online cultural exchange with English club students from a Japanese High School

I'm an English teacher at a public Japanese high school. My student's English level is fairly limited but I still think this is a good opportunity for them no matter their level.

I'm looking for anyone who might be interested in setting up a cultural exchange for their students with a small group of about 3-5 high school students. Everything would be conducted online through zoom. The general idea is to have students first create a simple true/false game about their country to present as a fun way to share information about their country, which should take about 20 minutes (10 minutes for each country). Afterwards, the students will have about 15 minutes to talk and ask questions that they have prepared and exchanged before meeting. Also there is about a 5 minute introduction. Altogether the exchange would last about 40 minutes.

Right now my co teacher is doing this with students from Vietnam and I think it would be great to do with Korean students. Let me know if you're interested in doing a project like this. Students are pretty excited about it and the project has even attracted students outside of English club!

The general idea is to have students first create a simple true/false game about their country

Dokdo is Korea's land, T or F?

Dokdo is Korea's land, T or F?

Sad. The point of a cultural exchange is not to bring up inflammatory political points but to promote cultural understanding and to remove hate.

Dokdo is Korea's land, T or F?

Christ this made me laugh. Good thing I was between coffee sips

Christ this made me laugh. Good thing I was between coffee sips

I think you're missing the point. I mean, despite political conflicts just simply interacting with the 'other' in a controlled environment should promote understanding and the realization that the 'enemy' are people too... sad that I come upon such opposition from apathetic expats.

I think you're missing the point. I mean, despite political conflicts just simply interacting with the 'other' in a controlled environment should promote understanding and the realization that the 'enemy' are people too... sad that I come upon such opposition from apathetic expats.

https://www.wikihow.com/Accept-That-You-Have-No-Sense-of-Humor

 

I think you're missing the point. I mean, despite political conflicts just simply interacting with the 'other' in a controlled environment should promote understanding and the realization that the 'enemy' are people too... sad that I come upon such opposition from apathetic expats.

   Jokes aside, I think part of the reason for this reaction from us NETs is that as outsiders working in korean schools, we are often bombarded with examples of local nationalism, especially during Dok-do week (where the students in elementary school learn all about the history of Dokdo and the conflict surrounding it). As foriegners, we're seen as potential converts to their way of thinking, and as their teachers,  the students are comfortable enough with us to attempt to communicate with us about it, and maybe even engage in some debate.
  This in itself is fine, but after several years, and several hundred versions of the same "dokdo is korean territory" conversation, many of us are a bit jaded on the subject.

I've taught in Japan for several years and never heard about the territory dispute. In contrast, arriving in Korea, it was one of the very first things I learned: taking the train from the airport, there are televisions in every car that have a dokdo programme eternally playing on them. It's a very big deal here, and the korean kids will probably bring it up at one point or another.

If you do get an exchange class set up (and I hope that you do: it sounds like a fantastic idea!), I would recommend that you prepare your class for it, if in no other way except to show them how to politely disengage from that inevitable topic.

   Jokes aside, I think part of the reason for this reaction from us NETs is that as outsiders working in korean schools, we are often bombarded with examples of local nationalism, especially during Dok-do week (where the students in elementary school learn all about the history of Dokdo and the conflict surrounding it). As foriegners, we're seen as potential converts to their way of thinking, and as their teachers,  the students are comfortable enough with us to attempt to communicate with us about it, and maybe even engage in some debate.
  This in itself is fine, but after several years, and several hundred versions of the same "dokdo is korean territory" conversation, many of us are a bit jaded on the subject.

I've taught in Japan for several years and never heard about the territory dispute. In contrast, arriving in Korea, it was one of the very first things I learned: taking the train from the airport, there are televisions in every car that have a dokdo programme eternally playing on them. It's a very big deal here, and the korean kids will probably bring it up at one point or another.

If you do get an exchange class set up (and I hope that you do: it sounds like a fantastic idea!), I would recommend that you prepare your class for it, if in no other way except to show them how to politely disengage from that inevitable topic.

I was a teacher in Korea for a couple of years as well. I also am familiar with the Dokdo conflict. However, I thought it was limited to my small conservative rural school. Is this dispute pervasive through all of Korea? Is this really a question that Japanese students will have to field? Isn't there a liberal school somewhere that doesn't hate Japan in Korea or am I doomed to look elsewhere? I'd really like the set it up with American students but with the time difference I think it would be pretty difficult. Maybe Austrailia is my best bet.

I was a teacher in Korea for a couple of years as well. I also am familiar with the Dokdo conflict. However, I thought it was limited to my small conservative rural school. Is this dispute pervasive through all of Korea? Is this really a question that Japanese students will have to field? Isn't there a liberal school somewhere that doesn't hate Japan in Korea or am I doomed to look elsewhere? I'd really like the set it up with American students but with the time difference I think it would be pretty difficult. Maybe Austrailia is my best bet.

I'm pretty rural as well, but insofar as I've seen, "hate" might be the wrong word. Most of my kiddos have a love/hate relationship with Japan as a country, but most of them don't seem to carry that over directly to actual specific Japanese people (except some of the politicians for obvious reasons). There's a lot of interest in Japanese food, fashions, and television here (especially anime). There'll be a lot of questions about that too.

   The Dokdo dispute is actually an official part of elementary social studies curriculum, and there's an entire week devoted to it where they watch videos, do presentations, and make arts and crafts based on it. I know this is true for most schools in my province, and I would guess it's also true for the rest of the country. Actually, it's this exact reason why I think a video exchange programme would be so beneficial: it would help the kids here differentiate between their conflict with Japan as a country, and their relationship between the people in that country. My guess is if you do this video thing, the topic will definitely be brought up, but probably not as an attack or anything. If your kids are prepared for it, i think it might actually go a long ways towards diffusing some of the more negative, extremist views that the korean kids might be holding.

Do Korean schools even allow foreign teachers to discuss the Dokdo dispute? I can't imagine a Chinese school even allowing a foreign teacher to discuss the Taiwan Question.

I'm an English teacher at a public Japanese high school. My student's English level is fairly limited but I still think this is a good opportunity for them no matter their level.

I'm looking for anyone who might be interested in setting up a cultural exchange for their students with a small group of about 3-5 high school students. Everything would be conducted online through zoom. The general idea is to have students first create a simple true/false game about their country to present as a fun way to share information about their country, which should take about 20 minutes (10 minutes for each country). Afterwards, the students will have about 15 minutes to talk and ask questions that they have prepared and exchanged before meeting. Also there is about a 5 minute introduction. Altogether the exchange would last about 40 minutes.

Right now my co teacher is doing this with students from Vietnam and I think it would be great to do with Korean students. Let me know if you're interested in doing a project like this. Students are pretty excited about it and the project has even attracted students outside of English club!

Please contact me by email if you are interested in exchange projects with my students, who are also public high school students.
Email address: uni3744@naver.com

 

Do Korean schools even allow foreign teachers to discuss the Dokdo dispute? I can't imagine a Chinese school even allowing a foreign teacher to discuss the Taiwan Question.

those are two very different things haha

those are two very different things haha

From a geopolitical perspective, sure. From an educational practice standpoint, would they really be that different?

From a geopolitical perspective, sure. From an educational practice standpoint, would they really be that different?

the geopolitical perspective informs how controversial something would be to teach, so i dont think you can really remove it from an "educational practice standpoint"

the geopolitical perspective informs how controversial something would be to teach, so i dont think you can really remove it from an "educational practice standpoint"

Either way, you have a foreigner coming to a country and lecturing students on a territorial dispute between their country and another country. I'm genuinely curious as to whether or not schools in Korea put foreign teachers in that position and if so, why?

Either way, you have a foreigner coming to a country and lecturing students on a territorial dispute between their country and another country. I'm genuinely curious as to whether or not schools in Korea put foreign teachers in that position and if so, why?

I've never been asked to lecture on the topic, but I've been asked to sit in as a judge for English speaking competitions where the topic was exclusively Dok-do related, and asked to grade not just speaking abilities but also content. I did the online course about Dokdo and received the certificate just so I could claim to be knowledgeable on the topic lol (everybody here respects a framed certificate!).
A lot of misinformed propaganda in those speeches of course, but some interesting info as well. It's an experience.

(If you want to do the course for giggles and a fancy diploma, you can sign up here: http://dokdoschool.gyo6.net/eng/main.do)

(If you want to do the course for giggles and a fancy diploma, you can sign up here: http://dokdoschool.gyo6.net/eng/main.do)

Why not polish up your knowledge at the Dokdo Cyber School to become a faithful citizen of the Republic of Korea who is willing to guard Dokdo?

Count me in

I've never been asked to lecture on the topic, but I've been asked to sit in as a judge for English speaking competitions where the topic was exclusively Dok-do related, and asked to grade not just speaking abilities but also content. I did the online course about Dokdo and received the certificate just so I could claim to be knowledgeable on the topic lol (everybody here respects a framed certificate!).
A lot of misinformed propaganda in those speeches of course, but some interesting info as well. It's an experience.

(If you want to do the course for giggles and a fancy diploma, you can sign up here: http://dokdoschool.gyo6.net/eng/main.do)

Those Dokdo speech contests were the bane of my existence in my first 2 years here. My school went hard on it and had me correcting/coaching/practising every free minute we had in the months leading up to it. The kids grew to hate it too but their parents and our principal were gung-ho. Most of the scripts were way too advanced and beyond the (elementary) kids ability, so they just had to memorize 2-3 A4 pages of dialogue they didn't really understand. I wasn't allowed to dumb it down, but I could remove/edit of some of the more ridiculous or hateful remarks at least.
I remember at the end of the school day the kids would go home or to their hagwon and practice it there, then return the next day with wrong 'corrections' from the hagwon teacher/their parents English expert friend/ the town drunk to their script and speech.

The contests had no educational benefit, and were just propaganda showpieces. The kids barely improved their English proficiency as a result, they all resented the endless hours they were forced to practice, and by the end several had lost interest in learning English.

Yea I still have Dokdo PTSD.