The earth is moving!!!

Tremors were minor in Yokohama compared to here. In Hiroshima I'd say I'm feeling them every 15-20 minutes and often more frequently!!! 

Ironically you can feel the hotel move mostly in the bathroom. Perhaps the carpet area is secured differently. But Husband and I both felt the movement. I asked and Katy did too.

Then in Kyotos New Miyako hotel we realized it was not tremors but the elevated bathroom floors.

Day 3 Reflection: Yokohama School Visits

It's so quiet here. The ShinYokohama suburb of Yokohama city is so exceptionally quiet. People walk alone to work, so it seems there no conversations. Everyone has a phone, But no cell phones talking either, not even listening to their iPods! The trains don't allow talking on the phone (heaven!!) but you can text. Yet I don't see anyone doing that!

We visited two school today. The am visit brought us to an uphill walk up several stairs to Nakaodai Junior High School. Thereafter we met with the Yokohama Board of Education and toured the Minato Sogo International High School.

Was there anything missing from the school visit photos?  We expected to see the use of technology in the classroom. I envisioned oversized large smart boards the size of the wall. Kids sharing iPads.

Every student does have a phone. But both schools policies were no cell phone usage during class. Except this guy. 

No food either. 

There were no overhead projectors, no drop down screens, nothing "modern" for teachers tools. In all fairness we only observed 5-10 classrooms for 5-15 minutes, but in that time some of teaching methods observed being used seemed outdated. There of course were some current methods being used as well: during one Chinese lesson at the High School did we see students working on the chalkboard making corrections to written Kanji exercise while listening to a conversational CD.

Professional Attire 

The men all seem so similarly dressed. white shirts and black pants. I've said very "Mad Men" esque meets "Stepford Wives." 

In Yokohama I noticed Japanese Professional women for example, a majority I have seen on the trains and busses dress stylish but more like their clothes is from the "Juniors" section then women's. With accessories hanging from their purses and phones. I'm talking about the Professional Women. Female students also wear cute-sie clothes and have cartoonish accessories, but that's teenagers/young adults. A few professional women are in suits as they are in the states. I'd even say borderline childish.

I read that women aren't encouraged to mature, or to be assertive, more to remain youthful, borderline immature. And while in major metropolitan areas I am certain we will see a different Japanese Women who is very professional and mature, Yokohama didn't reflect that. 

But Why? 

Finally we have arrived in Shin Hiroshima. I've left the "time warp" an I'm here in reality. People walk talking on phones, talking on trains and in restaurants. Laughter, talking, noises, and theres just volume all around (but not loud, we Americans are so loud!! And we talk to much. Japanese can sit in silence and appreciate the space, obviously for us Americans if there's silence it means were not connecting or we - to our horror - don't have anything to talk about!!!)

Our travel companion Katy said "Yokohama is probably still more traditional!" Totally right. It's explains the clothing time warp and the extreme politeness. 

Board of Education Principal Hiring Process & Teacher Training

We asked each Board of Education member in the various cities about their process and procedures. The minister of education sets the curriculum for the country. Each prefecture however can have other areas of focus. Hiroshima schools have a "Peace Program" woven into the curriculum. In Kamaishi Elementary School there is a first if its kind "Disaster Prevention and Evacuation Program." Ironically we didn't discuss such a program Miyagi Junior High. The emphasis on the first of its kind is to highlight the rapid reaction adaption of safety programs in the US to seemingly obvious issues. Oklahoma is in Tornado Alley and obviously runs tornado drills. In Connecticut and and several others states after the New Town shootings school quickly adapted "Lock Down" drills, including CPS expanding their High School drills to include elementary schools. (Which husband already started with his community police one full year in advance of the requirement.)

Yokohama

When selecting principals, the Yokohama BOE observes teachers. When they see an exceptional teacher they will encourage them to come to the BOE and start training to be a principal. The individual has a choice to follow that path if they so desire or stay as a teacher. They take the Principal test. If they pass they go to the BoE for 4 years of training. Then they are an assistant principal for 4 years. Then they return to the BOE for 4 more years (which were told the Principals hate this step). Then finally they will get there own school where they stay for 1-3 years on a rotation of schools.

These steps obviously suit Japanese culture. The "further" training comes by rotating schools to see minor ways they might do things differently. The return to the BOE after benign an AP is seemingly meant to correct and "bad habits" they may have picked up at a school? 

Additionally, the BOE is responsible, after major events, to ensure that all students get home safe after World Cup or a tragedy. The principal checks that all the students are where they should be, and then report in to the BOE. They work late to ensure school children's safety. 

In the Kamaishi and Miyagi areas the  principals and teacher went searching for students after the tsunami because its part of their responsibilities. When the art teacher said on day 4 after the tsunami "it was difficult to find students, some of them left the area, and we didn't know for some time if they survived the water or not." 

Hiroshima

The 2 women BOE members explained has teachers come and suit their names to be considered to be a principal. Also parents and community members recommend people. They have to take a test to "qualify" and then they are included in a pool if candidates for various schools. The BOE works with the candidates to place them in a place they'd like to work. 

Teacher Training 

U.S. Professional Development

Licensed Teachers are hired and trained at 1 year, 2 years and 10 years. Only in Kamaishi was there an additional training added in at year 5. The single BOE member told me they have additional seminars for mental health. "Some teachers attend these trainings and others don't." However it wasn't clear to me if this mental health training was for the eventual student benefit or the teachers own mental health after the tsunami. 

Teacher Evaluations

In Hiroshima we learned the principals conduct evaluations of the teachers by observing their class. Then once a year the Principal writes a formal evaluation that is reported to the BOE and holds and informal "conversation" with the teacher. Teachers also meet to discuss each others work and will observe each others callses for peer "reviews." 

Teacher Salary

We had a great Italian Dinner in Osaka and a great conversation about our visits. Another international trend is to google it... Here's our teachers salary find.

http://www.aba.ne.jp/~sugita/71e.htm