Service Learning
• We taught our students about what Japanese people do during the seasons of the year. We compared that to what they do during a particular season. By comparing two different cultural groups the students as well as the exchange students were able to learn concepts of social privilege concerning different living environments and cultures.
• During one of our earlier lessons we asked the students what they knew about Japan. The students knew some various aspects of Japanese culture such as anime and food. Most of their knowledge were assumptions of Japanese culture because they confused it with Chinese culture. This made us as service learners aware that the students aren’t exposed to other cultures because they are limited to their own culture.
• Through our lesson plans we have taught our students to be more socially aware of their surroundings concerning their own culture and the culture of others.
• During class in a discussion activity I was able to further my knowledge about marginalization and social privilege. Our class was divided in two groups and we were able to feel marginalized for not having certain characteristics.
• At the site I realized that in order to facilitate the class I had to play bad cop. I had to be a little strict and always encourage the students to pay attention and try their hardest in both Japanese and their assigned homework. As service learners we are acting as teachers so we must assume that role. The children have to respect and learn from us so they can learn the perspectives of others efficiently.
• We taught the children how to conduct themselves in a Japanese classroom setting. How to greet us by saying “konichiwa” and how to say goodbye at the end of the day (sayonara). They get to say these phrases twice a week when they meet us so this part of Japanese culture has become apart of their life.
• During class we talked about how to conduct ourselves as teachers during one of the mock classroom activities. We got to experience being disciplined by our peers. Through our community scan we were able to survey the surroundings of our students at Del Rey Woods. The community is very small but has various resources, including many parks. Del Rey Woods Elementary is demographic is mostly Hispanic but through working with our students I don’t feel that the students are marginalized based on race. Our group of students as a community have dealt with issues of social injustice as far as discipline wise. For example many students feel that they can’t learn because they are distracted by disruptive students. To solve this problem as service learners we decided to create a system so make the children feel more equal in the classroom. Instead of excluding the disruptive students from getting candy we decided that if the class cannot behave as a whole then no one will get candy or any rewards. Through the equality concept of social justice we were able to teach the students the importance of paying attention in class.
• During class we discussed about various experiences dealing with social justice. Particularly we touched on our experiences with discrimination during our time abroad. I was surprised to hear that most of my classmates faced these issues on a weekly basis. As a an American I think it is important for use to expand our knowledge of other countries so not to have negative assumptions.
• At the service site we work with our kids during our activities to make sure they are fully understanding what we are teaching them. For example during our origami lesson we learned with the children. We chose to teach a folding style that even we had no knowledge of how to do. The students were able to follow our directions visually and verbally. The students were also able to teach us their ways of paper folding. Through this service the children learned from us and we learned from them; as well as learning a Japanese culture from Japanese students. And everyone felt included so there were no issues of inequality.
• During class I am able to participate in many discussions with my classmates who are from various backgrounds. I am able to learn by understanding their perspectives. Through the mock classroom activity I can gain knowledge on how to better our lesson plans and classroom procedures by learning from my fellow classmates.
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