Aisatsu
Each morning I sit in the teacher’s room in my elementary school and wait. Eventually two children come and ask for Da-ni-e-ru sensei or Maa-fee teacher. Sometimes they look right at me and ask if the English teacher is there. (Eigo no sensei imasuka?) I state that I am indeed there and we set out, announcing our departure with a firm SHITSURESHIMASHITA! (Now leaving the room!)
Before class starts they all join in the formal greeting (aisatsu), where they stand at attention and announce that learning will officially begin NOW. The formality of it all caught me off guard at first. I was impressed by the level of discipline and passed the ritual off as another example of Japanese politeness. But my first impressions have grown into concerns about a disciplinary structure that I’ve come to believe is too rigid and authoritarian.
Tags: Japan, Teaching English
Administrator
[…] When I began teaching in four public elementary schools last April I was intrigued by the glaring differences between U.S. and Japanese education. The ritualized greetings, communal lunch environment, and daily group cleaning efforts struck me as wonderful ways to enhance the children’s sense of responsibility and achievement. Everything seemed geared toward attaining a group cohesion among students that I found refreshing when compared to America’s hyper-individualism. But slowly this attitude has shifted to one of apprehension. Throughout the past seven months of teaching I have started to see that the group takes priority above all, with individualism and creativity often suppressed for its sake. […]