Japanese students participate in letter exchange
For a typical Japanese high school student, leisure seems like a luxury because on top of his normal school workload, he still has to attend cram school (private specialized educational organizations which help students in a particular type of course, say entrance exams for foreign schools). Nonetheless, this did not keep 39 students from Kokawa Senior High School in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, from participating in RESPECT's global letter exchange program.
Initiated by Julie Windebank, a Canadian Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) on the JET program, one 2nd-year class of 39 students has participated thus far and another 2nd-year group of 40 is waiting for their letters. The introduction of a letter exchange program was easily approved by the principal of the school as both students and teachers alike were surprised and excited with the prospect of students exchanging letters with African students. Most of Julie's students have never traveled out of Japan before and this was a good opportunity to educate students about a different part of the world, as well as to remind them that life was neither as easy nor peaceful in some parts of the world as at home.
The students wrote to refugee students in Sierra Leone, Uganda, and Guinea. Aside from being interested in knowing what went on in other countries, Japanese students displayed a keen interest in writing to their pen-pals in English. Thus, the RESPECT letter exchange program, through increasing awareness about refugee issues, also enables students to brush up their English. As an ALT, Julie has helped her students proofread their letters and correct unintelligible sentences, while keeping as much of students' original writings as possible.
As a project combining English practice with global awareness and education, Julie believes that it is a great project that ALTs can introduce into their respective schools. Her only concern, although a minor one, is that the teacher she is working with currently places more emphasis on the letter-writing aspect of the exchange. As students have displayed a keen interest in finding out about the type of lives their African correspondents lead, Julie hopes that she can spend more time educating them about refugee issues. Finally, Julie expresses a heartfelt wish that her students can become aware of people who are still living with the consequences of war in their daily lives, and that somewhere down the line they will choose to become involved in efforts to help those people.