The curious storyteller

Farrah is currently a Masters student under the Rotary Peace Fellowship at International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan. Her research interests include the ethnography of immigrant and minority communities in Japan and the US and English team-teaching methodology in Japanese high schools. She is originally from Washington, DC.

The Japan Times •

Meet the women reframing black femininity in Japanese spaces

I can remember how excited I was when I first came to Japan. I landed in Tokyo and everything was new — new food, new sounds and new people. I have to admit, my excitement was tinged with a bit of anxiety, though. As a woman of color in my homeland of the United States, I’ve come to realize that my experience in a new place isn’t always the one that is reflected in the guide books. I never really know how the locals are going to receive me. Meeting other women of color here really helped with t
The Japan Times •

Malala is only one part of what makes Pakistan great

The textbooks used in English class are starting to look more and more like they should be used in social studies class, focusing increasingly on the cultures of countries where English isn’t the first language. These lessons in diversity come in the form of stories about famous people such as Pakistan’s Malala Yousafzai. However, while Western countries are often portrayed with beautiful explanations of local holidays and cuisines, discussions around countries like Pakistan tend to be limited
The Japan Times •

Your 'Japanese experience' doesn't have to be 'Japanese only'

After living in Japan for a while you start to notice certain personality types popping up in the international community, particularly among English teachers. There’s the “weeaboo,” a fairly recent character; the paripi (party people), who hit every nomikai (drinking party); and the gaijin (foreigner) hunter. That last one is a term you’ll usually find online: a Japanese person, often a woman, who is looking exclusively for a non-Japanese partner. They’ve had it with the outdated attitudes of
The Japan Times •

Trying out a lesson on traditional notions of gender

I teach a class of 38 at Hamamatsu Higashi Senior High School in Shizuoka Prefecture, and earlier this month I tried out a gender-themed lesson from Alexander Dutson and James Hill’s “Thinking Experiments.” The class I teach emphasizes essay writing and comprises students who aim to attend university or continue their English education after graduation. However, less than 25 percent of the students at the school attend university post-graduation, and there are fewer returnees compared to the sc
The Japan Times •

Waxing philosophical in English class with 'Thinking Experiments'

If you’ve ever taught English at a Japanese school, you’ll likely be familiar with a certain kind of silence — pervasive and tinged with teenage ennui. Authors Alexander Dutson and James Hill want to recommend breaking the ice with philosophy. Their book, “Thinking Experiments,” presents ready-made lessons that use philosophical concepts to engage students — and incorporating them into lessons is easier than it sounds. The authors suggest that allowing students to prioritize questions over answ
The Japan Times •

Look for local content in your social media

It used to be that living outside of Tokyo meant severing all connection to pop culture, but not any more. Finding the right sites and accounts to follow online can keep you in the loop with what’s going on and, if you find local content creators, can make the place you live even better. When it comes to Hamamatsu itself, the websites In Hamamatsu and Hamamatsu Street News provide a lot of great information. When speaking of online entertainment, though, I find YouTube to be a better destination.
The Japan Times •

Views from Hamamatsu: How do you feel about Gaijin Day and the G-word?

Interviews were conducted in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, the city that hosted The Gaijin Day on Sept. 1. More on this event can be found here. Residents were asked about their history with the word “gaijin” and what they thought of the name of the event. The first time I moved to Japan was when I was 3 years old. I lived here for 15 years, always attended the same Brazilian school here in Hamamatsu, then moved to Brazil to finish my high school in a public school to get accepted in a publi
The Japan Times •

Gaijin Day: How an event in Hamamatsu about unity proved to be divisive

In August 2014 I moved to Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, and started working as an assistant language teacher at a high school through the JET Programme. Over time, I have come to know many different cultural communities outside of the usual Western expat circles. I would also interact with yonsei (fourth-generation) Nikkei Brazilian and Peruvian students daily and hear about their experiences in adapting to Japanese society. As a first-generation Pakistani-American who grew up in an immigrant
PanSIG 2017 Journal •

Effectiveness of Team Teaching in Japanese High Schools

English education and team teaching in Japanese public and private high schools demand the collaboration of Japanese teachers of English (JTEs) and assistant language teachers (ALTs). The roles of each in terms of lesson preparation and materials selection as well as the perceived agency of the JTEs and ALTs in the national foreign language curriculum can become sources of conflict and dysfunction. This is an examination of their preservice and in-service training. High school ALTs and JTEs nationwide were surveyed and interviewed. Both parties felt that there need to be clearer guidelines of their individual roles to team teach effectively. 日本の公私立高等学校における英語教育とチームティーチングでは、日本人の英語教師である Japanese Teachers of English（以下、JTEs）と、外国語指導助手、いわゆる Assistant Language Teachers（以下、ALTs）の共同作業が要求される。授業準備や教材選びにおけるそれぞれの役割、そして同様に国の外国語教育課程指導要領にて示される JTEs と ALTsの責任の認識の違いが、チーム内に衝突や機能不全を起こす原因となりうる。本研究は彼らの事前研修および事中研修を分析したものである。全国の高校に勤務する ALTs と JTEsを対象に調査し、またインタビューを行った。本研究の結果から、JTEs と ALTs のどちらのグループも、効果的な英語のチームティーチングを実現するためには、彼らそれぞれの役割についてのより明確なガイドラインが必要だと感じていることが浮き彫りとなった。