Let's Connect Online!

Alberta Education
YOSHIKAWA Keiko

I was dispatched to Alberta Education in Edmonton at the end of August 2020, just as the world was experiencing the impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic. While I arrived there safely, nobody was allowed to meet face to face at the time, including teachers. Since then, all work has taken place remotely online, including the writing of this report.

A total of five Special Language Advisors (hereinafter “Advisor”) are dispatched to the International Education Services division of Alberta Education. In addition to myself as the Advisor for the Japanese language, there are Advisors for Ukrainian, Spanish, German, and Chinese. Japanese programs are offered at the secondary educational level, particularly high school, and as the Advisor, I develop curriculums, hold teacher training programs, and run events for Japanese learners. Furthermore, I also work with the Japan Foundation, Toronto to help support Japanese-language education throughout Canada as well.

Online School Visits to Introduce Japanese Culture

As a rule, primary and secondary educational institutions in Alberta have been holding in-person classes since September 2020. However, because some students are electing to study from home, while others are forced to isolate periodically, causing a constant coming and going of students, teachers are kept very busy with measures to prevent infection in the classroom and preparing homework and video teaching materials for students studying at home, and they must handle HyFlex classes connecting homes and classrooms. Given that I am unable to visit schools and observe how students are doing, and I cannot be a burden on the teachers who are already busy, I decided to start providing online sessions to introduce Japanese culture and other information about Japan. I create sessions about once every two months, each with a different topic, advertise them, and then present the sessions as part of the Japanese language class in high school when requested. Session topics to date have included the” Japanese New Year”, “Covid-19 in Japan”, and “Spring in Japan”, and I have been able to share the sessions with three high schools. These sessions took place through several different formats, from all online to mixed online and offline, but in every case, I included ways to interact with the students, such as have them participate in quizzes via smartphone or computer, and had them give their opinions on a discussion board. Given the available of a variety of new tools, I intend to continue to connect with the teachers and students by providing even more interactive and interesting sessions.

The picture of some of the slides used in a Japanese culture session
Some of the slides used in a Japanese culture session

Connecting with Teachers Throughout the Country Online

Due to the vast size of Canada, there were already initiatives to connect online before the emergence of the Covid-19 Pandemic, but now, those initiatives have become a requirement, and as a result, it has become easier for teachers in different regions of the country to meet through online Japanese teacher training programs and exchange meetings. However, it is still not easy to have in depth conversations with the teachers during online sessions, so for the first two month of my dispatch here, I made myself available for one-on-one sessions with interested teachers and arranged Zoom meetings with them. By speaking with the teachers on a personal level, I feel we were able to bridge the gap by getting to know each other in addition to talking about their schools and Japanese-language education in general.

Furthermore, depending on the theme, I sometimes carry out online Japanese teacher training programs for a smaller number of participants and incorporate pair and group work. Participants in those sessions have told me that they were glad to have had the opportunity to speak in depth with teachers from other educational institutions, on top of the training. I also run a series of discussion sessions with specific themes called “Let's Connect.”

I hope that we can continue to share information and classroom ideas while improving our skills through learning together online in this manner. However, I also hope the day we can meet face to face again comes soon!

The picture of an example online picture book used for the teacher training program.
An example online picture book used for the teacher training program.

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