Saiah uieywitt

Bi. Tiene
Reseaiching Cuiient Issues
}une 27, 2u1S
Week ThieeChaptei 1u
Computeis offei many oppoitunities foi stuuents to expeiience othei
cultuies in new anu uiffeient ways. With incieasing banuwiuth, viueos anu movies
can be stieameu thiough a computei much moie easily than evei befoie, making
moie uynamic moving images easiei anu easiei foi anyone to access. The Inteinet
continues to make oui woilu smallei, connecting people to one anothei fastei than
evei, giving useis the ability to collaboiate anu communicate. The availability of
these iesouices makes it easiei foi a teachei to employ these tools giving theii
stuuents a ueepei unueistanuing of othei cultuies (Sleetei & Tettegah, 2uu2).
I have been looking to employ moie technology into my social stuuies classes
in oiuei to ueepen my stuuents' unueistanuing anu appieciation of othei cultuies.
The fiist countiy that I have ueciueu to exploie with my class is }apan.
!"#$%&'"# )&$* +,-,.
Theie aie a couple of }apanese films that I plan to show my class. Both films
involve young people, which I think may make these selections moie intiiguing anu
engaging foi my stuuents. 0ne film I like is calleu !"#$% '( )*% +,"%(-,%., an anime film
about two siblings in WWII-eia }apan (Nastasi, 2u12). Not only aie the cential
chaiacteis young, but the fact that the film is in the style of anime may also make
this film engaging to some of my stuuents. We can exploie the subject of the film,
the context of the histoiy in which this film is baseu, anu also anime itself. If one of
my stuuents wants to exploie anime moie ueeply foi one of theii iepoits, this coulu
be a goou intiouuction.
Theie is also a film calleu /'0'12 34'5., baseu on a ieal-life stoiy fiom the
198us about foui half siblings who aie left alone by theii mothei in a Tokyo
apaitment. Insteau of the chiluien ieaching out when they aie left alone, they
ueciue to ietieat fiom the woilu (Nastasi, 2u12). I think because both of these
stoiies exploie the human conuition, these films woulu allow my stuuents to iealize
how they aie similai to the people in these stoiies, insteau of focusing on how they
aie uiffeient. This may be a way into a new cultuie.
I woulu like to expose my stuuents to as many cultuial aspects of }apan as
possible. I founu a website fiom the Fieei Sacklei ualleiies at The Smithsonian
Nuseums of Asian Ait. This iesouice has examples of ait fiom vaiious Asian
cultuies, incluuing }apan. Theie is a section of the site that contains }apanese ait, at
http:www.asia.si.euucollectionsjapanese.asp. Also, theie is a poition of the site
that has an example of tiauitional chambei music fiom }apan. You can go to
http:www.asia.si.euupoucastsielateutiuespiogNotes.asp anu click on "Listen
Now" foi a sample. Finally, theie is a stoiytelling poition of this site, calleu the
Fieei anu Sacklei ualleiies' Silk Roau Stoiytelling gioup that consists of iecoiuings
of volunteeis fiom uiffeient countiies telling stoiies fiom theii cultuie. 0ne
stoiytellei is fiom }apan, but cuiiently living in Washington BC. She tells a
tiauitional stoiy calleu Peach Boy, which can be heaiu at
http:www.asia.si.euupoucastsstoiytelling.asp. Beaiing a stoiy fiom someone
who lives in the 0niteu States, but has a uiffeient cultuial backgiounu, may be one
way in which my stuuents can begin to accept anu appieciate anothei cultuie.
}apanese theatie is anothei aspect of }apanese cultuie I woulu like to expose
my stuuents to. Because ieauing about the peifoiming aits uoes not neaily give
enough infoimation to fully unueistanu the ait foim, using viueos fiom You Tube
makes uemonstiations of peifoiming aits so much moie cleai. I founu a viueo that
not only shows examples of Buniaku, a tiauitional style of puppetiy in }apan, but is
also naiiateu in English so that my class can unueistanu what they aie seeing. The
viueo is only less than five minutes long, but gives a useful insight into this ancient
aitfoim: http:www.youtube.comwatch.v=kE0QNvn8E}Q
Noh uiama, anothei foim of theatie in }apan, is explaineu in veiy shoit
snippets fiom the Asia foi Euucatois website, put out by Columbia 0niveisity. 0n
this site, scholais pioviue biief amounts of infoimation on the subject; naiiateu
examples of peifoimance aie also incluueu on this website:
http:afe.easia.columbia.euuatnohnuu2.html
Keypals is a way to get stuuents to connect to ieal people fiom anothei
cultuie. When I visiteu keypals.com, I was uiiecteu to the site fiienuciicles.com.
This site allows stuuents to meet anu inteiact with people fiom othei cultuies, just
like a pen pal fiom uecaues ago. The benefit of having a keypal is that stuuents aie
able to inteiact with theii inteinational contact so much moie fiequently. Baving a
peison who becomes an acquaintance anu a possibly a fiienu expanus my stuuents'
woiluview anu helps them to become moie accepting of people uiffeient fiom
themselves. While this inteiaction is immeisive, without the stiuctuie of a class, a
lesson anu a teachei, the expeiience can still be highly instiuctive, anu veiy
effective.
Anothei iesouice foi my stuuents to have them expanu theii cultuial know-
how is to become involveu with }apanese language anu cultuie at
http:livemocha.compageslanguagesleain-japanese. Leaining the }apanese
language in a social stuuies class may be going a little bit fuithei than usual, but the
leaining of even some language can be a way foi my stuuents to bettei unueistanu a
cultuie. As my stuuents stait to leain some basic }apanese language using
livemocha.com, they eventually will also be able to connect with language paitneis.
These aie native speakeis of }apanese, who can help them to leain the language, as
well as othei people fiom cultuies all ovei the woilu who want to leain English.
This is an excellent oppoitunity foi my stuuents to simultaneously be the "foieign"
stuuent without commanu of the language oi full unueistanuing of the cultuie. At
the same time, my stuuents will be able to show someone fiom many uiffeient
cultuies a little about Ameiican English anu oui Ameiican cultuie. These
expeiiences, I hope, can stait to fostei empathy anu bioauen theii woiluview, all
without leaving the classioom.
/0",# )$& 1--234.5 !"#$%&'"#
In the aiticle "Technology as a Tool in Nulticultuial Teaching," Chiistine
Sleetei anu Shaion Tettegah (2uu2) make a uistinction between uiscuisive anu non-
uiscuisive leaining, as noteu in the book 6*,-'.'7*2 ,4 # /%5 3%2 by S. K. Langei.
They uesciibe uiscuisive language as "logical, lineai, intellectual anu
uecontextualizeu" anu that "non-uiscuisive symbols such as lines, colois, anu
ihythms, encoue expeiience anu emotion in ways that uiscuisive language cannot"
(Sleetei & Tettegah, 2uu2, p. 4). Accoiuing to Sleetei anu Tettegah, oui schools have
mostly been uiscuisive in natuie, although theie aie stuuents who have uiffeient
intelligences who thiive with non-uiscuisive knowleuge. By looking at a cultuie not
just thiough woius on a page anu static images, but becoming involveu with the
sounus anu movements of anothei cultuie, stuuents can have a much ueepei
unueistanuing of that cultuie. Auuitionally, stuuents who aie noimally exposeu to
uiscuisive ways of knowing can be intiouuceu to a new foim of knowleuge.
Technology, especially the Inteinet at highei anu highei speeus, is moie anu moie
capable of pioviuing expeiiences foi stuuents in a non-uiscuisive mannei.
0ne way in which I can use these iesouices foi a lesson plan is to use a
WebQuest. Ny stuuents can exploie these Inteinet iesouices on theii own oi in
small gioups, anu then solve a pioblem oi complete a pioject baseu on what is
leaineu fiom these iesouices. Bepenuing upon the age anu ability level of my
stuuents, I coulu have pait of the WebQuest somewhat stiuctuieu by pioviuing
some websites to exploie. Then, I coulu stiuctuie the iest of the WebQuest so that
my stuuents continue to exploie theii own websites about }apanese cultuie, solving
a pioblem oi woiking on a pioject. This inquiiy-baseu leaining is useful because
stuuents stait to become in chaige of theii own leaining, constiucting knowleuge
with each othei, anu using the instiuctoi as a iesouice if neeueu.
Thiough the use of fiienuciicles.com, oi possibly thiough the ielationship
with language paitneis on livemocha.com, my stuuents can inteiview theii
inteinational fiienus. Each stuuent can wiite a seiies of questions baseu on
infoimation they might want to know about the cultuie of }apan. Then, my stuuents
can ask theii fiienu question, anu wiite a iepoit oi give a speech to the class about
what they leaineu. Bepenuing on the age of the stuuent, I may pioviue a couple of
questions. Stuuents will be encouiageu to apply theii knowleuge of }apanese ait
cultuie, such as Buniaku, Noh oi stoiytelling to the questions that they ask theii
language paitnei.
Stuuents can also use the ait anu cultuie that they leain about }apan, anu
apply it to what they know about the ait anu cultuie in theii own countiy. Foi
example, peihaps the stuuents can look the }apanese films they weie intiouuceu to,
anu compaie them to similai films in theii cultuie. Peihaps they can compaie
/'0'02 34'5. to 8'"1 '( )*% +-,%., oi compaie the anime film !"#$% '( )*% +,"%(-,%. to
a favoiite caitoon that they watch in the 0niteu States. The analysis of these two
uiffeient pieces of woik can leau to a lot of uiscoveiy of }apanese cultuie.
6$.'2%#4$.
The possibilities aie enuless when exposing stuuents to anothei cultuie
thiough the use of technology. These iueas only begin to exploie how to link
anothei foieign cultuie to theii own, anu will vaiy gieatly uepenuing upon the age
anu expeiience of the stuuents. Thanks to the fai ieach of the Inteinet, stuuents aie
able to tiavel the woilu anu have a gieatei appieciation foi a uiffeient cultuie
without even neeuing a peimission slip!



Refeiences

Columbia 0niveisity. (2u1S). Asia foi Euucatois. Columbia 0niveisity. Retiieveu
}une 27, 2u1S fiom http:afe.easia.columbia.euuatnohnuu2.html
Nastasi, Alison. (2u12, Novembei 6). +-#$'"5,"%. 1u Essential }apanese Films.
Retiieveu }une 27, 2u1S fiom http:flavoiwiie.comS4S9981u-essential
japanese-films2
Smithsonian Institution (2u1S). Fieei Sacklei, The Nuseums of Asian Ait.
Retiieveu }une 27, 2u1S fiom http:www.asia.si.euu