What are the challenges and opportunities facing Japan today? How do聽Japanese and the world perceive Japan in the context of two "lost decades"聽and the "triple tragedies" of March 2011? 聽Why do these questions matter to聽American educators and students? From July 8-13, 20 secondary teachers聽considered these questions and more through a residential professional聽development institute on the CU campus.
The five-day program, conducted by the Program for Teaching East Asia at CU聽Boulder's Center for Asian Studies, brought teachers from around the country聽together with experts on contemporary Japan to consider social, economic,聽political, and cultural dimensions of "Re-imagining Japan" in the 21st聽century. Course instructors included CU faculty members Marcia Yonemoto,聽History, and Laurel Rodd, Asian Languages and Civilizations, as well as聽experts from other institutions, including William Tsutsui, Southern聽Methodist University; Stephen Snyder and Linda White, Middlebury College;聽Sheila Smith, Council on Foreign Relations; Lucien Ellington, University of聽Tennessee-Chattanooga; Kathleen Krauth, American School in Japan; Melanie聽King, Seattle Central Community College; and David Janes, US-Japan聽Foundation. The institute was directed by Lynn Parisi, TEA director, as part聽of TEA's National Consortium for Teaching about Asia program, now in its聽14th year. Additional staff members at TEA were Catherine Ishida and Jessica聽Moy.
Teachers attending the course were selected through a competitive national聽application process. They represented 14 states, from Massachusetts to聽Washington. Bob Pannozzo, a world history teacher from Virginia, was聽attending his seventh TEA summer institute in 13 years. "I believe that聽lifelong learning is crucial to teachers--we need to constantly enrich聽ourselves as the amount of knowledge expands. I come back to TEA because I聽think it is unique in coupling content knowledge with pedogogy, resources,聽and an interdisiciplinary approach to teaching and learning."
Lori Snyder, a high school teacher from Massachusetts, is also a return聽participant: 聽this is her fourth summer engaged with a TEA program.聽Commenting on her continuing participation in these courses, Lori said,聽"This year's program, like my previous experiences, has been comprised of a聽perfect balance of current East Asian scholarship; 聽provocative discussions聽among the presenters, TEA outreach specialists, and attending teachers; and聽great resources and support. 聽Our institute assignment is a curriculum聽profile in which we outline our plans for changing our own instruction. It聽is such a useful exercise, helping me organize and plan to introduce new聽TEA-influenced curriculum to my students each fall."
While Lori and Bob are among returning teachers, the majority of the 20聽participants were new to the program this year; many are new to summer聽enrichment programs such as TEA offers. Rebecca Hong, who teaches in San聽Francisco, noted that the institute provided wonderful content, but also, "a聽great model for me as a teacher. . . . How will I change my teaching? To be聽honest . . . I had very little about Japan in any of my courses. Japan聽showed up at WWII and as an example of 'global economic growth.' The聽institute has helped me imagine ways I will revise my teaching in all my聽classes."
Teachers receive recertification hours for completing the institute and may聽also opt for graduate credit through CU Continuing Education. As part of聽their responsibilities as participants in this program, teachers return home聽to teach about Japan as part of their courses in world history, world聽literature, global studies, geography, Asian studies, and art. They also聽share their experience and resources with other educators back home. Some of聽this year's participants have ambitious plans to develop new units or聽elective courses on Japan. One teacher is designing a six-week orientation聽for students in his school, who will then take part in an exchange program聽in Japan this winter. Another wants to completely revise her unit on聽Japanese art. For Takako Cullison, a Japanese language teacher from聽Virginia, the institute has provided her with ideas and resources to meet聽the challenge of teaching contemporary culture through language instruction.
Funding for TEA's annual summer institutes for teachers is provided through聽a generous grant from the Freeman Foundation. Each year's topic is聽determined during fall semester, and nationwide announcements of the聽opportunity go out in January. TEA receives approximately 60-100聽applications each year, depending on the topic, making the program highly聽competitive. To learn more about TEA grant-funded programs on Japan, China,聽and Korea, visit the TEA website. For 2013, TEA has received聽additional funding from the US Department of Education Fulbright Hays聽Program to conduct a four-week institute for high school teachers in Japan,聽in addition to the annual institute here on campus.