JAPN 301S - Advanced Japanese SERVICE LEARNING
This course gives students opportunity to deepen their knowledge of Japanese language and culture through their community service and to develop communication skills through discussions, reflection essays and presentations. Taught in Japanese.
Fall 2013 / University Wide Required Course
As a University Wide Required Course, this class was necessary for me to officially graduate. All students in the Japanese Language and Culture Major division were required to take this class and complete 30 hours of community service. I went to a local elementary school, King Elementary, and on a weekly basis would teach the kids about Japanese culture through lessons that would encourage and promote positive representation of other cultures.
Each week, before going to the site, I organized team meetings as to discuss what aspect of the Japanese culture we should teach and how. I would allocate jobs and have the team work together to gather the information and help create the materials.Before teaching about Japanese culture, during the first week we asked the kids what they knew about the culture or where they've seen Japanese culture. The kids had limited knowledge and understanding of what was specifically Japanese, and even surprised the exchange students on my team that they weren't aware where Japan was geographically.
From there, the next two and-a-half months were spent teaching the kids about culture through hand-outs, visuals, and games. Not only was the aim of the lesson to be just about Japanese culture, but also promote the positive aspect and thinking toward multiculturalism. In a lower-middle income neighborhood that was 90% Hispanic, the result is a homogeneous mentality in a country that's multi-cultured. So when the day comes when the kids meet people outside their own culture, they'll be more open to learning and understanding.
During week 3, I implemented a folder system. After each lesson, the kids would put their work into a folder and give the folders back to us. When our time was up after the two-and-a-half weeks, we gave the kids back the folders to take home to show their parents what they had been doing the past two months. The folder was also see to me as a long-term memento that the kids may keep. Years later, when they see the folder and its contents, they may remember the activities that we did with them and the lessons we taught them.
I want to continue to help promote multiculturalism and help promote open-mindedness. Since I want to work abroad and live in different countries, I want to continue informing others about not only my culture, but the Japanese culture. It's possible that there are those who may not see other cultures the same as I do, but I want to help promote cultural positivity.
As a University Wide Required Course, this class was necessary for me to officially graduate. All students in the Japanese Language and Culture Major division were required to take this class and complete 30 hours of community service. I went to a local elementary school, King Elementary, and on a weekly basis would teach the kids about Japanese culture through lessons that would encourage and promote positive representation of other cultures.
Each week, before going to the site, I organized team meetings as to discuss what aspect of the Japanese culture we should teach and how. I would allocate jobs and have the team work together to gather the information and help create the materials.Before teaching about Japanese culture, during the first week we asked the kids what they knew about the culture or where they've seen Japanese culture. The kids had limited knowledge and understanding of what was specifically Japanese, and even surprised the exchange students on my team that they weren't aware where Japan was geographically.
From there, the next two and-a-half months were spent teaching the kids about culture through hand-outs, visuals, and games. Not only was the aim of the lesson to be just about Japanese culture, but also promote the positive aspect and thinking toward multiculturalism. In a lower-middle income neighborhood that was 90% Hispanic, the result is a homogeneous mentality in a country that's multi-cultured. So when the day comes when the kids meet people outside their own culture, they'll be more open to learning and understanding.
During week 3, I implemented a folder system. After each lesson, the kids would put their work into a folder and give the folders back to us. When our time was up after the two-and-a-half weeks, we gave the kids back the folders to take home to show their parents what they had been doing the past two months. The folder was also see to me as a long-term memento that the kids may keep. Years later, when they see the folder and its contents, they may remember the activities that we did with them and the lessons we taught them.
I want to continue to help promote multiculturalism and help promote open-mindedness. Since I want to work abroad and live in different countries, I want to continue informing others about not only my culture, but the Japanese culture. It's possible that there are those who may not see other cultures the same as I do, but I want to help promote cultural positivity.
final_service_learning_presentation.pdf | |
File Size: | 701 kb |
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final_sl_paper_full_english.pdf | |
File Size: | 320 kb |
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sl_final_paper_jpn_version.pdf | |
File Size: | 504 kb |
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