TED about Global Future

Happy New Year! 今年もよろしくお願いします

Top 5 Things in 2010 and Goals for 2011

I assigned this blog topic to my students, so I need to get busy and write this before 2010 becomes ancient history.

1. Bought a house! It is a small, simple house, but hopefully will be enough for a family with two quickly growing kids. Now I'm a proud member of the 30 year mortgage club. Our previous rented apartment was much too small, and so we needed to move. Fortunately we found this house near my workplace and the kids' schools, and things moved quickly and smoothly in November and December to result in our 12/20 move. Decorating and furnishing our new house is a lot of fun, but is scary to watch our kids scratch and stain walls and floors right away as they enjoy running around in it...
   
   
2. Kept the kids bi-literate at their grade level. This was one of my main goals for 2010 and a continuous challenge. Michael, age 7, kept up reading one chapter a day, mostly with Magic Treehouse series books, and writing his diary of about 30 or 40 words almost every day. To make it seem fairer to him, Megumi and I also do the same, so our "reading time" and "diary writing time" have become family events. We want to continue that in 2011.
   
   We were worried about Mei's English in January, but she started to go to English preschool in February, and now she is more talkative than her brother. She loves writing letters (in her own way), and is ready to start doing more systematic reading and writing. Hopefully Megumi and I will be able to help both kids at home and get started with some kind of online? curriculum for basic English literacy. More on the kids is here.
   
   
3. Ran the Tokyo Marathon and the Karuizawa half-marathon, both with personal bests or near bests, so I think I'm staying healthy and staying in shape.
   
   
4. Took Michael to Seattle for an extended stay in the summer, and helped him feel comfortable learning with American kids in English.
   
   
5. Made four academic conference paper presentations in Hanoi for Asia TEFL (Factors Influencing Learner Self-Confidence in EAP), Sendai for JACET (How to Do Critical Academic Discussion "CAD" Activities for Critical Thinking and Speaking Improvement) and Nagoya for JALT (Student Perceptions of Individual Conferences/Tutorials + How to Use the Workshop Method of Reading/Writing Instruction).

So...what are some goals for 2011:

Basically my goal is to be a good father, husband, teacher, researcher, and learner. My parents are moving back to the USA from Japan this year, so I want to help them as much as possible as well.

As a father, I want to read to my kids almost every day and keep showing them a good example for how to care about and communicate with other people. Need to find good books. Recently he liked "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" a lot, so maybe I'll go for a few Roald Dahl books to start off. I also want to get Michael started on some kind of home school curriculum for English. Hopefully I will get a clearer idea of what kind of education plan will be best for my two kids...need to talk to many people and observe schools that have good reputations.

As a husband, I want to make more time for Megumi and I by getting a babysitter to get away from the kids. Of course, we have lots of fun with the kids, but we also talk about how it would be nice to have an OFF button...

As a teacher, I want to become more fluent in making interactive multimedia materials and designing class sites that help students collaborate on their learning as well as keep a record of their own development and goals. I used to mainly use Moodle for this, but I want to grow beyond Moodle to...currently I'm experimenting with a combination of Google Sites and student blogs, but interactivity and collaboration is a challenge. Also, I want to observe more classes of other teachers and exchange ideas more frequently.

As a researcher, I want to further explore the relationship between classroom study and the development (or lack of development) of confidence in foreign language communication, especially for formal oral skills such as presentations and discussions. I especially want to find out what it means to help students develop the ability to use critical thinking and solve problems in group settings with effective communication skills in English. What are the pathways to becoming an effective international professional and what foundations should be laid at the university level in terms of experience, knowledge, and attitudes as well as linguistic competence? I want to keep observing and asking my students at ICU. I wonder if I can build a more extensive website that deals with this issue...and perhaps start a doctorate program to help me focus my research.

As a learner, I need to keep learning many things in 2011...but I have a feeling I will be busy enough just learning more about the things above. Starting something new like an instrument or new language or cooking would be cool, but I'm not sure where I would fit it in.

And, for fun and relaxation in between, I want to keep running and working out, but marathon running, while excellent exercise and very easy to continue, is beginning to get a little old, so I want to find a team sport. Any recommendations?

Is Japan's Future in Jeopardy? Some ideas from K. Omae

Some interesting ideas from Kenichi Omae to discuss when my class enters our "Visions of the Future" unit. What kind of society is Japan aiming to build? What are its goals and definitions of "development" and "progress"? Where is the balance between a social environment of competition and safety nets for the weak?

人も国も劣化！無能政権による「最小不幸社会」

大前研一の日本のカラクリ

プレジデント 2011年1.3号

日本社会の構造変化はさまざまあるものの、先行きが本当に懸念されるのは若い世代の覇気の低下、気合のなさである。

http://president.jp.reuters.com/article/2010/12/20/D014D3A0-08F3-11E0-A6B2-03D23E99CD51.php?rpc=187

「世界第2位の経済大国に上りつめたのは、多くの国民が大なり小なり夢や志を持っていたからだ。

アンビションのなさと、ゆとり教育のおかげでしゃかりきに勉強しなくなった弊害は、今後重くのしかかってくるだろう。韓国も中国も台湾も近隣のアジ ア諸国は落伍者を生み出しながら、それでも際立った人材を輩出するシステムで世界的な競争に挑んでいる。にもかかわらず、わが日本国だけは「最小不幸社 会」などと意味不明なスローガンを掲げて、内定がもらえない大卒者を税金で助けてまで落伍者の出ない夢のような共産主義社会をつくろうとしている。

累積債務が日本よりはるかに少ないイギリスが50万人の公務員の首を切り、警察官を25％削減するというのに、日本はこの期に及んで4兆円を超える 補正予算を組むのだから、これ以上のぬるま湯はない。稼ぐ力を失っているのに、考えるのは使うことだけ。日本人の蓄えも急速になくなっている。貯蓄性向も 今では2％に減って、アメリカの6％に遠く及ばない。政府の無駄遣いをありがたく見ている場合ではないのだ。今の状況では制度から見ても、人材から見ても 世界的な競争を生き残れるはずがない。
「政治主導」の「最小不幸社会」は、日本人の草食化を致命的なレベルまで進行させるだろう。」

Morioka Article Parts 3-4 Reading Reactions

Main Points

Part 3: The brain death controversy and cultural factors

Morioka introduces several ideas of Japanese researchers regarding the relationship between perceptions of brain death (and organ transplantation) and Japanese culture.

Yonemoto (1987) suggests that the Japanese view of the dead body may be completely different from Western views in that "every part of a deceased person's body" has "a fragment of the deceased's mind and spirit."

Namihira (1988) explains, based on research of the beliefs of the 1985 JAL crash victims' families, that Japanese people do not want to injure a dead body because the soul will come back, and the dead soul may be unhappy if its body is not perfect.

Kaji (1990) points out this Japanese belief is "proto-Confucian" Asian shamanism and common in the East Asian region.

Umehara (1990) rejects the dualistic, Cartesian view of body/soul separation as a Western concept. If the body is warm, he asserts, it is still "alive".

Part 4: Where should Japanese bioethics go?

Phenomena (=reality/truth) vs. Discourse (=how it is talked about in the media, society etc.)

Phenomena:

• Doctors are changing, but still feel that patients should leave decision making to "intimate others".
• Japanese society as a whole is becoming more individualistic like the West, but will not, as whole, become American style. (Mark: Obviously?)
• Opposition to brain-dead donors is strong.
• But the majority feel brain death is death (survey data)
• Morioka feels ordinary surveys may not be effective. (Mark: Why?)
• So, why do people oppose brain-death donor transplants? Morioka feels "closed door medicine" needs to be destroyed first.(Mark: Is that really the main factor?? Help!)
• Japan will be similar to South or East European countries (Mark: ?? In what way? What's the different between EU and American civil societies--HELP!)
  

Discourse Level:

• Is Japan's view really unique as Yonemoto, Namihira, Kaji, Umehara say? Needs "painstaking" research. (I agree)
• "having power of discourse" vs. "whether ordinary people believe them"....different? How? (Unclear)
  
• Modernization of ethics such as informed consent came from outside--"raped by the West" and that causes culture arguments of "sacred cultural units" due to national identity needs. (perhaps so...)
• Sakamoto (1995) is one example: "East Asian" bioethics should be based on East Asian culture and different from Euro-American ones." But Morioka criticizes the notion of East Asia vs. West saying it is not "fruitful". (I agree--East Asia is diverse)
  
• Hardacre: Japan / West distinction is not generalizable. Stereotypes such as "everyone in the West is individualistic" are not true.
• Morioka used to believe in "our bioethics" movement, but now refuses it because 1) nationalism is dangerous, and 2) it "conceals diversity" inside our culture and inside our own minds. (I agree with this.)
  
  
• But cultural factor arguments are not senseless. Seeing the essence of human being resides in not just the brain but the whole body has benefits. Better than seing humans as reasoning, calculating machines?
• Exchanging body parts like "cogwheels inside a clock" may lead to a society treating humans just like machine parts.
• Using brain dead bodies for experiments happened in the 80s in the West -- "This is a logical result from the idea brain-death equals human death." So...let's imagine what will happen down the road...Jonas? (not explained)...reconsider mainsteam biomedicine...
• Conclusion...Main Point...? seems to be: Cultural factor arguments (like Japanese beliefs of the body are different from the West) are valuable for questioning Western imported values such as "the mind and body are separate and brain death is death" which may be dangerous values. (Mark: Interesting view. Not completely explained, but true to some extent.)
  
• Bioethics should consider the future of society...(Yes...obviously...)
  

So...in short, how has Japan responded to imported ideas of bioethics? It has responded with acceptance (with a desire to become more Western?) to some extent of ideas such as informed consent or brain death, but many people have also responded with rejection, saying "Japan is Japan" and Japanese ethics should be different--the soul is not separate from the body. Morioka feels the cultural arguments that Japan (or East Asia) is different from the West have dangers (and rejects them), but also believes they have some value for helping us critique possible problems of Western views such as using human bodies like machine parts.

Something like that? So...everyone, what is your reaction to Morioka's views? The article is not as focused on the main question and organized as an argument as I would prefer, and has too many unexplained ideas that are just thrown in without integration, but is obviously very valuable. It provides very useful insights into the process of how Japanese society and EACH OF YOU as Japanese individuals will make bioethical decisions in the future!

Thanks Dr. Morioka (Just in case you see this online)

Related links:

2008 government survey results
http://www.jotnw.or.jp/studying/29.html



http://www.iza.ne.jp/news/newsarticle/entertainment/celebrity/431503/
　だが、厚生労働省研究班が平成１９年に全国約１５００の病院に行った調査によると、がん患者への病名告知率は６５．７％。１００％近い告知がされているという米国などに比べると差は大きい。

Good Typing Game

When should I teach my son to start typing....maybe after he has good enough handwriting?

He'll love this game.

http://www.freetypinggame.net/play14.asp

Mark

七五三Photo of my kids

I haven't posted any kids pictures for a while, so here's a formal one we took this month for Mei's 3 year old rite of passage celebration called Shichi-Go-San (seven five three) in Japan.

For the record, because kids grow up before you know it...

Michael is seven now, a first grader at Mitaka 2nd Primary School. He loves soccer, baseball, all types of games, and anything he can "win" in. He plays soccer for a local team called the Kickers and watches videos of his own games over and over. He's quick with math and a good reader and writer in both English and Japanese. In English, he's currently reading The Kid Who Only Hit Homers and book No.22 of The Magic Treehouse Series at a rate of about a chapter per day. He's also into kanji (Chinese characters) and loves to write difficult kanji. He gets excited by seeing kanji like these.

Mei, three, currently goes to BKI, an English language pre-school near Musashi-Sakai. Very nice school. She loves princesses, animals and dancing and being silly with her brother. They get in noisy fights, but they mostly take care of each other very well. This March, I was getting a little worried about her English ability, but after she started going to BKI, she's become very talkative in both languages. She's a very social, outgoing caring type and is always trying to take care of me like a mother or doctor or something, bringing me food, drink, medicine, clothes etc. It can get annoying when she carries it too far, but is adorable. She's doing well with her phonics and is getting ready to start simple books. She's a good singer and dancer, so we hope to get her enrolled in something musical soon.

More than anything, I'm very happy they are both healthy. It's challenging but fun to be helping them grow up and learn to think about things and be considerate to others. For example, we had a little episode the other day. Michael got mad with me during a game and expressed his anger physically by kicking me, which was a shock to me because it had not happened for a long time since he was very little. So...we had to go through a process of helping him learn to solve problems and express feelings with words, not violence...he had to forfeit his TV and computer game privileges for a while and write "I will talk about my problems and not hurt people." 50 times in his notebook. He apologized and he has been on very good behavior for the week since then.

For Christmas, he wants Wii. Not sure if Santa is going to deliver that.
Mei wants a big pink teddy bear. Probably no problem.