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Oshkosh Education Association member John Pieper meets a Kabuki dancer during his 17-day visit to Japan. Pieper, a teacher from Webster Stanley Elementary, traveled in June with 600 other teachers nationwide to participate in the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund Program (JFMF).

The program provides educators with the opportunity to experience Japanese culture and education through school visits, interacting with teachers and students, seminars, and a short home stay with a Japanese family.

“It was the visits to the schools and the home stay that really helped me to appreciate the people of Japan,” Pieper said. “The children are like any other children in the world. Some were happy, hardworking and outgoing, while others slept in class.”

The program seeks to give educators first-hand international experiences to incorporate into various aspects of their classrooms.

“A particularly moving seminar involved the stories of Koji Ikeda, a survivor of the atomic blast in Nagasaki,” Pieper said. “We were also treated to performances of Kyogen (storytelling) and Kabuki (traditional dance).”

For more information about the JFMF, visit http://www.iee.org/jfmf.

Posted July 27, 2005

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