Service Learning Outcomes (SLO) 1-4:
1. Self and Social Awareness 2. Service and Social Responsibility 3. Community & Social Justice 4. Multicultural Community Building/Civic Engagement |
The service learning at CSUMB is one of the main reasons I chose to come to CSUMB. This class was something I had been looking forward to taking and was eager to experience. In addition to serving the community, this class also provided me with an incredible opportunity to push my Japanese skills to the next level. In my class we were split into groups, equal parts american students equal parts Japanese exchange students. In these groups we were assigned to a school site to work alongside an after school program called Community Partnership for Youth. My group had 12 students ranging from 3rd grade to 5th grade. Although we created some lesson topics before meeting our students and scanning the community, we had to adjust many of our topics to accommodate the skill level of our students and also be conscious of their personal backgrounds and experiences. My group often went to the school twice a week where we would assist with homework but also outside playground time where we could engage with the students on their own terms (outside a classroom). Our class was a Japanese culture class with a little bit of Japanese language study mixed in. I was excited to teach in this class with my group because I saw a lot of opportunity to connect my latino culture to the class to help facilitate more understanding and connectedness between the Japanese culture lessons and the student's own realities.
Additionally I also worked very closely with Japanese exchange students. With my group mates I fostered a deeper friendship and camaraderie that I haven't found in other group work classes in university. I was able to develop more of my Japanese skills in this way and also develop them through writing our weekly site reflections about our class which were required to be in Japanese. The lesson planning, site reflections and our group presentations were all in Japanese. This exercised my ability to think critically about the things around me in my target language. In this course we also had weekly readings (English) that were split among pairs of students (one Japanese, one american). These presentations were usually half in English and half in Japanese. This really helped me because I came to understand a lot of the major topics as they are described in Japanese.
This class really contributed to my social awareness in my community and also globally. The students come from a predominantly Latino background so I think that it is important to ask about the knowledge they have learned from their surroundings and use it as an asset to teach students about the world. After a community scan around the school, my group determined what we could plan for our lessons in order to take advantage of the students individuals strengths and knowledge as well as consider the types of experiences they are having from inside their small community (SLO 3). When we turn our focus to building community (SLO 2) we can expand the community outwards beyond the borders of our schools, cities or social circles. The children had a chance to come together in group activities where they worked in partners or as groups to explore Japanese culture, and also come to learn more about each other building a new circle of friendship by the time our classes were finished and beyond our class we know our students were sharing more with their friends outside of school. Our class had many assumptions or “stereotypical” opinions of Japanese people. We were able to break through these assumptions and build new knowledge with them through our lessons. I think at the end of the semester the students were more confident in their international knowledge and more curious about who the Japanese people are because they were able to understand the new culture. This experience is essential to fulfilling SLO 1, giving the ability to understand and analyze all the identities that one person can participate in. Additionally there was a lot of work in class to make sure that students all have a chance to participate and are not left behind. We had to be flexible with our lessons because sometimes student's interest are not what we expected or their level of proficiency. Accepting the differences without excluding anyone is hard at first but eventually is a natural adaption to each lesson (SLO 4). I think that as a Japanese language and culture major I am also someone who can help advocate for social justice of all people. With my skills I am able to communicate with various people around the world (using Spanish and Japanese) and also apply my expanded thinking to include the views of many cultures and synthesize that into something anyone can understand. All people deserve to be globally competent, it is the only way forward for the world. I personally relate with the application of my skills because my own father was someone who could have had a better experience when he immigrated to the United States and needed to not only learn English but also adjust to the new culture at school and in his community. I think that someone who studies foreign cultures has a great ability to accommodate needs like that.
Additionally I also worked very closely with Japanese exchange students. With my group mates I fostered a deeper friendship and camaraderie that I haven't found in other group work classes in university. I was able to develop more of my Japanese skills in this way and also develop them through writing our weekly site reflections about our class which were required to be in Japanese. The lesson planning, site reflections and our group presentations were all in Japanese. This exercised my ability to think critically about the things around me in my target language. In this course we also had weekly readings (English) that were split among pairs of students (one Japanese, one american). These presentations were usually half in English and half in Japanese. This really helped me because I came to understand a lot of the major topics as they are described in Japanese.
This class really contributed to my social awareness in my community and also globally. The students come from a predominantly Latino background so I think that it is important to ask about the knowledge they have learned from their surroundings and use it as an asset to teach students about the world. After a community scan around the school, my group determined what we could plan for our lessons in order to take advantage of the students individuals strengths and knowledge as well as consider the types of experiences they are having from inside their small community (SLO 3). When we turn our focus to building community (SLO 2) we can expand the community outwards beyond the borders of our schools, cities or social circles. The children had a chance to come together in group activities where they worked in partners or as groups to explore Japanese culture, and also come to learn more about each other building a new circle of friendship by the time our classes were finished and beyond our class we know our students were sharing more with their friends outside of school. Our class had many assumptions or “stereotypical” opinions of Japanese people. We were able to break through these assumptions and build new knowledge with them through our lessons. I think at the end of the semester the students were more confident in their international knowledge and more curious about who the Japanese people are because they were able to understand the new culture. This experience is essential to fulfilling SLO 1, giving the ability to understand and analyze all the identities that one person can participate in. Additionally there was a lot of work in class to make sure that students all have a chance to participate and are not left behind. We had to be flexible with our lessons because sometimes student's interest are not what we expected or their level of proficiency. Accepting the differences without excluding anyone is hard at first but eventually is a natural adaption to each lesson (SLO 4). I think that as a Japanese language and culture major I am also someone who can help advocate for social justice of all people. With my skills I am able to communicate with various people around the world (using Spanish and Japanese) and also apply my expanded thinking to include the views of many cultures and synthesize that into something anyone can understand. All people deserve to be globally competent, it is the only way forward for the world. I personally relate with the application of my skills because my own father was someone who could have had a better experience when he immigrated to the United States and needed to not only learn English but also adjust to the new culture at school and in his community. I think that someone who studies foreign cultures has a great ability to accommodate needs like that.