“  Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think   ” -Albert Einstein.

​Critical Thinking

I have designed my courses to promote 'critical thinking' because I view critical thinking as a way of life. Through critical thinking we become aware of and question the common-sense notions that govern our thinking and communication. As a result, we discover how our society is part of a more powerful system that feeds on the easy manipulation of ignorant masses. The system needs people to believe in and adhere to the common-sense notions that bind them together because that helps the power structure stay in place. Critical thinking helps us identify the power structure and realize that things are not as they seem to be. This realization helps fuel change and growth. 
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Japanese school education has a reputation of steering students' thinking in one direction, often emphasizing 'what' to think rather than 'how' to think. This makes it easier for students to accept common sense notions rather than question them, hence reducing their willingness to change, which can hamper the growth of the individual and ultimately the society. 
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Courses

1. Critical Thinking and Popular Culture
This bilingual (English/Japanese) course aims to promote critical thinking through popular culture, mainly films, music, news media, and social networking sites (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter). Popular culture often addresses sociopolitical issues such as race, gender, identity, etc. sometimes in a subtle, yet rigorous way. This course will help create in-depth awareness about the role of popular culture in society with discussions on how popular culture influences our communication and behavior. We will focus on the representation of race, gender, and identity in popular culture, and discuss how the different stories and varied forms of expression available, can liberate us from fixed assumptions about gender roles, family structure, racial stereotypes, etc. 
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Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to identify how common-sense notions control our thinking and communication. They should also be able to analyze factors that lead to fixed assumptions about gender roles, family structure, and racial stereotypes.
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2. Intercultural Communication: A Critical Perspective
There is no disputing the fact that decolonization of intercultural education is needed to dismantle the dominant hegemony, prevailing social hierarchies, and inequitable distributions of power and privilege. This course is designed to inculcate awareness about problems related to intercultural communication, often overlooked, because we tend to accept things the way they are. By developing a critical insight, students will be able to discover the politics and power relations that are subtly embedded in many cross-cultural communication situations. We will question how for some people culture is a lens to see the world, but an inescapable trap for others. We will also reflect on the various issues related to identity, mainly imposed identities, and identity conflict. 
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Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to relate to and reflect critically on the notion of self, culture, and identity.

3. Intercultural Communication in the Japanese Context
This course aims to develop a holistic approach to the problems of ethnocentrism, stereotyping, prejudice, discrimination, and racism in Japan. By adopting an investigati​ve methodological approach towards the case-studies introduced in class, students will get hands-on knowledge and experience of what these problems are in the Japanese context, and how they affect our daily lives. 

The New Face of Japan project will be an important part of this course in which we will discuss and identify the problems an increasingly diverse Japanese society faces. We will conduct interviews, design posters, use Instagram and Twitter posts to reach out to a wider audience with our message. Upon successful completion of this course, students will realize that Japan is by no means problem-free. Students will be able to relate to and analyze social problems in a more personal way, which will broaden their intercultural communication skills. 

4. English: Interaction, Discussion, Presentation, Writing
Interaction
This student-centered course focuses on the development of critical thinking through interaction. Students will research and discuss their ideas about an issue or social problem in a group to in order to get multiple perspectives on the issue. This will help initiate the process of critical thinking. By the end of this course, students should be better able to 1) Research topics of interest, 2) Discuss and present their topics in detail, 3) Use a wider range of vocabulary and grammar, 4) Think critically about various topics.

Presentation
This course focuses on enhancing oral presentation skills. Techniques and strategies needed to give an organized and effective presentation will be introduced. Presentation topics will be chosen by students from a wide range of issues and social problems. By the end of this course, students should be able to use visual aids to make their presentation interesting, present important aspects of the issue, and ask related discussion questions.

Discussion
This course provides input on various topics in the form of a short reading and opinions about a situation. Students practice discussion by sharing their perspectives and reasons before moving on to a more detailed group discussion. By the end of this course, students should be able to use a wide range of vocabulary to express their opinions on familiar topics and discuss personal and social issues from a critical perspective.

Writing
This course will give students the skill to brainstorm and organize their ideas to enable them to write an effective essay. Focus will be on developing critical thinking skills crucial to writing your opinion about various topics. The course will begin with introducing a variety of paragraph organization styles. As the course progresses, students will be drawing brainstorming maps and writing short essays based on their ideas. By the end of this course, students should be able to organize their ideas into coherent paragraphs. They will also be able to plan and write a short essay in a logical way.
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     Student Output

 richa_ohri

​Exclusion of foreigners 

Video and text by A.O
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Finding housing can be frustrating and your dream home is not easy to find. However, there are groups that have far more difficulty in house hunting. People are excluded just because of their nationality or ethnicity. Regardless of financial situations or fluency, exclusion tends to happen based on prejudice.
What can you do to stop exclusion?

​Who am I?

Poster and text by: A.F
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Although identity should allow us to be proud of who we are, it seems that lately it has become a struggle to be accepted. The sum of elements that are not equal to each other, is what enrich us in the end; therefore, don’t let the search for acceptance transform us into something homogeneous.

Gender Roles

Text and Picture by: J.N and C.I
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Black comments are things that we have faced through our lives. Some of them are from our relatives, some from our “friends” and some even from total strangers. White comments represent our inner thoughts about this nonsense.

​Discrimination

Made by S.K

There was a Chinese boy in my junior high school, and he was badly bullied by some of my classmates just because he was Chinese. He asked for help, but no one did anything, even the teachers. I feel bad because I didn’t do anything either. One day he changed his name to a Japanese one, but that didn’t stop the bullying. A while later, he left school. It’s as though we killed him. 
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No one should ever be treated like this just because their nationality is different.

Exclusion and bullying in schools

​Video and text by: E.A
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Today, the number of foreign children is increasing. They have a lot of problems at school. For example, they face bullying since they enrol in school, because they have different eye, hair, skin color. Some Japanese schools do nothing to stop the bullying, but after it is called into question, they recognize it. What would you do if there were foreign children and they were bullied? Why is the school’s answer different between before and after bullying is called into question? I want not only adults, but also children to think about these questions.

Exclusion of the elderly in the Japanese society​

Video and text by: E.A
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Not being able to care for yourself while having nobody else to care for you calls for radical solutions; that might be one of the reasons pensioners are committing petty theft in hopes of being sent to prison. There are numerous articles online about this phenomenon, as well as other issues impacting the well-being of Japan’s elderly population.

​Exclusion of homeless people

​Video and text by: L.K
 
The homeless of Japan are different - is what they say. You don't see them sitting openly on the streets too much and they also don't ask for money. It almost seems as if there weren't any homeless people in Japan at all. Let's not forget about them, show them kindness and help to give them a voice and the strength to escape this vicious circle.

Gender: A Spectrum ​

Pictures and text by: S,G.K., A, N. and Y,M.
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Gender binary: This figure shows the perceived “gender binary”. Thus, other genders are ignored.The digit in this figure expresses the score of femininity or masculinity so people can get a good impression if they act feminine / masculine behavior.
Breaking the binary: The gender binary is being broken, and some parts of transgender people can be included in this figure, but there are still people who can’t join (e.g., nonbinary, genderqueer, agender) Gender spectrum: We created the thought of a gender-inclusive and accepting society. We want to spread the concept of SOGI. SO means sexual orientation and GI means gender identity. SOGI includes the larger range of people than LGBT. We hope that this spectrum will become normal.

Gender gap

Japan ranks 121st out of 153 countries in the "Global Gender Gap Report 2020" published by the World Economic Forum. The percentage of women in the House of Representatives is 9.9%. In particular, few women are at the top of the administration. In fact, the percentage of female prefectural governors is only 4.3%. There are many reasons why women cannot take up a career in society, such as sexual harassment and stereotypes that men work, women do housework. Steve Jobs said, “I’m a very big believer in equal opportunity as opposed to equal outcome.”(結果の平等はともかく挑戦する機会というものは誰にでも平等であると強く信じている。)

Labor rights violation

In recent years, the number of foreign blue colored workers in Japan has been on the rise. From 2012 to 2017, the number of foreign residents increased by 500,000. According to a 2018 survey by the Ministry of Health, the violation rate has decreased from 2012 to 16, but about 70% of the companies supervised by the Labor Standards Supervisory Agency were found to have outrageous work practices for foreign blue colored workers. For example, low wages, unpaid overtime pay, illegal overtime work. This makes life difficult and there are a certain number of blue colored workers who go missing. In five years, the number of disappearances has increased by about 5,000. Can we let this problem go unnoticed? ​​

Stop having prejudice​

These days, we often see prejudice and discrimination against healthcare professionals. According to Kyoto Newspaper, June 30, 2020, at a hospital in Kyoto, which saw an escalation in number of COVID 19 patients, nurses confessed to various acts of discrimination by the general public. They said, "my children were asked not to attend the kindergarten.", "I was refused entry to some supermarkets." Some even reported cases in which people called them up and shouted "you are murderers" or "I will set fire to your hospital" on the phone. However, we need to re-think. Is this fair? They are not our enemies, instead they are fighting to save our lives. Should we be discriminating against them? Our enemy is COVID-19 itself, NOT any person. Stop this prejudice.

Stop Slandering

Slandering on SNS is a social problem these days. Some people write abuse on SNS just because their faces and names are unknown. According to data published by the Ministry of Justice in 2019, the number of human rights violation cases using the Internet is increasing, 1,985 recorded cases in that year. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is aiming to implement a law revision regarding SNS slander in 2021. Even your casual one word may kill someone. We must think before we write on SNS.#StopSlandering #NoHeartNoSNS ​​

Suicide

In Japan, the number of cases of suicide has been on the decline. However, about 20000 people kill themselves in a year. It is a serious problem. Especially, suicide is the number one cause of death for ages between 10 and 39. The death rate from suicide of Japan is almost twice as high as that of other developed countries. We need to focus on this problem. As a first step, if you notice any changes in your family or friends' remarks or physical condition, it is important to talk to them and sympathize with them.

​Changing the cover page of a girls’ magazine

Group members: S.K, E.X, Y.S, N.I