Tripping Far Side

Since it's been two months, have a lot to catch up on.

Here are 3 students we took to Gifu to the 1st Annual Debate Competition. Our school is just a countryside school, but considering, has a fairly good English program. But the debate curriculum isn't comparable to that of other schools.

Regardless, these students work really hard. They have to, because debate is not something they know how to do. It's foreign to their culture. So Western-style, linear logic is difficult for them to make--even if I ask them to pretend. There are lots of books on the subject (The Geography of Thought and The Japanese Mind), but a summary might be that in Eastern cultures, they think in circles. They think about it holistically, examining all the relationships, and needing to understand the whole before the part. As opposed to Westerners, who I suppose think in a simpler, more deterministic way. It's fascinating really. They think in a different way, and in order to debate, they have to unlearn, then learn to do unnatural things, like being critical, analytical, aggressive, and persuasive. And these are just kids who are trying to learn English.

Anyway, I made a rebuttal preparation sheet for them. They studied the English meaning, the arguments, and why it is a rebuttal. How to be aggressive and persuasive in debate and how to unlearn certain things that were too basic from class. Everything had to be translated in Japanese eventually, so it was pretty time consuming. But, it was really quite fun for me and eye-opening for them. They did all this in the several hours it took us to drive there in the van, and up late at night in the hotel rooms.

And wow, the kids did fantastic. Their ability to make English on the spot is above average, but at this level in Japanese high schools, it's not even on a conversational level. Yeah. Mostly, they read all of the arguments, but still managed to do ok in their first-ever cross examination periods and 2nd rebuttals. They went with 2 wins and 1 loss, and the loss went to a team that won 2nd in the tournament. Of course, the outcome was never important, but they worked really hard anyway and I think they learned a lot. And, the great part is, they really seemed into it and enjoying themselves.

This is a really good memory of being a teacher at Miki Senior High School.