Discourse on Foreign Workers

About a week ago, one girl was found dead in Hiroshima (which I wrote about before). This morning a suspect for the murder case was arrested: A Japanese-Peruvian man. This inevitably made me concerned about how this case will influence discourse on foreign workers in Japan. I'm a little afraid that the case may incite further discrimination against foreigners; however, I also hope that it will end isolation of foreigners and facilitate incoporation of them into local communities. As "globalization" continues, it is becoming impossible to ignore the presence of foreign workers in Japan (including sumo wrestlers from abroad?). It's sad that so young a girl was killed, but let's hope that we can make something of it....

Rough

One 6th-grade boy punched his classmate. The latter cut his lip with his teeth when he was punched and had to go to hospital.

These two boys belong to the same homeroom. In fact, many boys in this 6th-grade homeroom are very rough both physically and verbally. A few weeks ago another boy from this homeroom clashed a window and cut his hand. I wonder why this is the case....

Bad Teachers at Driving School

Driving school is "school," anyway, and a person who sits next to me when I practice driving is a "teacher." (I wonder there is any lisence required to teach at driving schools.) Like any other school, there are good and bad teachers. It is easy to recognize bad teachers. First, they often use nagatives: "That wasn't good," "You didn't do it right," "Don't do that," etc. Second, they look happy when they are critizing students for mistakes that they made. They derive pleasure by exercising their authority and expertise; they don't criticize students to help them improve but to make themselves feel superior to students. I met two of such bad teachers at the driving school so far (and I wanted to punch them in the face). I guess they are too old to correct their bad teaching. I just hope that I won't become a bad teacher myself in the future.

Going Native?

As I have spent 6 months at the local kindergarten and elementary and junior high schools, I have encountered many problems that appear irrelevant to my own research: kids who don't study, kids who cause troubles, kids with disabilities, parents who don't take good care of their kids, etc. Recently, I spend a fair amount of time dealing with these issues when I go to the kindergarten and the schools. For example, instead of asking children my own (research) questions, I listen to them and talk with them about their own concerns.

Initially, I resisted this, for I thought I would lose time to collect data; however, talking and interacting with kids on their own terms, I began learning various social and educational issues that might become my research topics in the future. And I think I can afford to take this "detour" now because my data collection has been going fairly well, though I need to conduct more in-depth interviews with elementary, junior high school, and college students.

Anyway, I have about 4 months left for my fieldwork. I will try to learn from "natives" as much as I can.

Somebody Must be Lying....

One architectural scandal has been rocking the archipelago. More than 20 buildings (e.g., hotels and apartments) are found to have structural problems that may make the buildings collaps in cases of earthquakes. The architect named Aneha faked structural strengths of the buildings, but he is saying that he was pressured by construction companies to decrease the number of reinforcing bars and so forth, so that they could save money. And the companies are denying the allegation. So, somebody must be telling a lie.

A Murder of a 1st-grade Girl

Yesterday a 1st-grade girl was found dead in Hiroshima. She seemed to be murdered while she was walking back to her home from school. To prevent this kind of sad event in the future, schools should make students walk home in groups. Moreover, parents should sometimes--if not everyday--walk to school and back home with their children; this arrangement can also facilitate cooperation between school and family. There must be greater cooperation between the two institutions to bring up children properly and solve many problems surrounding Japanese education.

Violence in Words

One junior high school student tells me that his father and brother often say to him "Die!" "Your face makes me sick" and other nasty things. I can somehow understand why he bullies his classmates at school, to displace his anger and frustration at home, though it is not justifiable to bully someone under any circumstances.

Naoko Takahashi

She won the marathon race in Tokyo today. Takahashi is the gold-medal winner at the Sydney Olympics, but she lost the race in Tokyo two years ago and didn't get a chance to run in Athens because of that.

When she told the media that she injured her right (?) calf prior to the race, I thought she might pull out of the race. But she ran and won it decisively. It seemed that her victory was inevitable--the one who practice most rigorously, prepare most carefully, and possess the strongest will cannot but win. There is a lot to learn from top atheletes like Takahashi. Although sociology is different from running, there is nonetheless a parallel between the two arts.

Recommendation Letter for My Teacher

I am now writing a recommendation letter for my former adviser at Haverford College. It sounds a little strange, doesn't it? That's because my current adviser and another professor are nominating him for the best teacher award at ASA. And I am asked to write a letter of support.

I actually find it difficult to write a letter for my former teacher. I have a lot of good things to say about him, but I don't want to sound too expressive, exaggerating, or even worse, phony. The best way to go about this is probably to pick up some specific episodes about my interaction with him and explain why they are indicators of excellent mentoring.

Data Entry

I plan to finish data entry by the end of December. While doing this monotonous work, I have noticed clear differences among age groups (6-year-olds, 8-year-olds, 12-year-olds, 14-year-olds, etc.) with regard to certain questions. To tell interesting stories about these patterns, I must focus my fieldwork on phenomena that may illuminate mechanisms behind them as well as previous studies that may provide me with sharp analytical probes.

Day Care

The driving school where I have been taking lessons has a temporary day care room. Mothers can use it for free while they are taking driving lessons. More often than not, however, I hear children screaming in the day care room. Today I heard a big, continuous scream and cry from the room, so I stepped into the room to see what was going on. There I found my former classmate's 2-year-old son screaming "Mommy, come!!!!! Mommy, come!!!!" repeatedly.

He stopped crying momentarily when he saw my face. I asked him questions like "What about your daddy? Will you daddy come?" "What about your grandma? Will grandma come?" Trying to answer my questions, he forgot calling for her mother... only temporarily. As soon as he finished answering my questions, he was ready to start screaming again. I picked him up and held him in my arms and told him that his mother was coming back soon. But he kept screaming--"Mommy, come!!!! Mommy, come!!!!" as if the world were coming to end.

Oh well, toddlers are difficult to deal with.

Developmentally Challenged...

Asked by the homeroom teacher, I worked as a tutor for one 2nd-grade girl today. During the math lesson, I was asked to teach her multiplication. It turned out that she had no idea how to multiply given numbers and even to add/subtract them, though she must have been learning it. Sure, she seemed to be enjoying my tutoring, but she didn't seem to understand what I was saying. Actually, it's not just math that she can't do. She is extremely poort at ohter subjects, including Japanese.

So, after the lesson, I asked the homeroom teacher whether she was developmentally challenged. She nodded and told me that she was going to discuss with the child's parents and recommend that she be moved to a homeroom for the developmentally challenged next year.

I wondered why this arrangement hadn't been made sooner. I mean, one look is enough to figure out there is something wrong with the girl. She needs more attention from a teacher all the time and the slower speed of instruction, that is, she is better off at the special homeroom.

Maybe her parents didn't like the "stigma" of the girl's being in the special homeroom...? But, there is nothing wrong with being in that homeroom. I am good friends with a few of the developmentally challenged students there and they are perfectly functional in daily social interactions. They just need a different learning environment.

Anyway, it is important to try to do what is in the child's best interest, though it is hard to figure it out.

Bullying One's Sister

There is one so-called "problem student" in the 8th-grade class where I've been conducting participant observation. He once told me that he didn't have any siblings; however, it turned out that he has a sister in one of the 6th-grade classes that I've been observing. When I talked with his sister, she told me how she feared his brother because he bullies her. The reason he bullies his sister is probably that he is frustrated with pretty much everything in the world, including himself. So, he bullies her sister to displace his frustration.

But why is he frustrated? According to him, his father has been very harsh toward him, which makes him angry and full of hatred. That is, the father bullies his son who in turn bullies his sister. But his sister is not bullying anyone partly because she has no younger sibling and partly because she is weak. Perhaps she has become a weak person because of the bullying by her brother.

I just hope that she will not become a mother who bullies her children. Since I am going to visit her class tomorrow, I will cheer her up.

Crime and Youth

There was a murder by a high school student in Tokyo. He killed his classmate whom he was allegedly in love with.

Initially, the school principal who appeared on TV said that the student was an ordinary boy who didn't exhibit any problem behaviors. Teachers and other adults who had acquainted with the boy also said that he was a good and serious student.

But his peers were now telling a different story. One boy knew that the boy rode a bike alone late night, shouting. One girl knew that the boy rarely spoke at school.

I think adults tend to be ignorant about situations of potential young criminals. Or perhaps they just pretend to be ignorant because they don't care.

What Does it Mean to be Intelligent?

I am watching a special TV program hosted by Takeshi Kitano. This program is titled "A White Paper on Japanese Education" (or something like that). But they are not really dealing with educational issues; for example, they are discussing what it means to be intelligent. I mean, intelligence is related to education, but it doesn't seem to be specifically problematic for the current Japanese educational system. I wish the program were dealing with issues specific to Japanese schooling.

Accepted for Publication

My adviser told me that my paper was accepted for a certain theory journal; however, it is a "conditional acceptance," so that I will have to go through another iteration with editors. But it seems that the peer review process has been completed. All I have to do seems to be to make revisions that are satisfactory for the eidtors.

I feel humbled. Or rather, I don't have any particular reaction. Honestly, I am neither excited nor proud... perhaps because I am taking on something more important in my life.

I just hope that another iteration will make my paper worthy of being published from the journal.

Writing a Report for the Principal

The elementary-school principal asked me to write up a report. He said to me, "Would you write an essay on how you think of the school?" "Sure... but how long should I wirte?" (I asked this question because I thought he might be thinking of publishing my essay on some school newspaper.) "Whatever length will be fine," replied the principal. I also wanted to ask him who will be my audience, but I stopped short on that partly because I was following 2nd graders for my research and parly because I thought it shouldn't make a difference.

So, since I came home, I've been writing down my thoughts in Japanese. I will have to ask my father to edit it. Not only my Japanese is a little awkward but also he knows better about diplomacy in this sort of situation. But I hope this essay will create an opportunity for me to discuss various issues with the principal.

Intervene or Not

I don't regard myself as a neutral observer. I am a participant. I am in the field precisely to interact with local actors. But I occasionally encounter situations where I can't tell how much I should participate. (And nobody can't tell because there is no pre-given right answer.) Today 6th graders were discussing how to improve friendship between boys and girls in their homeroom. Several boys were saying this kind of discussion was meaningless and there was no need for friendship between boys and girls. Their arguments were also driven by emotions and they were not making coherent and constructive statements. So I couldn't help raising my hand a few times and make suggestions.

I hope what I said didn't have negative effects on the 6th graders, though I don't know how much they understood what I was trying to say.

Sickness

Well, I got sick again. I'm getting better today, but yesterday I had to come back home from the elementary school without observing the last lesson of the day. Without fully recovering, I can't practice Yoga and jogging. Yet, I went to my weekly piano lesson. Assignments are getting difficult. For someone who started playing the piano in his late 20s, certain movements of fingers are seemingly impossible. (But it is true that I can master them to some decent extent after a few hours of practice.)

Playing the piano is similar to practicing sociology. Both arts cannot be mastered without determination and dedication.

School Trip

Next week 6th graders will make a school trip to Kyoto and Nara. They started preparing for the trip this week. For example, today in the gym they were rehearsing their moves at the train station and bus terminal. I presumed that the purpose of this rehearsal was to help students get in and off the train or bus in an orderly fashion so as not to disturb other passengers during a trip next week. Maybe I have just forgotten it, but I don't remember doing this kind of rehearsal before my 6th-grade school trip.

O Brother

I talked with my brother over the phone this evening. I don't think I had chatted with him since August. Yet, I have talked with him much more often this year than previously. While I was in the US, I sometimes spent more than a year without seeing or hearing him. But, all the same, once we meet or start talking over the phone, I feel at ease with him.

I think familiarity is crucial to any stable social relationship, though I don't know how familiarity develops. It's not just the amount of time people have spent together but also the commensurability of personalities among other things.

Breaking into Tears

I saw 8th graders breaking into tears and sobbing this afternoon. This was the second time I witnessed their tears. Both times they broke into tears while they were being scolded by the teacher. I don't think they cried because they were scared of the teacher but because they realized that they did something "morally wrong." (Yes, at Japanese schools, everything can be turned into a moral lesson.) Perhaps, their guilt was so heartfelt that they couldn't help crying. Usually, it is female students who cry. But, today even one boy was crying. (As I gathered, this homeroom crisis had been continuing since yesterday afternoon.)

Eventually, the crisis was resolved. Whether ethical or not, I recorded details of this episode in my fieldnote. I am such a voyeur.

Promise II

Today I promised to play with a group of 2nd-grade boys. But they were playing with the area where they were not supposed to be playing. I told them they shouldn't play there, but they told me that they haven't been scolded. So, instead of joining them, I stood, watching them playing a game. In the meantime, a few girls approached me and asked me to play with them. Since two of the girls were interesting in terms of my research, I followed them. This action of mine appeared to be "betrayal" to some of the boys. They asked me why I didn't join them and one of them even criticized one of the girls for taking me away from them. I made up for the boys by playing with them in a different place during the afternoon recess. And I apologized to the girl for being wrongly accussed because of my action.

Oh well, there is a lot to learn from interactions with children.