Hi again,
It’s been a little over a week since my last post, as I’ve been off my feet studying for the Quizzes and assignment work for other courses. Today I thought I’d pop up some photos taken during the time I lived in Osaka, Japan where I taught English at a place called Greyhound English school.
There are a few different reasons I’d like to share these with you, the main one being I like to look back and remember how much I enjoyed teaching while I was there. My initial reason for teaching was simply that the income would give me the opportunity to explore Japan, while immersing myself in their culture as much as possible. After getting over the initial anxiety of being thrust in front of a classroom filled with 30 kids, I found the job unexpectedly fulfilling and enjoyed the experience much more than I thought I would. I didn’t anticipate the open curiosity and eagerness many students showed towards learning English, and I found the challenge to stimulate said qualities in as many students as I possibly could to be simultaneously one of the most challenging and rewarding things I’d ever done.
While I'm not brash enough to entertain the presumption that my experience teaching in Japan be mirrored here in Australia, the days I’ve undertaken so far as a student teacher have served to relieve much of the trepidation I was experiencing. Australian students are certainly a different kettle of fish when juxtaposed with their Nihonjin brethren, but the acute keenness to excel is still unmistakable in many students, and something I hope to foster to the utmost of my ability.
While I'm not brash enough to entertain the presumption that my experience teaching in Japan be mirrored here in Australia, the days I’ve undertaken so far as a student teacher have served to relieve much of the trepidation I was experiencing. Australian students are certainly a different kettle of fish when juxtaposed with their Nihonjin brethren, but the acute keenness to excel is still unmistakable in many students, and something I hope to foster to the utmost of my ability.
Another reason behind my decision to display these pics is to demonstrate that I recognise the ethical implications of posting pictures of children to a publicly viewable online space. I contacted the school of my former employment in an endeavour to obtain parental consent re the photos in question, but was unfortunately unable to do so. In order to comply with the applicable ethical guidelines, I have blurred their faces using the free GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP). I have had some prior experience using this software and have found it to be a choice Photoshop alternative for the frugal (Pait.net is also excellent).
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