Hillel:	Yoshi, You're getting ready to leave Cambridge and Harvard at the end of August.
Yoshi:	Yes, this year has gone by so fast. I'm really not ready to leave yet!
Hillel:	I'll bet you'd love to stay for another year or two!
Yoshi:	You're not kidding! I don't want to come back AT ALL!
Hillel:	I'd really like to know some of the things that have made the greatest impact on you in general as a human being and more specifically as an educator. Your life has been so different from ours during the past year. Can you find a way - through some stories about your experiences - to help us really "taste" some powerful moments you have experienced or ideas you have met?
Yoshi:	It is hard to say, because there are so many things I witnessed. But I will try. There are mainly three things I'd like to talk about. First of all, let me start with what I felt really frustrated about. It is that I could not really participate in the discussion well enough. In the U.S., people really have to talk, and some people are usually really good at expressing themselves. I tend to need a lot of time before I speak, and besides, I consider myself a not-great speaker, which makes it more difficult. I really need some time to think things over, but when I am ready, the flow of the discussion goes beyond what I was thinking.
Hillel:	I'm surprised to hear that because when I heard you speak in some public situation in Japan, even in English, you always struck me as naturally a good speaker.
Yoshi:	Thanks, but in this culture, maybe because I'm not using my first language, I feel quite differently. Another problem I'm experiencing is that there are always some students who want to monopolize the discussion, which makes it even harder for me to participate. Also what the first person says is not usually the most valid statement or deep thought. A friend of mine here who was a teacher told me that he always encourages his students not to raise hands in a hurry; he tried not to call a student who raises hand first, because he wanted his students to think carefully, which is very different from probably a general American classroom.
Hillel:	I like that idea a lot and will definitely use it - ask a question or pose some situation and then give some thinking time!!! About some people monopolizing the discussion - that's a problem I notice here, too. Getting people within groups to be aware of giving others space and support to express themselves is of major importance in any kind of interactive learning situation. Some of us just need more time and support to feel safe to join in.
Yoshi:	Yes, that's for sure. But, you know, I have looked back on my education and I just realized I had very little chance to speak out when I was a student, especially in junior high and senior high. We basically listened to what the teachers were saying and took notes, and prepared for the exams. We seldom raised hands to ask questions or express our opinions. That is generally the culture of Japanese schools. I know the danger of generalizing too much about education in one country. I may sound contradictory, but we tend to over-generalize one country so much. Like, American education is such and such, and Japanese education is such and such. It really depends on the region, kinds of schools, grade level, etc. However, I still think my observation about speaking out in two countries is valid.
Hillel:	Yes, I'm glad you make this point. We really need to be careful about generalizing too much. And I think it's an important thing to help students in becoming critical thinkers. There are so many exceptions and shades, and this is really what makes learning and living interesting. Also what mass media say about education (and everything!) tends to over-simplify because we need short digestible bits of information. For me, as a student, somehow I got the idea that the most important thing was to ask some questions. I think it became even more important than understanding. So this isn't a good situation either. But this active approach is definitely encouraged from the very beginning of schools in the U.S.
Yoshi:	That, I think, explains high abilities of American people to express their opinions, because they have been taught to speak out and ask questions. Of course it pretty much depends on schools and their classes, but generally speaking, the opportunities to speak are given more in American schools. Not only in classes, but you know the differences can be seen in any situations where people might either listen quietly or interactively, right?

Hillel:	Yeah. At conferences in America, there are always people who ask questions. If you don't have any questions, you might feel that your presentation is some kind of failure, because it hasn't stimulated people. However, at Japanese conferences, it is usually the case that you get no questions asked, even though you may have someone approaching to you after your presentation.
Yoshi:	I think that kind of cultural difference comes largely from education, because education is a kind of manifestation about what kind of learners you would like your students to become. That's why a lot of returnees are having hard time to adjust themselves to "Japanese" classrooms.
Hillel:	Right. Going back to your own school experience, you have probably become a good listener, but a not a good speaker.
Yoshi:	Well, it's questionable if I even became a good listener. If you listen to somebody without any critical thinking, you just absorb it. It doesn't virtually mean that you are a good listener. You might have to ask questions to be a good listener.
Hillel:	Yeah! You need some kind of involvement to really understand what people are saying. Asking questions is a very important part of it. I was just on a panel discussion with Naomi Miyake of Chukyo University. As I understand her main idea about learning, it's that collaboration is absolutely necessary. Even when we're not interacting with another person, there's still needs to be a self-dialog going on. This too is collaboration with our self. I think this relates to what you're saying: learning isn't just about taking things in, but it's discussing, constructing, rebuilding, and rethinking through this dialog process.
Yoshi:	Collaboration within yourself, that's an interesting observation. I didn't think that way. I will think more about that point. This is my second time to study in the U.S.. So it was less difficult than the last time, but still what I have gone through during the long schooling in Japan makes it difficult to completely change my attitude. Getting back to the point about what kind of learning styles and behaviors, what would you like to encourage your students to develop most?
Hillel:	That is an important and challenging matter - maybe the most important thing we can ask ourselves as teachers. I want to help my students see things deeply, but also widely, to have flexible minds. At the same time I want to have a deepening of their heart and other feelings, including their own spirituality. Of course we never want to force this, but only create the opportunity for it. And of course, I value the ability to communicate well with others and understand others. To be able to communicate well includes a lot of things, like getting the ideas of others and incorporating them with our own experiences, organizing our ideas and learning to effectively presenting them to others using many kinds of tools&toys. Yoshi, What about you - what are the learning styles and behaviors that you want to encourage?
Yoshi:	For me being able to work well with others, which includes understanding and accepting others, very similar to what you said, is one of the most important things, because most of the people will have to deal with that in their life, and also because it's a hard thing to do. Even adults find it difficult to work well with others. It is also the case with Graduate School. At Harvard some people didn't like collaboration at all, because it's sometimes much harder to work with others than to work on your own.
Hillel:	Yeah, I see what you mean. That's something we feel in every day life, in any working situation too.
Yoshi:	About learning, it should be student-centered, and I want to encourage them to first find it fun to learn, because it naturally is. The things you mentioned, flexible minds and ability to communicate well with others, are probably some assets that are really important in the cross-cultural environments too. I have also noticed that there are very few Japanese scholars who can freely express their opinions at international conferences. That is also something that Japanese education has done. I also think that communication skills, such as strong presentation abilities, are usually assets that many companies would like to find among the college graduates and fail to do so.
Hillel:	Yes, students don't really get many opportunities to think about and experience presenting their ideas effectively.
Yoshi:	OK. Let me move to my second point here. I think there is a strong culture of life-long learning in the U.S. There are a lot of opportunities to learn after you start working or even after you retire. Many schools offer evening courses and summer courses, and anyone can get degrees after taking credits over a long term, which is really wonderful. I had some classmates who are about the age of my parent's generation. In Japan, there are still limited opportunities for that life-long learning and continuing education programs. You also went back to school when you were not "young" any more, right?
Hillel:	Ha-ha, I'm still young! But yes, I went back to graduate school when I was 50! And I wasn't the oldest one - in fact the average age in the doctoral program was almost 40. Going back to school after many years of teaching/learning is not an unusual thing at all in the States. Being with so many learners was so stimulating and energizing for me.
Yoshi:	In Japan sometimes even the colors that are considered "suitable" for older people to wear are restricted and older people aren't expected to engage in so-called youthful activities like dancing, being playful, holding hands, and maybe even being in school! But it's definitely changing, slowly but surely.
Hillel:	I agree. I just got an email from a Japanese friend - he's in his 60's and has retired from his first company and is now working for his second company. In his email he said - "From December through March I attended a computer-school named 'Digital Cats' . . .where I struggled to master end-user computing, Word, Excel, Homepage Editing and so on."
Yoshi:	Anyway, I think we can see more and more older Japanese breaking out of these restrictive boundaries.
Hillel:	Right! We can be a "digital cat" or "curious cat" at any age!
Yoshi:	With these ideas, I came to reconsider the roles of schools. I really think that the minimum requirement of the school, or maybe the maximum requirement, is to teach students the fun of learning, and get them to think about learning to learn. If they have that love of learning, they can always learn something in their later life.

Hillel:	But what usually happens in school is that students feel disconnected and unengaged from learning. There seems to be just a single approved style and order of learning that hardly matches anyone.
Yoshi:	Basically we like to discover something or know something new, which is such an exciting thing. But generally there are some subjects students hate, and subjects students really love. It is very sad.
Hillel:	Yes, I agree. Of course, the responsibility can't just be on the teacher - the learners have to give energy and have willingness to join into the dialog or dance of learning, but the school and the teachers need to create the space where this can happen.
Yoshi:	To make that happen, I have an important concept I would like to share, which becomes my third point. This might be the most important thing I have experienced. Recently the concept of a teacher as a learner has been pointed out, which is really stimulating. Unless a teacher shows excitement in learning new things or discovering something, how could his/her students find it fun and get excited? In other words, I think a teacher doesn't have to give a perfect teaching model, but a good learning model as a collaborator. A teacher has to be excited first.
Hillel:	Definitely. But I wonder if this isn't getting into something cultural too. Don't you think that westerners generally show their feelings more, and now we have this model of a good teacher is enthusiastic and excited. But most older Japanese teachers that I know don't value this style. How do you think we can work together with such teachers?
Yoshi:	My point is that you don't have to be always an exciting teacher, but always have to be aware of what a learner feels in your classroom. We should also really create a good learning community of teachers who are willing to share what they are doing, and willing to improve their classes. A lot of times, teachers create their own castle and don't want other teachers to observe their classes, something like that.
Hillel:	Yes, I think you're right - "exciting" is not the key word, but being aware of the minds of students is vital!
Yoshi:	Getting back to the point of "teachers as learners", I worked on a project for David Perkins' class. It was to write a book of teachers who talk about their learning experiences and teaching experiences. It is titled " Thinking about Teaching--- A book of Learning Stories." Our readers can download the project from my website in PDF format. http://www.nakayoshi.org/a-book-of%20learning-%20stories.pdf
Hillel:	This is a great project, Yoshi. And a model of your own collaborative learning. Don't you think it's vital that you had many of this type of experiences over the past year? And you'll come back and use them in your own classes. So many teachers have never really had collaborative learning experiences in classrooms! Or had their own ideas as learners listened to and valued.
Yoshi:	Yes, but in Japanese society, including school society, is FILLED WITH many collaborative experiences - bunkasai, making a school brochure, running a club or department, building our new Communication Center, designing a course, and most probably teaching your class should be a collaborative process with your students.
Hillel:	So maybe rather than treating the idea of teachers as learners and teaching as collaborative as something totally new, maybe we can just help teachers connect to the kind of learning and collaboration they already do, and help them to find ways to bring these experiences into their own classroom teaching???
Yoshi:	Right, let's try to find ways to work and play with our co-teachers so we can always be learning something new together and reminding ourselves that it's fun to do so. By always being in the position of a learner, we can be always thinking about our teaching.

Contact:

Hillel Weintraub hillel@fun.ac.jp Yoshiyuki Nakagawa yoshinakagawa@hotmail.com Homepage: http://www.nakayoshi.org/index.html

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