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Steve Martin's avatar

Hi again Mathew,

Looking forward to seeing that interview. The Japanese obligatory public schools (particularly the last two years of elementary school and three years of Jr. High) are heading in a centrally controlled digital direction, and of all subjects, English is the experimental canary in the coal mine. The central government has announced its intention for all students in that age range to be relying primarily on school-issued laptops and digital textbooks. As a semi-retired Assistant Language Teacher, I am not optimistic.

Just in the last few months, I've seen 10 and 11 year old students graded on a bell curve for displays of rote memory and mimicry while going through the motions of power point presentations — nothing really communicative involving real problem solving or bridging information gaps. Conversationally, most have a hard enough time getting through 'How are you today?' No wonder there is a drastic drop in interest and motivation in almost all subjects between elementary school and high school.

Other parts of the central government must be aware of the problem with such a plan because they are also pumping a little tax-yen into NPOs addressing the problems of micro-management. I plan on hooking up with one such NPO in the next few months, possibly going full-time next year, but I see big limits in what such a 'left hand minding the right hand' approach can do. Cognitive dissonance at its bureaucratic worst.

Cheers,

— steve

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Guttermouth's avatar

...a world that wants hegemony centered elsewhere, and the architects of such a world would see her canceled for "enacting whiteness," which is how we manage to unperson someone of a celebrated melanin profile.

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