Charismatic teacher conveys wisdom
Kahori Sakane Daily Yomiuri Staff Writer
Charismatic English teacher Goro Tajiri, winner of the 2001 Palmer Prize, recently quit his job at a public middle school in Shimane Prefecture to take up a new post at Kansai University. The move surprised many of his fans, but has done nothing to diminish enthusiasm for his teaching.
Tajiri is now putting most of his efforts into the task of developing new teachers as a professor of English education methods. In doing this, he's passing on his techniques for winning students' hearts and minds, and raising the English ability of teachers-to-be and graduate school students.
Many people who know Tajiri through NHK TV programs or lectures introducing his skillful classes may have been surprised by his decision to move, and disappointed to lose a good teacher from the middle school classroom. That is because they admired Tajiri for proving that it is possible to raise the English ability of students at an ordinary public middle school in the sleepy countryside of Shimane Prefecture, not just at private schools or schools attached to national universities at which English lessons are generally more frequent.
"Through my career in public schools, I think I have found the right teaching methods to raise the English skills of students, and also ways to motivate them to study, and I thought it was about time to make my next move," Tajiri said during a recent interview with The Daily Yomiuri.
Thanks to a reputation that led him to be selected as one of the 10 charismatic teachers in the world by the Japanese edition of Newsweek magazine in 2004, his English classes at municipal Hida Middle School in Shimane Prefecture have been visited by teachers and education officials from across the nation at least a few times every week.
"In meeting with so many teachers who are seeking advice on how to deal with students, I thought it was time to shift my focus to helping the many other teachers who need support," he said.
Since half of the teachers who visited him and asked for advice were worrying about their English teaching skills, while others were interested in how he wins over and motivates students, Tajiri now aims to share his experiences and ideas with teachers-to-be and teachers on study leave from their regular work.
Many teachers complain they are too busy with things such as clerical work and meetings to prepare properly for classes.
Although there is no department of education at Kansai University, Tajiri chose to work there because the job allows him to have contact with students at a local middle school in Osaka Prefecture. That school is part of the university's program to allow graduate students to practice teaching at local schools. The program also helps local school teachers compile educational programs, and provides advice on student guidance from a more academic point of view.
Now Tajiri teaches not only English but also teaching methods in 15 classes a week at the university. He especially enjoys teaching graduate school students, some of whom have practical teaching experience.
He usually bases his teaching on real classes that he taught in the past, giving similar assignments to university students using the same drills and supplementary materials that he himself used.
At the class on English teaching methods The Daily Yomiuri observed in early May, Tajiri first got nearly 30 students to form into pairs to practice conversation on the theme of: "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
Each pair picked one of about 20 occupations listed on the exercise sheet, and prepared their own answer to the question and reasons for choosing the selected job. Then they had to go up to the front and present the conversation in front of Tajiri. While he listened to them, the other students waited in line for their turn.
After finishing the presentation time, Tajiri asked them think about the good and bad points of using this method in the classroom from the point of view of a teacher.
The students pointed out that the exercise is a good way to teach the English terms for different jobs and vocations, and allowed students to be creative in explaining why they wanted to engage in their chosen occupation. But they also said that their participants were likely to get bored while waiting in line for their turn.
To make the activity more efficient, Tajiri offered various bits of advice, such as making a rule that if more than a given number of pairs chose the same job, then the remaining pairs had to choose something else--a way of forcing the pairs to come up with something new.
Tajiri also suggested that such a method is more useful in the case of team-teaching with an assistant English teacher, since it reduces the time required to check conversations, and the native speaker can also check how natural the conversations sound.
Tajiri said that in conducting such activities he hardly used the blackboard, and did not let his middle school students simply copy what he wrote there.
"Your students won't use their brains if they just copy what is written on the board," he said.
Instead, he compiled a book listing all the import!ant points and frequent mistakes, all of which are itemized and numbered, and handed this out as supplementary material.
"When students make mistakes, I let them figure out by themselves what was wrong with what they said or wrote, just by telling them to check a certain item listed on the supplementary material," he said.
Good teacher though he is, Tajiri believes students cannot raise their English ability just by sitting in his class.
"The class is really just a way of teaching them how to study at home. That's why I tried not to constantly explain everything, but to let them do some work by themselves," he said.
Three of Tajiri's former middle school students, who are now studying at other universities, also attended Tajiri's recent lecture. They remembered doing the very class Tajiri focused on in his lecture.
"I didn't know he had so many different objectives in mind when he got us to do the same task seven years ago," one of the former classmates said.
These visitors were surprised by how well Tajiri's class was organized and planned around reaching a particular goal. They seemed inspired by Tajiri.
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Winning students' trust
But Tajiri himself said he had a difficult start with one class two years ago, when he was faced with a group of rebellious students at his previous place of work, Hida Middle School.
When he first entered the classroom of second-year students in April 2005, his cheery "Good morning everyone" was met with silence.
And when Tajiri asked questions during class, all of the students answered, "I don't know." He then stimulated them by showing a videotaped English class he taught at another school in the previous year.
By having the students see the relatively fluent English of the students in the videotape--their future rivals in entrance examinations--Tajiri prodded them to feel a sense of competition, helping to motivate them to study harder.
"I knew that not all the students in the class were really problem kids," he said, explaining that he set out to win over those who were following the example set by the rebellious students. Gradually, he succeeded in gaining the trust of such students, and encouraged them to submit self-study notebooks every day.
Bit by bit, the atmosphere changed, and soon it was hard to stop any of the students practicing the reading assignments he gave them even after the bell for the end of English class had rung.
"Unlike students in my age, who were motivated by the simple hope of going to a good university to get a good job and have a better life, many students nowadays see no value in studying," he said.
"They lack any aim or motivation unless their parents promise to give them a new computer game machine if they get certain grades."
Tajiri says teachers cannot offer their students such material presents, but can help them experience the fun and satisfaction of being good at English.
"Whether they get high or low scores on their first report card at middle school is key in determining whether they go on to like English or not," he said. Therefore, he starts out by doing everything he can to make the class fun, before moving on to things that are more intellectually stimulating.
Now some middle schools near to Kansai University are already asking for his help in remotivating their students.
"I have met many great principals and teachers, and been hugely inspired by them," Tajiri says. "Now it's my turn to provide help for teachers who are worried about their teaching methods or skills. That's the kind of help that teachers really want."
(May. 24, 2007)