Ten years ago I gave my first vexillologial presentation in Fukuoka Prefecture, by accident. At the Fukuoka Prefecture Mid Year Seminar I gave workshop number 5, Effective Use of the Text.
You can see the Fukuoka
prefectural symbol on cover
of Mid-Year Seminar Pamphlet
Many foreign English Teachers often found the assigned English texts less than effective. However, I pointed out that the dry text can be used as model to write your own lessons.A primary directive of being a JET was cultural exchange. English Teachers in Japan can fall into the trap of simply rehashing text materials or becoming a living tape recorder. Teachers were encouraged to dig into their own culture and model lessons about their nation, cultural holidays, or whatever. Using a personal cultural holiday that each JET knows intimately: Halloween, St. Patrick's Day, Christmas, Canada Day, so long as a love and sincerity was behind the motivation. Any subject could easily be turned into a lesson: vocab, worksheet, quiz!
During this workshop, I did something very bizarre, that foreshadowed my vexillological calling. I modeled a lesson about flags of Korea. During the lesson I made a Japanese flag out of construction paper and turned it into a South Korean flag by adding blue paper and drawing the black Yin-Yang trigrams in each corner. Amazingly none of the Japanese teachers present made a comment. Whatever emotions they may have felt on the inside they chose not to voice it. Oddly enough, two years later Korea and Japan hosted the world cup in Asia for the first time and did it together!
Making a Korean Flag out of Japan's Flag
PREFECTURAL JET SPEAKER LIST: FUKUOKA HS 2000
(click picture to see other JET colleagues)
(click picture to see other JET colleagues)
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