations for student engagement and participation, but there was no time to ease into the normal approach of identifying the learning goals, modeling the learning process, and practicing the expected student behaviors necessary for it all to be successful.

　Luckily, the students and I survived. But what became very apparent to me was how much we teachers take for granted. We are very aware of the challenges created by a student's limited language proficiency, but we tend to neglect the other differences in the student's educational background. It is those other issues we need to be sure to acknowledge and address in ways that will ensure a student's smooth transition and academic success.