RW/WW Offline Conference, ICU Sept. 19, 2010

I'm part of a group of researchers and teachers exploring how the "Workshop" method of teaching writing and reading can be leveraged in Japan for better language teaching.

The 19th was our third "offline" meeting, giving us a chance to develop new projects that we have been studying and planning for over our online mailing list for the past few years.

One event coming up in November is our interactive 60 minute session at JALT 2010, which will give participants to experience the concept of the Writing Workshop Method, see examples of how it has helped Japanese EFL learners at various levels (junior high to college), and ask questions about it.

After we shared recent teaching practice and planned our JALT workshop, we had a chance to go out for drinks for the first time, finally after studying together for almost three years. The group has some of the most dedicated teachers and researchers I know, and the discussions about fundamental problems with education systems in Japan were very stimulating. We have a lot of work to do to help educators at all levels recognize that education is about learning not teaching.

Yoshida-san, the initiator of the group, has published a number of books that have helped me to reexamine how learning takes place, and how classrooms can be transformed into active communities of learners rather than passive audiences for the teacher.