Teaching Essay
From the perspective of intercultural relations, teaching English in Japan affords a privilege not easily found in other jobs: facilitating international exchange by teaching my students about other countries and cultures, trying to arm them with language to express their ideas and their individuality, arming them with a comfortable familiarity with me, the language that I speak and the behavior that I exhibit. Also, I hope that knowledge of English will retard any fear, discomfort or disregard they might have towards learning a foreign language and living with foreigners in Japan and in the world.
It is surprising and humbling just how differently the Japanese view the world from me, and how, over time, my views about things have adapted to the Japanese way. Teaching in Japan allows me to acquire many interesting cultural insights about the Japanese. This is because when teaching English to Japanese, I am quickly engrossed in finding ways to make my lessons successful first, by making them relevant to their lives, and second, that are engaging. Learning about Japanese popular culture, Japanese life, Japanese education, economy, history and government help me connect to the students’ lives, their interests, their concerns and expectations. In turn, students here are often surprised that I even know as much about Japan as I do - the names of Japanese historical figures, places and historical events, the names of singers, anime characters, actors and TV shows, etc.
I am a licensed professional teacher in Canada. I greatly enjoy working with young people - children and teenagers. Working with them is a great privilege. They are full of energy, they learn quickly, and I can observe them growing as people. I derive much pleasure knowing that I am part of their lives. I hope as they get older, they will remember me, and maybe will tell their own children in the future about the Canadian English teacher they had in high school. This would be a measure of my influence, and a measure of cultural exchange between me and my students. English in front of a personality has sticking power, like glue.
I enjoy living in Japan, which I call a “land of the living.” As I’ve gotten older I have taken more opportunities to travel around the country to see famous sights - something which I did not do as a younger man. I especially like exploring the city of Tokyo. With its long history and culture I can spend the rest of my life exploring it. The most interesting thing about Japan is its mix of tradition and modernity side-by-side.
Mostly, I find Japanese teachers to be very patient and helpful. They are often busy and over-worked, but they always have time to make me feel welcome, to answer my questions, to teach me Japanese customs and language, and to explain how things are done here. Every Japanese English teacher is different, but I always find a way to work with them happily, either team teaching or assisting.
When thinking about my lessons, my primary concern is language function. Japanese teachers overwhelmingly feature grammar and vocabulary as the method of communication while I feature language function and routine language. Certainly, I teach vocabulary and grammar, but only the vocabulary and grammar that I think are immediately appropriate to functions that I think are useful and relevant to Japanese students’ needs. I think that being relevant to their needs is the best way for students to retain information and develop a good attitude towards English as a school subject. I try to add one function after another in a meaningful order, so the shape of my curriculum grows in a particular manner - in scope of function and size of vocabulary Everything I do in class follows a plan of repetition and incremental progress. My concern is to think about what English students need and how they will use it.