Creativity in Teaching (Inspired by Yoriko Sensei and Prince EA)

“I call school to the stand and accuse him of killing creativity, individuality and being intellectually abusive.” (Spoken Word Artist "Sues School Systems in Viral Video", 2016). 

I was blown away with this Teens React video about Prince EA's "I Just Sued The School System" video. And I was blown away again when I watched the original. It was definitely an eye opener.

The school system hasn't changed. This is true. Kids are forced to learn the same subjects through hard-copy textbooks and the traditional exam concept (e.g. multiple choice and essays). And the teachers would just follow the format of using the textbooks. Even for students like me who hate subjects like math, science, history and so forth, are forced to insert information into their brains from a typical classroom setting. And in the end, those knowledge will either wither away or remain. This is just boring. Teachers need to come up with different ideas. They need to come up with their ideas.

Our brains are linked with our hearts. Every human wants to fill their minds with the things they're passionate about and they want to learn more from the things they're interested in to improve their skills and to prepare for their ambitions. They need unique ways to remember and apply what they've learnt for their ideal plans for their future. If you're a nursing student but you need an English literature prerequisite, that just makes no sense!

In fact, teachers are encouraged to explore creativity for students. They should try not to use textbooks (even though college textbooks are upgraded every year or two) and focus on new ways to make students understand about a topic or anything else. For example, my former Japanese teacher, Yoriko Sensei, ditches the Genki textbook (Japanese textbooks used in most colleges here in Canada) and encourages her students to learn new Japanese words and grammar just by asking her or be involved in conversation practices. Whenever a student asked Yoriko sensei on how to say a particular question such as "how to get there?" or "how much is a piece of candy?", she would immediately give the answer to the whole class and allow them to practice asking the question and answering it. Students in her class are inspired by the way anime characters speak, but in real life, Japanese people don't really speak like anime characters do. So instead, Yoriko Sensei is happy to teach her students the correct way of speaking specific lines.

Genki textbooks include different ways of speaking to people. For example, the second Genki textbook teaches us certain words or phrases to speak in front of people with high status or speak about people with high status. It's like another set of etiquette to talk with Japanese people. I mean, I get that Japanese speech is categorized into formal and informal speeches, but with these extras rules of speech...is just so frustrating! The Genki textbooks also include characters and we are forced to learn about the lives of the characters in the printed text. It's like the writers of the textbooks want their words to be inscribed into our minds. What are we? Zombies?

Yoriko Sensei, to my relief, changed the old teaching method. She assigned her students to draw their own manga so that they can use Japanese words and grammar to describe or tell stories about their own lives instead of using the characters' stories from the textbooks. I love that she uses art to help students to memorize and apply new Japanese words.

That is why Yoriko Sensei inspires me to create my own teaching methods when I get to teach English after I graduate. I'm thinking of using Youtube videos like vlogs from Simon And Martina's channel.

Simon and Martina 

This lovely Canadian couple has lived in Seoul for 7 years, and they have recently moved to Tokyo, Japan earlier this year. They have posted amazing videos on food, travel, K-pop, anime, games, cooking tutorials, and a whole lot more. They even got to experiment a long list of weird Asian products! In their "Eat Your Sushi" segment, they shared their stories on their days in Japan and tested their Japanese knowledge through little challenges/games. So their videos give me an idea for Yoriko's class. I wonder if she'll let me to use my idea of showing Simon and Martina's videos in her class...because I'm volunteering to help out with her class starting this Wednesday and I want to at least contribute something.

Oh! And I just remember this video posted by my favourite Malaysian Youtuber 'Jinnyboytv". It's called "The Class Clown" and this is a great example of what an unforgettable teacher is supposed to be.

The Indian teacher, who is the protagonist of this short film, drops the textbook and dresses up as historical figures (mostly Malaysian ones). This is a unique way to teach students about history! This is embarrassing, but awesome! Students like humourous teachers! Such role model can change a student's view on a subject as well! The protagonist even says, "Nowadays students may forget what they see, but they'll never forget how you make them feel" ("The Class Clown", 2012). He even asks his students to call him by his first name!

What the students won't forget the most is how the teacher shows them about something instead of how he tells them. Show instead of tell!

Anyway, I can see why teachers are valuable in this world. It's not fair that teaching is one of the world's low-paying jobs. Prince Ea said in his video that "a great teacher can reach the heart of a kid". A student's job is to be built and inspired by a teacher to be inquisitive and inventive. They need to learn things that will help prepare them for the next step of their life, i.e., college, career, intimate relationships, and family. "Students may be only 20% of the population, they are 100% for our future", and I totally agree ("I Just Sued The School System, 2016).

Schools don't teach everything so students have to learn a lot of stuff on their own. I remember my sisters talked about my grandfather telling them that you won't be applying the stuff you've learnt from school in real life because schools only teach certain things but there's still a galaxy of knowledge you have to know.

And even until now, students would still study Spartan style, especially in Asia. Cho Kyuhyun, who is my favourite member from a K-pop group called Super Junior, reflected on how much he had suffered from studying too much and being a genius in his school. Since his dad is an education representative and founder of institutions in Korea and Taiwan, Kyuhyun felt that he had to score straight A's including math. Even when he gradually struggle in math back in high school, he still tried his best to score the best mark he could obtain. And even he has become a celebrity (singer, MC, idol judge, musical performer, etc.), he still applied for a Masters degree program back in the year 2014. That was just impressive.

But what I'm saying is that every student has "different strengths [and] dreams" (Prince Ea, 2016). You can't just squeeze as many lemons as you can in one jar, because it eventually will overflow. "One size [doesn't fit] all" after all (2016). "Common core" should be abandoned and debates on whether "art or dance" is important should be forgotten (2016). It doesn't matter what interest a person has. Art or dance? They're both important! People need to express themselves through creativity to inspire others! Every field of interest is important in order for each individual to make a change.

Like he said, "if we can customize health care, cars, and Facebook pages, then it is our duty to do the same for education to upgrade and change" (2016).

Prince Ea's view on education, in my opinion, should be known by teachers today. "Every child has a gift", and we should allow them to use their talents to create something that will shape the future of this world ("Prince EA React to Teens React to The School System", 2016). We, in fact, are teachers ourselves. Teachers don't have to be from schools. Teachers can be parents and friends. We have to teach kids to have fun learning as a way for them to understand the world better and to allow them to have visions in order to craft solutions for the next generation. We wouldn't want to see them as "fish being judged by how well they can climb a tree", but as fish that can use their own abilities to survive and inspire others.

I hope you would be inspired by this post as well. I'll see you in the next post! :)


References

Chow, Andy. "Spoken Word Artist "Sues" School Systems in Viral Video." Wksu.org. N.p., 8 Oct.

           2016. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.

I JUST SUED THE SCHOOL SYSTEM!!! Perf. Prince EA. N.p., 26 Sep 2016. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.

Japanese House Tour! Perf. Simon and Martina. Simon and Martina, 6 May 2016. Web. 31 Oct. 

           2016. 

Prince EA Reacts to TEENS REACT TO THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. Perf. Prince EA. N.p., 31 Oct.

           2016. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.

TEENS REACT TO THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. Perf. Anahita, Darius, Makena, Sydney, Alicia,

           Bryson, Brooklin, Luis, Nora, and Eric. Fine Brothers Entertainment, 30 Oct. 2016. Web. 31

           Oct. 2016.

The Class Clown. Perf. Prakash Daniel. Jinnyboytv, 13 May 2012. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.

The Aesthetic of Asian Culture (How K-Pop Has Influenced Me)

Aesthetic. I first approach this word not only from K-pop fan pictures on Twitter on comparing idols to food, but also from this semester's lectures and readings. But in this post, I'm not gonna talk about art itself. Instead, I'm gonna share my view on how K-pop has caused me to embrace my Asian self as well as acknowledge that Asians are now taking over the world and we need a lot more to make Asian culture noticeable.

Back when I was a kid, all I wanted was to master in English. Not anything else. Just the English language, including writing. I hated learning Chinese and Malay more than anything, because to me those languages didn't sound as beautiful as English. I was also into Japanese anime back then, and I was picky with those that interested me. Even with Malay dubs, I would still watch them because they looked interesting such as Hatsumai Boy Kanipan, Petite Princess Yucie, Super Doll Licca, Mahou Shonjo Lyrical Nanoha (these are underrated ones) and last but not least, Cardcaptor Sakura which was my absolute favourite. I watched Cantonese dramas too but that was a long time ago and the Malay subs somehow helped me with understanding the plots.

But most of all, I hated the fact that I was Chinese. And not just Malaysian Chinese, but Chinese in general. I wished that I could be white. There was one story from American Chinese author, Doretta Lau called "Little Miss International Goodwill" and the protagonist's wish of being white instead of yellow reminded me so much of my dream back when I was her 8-years-old self. I wanted to have blonde hair, blue eyes, speak English smoothly like a waterfall, and outspoken.

So now that I've been living in Canada for five years, my Mandarin and Malay have became so rusty that I find it a little hard to converse with my relatives and friends who are more comfortable with speaking Mandarin and Malay. Honestly, I feel a little guilty about it but I know that being separated away from my home country for this long turns me into who I am. A foreigner. More like an alien. XD

My dream of learning Japanese came true when I'd finally got myself in a real Basic Japanese course back in Douglas College two years ago. I was really enthusiastic in getting all of the grammar and vocab right as well as learning about Japanese culture. All those years, I thought that Japan was my dream destination to go to...until Korea came in. Once I stumbled upon Super Junior's "Sorry Sorry" music video after years of occasional listening to it and not knowing the group itself, I was immediately attracted to the members and everything they do. And after a few weeks of familiarizing myself with Super Junior, I fell head over heels in love with them. Like seriously. XD I can't blame them for being too hot, adorable, and talented at the same time.

Now that I've been their fan for more than a year, I realized that Korean entertainment has made me appreciate Asian culture. Korean stars are not just Korean. There's literally like a gigantic mix of them. From locals to Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Filipino, even German, French, African and a lot more! (Watch Abnormal Summit, a Korean reality where people from all over the world speaks fluent Korean and talks about world issues and stuff!) And Korean star immigrants put their whole heart in learning Korean. They've made the K-pop world phenomenal. With K-pop fans' ability to communicate in other languages for international fans to understand their purposes and feelings, that's just a whole new Guinness World Record. It's cool to see that K-pop stars don't have to be Korean only. Super Junior is the world's first K-pop group to have members from overseas. Hangeng and Zhoumi from China. And also Henry Lau from Canada. And then this becomes a trend in the K-pop star formation, which is adding foreigners and training them to become a part of the Korean community. Even though Hollywood music is still big now, I think the K-pop industry is going to catch up in the future. I'm just saying. Just look at it. K-pop songs have made it to the iTunes charts, American awards like Teen Choice Awards when Super Junior became the first Korean artist group who have won back in 2015, and even Billboard! K-pop has even reached out to Hollywood celebrities like Jimmy Fallon and heck yeah the Obamas (psst...Girls Generation! Not a fan of them but still they've appeared on American television!).And don't forget Jackie Chan who visits Super Junior on set and Mike Jagger who praises on Super Junior's song "Walkin"! And since K-pop spreads all over YouTube like wildfire, more new fans will be born.

Earlier this year, I created a second Instagram account, a Vyrl account (Instagram-like app for K-pop fans), and a Twitter account dedicated to Super Junior and ELF (Super Junior fans-Everlasting Friends). And along the way, I'm involved in a whole new community. Now I've just reached 4000+ followers on Instagram, 400+ followers on Twitter, and close to 300 followers on Vyrl. I'm overjoyed to have made so many, and literally so many new friends across the globe who share the same heart-pounding and ecstatic feeling about Super Junior. As I scroll my phone for updates, post on social media every day, and squeal internally with other fans through comments and retweets, I grow to love Korean culture (surprisingly a little more than Japanese culture. Maybe it's because K-pop recent and bigger for me to be so intrigued about) and I've made a pledge to myself that I want to travel to Korea and Japan as soon as I finish my studies at Capilano University. I've got to get out of here. I guess this is what I'm gonna do. I can't just ditch my interest in both cultures. I wanna explore and experience in Korea and Japan.

Asians are now stepping up their game by showing off their skills and confidence outside of their origins. One thing that I'm super proud this year is the appearance of Asian Americans as the lead roles on television. Fresh Off The Boat and Dr. Ken are now dominating Asian entertainment history (bye bye second lead roles). And now there's "Kim's Convenience" which is Canada's first ever Asian lead drama/comedy series! I just love that Asian actors now sharing their culture on screen. Even though I see negative reviews and ratings of these shows (tsk...racism...), I'm happy to see that these shows are still ongoing.

I once think that K-pop stars are like slaves. They have to go through a long period of training. And then they'll go for debut after a year or so (or even two years or more). I remember seeing short clips or reading bios of Super Junior going through some intense, tough training. They went through thick and thin, shedding blood, sweat, and tears just to become the perfect, professional Super Junior we admire and idolize today. And then as years fly by, new K-pop groups come in and steal the spotlight from old ones. But from what I see, Super Junior is still slaying the K-pop world because of their loyal fans (shout out to all ELF! ELF unite! Ayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!), their 10 years (oh wait it's 11 years now) of achievement, and their down-to-earth personalities that warm hearts of other idols and TV audience.

So what I'm saying is, people in this world should appreciate what K-pop artists have done for us. They've gone through so much just to do what they love, to deliver new and exciting music for us, to represent Korea, and to enlighten our lives with a little charm (#aegyo or #killersmile) just to make our days brighter.

Learning Japanese and loving K-pop carve into a whole new me. Sometimes, I'm surprised that I've become a Korean culture enthusiast. All those time I thought I would stick to Japanese culture and English language more than anything else. But now...things change. I've learnt Japanese and now my goal is to learn Korean. Which reminds me...I need to get started before I graduate. XD I've got to get help from my younger sister who have taken Korean classes as well as online sources...or maybe I can take a Korean course? Not sure if that's gonna work because I wanna finish my Bachelor of Arts program before summer 2018. Hmm...I don't know...hopefully I can find a way to learn Korean.

The popularity of Asian culture is just beyond my expectations right now. Asian language classes are available everywhere in North America (and I guess South America, Europe, and Australia) which is pretty cool because I've seen non-Asian people who are Asian language/culture enthusiasts. Back in Japanese class, half of the class was white and black people, which was pretty interesting to see. Asian entertainment has influenced all sorts of people to be curious about the language. That's what I meant by aesthetic of Asian culture. Learning the Asian culture shapes a person's view about the world (and technically life) in a whole new way.

P.S. Sorry that I haven't post on my blog in a while! Not gonna lie...I don't like the courses I take this semester because there's just too many lectures that I have to try to stay awake to jot down as many notes as I can despite the fact that the lecturer speaks too fast or too long sentences that I can't even break them down into points. Even with the powerpoint slides uploaded in the student site, I still can't get all of the extra details/ explanation of the definition. But I'm surviving. XD See you in the next post! (Oh! And I'm still working on the pre-draft for Modern Prince sequel! Stay tuned for updates!)