50 American Teachers Return From First Japan Study Tour
21 July 1999
50 American Teachers Return From First Japan Study Tour
TORRANCE, Calif., July 20 -- As a participant in the new
Toyota International Teacher Program, West Virginia educator Susan Marcus came
to Japan with the idea of absorbing as much as she could about the culture,
industry and lifestyles of the country.
Marcus, a German language teacher at Sherman Senior High School in
Madison, W. Va., wanted to compare Germany and Japan back in her classroom.
Little did she know, some of her research material would actually find
her.
When she arrived in Tokyo, the group visited a unique rain recycling
program, embraced not only by the local Japanese but by conservation-minded
Germans.
She listened as conservationist Makoto Murase, who promotes low-cost,
filter-equipped rain tanks in the Tokyo ward of Sumida City, lectured and
demonstrated his 17-year project -- in English.
Then Murase, nicknamed Dr. Rainwater, sought out Marcus and gave her a
signed copy of a German translation of his recycling book. She learned that
Murase had conducted a conference with German colleagues on rainwater
recycling in his quest to spread his grassroots conservation message around
the world.
"I was completely surprised," recalled Marcus, marveling at the unexpected
international gift from Murase. "I don't know how he found out I was a German
teacher, but it's definitely something I can use in the classroom."
For the teachers selected to take part in the first year of this
professional development program, Dr. Rainwater's "simple-is-best"
conservation program was only one stop in an intensive 10-day, all-expenses-
paid study trip through Japan. The study tour ended June 30.
Sponsored by Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. (TMS) and administered by
the Institute of International Education (IIE), the new program offered one of
the most comprehensive studies of Japan organized to date.
The 50 high school teachers -- all from California, Indiana, Kentucky and
West Virginia, states where Toyota operates manufacturing plants -- followed a
rigorous schedule that exposed them to both Japan's past and present and
global issues shared by industrial nations.
They visited seven cities, exploring how Japan evolved from its
traditional culture into a modern, technologically advanced nation.
Many teachers said the journey gave them insights into Japan that they
could have never received on their own.
"I have made links now between Japanese culture, education, business and
the environment," said Michael Holder, an English and drama teacher at East
Jessamine High School in Nicholasville, Ky., "and I'm particularly impressed
at how Japanese culture is intertwined in manufacturing and industry."
"Seeing how all these 'themes' impact each other in Japanese society made
the world seem -- strangely enough -- smaller, less overwhelming and more
accessible than I imagined."
The educators, who teach a variety of courses, plan to weave their
experiences into their curricula. For instance, LeighAnn Orr, a Los Angeles
world history teacher, said she will add a Japan section to her industrial
development unit.
Lynn Martindale, who teaches agricultural studies at Lemoore High School
in Lemoore, Calif., will "elaborate on the conservation, recycling and reuse
of products in the Japanese culture."
"I am going to try to get a rain barrel to water plants with," Martindale
said, "and I'm going to plant a small Japanese style garden on part of my
school farm."
Program sponsors and administrators said the teachers' response to the new
study tour indicates that it will have educational benefits well into the
future.
"At the end of our 10 days together in Japan, we asked the group of 50 to
evaluate the program," said Rhonda Glasscock, TMS senior administrator who
oversaw the development of the program. "I was pleased when they shared that
one of its strengths was that the program 'raised as many questions as it
answered.'
"I realized that these teachers are taking back a lot more than
information and experiences, but a hunger to know and understand as well."
Looking toward Japan's past, teachers visited historical and art museums,
Shinto shrines, Buddhist temples and palaces. They attended Kyoto's Gion
Corner theater, where Japanese performers entertained with a sampler of
Japanese arts, from floral arrangements and koto music to bunraku puppetry.
The teachers also learned the arts by doing. They were given a lesson in
suiboku, a Japanese style of water coloring. At Kyoto's Kodai Yuzen Dyeing,
they created intricate, multicolored designs on handkerchiefs by painting over
a series of stencils.
When the focus shifted to contemporary industrial Japan, the teachers
traveled to factories and business museums in Nagoya, Toyota City, Kyoto and
Osaka.
At the Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology, the
teachers learned that Toyota began as a spinning and weaving company. They
observed the "zero defect" auto assembly line at Toyota's Tsutsumi plant in
Toyota City.
In Osaka, teachers connected with another major international corporation,
Matsushita Electric Group, which produces Panasonic brand electronics and
batteries. They toured the company's Hall of Science and Technology, where
the latest in high definition television and other state-of-the-art products
are on display.
At the Matsushita Battery factory, the visitors not only observed
batteries whirring off the assembly line at a rate of 400 units a minute, they
were taken to a special classroom where they were taught to make AA manganese
batteries.
Another visit took them to a smaller Japanese company, Kawashima Textile
Manufacturers Ltd. The Kyoto factory, founded in 1843, is known for the
artistry of its tapestries, kimonos, theater curtains and carpets. Today, in
keeping with the changing markets, 45 percent of the company's business is in
fabrics for car seats and public transportation.
All three Japanese companies do business abroad, and each has
environmental and recycling programs.
Toyota has developed electric cars and a new hybrid, the Prius, that uses
both electric and gas combustion motors to reduce emissions, while
automatically recharging the car's batteries. Panasonic boasts that it is
producing batteries for electric cars and is researching battery materials
that will be more "eco-friendly." Kawashima displays tapestries woven from
recycled plastic bottles and expresses concern for the preservation of plants
and trees that produce natural dyes.
Holder, the Kentucky high school teacher, marveled at "the way Japanese
industry incorporates environmental consciousness into every aspect of their
development and manufacturing. The efficiency, the company loyalty and the
incentives, the attention and dedication to quality -- all are ways of
thinking and doing that left an impression on me."
For many of the teachers, one of the program's highlights was the
opportunity to visit the homes of residents living in Tokyo's Edogawa Ward.
The Japanese hosts prepared dinner for the Americans, who were split up into
groups of two or three per home. The teachers brought gifts and photos from
their U.S. hometowns. One Kentucky high school teacher awarded his hostess a
plaque -- making her an honorary Somerset, Kentucky Colonel.
Program participants had another chance to meet and socialize informally
with Japanese when they lunched with civil service personnel studying at the
Japan Intercultural Academy of Municipalities. The Japanese officials, who
were preparing for their own trip to the United States, were eager to practice
English with the visitors.
From a professional standpoint, the teachers took great interest in
observing and learning about Japanese schools.
They met with a PTA group of about 50 in Tokyo. One mother said her goal
was to involve Japanese fathers more in their children's education and another
spoke about the eroding discipline in Japanese schools.
American teachers also talked with their counterparts. One Japanese
science teacher asked how American teachers deal with classroom bullies,
particularly in the wake of the Columbine shootings. And an American teacher
sought information on how Japanese schools deal with handicapped children and
low achievers.
In keeping with Japanese custom, the teachers slipped off their shoes and
put on school-issued slippers to pad around the halls of an elementary and
high school in the Edogawa ward of Tokyo and two middle schools (grades 7, 8
and 9) in Toyota City.
At Ryujin (meaning Dragon God) Middle School, the school band and
applauding students greeted the American teachers. The visitors were then
given free rein to observe in any of the classrooms, as well as non-academic
activities such as choir and a kendo session, where kids wielded bamboo sticks
in one-on-one combat.
Many of the teachers saw the program as opening the door to Japan for
them.
After discovering that the school has Internet access for example, Michele
Todd, a science teacher at Bridgeport High School in Bridgeport, W. Va., plans
to have her West Virginia students communicate with Ryujin students.
Some teachers said they planned to return to Japan. Some would even like
to take their students.
Most, like Jake Seitz, history teacher at Morgantown High School in
Morgantown, W.Va., simply agree that "Japan is a rich culture" and are excited
about sharing what they have learned.
To receive an application for the 2000 Toyota International Teacher
Program, call (877) TEACH-JP (toll free) or e-mail: toyotateach@iie.org