Fulbright Teacher Program: Therese Cacek's Adventures
Page 4
Shizuoka City: October 13–18
We toured the outer citadel of the Sumpu Castle which consisted of a bridge, two huge gates for protecting the castle, and guard houses. This eastern gate is the only part of the huge castle that is still intact. At one time Shizuoka City was the castle town of Sumpu, in the heart of 16th century Japan.
Tour of Sengen Shrine, an ancient place of Shinto worship. A Shinto priest was our guide. In very ancient times huge trees, rocks or other nature sights served as places of worship. The Shinto religion is based on nature worship, although several books serve as sources of knowledge there is not a written doctrine. When you pray in the Shinto style you bow to show respect and clap your hands twice to applaud the Shinto Gods.
We visited City Hall and met the Mayor of Shizuoka and the Superintendent of the Shizuoka City Board of Education. The Superintendent shared with us the movement of reform in the Japanese schools. The reform would put less emphasis on structure and testing and more emphasis on freedom and creativity. He pointed out that no Japanese people have ever received a Nobel Prize Award.
Elementary students greeted us happily with "Ohayo gozaimasu" (good morning).
Art work was displayed in the hallways at the elementary school -- which made me feel at home.
Students served lunch to their peers. Their lunch time and break time after lunch was much more relaxed and about 3 times as long as the lunch and break at Holdingford Elementary School
Middle school students were friendly and cheerful. These girls playfully scolded the young boy (see in the background) for sneaking into the photo when the picture was taken.
A sixth grade student shared with me how to write the Japanese kanji character for "remembrance". He was my "sensei" (teacher).
Upon entering the school all students remove their shoes and put on slippers. Each student has a special cubby area for their shoes. All students assist in a special clean up time scheduled into their regular school day. All the floors, bathrooms, steps, etc. are cleaned by the students.
In the High School English class students met with American teachers and shared something Japanese - such as a toy or a kind of food. Some of the things the students shared with us were a kokeshi doll, sweet rice treats (very gooey and flavored with soy - it wasn't chocolate!), a type of fish flavored rice cracker, and a small stamp called a ëchopí which had the studentís name in Japanese script. The students were polite and shy and seemed to enjoy visiting with these strange American teachers. (Fifth graders -- Please note that I am wearing a skirt & suit top!)
These were the type of lunch boxes provided for us at the high school.They are called bento boxes and have a wide variety of Japanese foods -- lots of vegetables, fish, rice, noodles and beef.
After visiting the schools we would meet with some of the teachers and administrators and ask questions and exchange thoughts.
More thoughts on Japanese schools.
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