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By
ESTHER K. SMITH
News staff writer
December 20, 2006
Teachers Patricia Cooper and Stacey
Birdsall planned this two-day “Japanese immersion” to share things
they learned during Fulbright Scholarship-funded trips they took to
Japan this year. Birdsall spent June and July in Japan and Cooper
visited during the fall months.
Souvenir mugs, are among the Japanese
items on display in the hallway of the multipurpose building.
The teachers went to Japan to study the
education system and culture. They were particularly interested in
Japanese culture because of the number of Japanese immigrants who
settled in the Hood River Valley in the early 1900s.
“I really want you to honor the Japanese culture by learning as much
as you can about it and respecting the differences,” Cooper told the
students before the lesson rotations began. “That’s how we become
world citizens.”
The Japanese Immersion lessons were held during each grade’s elective
period both days. Students rotated through six lesson stations, three
each day, where they spent 20 minutes learning basics of kendo,
Japanese cuisine, traditional dance, traditional song, language and
origami or enjoying a visual tour of Japan.
Introduction to the Japanese lifestyle began outside the classroom,
where students were urged to walk single file, quietly, and to remove
shoes before entering the room.
Patricia Cooper, left, wears a Japanese
kimono.
“Take your time to put your shoes neatly
against the wall,” Patricia Cooper said. “Remember, shoes are facing
the hallway.”
White strips of paper hung from the tops of classroom doorways,
symbolizing shimenawa, a purification custom which “keeps the bad
things out and the good things in,” Stacey Birdsall told her
traditional dance class. Every class was taught to bow in unison when
the teacher came in the room.
Patricia Cooper began the language lesson by relating how surprised
she was by how different the language was. Cooper, who teaches
Spanish, said that while many words are similar in Spanish and
English, the same is not true of the Japanese language.
“When I got over there I realized there was not a single word I could
say that was similar to English,” she said. “I also wondered why they
kept saying ‘hi.’ It turns out they were really saying, ‘yes.’”
Cody Castilla, (left) and John Gonzales learn chopstick finesse.
She taught the students some “survival
words” and phrases such as yes, no, please, thank you, I am sorry, how
do you do, good morning and good night, as well as how to introduce
themselves. She also taught them to make a simple origami of a dog’s
head.
Kimono-clad Stacey Birdsall, leads a
class in
traditional dance.
Students learned some of the differences between the Japanese and
American education systems: In Japan, all students wear uniforms; all
students learn English beginning in elementary school; and students
help prepare and serve school lunch, which they eat in their
classrooms.
Perhaps the biggest difference is that in Japan, students are expected
to participate in a school-wide cleaning session every day, where they
all share the responsibilities of cleaning the school — from mopping
the floors to cleaning the toilets. Cooper was pleased with the
students’ participation during the event. The students were no doubt
thankful that that particular practice was not part of the day’s
lessons.
Nikki Castro (foreground), Elizabeth
Hall, Kaya Thompson, Jeri Jones and Myrissa Whitecotton get ready to
bow before the teacher.
“They’ve been very receptive; we weren’t
sure how they were going to take it because it’s so different,” she
said. “But they’ve done really well. |
