Alberta Education
MURAKAMI Yoshifumi

1. Weekly Newsletter

One of the projects I began soon after arriving in Canada is the publication of a weekly newsletter. I write the newsletter according to a different theme each week so as to avoid running out of ideas.

For the first week of each month, I introduce new publications, primarily physical ones, on Japanese-language education and language acquisition by referring to book reviews. For the second week, I introduce the overall ranking of top selling e-books in Japan, including not only domain specific books but even comics. This theme is geared towards introducing general trends in Japan and to suggest the books for use as teaching materials of Tadoku reading. The third week’s theme is introducing trending websites and trends on Twitter etc. Like the first week, I select content related to Japanese-language education and acquiring a second language for this theme. Recently, I have also started introducing such content as blogs written by Japanese teachers as part of the theme. Finally, in the fourth week, I introduce the latest academic papers. Here again the focus is on domain specific content such as Japanese-language education and the acquisition of a second language. While the main audience of the newsletter is those involved in Japanese-language education in Alberta, I also make it available to see via our website in addition to email and share it on other communities related to Japanese-language education, such as a Facebook group called Japanese-Language Teachers in Canada.

Sending this newsletter out weekly has ensured that the teachers of Alberta remember my name, and they’ve come to contact me right away if they encounter any difficulties while teaching, so that I may support them.

We have been publishing the newsletter via an application called MailChimp since the end of last year which allows viewing of past issues as well. Those interested in receiving the newsletter via email should click on “Join Our Mailing List” on the back issue page and type in their contact info.

2. Online Japanese-Language Education Workshop

After the newsletter started taking off, I launched an online workshop on Japanese-language education. This project, which I personally call by the code name "Yoridori-Midori Project," aims to provide more diverse options to learners by leveraging the diverse skills of the Japanese teachers, such as expertise in tea ceremonies or deep knowledge of Sumo wrestling. For the overall flow of the workshop, I first have each teacher list the specific actions involved in their area of expertise, such as practicing the tea ceremony or Sumo spectating. Then together, we consider the Japanese required for those actions and how that Japanese can be taught, and build a course based on that insight. The entire workshop for creating the courses is carried out online. I use a Learning Management System (LMS) called Google Classroom to manage assignment submissions and handle notifications, and use the Zoom online meeting application for real time discussions. Before speaking in real time, I have the participants watch a YouTube video of me explaining the workshop. Incidentally, this approach of having the students watch a video first as a preparation and then have application activities such as discussions is called the “flipped classroom.”

3. Online Lectures

Another program I launched this academic year is online lectures in which I have Canadian teachers of Japanese language involved in interesting activities give lectures on those online. These lectures allow participates to break up into groups for discussions and participate in question and answer sessions. While there have only been two such lectures at the time of this writing, I intend to hold them every month with the exception of the summer holiday and other vacations. The program can likely also serve as a resource for those unfamiliar with Japanese-language education in Canada to learn about what is happening in the classrooms.

Online Lectures

4. Next, an Online Edcamp?

For my next program, I would like to try to implement an online Edcamp, something I have not started yet. Edcamps are like teacher training programs in which the host does not provide the content. Instead, participating teachers can ask for ideas and advice on the issues they might be facing from the other participants. Edcamps are normally held in rented venues, but the recent advancement of Internet technologies means that it is now possible to hold them online. Hopefully I will be able to make a positive progress report on this next year. To be sure, there are many things that I have to try before I know they will work, so I have to consider a variety of possibilities.

As the second largest country in the world, it is difficult to provide support only face to face, which makes this type of online support necessary. As you know, doing so previously required massive funds and complicated preparations, but the situation has changed remarkably in the past few years. It will be a challenge for me to see how far I can take this during my term, at the same time I’m also excited about this arrival of a new age.