A Theory of Knowledge

Amanda, bless her heart, gave me shit today for not updating often enough. So, here I am. Thank server maintenance.

This month I'm back at Icchuu, the JHS in Matsudo, and it's more or less back to exactly what it was before. The teachers I usually hang out with, still hang out with me, and the teachers that never say a word to me, well, aren't makin any efforts to change that. Oh well.

The principal started talking to me the other day when we were hanging out about how he wants to start a critical thinking class at the school, kind of like the Theory of Knowledge class I took in my senior year of high school, taught by the inimitable Mr. Bruender. I was shocked, to say the least. First of all, most high schools in the US don't teach classes like that, except in the IB program, of which I was a part, so to hear this from the principal of a JHS was surprising. But more than that, it's a JHS in JAPAN. JAAAAAAAAAPAAAAAAAN!! Hello? Has anyone EVER heard of critical thinking in JAPAN of all places? No. So much so that I use caps excessively to express my overwhelming, jaw-dropping shock to hear it.

The guy calls me into his plush official looking, well upholstered office, and we sit there for a bit talking while he shows me this book he picked up, all in English, which was the text that accompanied a university level critical thinking class he had come across. I told him, through my debilitating awe, that it was one of the most rewarding classes I had ever taken, and if nothing else, imparting on his students the ability to recognize logical fallacies, and maybe, just maybe, the ability to not only come up with individual ideas, but to analyze the ideas of others and weigh evidence, would make Japan about 1000x better than it is now.

My biggest problem with the Japanese education system, and I know it's 100% intentional, is that students are completely incapable of answering open questions, i.e. ones that start with W's. I tested this today during my lessons. In all three third year classes I had today, we started off the lesson with the criss-cross quiz, where I just fire off random questions at the students. This is my check of students' familiarity with common questions in English, but more importantly, their ability to think for themselves. Here was my test:

I took my pen out of my breast pocket, and held it up for all to see. I waited a moment for it to sink in that I wanted them to focus their attention on it, and asked the following question:

"What isn't this?"

Before you continue, answer the question. Grab a pen, look at it, and ask yourself, what isn't it?

How long did it take you to answer that question? More importantly, do you understand the question well enough to answer it at all?

Not ONE of my students did. So, I repeat, "What ISN'T this?"

"It's a pen?" Yes, it IS a pen, but what ISN'T it? ".........it's a pen?" Yes, it's a pen, but.....

I realized of course that there might be an element of language here inhibiting their comprehension, and thusly their ability to answer. So the Japanese teacher jumps in, after herself taking until then to fully understand what the hell was going on, and says "これは何ではありませんか？”

Now, there are a couple of students who haven't had their souls drilled out just yet, who have been thinking quietly to themselves the whole time, the silent voice in their head building in intensity as the failed attempts of other students to satisfy my question gradually increase in number. Finally, when the pieces click into place, and the grinding of the gears in their minds is louder than the resounding "意味分かんない！” circulating around the room, one of them says, "It's not a book." And I smile. I say "Correct. It's NOT a book. Good job."

So I ask again, to another student, "What isn't this?"

You know what they said?

"It's not a book."

*sigh* I have so much work to do with these kids.