Student-student vs teacher-teacher interaction

You can sometimes see this in Malaysia,
one of the famous juku in Japan.

Ah, the beauty of school is meant to be a mini society, a test for natural selection for the students and even teachers to get understand their existence on how they function in society. Life, generally starts at school and students spend more time in school than they do at home, with their family. For students in Japan however, it was nearly 15 years of their lives being outside of their comfort zone, in other words, those who actually get to know and understand them are most probably their classmates, peers and even their teachers. It was a harsh reality, for me in this case, they didn't really have much interactions with their parents as their day starts at 8:30 am, school ends at 4:05 pm most of them have ECAs or co-curricular activities till the night before they could leave the compounds of their campus. That could be the end of our school life but nope, there's more, some students have to go to juku or cram schools which are almost similar to our Malaysian tuition classes but in a more intensive and with highly- defined goals. These are meant for the students to pass a certain standard as well as for them to be able to get into a university through passing entrance exams. Harsh? Well, hate to break it to the Malaysians, but this the norm for the students in Japan, the land where academics strives above all.


But, this is just the first topic, so I won't be too harsh with the reality checks yet. The bright side however, is that students actually enjoy coming to school where they get to socialize with their friends. And boy, that is where the party starts.


Student-student interactions

Despite being in a co-educational school, the automatic gender segregation is pretty much a natural occurrence, but it is still evident even in secondary schools in Japan, this to me is now very obvious and slightly bizarre as the girls would congregate in a small corner whilst the boys would do the same, there's no in between. I find this situation fairly peculiar as my days in Osaka consisted of being in a group of boys who were as eccentric as I am. Now that I have become an observer, it has become more and more obvious. The students will seize every chance to partner up with their friends which of course, are of the same gender. Because our mentors want to eliminate that - as they will end up changing from the topic related to class into elsewhere which I personally could hear it, ranging from their latest Japanese soap operas to what have their mothers brought them for lunch; and of course when our mentors decided to sort them to partner up with people next to them or anyone of the opposite gender, they would have no choice but to focus on the task at hand. We would sometimes receive a little bit of resistance and some minor groans from the order - well, that is one thing they have their individual thoughts at.

The basis of this student-student interaction is generally very similar to Malaysia, where they eat, talk, learn together in the same environment and their friendship and bond just grow. The students in Nichidai are generally helpful to one another, it is most evident when in class, you are less likely to find students ask teachers; they would rather turn and seek help from their classmates. In English or Eikaiwa classes for example. When our mentors would give out a new vocab or order, the most normal reaction from the students are pausing and processing their minds to find the closest link to an answer in Japanese and within 2 seconds, someone would announce the meaning or translation and everyone would follow. For first timers or those who have limited understanding to this mechanism, they would feel offended when the students do not immediately answer their questions but rather turn to their peers for help; and they would do this right in front of you, in the end, it comes rooted from their culture. Probably to just accept orders and never question them is always commendable in Japanese society.

Little critters that follow in a group.
They unfortunately have no individual mentality 

Students in general are just fun-loving children that has excessive high-tension or energy that could not be used in class, so they express them during period intervals or lunch breaks for instance. You can see them running around, hoping, and occasionally shouting to release their pent-up frustration as they have no idea on how to use their excessive amount of energy. Even in class, they are just as wild as they are during lunch. But when the bell chimes in and the teacher starts making orders, the students will immediately switch back to their learning-mode. Another thing about the students here is that they are very cohesive or strong group cohesion I'd say. They abide a collectivist mentality or what I would describe them as lemmings. They follow the majority or those who took the initiatives. The closest thing I could think of from the interaction between students within and outside of class is social learning. The students, like lemmings, imitate one another. This has something to do with peer pressure and especially outside of the classroom.


Teacher-teacher interactions

In Japanese society, teachers are highly regarded as they are the ones who nurture the budding hopes of future. Even the term sensei is widely used for anyone who holds a respected title or profession or just anyone the Japanese respect. Because of this, the teachers are generally very respectful of each other. Everyday, when we set foot into Nichidai, the teachers would greet us good morning or sometimes hellos alongside a slight bow or nod in the head when we pass by one another. The language they used between one another are very formal and respectful. I would always hear teachers calling one another either by their names or family names then the title sensei at the back. It may be the norm to them and to me, but it provides and air of respectfulness among one another. This however, could be seen as distant to western perspective and of course a stark contrast International schools that I have been to where teacher address each other by their first names and their titles are rarely being used. This could also be a staple of the Japanese culture, where teachers would buy each other omiyage or souvenirs during festive or after travelling somewhere. As for the ALT native teachers department, buying each other snacks is never out of the norm and we'd get snacks ranging from tea to mini cheesecakes. 


Student-teacher interactions

Mr. Thomas in SGL class

Based on the Confucian philosophy, respect those who are older and more experienced than you as they are the ones who will impart their wisdom to you. Well, that is generally an Asian mentality out there and where in Osaka, the students are quite respectful to their teachers, greets could always be heard and they would bow when a teacher passes by. I wasn't entirely sure whether it was a change of time or it was just a regional difference, the students in Nichidai treat their teachers very warm, and sometimes, all too friendly where the students would invite the teachers to eat with them (though it is a norm for teachers to eat with their students, or at least back in Osaka) but the general student-teacher relationship is slightly altered. Our mentors' treatment to the students are considered as strict and all I could say is the most normal from all other Japanese teachers.

Despite all that, sometimes the students are just not really into asking questions. They have been told or taught to just follow orders.

Like what I mentioned in the student-student interactions, it has a link to humility and obedience. They fear of being corrected and failures. This mindset has been ingrained. But in most cases like in English class, students won't ask you unless:

1. You can understand and speak Japanese
2. They can speak minimal to normal English
3. They like English
4. They are generally very confident
5. They are comfortable with you, or they just like you in general

I unfortunately or fortunately have met all these scenarios. The students tend to gravitate to familiarity in case no.1. They prefer speaking in their native language for most of the time and it was not unusual. However, due to the fact that they believe that there is no need to learn another language as they do not have to go overseas infuriates many ALT teachers such as my mentors and I occasionally feel exasperated by it. For the first few months, I would communicate with the students in Japanese and I would act as a translator for my mentors and the students when the JETs (Japanese English Teachers) are not around. The students sometimes would get rowdy as they do not understand and they will start giving up with the cue: わかんない (wakannai) or I don't understand. That is where I would have to get in and start assisting the students with minimal Japanese translation. The funny part was as soon as I explained to them, they immediately finished the tasks.

Cases no.2 to 4 could sometimes align with each other as these are the characteristics possessed altogether in certain students. Those who are capable of speaking English are those who wanted to try and do not fear failures, they understand the concept of learning from mistakes, it is linked to them being able to master a certain level of English and there is a correlation between these three qualities exist in the manifestation of students who are generally quite bold and vocal like for instance, the class clown or the smart alec. They are generally well-loved by the class and the teachers and this boosts their confidence. However, and unfortunately, due to the collectivist mindset this country has, you are not meant to stand out, they fear of being humiliated and laughed at, and this has been backed up by our mentors such as Mr. Long that, standing out means you are selfish. In one of the classes, it is called Super Global Leaders or SGL class in senior high in second year (there are two SGL classes in senior high- first year and second year) where students with near native level English would be selected to join this class. According to Mr. Thomas, there were originally 3 male students in the second year SGL class, he acquitted the reason of the other two boys quitting the class to fearing to be considered as nerds. Apparently, the SGL class in the eyes of normal students is a nerd class and they want you to be just like them. I find this a shame knowing that the two students value their dignity or face over the opportunity of learning and improving their language skills  as well as the different type of learning environment- SGL classes are normally conducted in English and the topics they learn are more internationally based. In the end, it was their choice and the stigma in Japanese society for standing out is to pay the price of being ostracized; and not to mention, bullying has been an ongoing problem in Japan as well as any other countries and probably because of that, the mentality of group cohesion and collectivism has a link to bullying.

The final scenario or case I should say is that, if students like you, it is a surplus when teaching students. Perhaps it was due to the fact that I have already established a teacher-student relationship with them, they are more likely to seek me for help, in most cases, students would call you in a respected manner and they would even bow their heads when they see you and even greet you in the middle of the hallway.

Personal thoughts 

Teaching gives us the experience to model our philosophy of teaching and this brings us to seek the ideal way of teaching and managing a class. Unfortunately, like throughout all my observations, there are no set, one- size -fits-all method in teaching a class and you will never encounter the same one. My initial thoughts of managing a class is to just respond to the type of class and adapt to it; however, in the context of teaching a livelier class, adaptation may be required to their attention span and learning needs, however, we also require that the students respond and adapt to us. In this case, Japanese students such as the ones in Nichidai require more encouragement and praises, which I will talk about it in another topic. I personally feel that the difference between the school culture has something to do with region the students live in. As I said before, the students in Kansai are generally much more independent in learning where they would question when necessary, as opposed to Nichidai, they are more reserved just like the people outside of school, your everyday person you brush your shoulders with on the train and they take a lot more time to warm up to you than their Kansai counterpart.

If I were to think of a practical way of managing students in Nichidai is that you need to be straight to the point with them when giving out tasks in a foreign language. As I have observed in many of the classes and even in my classes, modelling is the most effective when letting them try something new. It surprisingly makes them pay attention to you as we have provided visuals and kinesthetic skills for them to be put to use when they are working on activities. In contrast to a normal class where they use Japanese as their main source of language, modelling helps them learn socially as well. The purpose of modelling is based on the article from the University of Cambridge Faculty of Education as follows:

Modelling processes with pupils involves:

• establishing clear aims
• providing an example
• exploring thinking - yours and the pupils
• demonstrating the process
• working together through the example
• providing prompts (or scaffolds) as appropriate
• providing an opportunity for pupils to work themselves (alone or in pairs)
• drawing out key learning 

Unlike in normal Japanese classes, the teachers mainly teaches verbally and with the occasion of pictorials to support their teaching on their blackboard, the students only use their Auditory skills, this teacher-centered way of teaching, where it consists of abstract teaching only instigates their disinterest in learning and it further solidifies their impression on their purpose of learning is to just pass their entrance exams.

Because of this, in language classes, we are to make something different. Based on our mentors way of teaching, they follow the principle rule of TTT or teacher talk time, as mentioned above, all the students in Nichidai and even all over Japan in general listen to their teachers talking in front of the class everyday and it will not help them improve their learning experience especially in language classes- we are to reduce the TTT where students get the opportunity to speak and the teachers get the opportunity to monitor their students' English level; this at the same time allows them to get used to and be comfortable with speaking in another language.

Through the basis of modelling, this helps further when you have established good teacher-student relationship. They are more willing to try knowing that they are comfortable with the teacher. Also, modelling requires repetition to further solidify their cognitive understanding. This brings to one of our mentors' method of teaching and managing a classroom- routine- which I will give a more detailed information about it in my other topic. Unfortunately for students in Nichidai or in Japan in general, they face repetition everyday, if something went out of the norm, they would not do anything until orders are given thus, I also believe that this is a excellent method managing classrooms. On a side note, the purpose of eliminating the automatic gender segregation of the students takes time as maturity comes in. In second year SGL class, despite being only one male student left in that class; they generally get along well, and having them partner up with anyone is instantaneous and very independent, so long as you tell them to find a partner to converse in and they will get the job done.

Finally, I feel that establishing a good teacher-student relationship is not only inside the class but for Nichidai's case, outside the classroom is essential to reaching out to the students such as a simple greeting or smile could lighten up their day- this makes you appear more approachable. And this is where I am currently working on to improve, that is to take the initiative to approach the students outside of class. And I hate to admit it, it is fun to be popular among students, this not only helps you with your teaching experience; but also your experience in Japan as a whole.