Post 10 Taking the Next Step

            Now having finally submitted all of my coursework for my MEd degree and finishing my formal university education for at least the foreseeable future…it’s probably time to do some celebrating. Despite being a bit overwhelmed and not fully grasping the prospect of not having to complete any more assignments I am excited looking ahead to the future and beginning my career as a counselling therapist. I know there are still applications to professional bodies for certification, many applications for jobs as well as some sprucing up of my resume, but I like to think a big first step to getting the satisfying career that I’ve looked forward to has been completed and I am proud of that accomplishment and the work I have done to achieve it!

Post 9 Reflecting on EDU 5199

Although initially I did not have very high expectations for this course and only enrolling because of the compulsory course requirement, now at the end of it I feel as though I was able to make it into a useful experience for myself. I enjoyed being able to use the blog posts in a reflective manner to examine some of the things I had learned throughout the semester in regards to the development of my professional skills as a counsellor. I am glad I did not follow through on my initial plan of responding to or analyzing articles that I may have been less interested in or less relevant to my interests and my own professional development. I felt that researching the paper and forming and discussing it in class was a nice counter balance to the primarily reflective nature of my blog posts while still providing plenty of opportunity to be analytic. I appreciated that I was able to make my final paper my own independent project in an area that I was curious about and that I was interested in exploring, while also still being relevant to my professional goals. My initial worry of being placed into a class that would be focused largely outside my field of study was eased when I realized the level of control I had over the content of my final assignment. Instead I actually appreciated hearing about the research done by my colleagues in the program who were experts in a field that was different from my own and it was interesting to hear what they had worked on especially because it was so unique from my own education.

Post 8 Learning Learning Strategies

A lot of the work I did at my internship at Carleton’s Paul Menton Centre for students with disabilities was focused around learning strategies. When I started I had very limited knowledge about what learning strategies looked like, but I did have my prior experience as a student as a starting point. Some of what I worked on with students included time management, study strategies, procrastination, getting the most out of a textbook, and motivation. The interesting part about teaching a lot of these skills to students is that I still am a student myself and I can relate to a lot of the struggles the students I am working with are having. One of the nice benefits of having to learn all of these learning strategies for the students I work with is that I also was able to pick up on techniques to help myself in my own studies. Being able to apply some of these strategies for myself also helped me understand how I could adapt them to students if they are having trouble implementing them. I appreciate being able to put what I have learned to practical use and use the knowledge that I gain from my own experience to become more effective in my work.

Memorization

            Nowadays memorizing lessons is discouraged as it is an improper approach to learning lessons. Memorization is viewed as oppression imposed upon learners. Despite this, many education institutions in the East maintain the method of memorizing lessons. Lots of students of science group are found to memorize lessons. They memorize lessons for their own sake. For example, they memorize the key formulas in Algebra like (a + b)2 = a2 + 2ab + b2; a2 + b2 = (a + b)2 − 2ab; (a − b)2 = a2 − 2ab + b2; a2 + b2 = (a − b)2 + 2ab etc. Likewise, students learn some laws of science by heart. They are found to memorize Newton’s laws of motion: (1) Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it; (2) The vector sum of the forces F on an object is equal to the mass m of that object multiplied by the acceleration vector a of the object: F = ma. (3) For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

            I am not sure whether or not learners of the West in their initial stage of education memorize some essential lessons. However, students in Asian countries memorize. Mode of memorization still exists in many developing countries. Memorization has some positive aspects, and as such, it still exists. However, it has negatives, and so, it is now cold to many learners.

Tongxin-Post 10. Special Thanks to…Music!

I am a HUGE music fan in “size”---I mean, music takes a large space in my heart:P

I want to thank music for staying with me during those bittersweet days. Music reminds me of the good things in life, the idealistic and romantic side of my personality and the pure curiosity in me.

Counselling has its flexible and artistic side, and it is music that keeps my mind open and helps me enter my clients’ unique world with non-judgmental positive regard, because music travels across people, time and space, and is willing to comfort everyone. In Chinese philosophy, the wisdom of water is similar to how I see music. It flows with the environment but hardly changes its nature----music does the similar.   

My final 5199 post dedicates to my heart’s family member: music! 

Implications of Power and Power Relation in Research

Mrs. Moore comes from England to see real Indians. The method she wants to apply to know the Indians is an ethnographic one: she wants to know the real Indians from where they live, how they live, what they do, and how they do. However, the way she likes to apply does not satisfy her son Ronny who is an English magistrate in British India. As a mother of a magistrate, Moore cannot mix with the Indians. The rulers cannot mix with the ruled in this way. So, Ronny decides to throw a party designed to facilitate his mother to see the real Indians. However, the party turns to be fiasco. The invited Indian women do not feel free to talk with open heart in the party. They are segregated in a corner of the party. But why is this segregation?

This is because of power and power relation which Foster (1924) highlights in his novel “A Passage to India”. Ronny and Moore belong to the ruling class but the Indian ladies invited to the party are the ruled. The ruled and the rulers cannot get together. The ruled cannot feel free beside the rulers. The positional differences existing between them wedge them not to feel free. 

Many developing countries, if not all, have an experience of a colonial rule. A structural provision of power is unequally distributed among the people of those countries where people’s mind still remains colonized even though their land is decolonized. A researcher intending to conduct research in such countries must take some ethical considerations into account to avoid the risk of life. (Czymoniewcz-Klippel, Brijnath, &Crockett, 2010).

Those countries in most cases cannot ensure equal distribution of power between men and women. Men are more powerful than women in those countries. Social structure accounts for it. The social structure makes some people men and some people women. An apt remark in this regard can be put here:  no one is born woman; she gradually grows woman (Azad, 1992).

The patriarchal society seizes power from women to empower men. As a result, the former become more powerful and the latter less powerful — a social construct that wrecks the balance of power. To address this unequal power relation, Freeman (2002) advocates the feminization of men and virilisation of women. A researcher in such a society is to reflect on the issue of power to succeed in fieldwork.

A researcher has also to reflect on a colonial construct of Self and Other. According to this notion, the colonizers stand for Self and the colonized for Other; the Europeans are masculine and the non-Europeans are feminine (Pennycook, 1998). Colonizers are insiders and others are outsiders. A researcher in the notional realm of dichotomy must show that s/he is one of the participants, and not a threat to them (Dufty, 2010).

The success of a social researcher consists in the elimination of the identity of Self and Other. Buber (2002) argues that the researcher (teacher) and the researched (students) need to merge together to understand each other in order to get an outcome. He gives a formula to eliminate power relation not by eradicating Self and Other but by expanding them to reach each other. A researcher has to take this method into consideration.

     Power relation has not only negative vices but also productive virtues needed to maintain discipline and control (Foucault, 1977), and that is why, it survives with sway in varied institutions: schools, hospitals, and prisons. There is no exception in workplaces or even in families in developing countries, and as such, when a researcher conducts research in such countries, s/he is to think over a lot of issues including gender issues. To exemplify, in some communities in developing countries male foreigners are not allowed to interview women (Binns, 2006) who often refuse to talk to them out of shyness (Momsen, 2006).  

When a researcher conducts research on children of developing countries, s/he has also to reflect on power relation and socio-economic condition of those countries. S/he is to keep in mind that there might be street children abused by adults who hold position in society. The disclosure of the abuse may further endanger the life of the victim, and in such a situation, the researcher has to involve children to devise an alternative channel to avoid risk (Blerk, 2006).

 Unequal power and power relation may engender obstacles to reveal fact, prompt people to tell lies, and endanger life. King Lear of William Shakespeare (1623) is its luminous example. Lear wants to know how much his three daughters love him. His first two daughters flatter him that they love him more than their lives. This is a lie. They do not love him more than their lives. The third daughter, however, does not cajole him. She says she loves him as a daughter loves her father. Lear gets offended at this remark, and banishes her. Here lies power and power relation between King Lear and his daughters. It is like power relation between the ruler and the ruled where the latter often decline to tell the truth. A social researcher must keep in mind this kind of power relation while conducting research in such a society.

Now let me cite an example from my life. It is a narrative of my father who told lies. A terrible fight took place once in 1971 in our locality between some members of the Pakistan Army (PA) and the freedom fighters of Bangladesh. The members of the (PA) captured our village. The villagers were frightened. I was scared. I heard my father telling the PA members that he had voted for the Muslim League—a political party for which the PA was fighting. But my father actually did not vote for the Muslim League; he voted for the Awami League. However, he told lies to save his life.

 The power between my father and the PA was unequal, which prompted my father to tell lies. The PA had absolute power and my father was powerless. My powerless father gave them information which was false. A researcher, therefore, has to reflect on the issue of power and power relation while carrying out research.

References

Azad, H. (1992). Naree. Dhaka: Agamee Prokashani.

Buber, M. (2002). In Between Man and Man. New York: Routledge.

Czymoniewcz-Klippel, M.T., Brijnath, B.,&Crockett, B. (2010). Ethics and promotion of 

inclusiveness within qualitative research: Case examples from Asia and the Pacific.

Qualitative Inquiry, 16(5), 332-341.

Dufty, R. (2010). Reflecting on power relationships in the ‘doing’ of rural cultural research.

Cultural Studies Review, 16 (1), 131-142.

Desai, V. & Potter, R. (eds) (2006), “Chapter 5: Women, Men and Fieldwork: Gender

Relations and Power Structures”, Doing Development Research, Sage Publications, London, pp.44-51.

Desai, V. & Potter, R. (eds) (2006), “Chapter 6: Working with Children in Development”,

Doing Development Research, Sage Publications, London, pp.52-60.

Desai, V. & Potter, R. (eds) (2006), “Chapter 2: Doing Fieldwork in Developing Countries:

Planning and Logistics”, Doing Development Research, Sage Publications, London, pp.13-24. 

Forster, E. (1924). A passage to India. London: Edward Arnold.

Foucault, M. (1977). Discipline & punish: The birth of the prison. New York: Random   

House.

Freeman, J. (2002). Feminism. Open University Press: Buckingham.

Shakespeare, W. (1623). King Lear. London. John Heminge and Henry Condell.

Tongxin-Post 9. Micro: Shy…Every Two Weeks

I had my Micro- Course last winter. I am so “shyness-ridden” in this class, because it required us to video-record our performances and analyse what we said in sessions word by word. Watching my own in the video was scary enough, not to mention watching them over and over again and analysing them!!!

Every two weeks we had a mock session with our assigned peer-client. Thus every two weeks, I had to analyse myself in the video. THAT WAS EMBARRASSING!!!  

I reminded myself that it was a learning process and the more embarrassing I felt, the more I am aware of my performance, so that I can do a better job the next time.

Right now, I am less afraid of being video-recorded…. But I still prefer audio-recorded. See, I am trying to conquer my shyness. 

Tongxin- Post 8 An Impressive Group Counselling Experience

I took the Group Counselling class last spring. We learned how to facilitate group activities and do psycho-education to a group. Our final assignment of the course was to design a big group activity and facilitate it. There was one group that really excited me at that time.

That group’s topic was a serious one. However, at the end of the group activity, the facilitators suddenly played a very happy and relaxing song and said to us, “Let’s dance!!!” Then the facilitators dance together!!! The whole class including the professor stopped for seconds, and then everyone began to laugh and dance!

It was a really amusing scene in my mind. As I was searching for reasons of why the serious topic was suddenly turned into a happy dancing activity (well, the song matched the topic very much), I unconsciously joined in and danced awkwardly but excitedly! 

This was a magic moment in my group guidance and counselling experiences, and I appreciated it because I think that the facilitators were creative and humorous. 

Tongxin Post 7. Life is….

答案其一: 生活不只是眼前的苟且，还有诗和远方。---高晓松

One of the answers: Life is not a trap, but also a journey with poems. (Translated by 沈柠乐 in zhihu.com)

When clients sit in front of me, they often view their life to be a trap. They do not know where to go; they suspect whether there is a better way to go. In Narrative therapy, the counsellor needs to be mindful of the client’s values, interests and the glimpse of hopes in his/her life. In other words, we need to remind them that there is always a preferred road ahead already existing in the client’s heart that could take him/her to his/her life journey.

If we are in a boat, we should not forget that we are also on the river. Boat represents the imagined trap, and the river represents life. If we only see the boat, we are confined to the boat. But if we focus on the river, there will be so many possibilities ahead. Switching the mind, and we can see a journey instead of a trap. 

Tongxin Post 6. The True Understanding

The true understanding is trying to understand and knowing that you will never fully understand.

In the Multicultural Counselling class, Dr. Pare said that some of our colleagues tended to say “I completely understand you” in order to express empathy to the client. Dr. Pare said that we never “completely understand” anyone else, because we are unique individuals. Saying “completely understand” may not be seen as a way of showing empathy; in contrast, the other person may think that we are devaluing their experience.

The true understanding is not a condition, but a stance. A stance that shows I am willing to know and TRYING to understand the client. We never completely understand anyone else, thus no one can understand us completely, either. That is why the stance and endeavour to try to understand the other person so valuable.

We never completely understand, so be humble to communicate! I often remind myself of this lesson I learned. 

Tongxin-Post 5 What Does Getting Up Early at Weekends Say about to Me

What does getting up early at weekends say about to me?  (In a narrative therapeutic tone with pure curiosity.)

Me: at the beginning I felt happy. Wow, I am such a diligent person that I don’t need a clock to wake me up at weekends! But then, I felt a bit sad about myself, because it means that I forget what “enjoying life” looks like.

Oh, that sounds mixed! How do you think of these two totally different emotions? ( Narrative therapeutic tone with pure curiosity.)

Me: I guess it's because part of myself need to work on my assignments and part of myself need to sleep.

What do these two emotions tell you? (Narrative again, try to thicken my story)

Me: It has nothing to do with my emotions. I have to write my papers; they never care about how think and feel. It's not about therapy. It's a graduate student's daily life.  

Accept.C’est la vie.   

Tongxin- Post 4 Sign Out the Fan Club of “Due Date”

In the previous year, I was a big fan of “Due Date”, because it always fully motivated me and pointed out which direction I should go. However, I decide to sign out the Fan club of “Due Date”, because I am finishing my papers, taking back my time, and I decide to be an “critical adult”, not being a fan of Due Date, which is adored by students.

Happy graduation! Better time management! 

Tongxin-Post 3 Termination and Gratitude

When I terminated the client whom was the first long-term client of mine, I wanted to express my sincerest gratitude to her from the bottom of my heart.

She did not know that at the beginning how much I was struggling in scheduling and how nervous I was to see my clients. She came on time every time and said “thank you” to me at the end of every session. I guess she believed in my professionalism even before my colleagues began to believe me.

The reciprocal trust between me and her was the thing that I held firmly in hand and kept me going at the very beginning of my counselling practice. I was very vulnerable as a counsellor with inadequate self-confidence. It was this client that let me climb up to the stage where I re-assured that I can be fully qualified as a counsellor.

She and I worked together going through maybe the darkest period of her life. The counselling commitment took her to realize that the world is not all bad, and there are always hopes; it took me to know more about myself as a counsellor.

When we terminated, our shared journey also ended. However, I will remember this journey, where we relied on each other and fought against odds in her life-----she became a much more mature herself, and I became a much more mature counsellor.

She is her own heroine. I wish her a good life.   

Tongxin-Post 2 Mindfulness and Pushing My Boundaries

I took 3 courses last spring, including the Mindfulness course given by Dr. Pare. By that time, I was the one taking the most courses among my cohort. Myself was also scared by my class timetable. My Study Advisor suggested that it is better to take no more than 2 courses in spring. I was struggled for whether I should take 3 courses at that time.

However, one day, I somehow said to myself “Come on! You are taking Mindfulness now, how dare you say that ‘it’s too busy’? Why not take this busy period as a Mindful practice?” I successfully "brainwashed" myself and eventually took 3 courses that spring.

In the Mindfulness class, I learned that the world is in my heart and if I am mindful enough, the external environment should not bother my innate serenity. I took this belief in mind. And I did it, finishing all 3 courses successfully and felt much calmer under heavy study-load.

I think this experience had a big impact on me. Being mindful means that I can always calmly notice and navigate myself through busy days, and the mindfulness ability, I think, will be the most important tool to push my boundary and realize my potentials.

Notice: Mindfulness also tells me to take care of myself, thus I won’t push myself too hard. 

Tongxin-Post 1 A Typical Chinese style of Narrating

When I ask you to describe your favourite food, how will you describe it to me? From my own experience, the English native speaker will usually tell me his/her favourite food directly, expressing how much he/she likes the food, especially what the feeling of tasting the food he/she will have. English mind-set is “I”-oriented: it is about my feelings about the food, my taste, what I like about it. All about “me”.

However, my Chinese friends, they will usually think for a while—a process of choosing which one to tell me based on their assumption of my preference, and then ask me, “Have you ever tasted A? I guess you will like it!” They will roughly mention “I like it” and then skip to talk about the food itself and usually end up by saying “You should give it a try! It’s great!”  Here, I notice that the Chinese mind-set in narrating things is “You”-oriented---I don’t mind whether I like it or not, but I like to see that you like what I like. What’s the importance of letting the listener like what the speaker likes? I am not sure; maybe it has to do with the Oriental mind-set of emphasizing on relationship? 

 Preschool in Three Cultures Revisited

Preschool in Three Cultures Revisited by Tobin, J. et al. (2009) is a landmark in the history of early childhood education. It is a study on childhood education of China, Japan, and the USA. It explored what changed and what remained unchanged in teaching modes within the span of twenty years. While China emphasized control, discipline, and didactic mode of teaching in early 1980s, it now paid stress on child-centered approach, child’s creativity, and independence with socialist values being unchanged. Compared to China, the preschools in Japan did not change so much. On the other hand, the mode of teaching in the USA was interactional. I think the aim of preschool education in those countries is same (imparting education) but their modes teaching are different.

The mode of teaching in China through sociodramatic play has really impressed me. The children play different roles – roles of patients, doctors, grocers, hairdressers, and clients. This is a rehearsal of the drama intended for children to stage later in their real life. Teachers are also seen to participate in their drama as guest, and behave like children. In this regard, teachers produce a new identity: identity of children, deleting their identity as instructors. No teachers can teach well without lowering themselves to the level of children. Perhaps the teachers participating in this drama evaluate this idea. They apply, and comply with this idea in preschool education.

The non-interventional role of Morita-sensei in children fighting has also impressed me. It is an approach or art that teaches students to solve their problems by themselves. This is one kind of training of how to address problems in real life. The sociodramatic play in Chinese preschool education and teacher’s non-interventional role in students’ fight are both equally significant. Both intend to train children how to overcome problems in real life.

            One of the key themes of this study is indigenization or localization. It is a process through which an exoteric culture merges into native culture. In other words, it is a process of borrowing things to be planted in native culture. Negativists label this process as a cultural aggression. However, indigenization is associated with the notion of hybridization which results from the process of globalization accelerated by an overwhelming advancement of science, technology, and information. The use of videotapes might accelerate the process of hybridization in pedagogical practices and procedures that helped teachers and policymakers to adopt the good aspects of pedagogical approaches of the exoteric culture to reconstruct the native mode of their teaching in education system – a hybrid method which belongs to all, and in this way, this method might be universal in appeal. This method has left an ample space for self-correction, self-criticism, and self-development. It works for the principle of taking and giving labeled as key to hybridization resulting from the process of globalization.

Another theme that I would like to discuss here is “the relativity of time and space in the workings of educational reform – 2004 in Kunming, China, is not quite the same time as 2004 in Shanghai.” It is true in the context of China, if not fully convincing in the case of developed countries like the USA, Canada, and Germany which ensure equal development in all their provinces or territories. But the economic development in the developing countries in most cases center around the largest cities. This economic growth and development impact on education. Kunming’s rapid economic development helped it to be more advanced than Shanghai. Though these two cities belonged to China, they could not equally pace with time: Kunming advanced, but Shanghai lagged behind in pedagogical reforms. The local factors had immense contribution to this relativity of time and space in the workings of education reform.       

             The strength of the method in this study known as video cued multi-vocal diachronic ethnography consists in the synthetization of ethnography, historiography, and tape recording. This method included the following steps: videotaping a day at a preschool, editing the tape, and reducing it to 20 minutes; showing the tape to the teacher whose class was recorded; showing the tape to the teachers of the same school; showing the tape to preschool educators in the same country, and finally to the preschool educators of the two other countries. It is the strength of the method that interlaces the voices of participants to create an orchestral collection of cultural approaches to preschool education. In other words, this method has juxtaposed the past and present of the pedagogical practices of three cultures. It helps the instructors and policymakers rethink about their education system and mode of teaching.  This method ensured the engagement of all parties: students, teachers, educators, directors, and policymakers.

In this study the authors have used videotapes which “are not the data; rather, they are cues, stimuli, topics for discussion, interviewing.” It is convincing because videotapes are devices that record pictures and sounds of this study. They are devices through which the authors recorded the pedagogical practices of this study with an aim to watch events later. May be, the authors did not view videotapes as data, but they (videotapes) got some aspects of data that one could use if needed.

The strength of this method surpasses its weakness. However, lengthy process of showing the videotapes to varied individuals and institutions of the three cultures concerned in pedagogical practices is a bit time consuming as well as expensive.  This study was conducted on a limited number of preschools which cannot reflect the overall preschool education system in China. Besides, the authors took around twenty years to complete this study. It is, indeed, a long time, during which there might be a sea change in the realm of pedagogy. The preschool education systems followed 20 years ago might naturally seem outdated, irrational, and awkward 20 years later. However, despite these weaknesses, the method applied in this study is novel, that deserves credit.

References

Tobin, J., Hsueh, Y., & Karasawa, M. (2009). Preschool in Three Cultures Revisited: China,    Japan, and the United States. University of Chicago Press.

Blogpost#10 Linear school language and linear fashion in reading

My current part-time ESP job provokes me to examine that whether vocational school students as well as trade-people wouldn’t read texts in a “linear, sequential fashion”. The answer might probably yes. Texts in different genres and form are utilized as the source of specific information needed to accomplish particular goals, but not the source of general knowledge. This reminds me of the mostly mentioned and emphasized skills during my instructions of IELTS test-taking. The majority of my students here Ottawa as well as in China (I’m currently teaching TOEFL test-taking skills through video-chat to one of my friends living in Guangzhou,China) and they usually feel not that comfortable and confident when dealing with task types that requires global reading, scanning and skimming skills. As reading practice is still the main theme in teacher-centered classroom in most public schools in China, with teaching and explanation of essential reading skills and strategies being barely underlined. And I came to understand better that why some of my current students didn’t know how to skim read a text as they has been taught and encouraged to read carefully lines by lines. Fortunately, some of them get to understand the great necessity of skimming as not every text should be regarded as the source for general information as different purposes were set before the writer/author began to draft them; some texts are better to be comprehended for the purpose of gather information.

Blogpost#9 schooling and a Mandarin proverb: 授之以鱼，不如授之以渔。

Schools is not the end point of reading and effective comprehension practice for students, for which strategies for understanding different expository text in different genres would be essential in future employment in various social sectors. I was recently reminded of an ancient proverb in Mandarin back China:

授之以鱼，不如授之以渔。

(shou zhi yi yu, buru shou zhi yi yu。, trans., it would be better teach a man how to fish than to give him a fish.)

While pronouncing exactly the same in Mandarin, 鱼（yu, trans., fish）and 渔(yu, trans., the action of fishing, and/or knowledge and skills to fish) differ a lot in the meaning. Linking back to the literature, the answer of recalling questions to a text after reading along with the text it self is鱼(fish), which only tells students what’s the main idea of this passage, while how to read, namely, reading with skills and strategies is渔(the action of fishing, and/or knowledge and skills to fish). When an individual has to read a text about basketball without having a say in text decision, s/he would lose the desire, eagerness and motivation to read the text, esp., when s/he is an indoor person without any passion in basketball (When a person has to have salmon without having a chance to decide what type of fish s/he would like to have, s/he would not desire, eager and motivated to have the fish.) .

Blogpost#8 what’s the pace of student with learning difficulties

There are existing labels to students with Learning Differences (LD), e.g., the slower.  Being slow and different in needs in schooling is normally taken as against expectations; no matter one is a high-achiever or an average-achieving student from general mainstream classrooms, or a student with Learning Differences (LD) in a separate resource classrooms. Besides, the notion of slow pace reminds me of a book I enjoyed reading a lot several years ago: Totto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window¹, written by a Japan's best-loved television star Tetsuko Kuroyanagi who was regarded as different from general students or as a ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) kid from a modern lens in LD and was expelled from elementary school. The book is about Miss Kuroyanagi's unconventional education in Tomoe School² in Tokyo during World War II and the values it taught her. I still remembered the astonishing thoughts came out after my readings on the book, as it is in Tomoe School in the period of World War Two, which might be into the category of special needs schools that include low-achievers, students with LD and students that are not accepted by local public/private of other reasons, that Miss Kuroyanagi found schooling as joyful and meaningful experience and finally grew up into a socially defined person without mental health issues. The slow pace in school lives benefit both teachers-educators and learners. Teachers and the principal had time to develop sustained attention to the formation of themselves as professional lifelong learners. They are learners first before teachers, as they have to learn the needs of children who need extra helps first and to actively response to their needs. As for students, they had a say in deciding the course order, they could leave classroom (actually old railroad cars) to have leisure time, recreation and enjoy solitude at any point during the class. The freedom, time, acceptance and encouragement upon creativity in unique balance between relaxation and teaching and learning in Tomoe School enabled Miss Kuroyanagi to achieve so much in her later lives.

            This book  would become the resources of support in my persistence of not scheduling too much things for a day, which has pushed me to strive to save time for the sake of it. Obviously, applying the philosophy of Tomoe School in the revision of teacher education program in Ontario is not realistic; yet it could act as a reminder that to act in a slow pace does not equate low achievement and being incapable, but a chance to have relaxation, to strive a balance between knowledge-absorption and digestion, to make reflection and to engage into conductive cooperation.

1. Kuroyanagi, T. (1982). Totto-chan, the little girl at the window (1st ed.). Tokyo : New York: Kodansha International ; Distributed by Kodansha International/USA through Harper & Row.  Book review on NewYork Times: GROWING UP JAPANESE http://www.nytimes.com/1982/11/21/books/growing-up-japanese.html

2. Tomoe school was destroyed by American B-29 bombers in the 1945 air raids that leveled most of Tokyo.