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[zharkov]

It really sounds like Akita University has gone to the dogs.

[11113567]

Akita University http://www.akita-u.ac.jp/ is different from Akita International [sic] University http://www.aiu.ac.jp/. Akita University is a Japanese national university, and I'm sure they don't want their reputation damaged by comparison with Akita International [sic] University and the things that are happening there. 

[asa29]

Akita University has been on Debito's blacklist for 10 years.

[concernedinakita]

After more than ten years in Japan and alleged love for Akita not one of the MSUA English-teaching group has bothered to learn Japanese.

This is not true. Concerned8 should get his facts straight!

However, it faces the weird Education Ministry demand for more teaching staff, even PE instructors, to have higher degrees.

Another false statement. The PE faculty member who was not offered a new contract has an MA and is a PhD candidate.

As well, it will want to be using many of these new hires in its planned graduate school, where PhDs will be needed for Ministry approval.

Another misleading statement. How many of the newly hired EAP faculty are going to teach in the "planned graduate school"?

But instead of reasoned debate over these points, all with some validity, all we have heard is spluttering, and much of it very abusive. 

Concerned8, you need look no further than your own posts to find abusive "spluttering".

Fortunately someone has pointed out that it was rare for anyone of that generation to want to waste time on the PhD game 

Ah, yes, the generation gap. And now we also know--for all of you who have worked hard to receive an earned PhD--that it's a "waste of time" and a "game".

The other vice-president, Clark, is another victim of the scattershot attacks, despite the fact that most of the complainers know, or should know, that he had pushed hard for an approach that would have eased the contract termination problem, and at a late stage had even succeeded to some extent.  Not enough to save the day, perhaps, but he did try.

Please elaborate.

This is usually taken to imply publications of PhD standard (most of today’s PhDs would have trouble getting anything published, of any standard). 

Another gem. Current and potential PhD holders will feel good about a vice president who holds such a view of "most of today's PhDs".

As well, he has had to create a university single-handed in less than three years. People with that experience tend to remain single-handed, at least for a while.

This is a revealing statement. What were the other administration members doing while the president was creating the university "single-handed"?

Students are said not to evaluate highly his lectures.  How many university presidents even deign to give lectures. 

Stooping to give lectures is justification for poor student evaluations?

Their abusive posts seem only to have hardened the determination of the authorities to seek their replacements.

It's difficult to know who is writing the posts on this forum. I don't believe that the alleged "abusve" posts have been written by current faculty.
But statements like this make you want to teach at a university run by such "authorities", don't they?

True, any idiot is free to abuse blog freedom by putting up an abusive posts.  If it makes him feel good,  so be it.

You are correct and your post proves your point.

[concerned8]

Even young children realise that if you hurl abuse you might get some thrown back at you.

Anyone of objectivity who reads the extraordinary abuse, distortions and plain ignorance of facts handed out in earlier posts on this forum - the ad hominen abuse especially - would realise that some kind of response was inevitable, that it would be heated, and that it would be deserved.

Apologies, however, if non-abusers feel that some of the response was aimed at them.

One point of clarification. When I talk about learning Japanese I am not talking about the ability to stammer out a few remarks in bad Japanese. I am talking about learning Japanese properly. Not one of the people I  criticised for not learning Japanese, as far as I know, can hold a proper converstion in Japanese. Even less read a newspaper editorial in Japanese.

These people claim to be experts in teaching and learning foreign languages.  Yet after ten or more years in Japan they have been unable to learn the language of the country in which they live and work.  This does not mean that they are totally unfit to be teachers of English (and in my earlier post I tried to suggest how and why there should have been efforts to help them continue to teach English here.  Needless to say this was ignored by the new wave of abusers). But it does suggest they should be a little bit more humble before they start to criticise the abilities of others.
 

[concernedinakita]

Concerned8:
Could we also hear your response regarding the following?

Quote from: concerned8 on January 04, 2007, 10:33:50 PM

However, it faces the weird Education Ministry demand for more teaching staff, even PE instructors, to have higher degrees.

Another false statement. The PE faculty member who was not offered a new contract has an MA and is a PhD candidate.


Quote from: concerned8 on January 04, 2007, 10:33:50 PM

As well, it will want to be using many of these new hires in its planned graduate school, where PhDs will be needed for Ministry approval.

Another misleading statement. How many of the newly hired EAP faculty are going to teach in the "planned graduate school"?

[11113567]

Apparently concerned8 has been going to the Chronicle editors to try to get posts that he considers abusive deleted. In a few cases he has apparently succeeded. Yet he made the following remarkable statement here:

One point of clarification. When I talk about learning Japanese I am not talking about the ability to stammer out a few remarks in bad Japanese. I am talking about learning Japanese properly. Not one of the people I  criticised for not learning Japanese, as far as I know, can hold a proper converstion in Japanese. Even less read a newspaper editorial in Japanese.

For the record, a Japanologist who was not only fluent in Japanese but was doing oral and written research in Japanese was fired from AIU. Concerned8 should stop telling lies in a forum like this. It is potentially actionable. Such statements are not only false they are potentially damaging to the reputations and careers of those involved.

Oh, wait. There is the "as far as I know" disclaimer in concerned8's statement. Well, if concerned8 knows that little about AIU, maybe he should just not post messages here at all. Maybe he should find out what is happening there.

I have nothing personal against AIU. I have never worked there (and won't do so - I have a better job already.) I do know something about Japanese universities. They deliberately avoid qualified people and hire the less qualified so that the people already employed in them will look good by comparison. if you don't believe me read Japanese Society by Chie Nakake. Anyone working at a university that hires the losers being kept on at AIU should be humble before criticizing anyone else about anything at all.

Until that happens, let's either put all the messages posted here back up again, or drop concerned8's from this list.

[concernedinakita]

Sadly enough, Mr. Clark may not really know what's going on at AIU. He does not live in Akita. It's reported that he is on campus about 1-2 days a month. He himself says that,  "he is only employed on a part-time advisory basis, and he only gets part-time pay."

[beldandymoon]

Im a 4th year student at a Japanese university and my graduation thesis (about the 1982 law reform- concerning foreign nationals as faculty staff) is connected with Akita International University. I would like to get in touch with people involved in the incident for reseach proposals - I will write a case study on the topic.
I would truly appreciate if you could share any information on the subject, please contact me on this address: beldandymoon@yahoo.com
Best Regards   

[disappointed]

WHAT language TEACHERS MAKE
 

The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing work and life. One man, an outspoken university VIP known for his writing?and fluency in several “complex” languages, decided to explain the problem with language education.

He argued, "What's a kid going to learn from someone who’s decided his best option in life was to become a language teacher but himself hasn’t learned a complex language?"
 
The VIP chuckled and reminded the other dinner guests what is often said about teachers: "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach. But even that…how well one teaches depends on a set of complex factors."

To stress his point he said to another guest: "You're a language teacher, Bonnie.  But be honest. You haven’t learned a complex language yourself. So how effective are you? How can you expect to know as much of language teaching and learning as someone like me, someone who has learned a number of complex languages?”

The VIP continued, “ The position of language professor at my university should reflect significant complex language learning experience, as well as the trials of doctoral study or the life work equivalent to a PhD.”

“By the way, what do you make?" he asked Bonnie, certain that she was overpaid for her “lectures.”
 
Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness, replied, "You want to know what I MAKE?”

She paused for a second, then began: "Well, I make my students work harder than they ever thought they could.  I make students sit wide awake and engaged through every minute of each class period each week when many faculty members can't make those same students sit for 5 minutes without their falling asleep, checking their cell phones or talking to their neighbors... I make a high grade at the end of my course feel like the Nobel Prize.
 
“You want to know what I make?" She paused again and looked at every person at the table.
 
“ I make my kids wonder. I make them develop their interests. I make them question. I make them analyze, synthesize and criticize. I make them understand concepts they’ve never encountered beforehand.

“ I make numerous tasks for them, and then I make them do those tasks. I make them read, read, read, and write, write, write, and speak, speak, speak, and listen, listen, listen. I make them show me all their work.

“ I make them do many things that they don’t want to do to help them improve their use of the language. I sometimes have to make them justify unacceptable behaviors.
 
“ I also make students from numerous countries where my language isn’t the first language learn everything they need to know to succeed in their many walks of life, whether in academic work or more personal matters, and I do this while striving to help them preserve their unique individual identity.

“ I make my classroom a place where all students feel respected, comfortable and safe. I make them understand that when they use the opportunities they have been given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they might just have a better chance at achieving their dreams.”
 
Bonnie paused one last time and then continued: "Then, when people try to judge me by what I HAVEN’T DONE, or when they make small of what I do, I hold my head up high and pay as little attention as possible because our world is filled with ignorance and arrogance...”
   
“ You want to know what I make? I MAKE A DIFFERENCE. 

“ What do you make?"

[alqahiri]

I think the accusations against the school are ridiculous. It is true, outside the US, not everyone who works at a uni has a PhD. But so what? In most of the world a doctorate is earned through contributing knowledge to a specific field rather than simply going to school for it. From experience in the states, an American with a PhD is usually not even all that qualified. I would rather be under the administration of someone with substantial experience in the education ministry and policy making.

Top down decision making policies are great. I'm a professor, not a bureaucrat, its up to the institution to dictate what it wants and why. Not us.

I'm in the states and make my own copies, send my own repair and classroom requests, and other trivial things because our secretary spends most of her time chatting on the phone and the grad assistants are inept to even copy off syllabi correctly.

As far as classes being too easy. I have yet to see more deliberate dumbing down than in the states. To be honest, what I've seen here would be criminal abroad.


Before whining about unis abroad, take a look at your own. This kind of arrogance and feeling of entitlement really annoys me. Listen Yanks, the world isn't the states, deal with it!

[concernedinakita]

alqahiri  Reply #165:

I think you have missed the point.

You are not here (in Akita), so you can not know whether or not "Top down decision making policies are great" at AIU.

Also, "non-renewed" faculty are not only "Yanks", they come from other countries, too. Some have PhDs or are PhD candidates. They are experienced and respected teachers. (Ask the students.)

I know many of the faculty members whose contracts were not renewed. They are not "arrogant", nor do they feel "entitled". They care deeply about this community and have played a major role in the establishment of this University. They care about the students and the future of AIU.

[11113567]

I first thought alqahiri was joking, but now after looking at his posts in other fora I realize he is having serious culture shock teaching in the US. He doesn't realize that American universities get most of their input from the worst secondary schools in the developed world, where students are taught by "teachers" who are not just underpaid, but sometimes functionally illiterate. My niece dropped out and started going straight to community college because she said it was such a waste of time sitting in high school learning nothing. Incoming US freshmen are often unaware that there even is such a thing as studying, and part of the job of the university is to make them aware of studying and to teach them how it's done. That is one reason why US college graduation rates are so low. I would encourage alqahiri not to compromise his standards. I teach at an American university, I don't compromise, and I get good evaluations from the students, so I know it's possible. College is where the US plays catchup ball with the rest of the world, which is why American universities need to be difficult. Japan is another case entirely, one that alqahiri knows nothing about.

Top down decision making policies are great. I'm a professor, not a bureaucrat, its up to the institution to dictate what it wants and why. Not us.

I assumed from alqahiri's name that he's Egyptian, and his posts in other fora reveal an ideology heavily influenced by Arab and Islamic nationalism, to the point that he doesn't understand the perspectives found in the United States. The details are not relevant here, so I won't digress. I would like to point out to Ustadh Al-Qahiri, however, that the chair of the advisory board to AIU's president is Dr. Yasushi Akashi, and to ask if alqahiri really would like to be taking orders about the content of his courses from such a person. As for the qualifications of those who are giving orders to the ESL teachers at AIU, I would simply point out that they have been discussed here and found wanting. Alqahiri would be out of his field to enter that debate and I suggest he avoid embarrassing himself unduly.

[concernedinakita]

Concernd8 continues to ignore the many excellent questions that have been asked on this forum--including those that go all the way back to page one:

As a possible future applicant for a job at the university in question, I have a few queries for your management ( concerned 8) that many viewers in this forum might ask:

I see your university is claiming a success. Could you explain by what standards?  if that success is the case, why were all faculty and staff recently asked to reapply for their positions as stated in the initial post?

Your institution is small. does the president regularly invite professors who are not program directors in for counsel?  That would seem to be a healthy way for management-faculty communication to proceed to your institution’s advantage.

Do your program directors solicit honest performance feedback from faculty members?

Do the president and the vice president solicit honest feedback from all directors, and from members of the faculty and staff?

Does each program director interact with all members of the respective program on an equal basis, or does he or she interact only with a preferred coterie of supporters (i.e., in a manner demonstrating favoritism)? I’ve seen both scenarios, and the second really leads to disasters.

Is there an annual, anonymous review of management (i.e. president, the vice president and directors) by faculty members? At my university, everyone is open to evaluation. If professors are evaluated by students and by management, it is clear that management would benefit from constructive input by faculty about how well it is doing its job.

In the ideal, the answers to these questions would be provided openly. What is the reality at Akita International University, might I ask?

Are we to assume that he can't answer them? ...or maybe he's been told to keep quiet?

[outsideadvisor]

It has been truly distressing reading about the developments at AIU in Akita. I am familiar with AIU’s predecessor, the Minnesota program –MSUA--, and I know first hand how much hope all of us had that Akita prefecture’s further investment would fulfill the dreams of those who had labored so hard to make MSUA one of the most viable educational alternatives on an otherwise dire Japanese university landscape.

I chose to leave Akita (the weather is atrocious, the social universe a bore), and have since taught at two Japanese universities. The largely negative comments in this forum are validated by my own recent experience.

As others have noted, the problem with university education in Japan is systemic. Non-educators, mainly government functionaries, have been given decision-making positions in private and public educational hierarchies. Creating effective educational experiences for large numbers of students is the last item on their agendas. Where educators are involved, they are often management appointed, and totally controlled (or obligated). In other cases, the leaders might in fact be “renowned scholars,” with little insight into educational theory and practice, and less attention to the nuances of human psychology.

Some might also say that business rules. But if that were true, universities would be run as they are elsewhere in the world, with budgetary logic and a focus on efficiency.
No, business does not rule Japanese education. Educational concern does not rule. The clients, students  and their needs and wants do not dictate. The crusty Old Boys would not hold so much sway if student opinions were the Jap university establishment’s concern. But students only matter insofar as they provide eventual advertising for a particular place’s Old Boys club. That’s what matters most and that’s where obligation runs the deepest.

Is it simple power trips for the superiors? Or the power trips of superior simpletons?

Maybe both. If, in Japanese higher education what seems to dictate is something related to the phenomenon of the Old Boys club mentality, then what I have experienced in places like my current institution, just as some of you see at AIU, is also present in other areas of Japanese society.

The EDO period set of rules for social etiquette drives most farce here, and that manifests itself in the management of universities like the “new” one in Akita. At the center is that age old notion of giri. It’s as old as the polish on a president’s shoes. Just take a second and look for your self as you put your nose to the ground before him.

Forget clear and well-focused learning objectives, detailed and rationale economic policies, forget the transparent faculty - management relationships that are routine elsewhere. Forget too decision-making based on a step by step processes, reputable reviews and honest reflection, or the evolution of relations between employer and employee, teacher and student based on mutual respect. Giri –social obligation (ass kissing, for short) – has held the day for a long long time.

The stories we read above of the victims in the Akita calamity, those about how certain program administrators have had their way with decent people and done as they pleased, pissing away student and community trust, garnering bad PR, mismanaging the educational programming and producing questionable results --- in other words, cutting off the regal nose to spite the lovely face --- is symptomatic. 

Meeting the demands of giri are far more important for the high players in Jap university management than any other social stricture. “Being obliged,” no matter what the outcome, even under the most adverse, self-defeating circumstances, is more than just the name of this game -- it is sport itself.

I’m obliged to hire that person because he studied at my former school.
I’m obliged to make photocopies for this man because he was a sensei at my university.
We’re obliged to make this man’s tea because he is who he is, and then we must stay at our office desks until 10p.m. because everyone else is doing so.
I’m obliged to ask her to stay here late because the others are watching both of us.
We are obliged to keep our mouths shut while turning blind eyes to gross injustice because we owe him for the job.
I’m obliged to dump these people – their competence and efforts aside -- because my public principles require it of me.   

Giri is taken so seriously that a large number of otherwise seemingly normal people are known to have committed mass murder during a past war for it, and today others commit suicide in record numbers in an attempt to be done with it.

Giri became such a powerful force in Japanese society for many reasons and now is viewed as “high” traditional culture because it promotes order (while also hammering down dissent), instills discipline (while breaking the uncooperative), and provides many with a sense of societal wellbeing (at the expense of initiative, self-reliance and individual choice)…

On an innocent level, giri show itself in the endless gift shops obligingly providing a service in airport lounges for those travelers who should feel guilty for being away; most viciously, you find it in public displays of humiliation, like the beating given to the talented, hard working teachers not renewed at AIU. 

In a place where cultures meet, as they do routinely in universities like AIU, obligation interfaces with the Western intellect and values, and the results, as this forum tells us, are sometimes bad blood, sometimes screwed up lives and spilt guts.

I’m obliged to keep my mouth shut while turning a blind eye to gross injustice because I owe him for my job.
He’s obliged to dump these people – their competence and efforts aside -- because his public principles require it of him.

It would seem that yes, the Nakajimas “of the world” have won for the time being in Japan. But in other contexts, men such as he might be obliged to answer to the press, to a scrutinizing board of trustees or parents’ association, to an interested judiciary or to others with public (and especially student) interests truly in mind

In another world, where public opinion and staff, student and faculty awareness are less easily manipulated, such a leader could be quickly branded as a self-serving neo-conservative, or perhaps as a hollow man, devoid of either the substance of humanity or the humility that come from years of two way negotiating, serious reflection and interpersonal maturation.

In some places, such men – no matter what their position -- might be chased out of town. 

But in Japan today, where connections to the right people and photo ops are everything, the aloof are only obliged to the vagaries of their own imaginations and to the gods beside them. (It may seem to us less religious types that the inner voices of the Old Boys generally haven’t taken them very far away from their former school days, really, not far from the hazing and other power rituals, and from the playground bully syndrome.)

Meanwhile, the rest of us are obliged to pay homage to the artifice of these fellows and to their sloganeering. I hear that at AIU, in a manner similar to what one British author has called “unspeak,” the classic examples are Vice President Clark’s anthem on “Japanese tribalism” and the infamous president’s pet phrases  “international sociology,” a “liberal arts education” and “Be a future leader in the global society.” Yes, boys, and you will be just like him.

The rest of us  -- sincerely interested learners, dedicated teachers, other decent citizens – need to get used to this if we are to remain sane, and see it as something bigger than ourselves, as something socio-cultural, and not take it personally; otherwise, we run the risk of repeatedly suffering the consequences of a collective psychosis that has simply repeated itself, and will do so ad nauseum.