Transformative Encounters

The first transformative encounter in my life occurred at Haverford College. The second came in series at Michigan. The third has been taking place since I came to Japan for fieldwork.

Yesterday I went to the local teachers' college and attended a seminar where juniors who were majoring in history or social studies presented briefly proposals for their senior theses. Afterwards Prof. T, 8 of his students, and I went to Kanayama (near Nagoya) and talked over drinks and food.

What I realized is that education is one of the fields best-suited for attempts to integrate theory and practice. At Haverford, I studied social theory and philosophy exclusively inside the academia. After I came to Michigan, I gradually started orienting myself to the so-called real world, though I didn't spend much time outside of the university campus. Finally, during my fieldwork in Japan, I have been forced to confront the real world (though relatively limited to school) and develop skills to deal with both theory and practice. In this respect, I regard Prof. T at the local teachers' college as my role model who can engage in analytical thinking, practice (he was once a schoolteacher himself and now collaborates with schools), and management (next year the college will establish a new program that he proposed and designed). His students who have done practice teaching at local schools are also serious and enthusiastic about teaching and research. I have been learning a lot of things from Prof. T and his students, and I am grateful for these transformative encounters in Japan.