Nezame Gakkuen

One of the most rewarding experiences of my JET...ahem, experience (redundant), so far has been going to the Nezame Gakkuen. My fellow JETs in the area first told me about it a couple of weeks ago, and that's when I learned that bi-weekly visits were basically the norm amongst them. What is a gakkuen? It's basically an orphanage, though it feels a little different because you don't understand the circumstances that brought them there. They obviously have all been abandoned by one person or another, but my fellow JETs tell me that sometimes they would go one week and see a child there, and then go another week and that child is gone. I guess the same may be true in America. Maybe they got adopted? I'm not sure how it works, but after hearing of how high literacy rate is here and how low poverty lines have traditionally been, it was a reality check to see the kids there. Most surprising was just how many of MY kids were there. So many kids from the elementary school, so many kids from the junior high school. To see them in school in one environment, and pretty much assume that this environment is there normal life (especially since the kids spend so much time here if you include the after school activities!), but then see them there in a totally different world...man, I wonder how much as a teacher you really know your kids. Not at all right now.

Teachers from my school basically do rotations in going there. That's awesome, as we as teachers need to know the students we are teaching. That's one way that can help us assure their academic success. Honestly, in all schools, there should be more outside the school interaction between teachers and students. I think parents should even invite teachers over houses for dinner once a while, that should be some sort cultural tradition, as that bit of time can make a huge difference. I've always felt that teachers are mentors, role models, and will not have as much of an impact as parents but may and probably should be next on the list. Just think, you spend so much time in school. With 2/3 of your waking day spent here, especially in Japan, it's got to be more than just your subjects. That's why I like Japan, they treat it that way. Moral education is first period tomorrow, a couple of kids just came into the teachers room (where I'm writing this) to ask for some materials they are going to take with them to the local nursing home. They all have home economics and stuff like shop (remember shop class, I only had that once - i.e., one day in my lifetime, and I liked it a lot). Maybe schools in America still have that, and my school experience was just different, but the concentration on rigorous academics that I had - it takes the lifeblood out of you. Personally, I wish we did less of that, and I don't feel like I would be less intellectually developed. If you guys only knew how bad I did in high school, because of how unispiring it was, you would know I'm telling the truth. But that's a different subject, and just as much about me as about school. I'm not saying school will ever be perfect, but I'm very interested in finding out more about what works and what doesn't, especially across nations.

If your going to have school be such a large part of kids lives, especially in our day in time where parents seem to be working much of the time (I know it's problem in America and believe it is in Japan as well), then school should be more about all around character development. That's not really all that tricky or cultural nuanced (sometimes it is, but I'm not asking the UN to make educational policy, obviously intra-national government). Stuff like volunteerism, phys ed, should all be part of the experience. At least in the high school that I went to, that was pretty much cut out, and I wish it wasn't.

Back to knowing your kids, it's like playing soccer with the Agematsu Junior High School team. I told the coach I wanted to join, as people have told me a million times to make sure I get involved in the clubs if I want to feel a part of the team, and yesterday I went to my first practice. It was as if I was talking to different people. Many, (but not all) were much more willing to talk and just interact with me. Not only was soccer practice maad fun, I didn't even suck too bad, but when I see them in school I feel like I know them better. You see so many kids in school but it's very hard to get to know the kids your just by teaching. It's all about feeling a part of the community that you're in.

The gakkuen has been the best experience though. The kids were soooo happy to have us 6 crazy looking foreigners come (read: wild) and it was a shot of reality I needed. I don't know how to explain just how rewarding it was.

Hmmm...I wonder what it would be like to BE Japanese.

Go visit an orphanage with your friends wherever you are in America (or in the world). Find out how and when you can.

Love,

-Rishi