Current Events and the K-12 Classroom

by About Japan Editors Dear Reader:

This fall has been unusually full of activity in both Japan and the United States, particularly with events that are relevant to your students. In the United States, of course, we are in the midst of unusual financial turmoil along with a presidential election. Japan, as you may know, has also recently changed prime ministers, and is likely to hold a snap election for a new prime minister shortly.

Realizing that many of you incorporate current events from around the world into your classroom, we have decided to launch a new resource, linking you to the latest news about Japan as reported in many of the leading newspapers published in both English and Japanese. Each of these features will include a brief introduction to the issue, with select annotated links to articles in English. In some cases, we will also attempt to summarize important news items from the Japanese media that are not being reported on in English.

Given the focus on the country on the financial crisis, our first summary of current events addresses the impact of the current financial crisis on Japan (and the impact of Japan on the current financial crisis). This issue provides an excellent opportunity to teach students about the interconnected nature of today’s world. As a former resident of both rural Japan and Terre Haute, Indiana, I have seen first hand how the worlds of Japan (and much of the rest of Asia) and the United States interact in ways that directly affect the lives children throughout both nations. The current economic situation provides a particularly apt teaching opportunity to teach concretely about how the seemingly distant worlds of the financial and political centers of Tokyo, New York, and Washington impact the students in your classroom. As our first effort to help bring more current events into your classroom, please visit our introduction to Japan’s response to the financial crisis. We will continue to add more resources as news develops.  (I[date: Since the essay was first posted, a number of new developments have occurred. Japan has further developed its reaction to the global financial crisis in a manner that will influence the US economy.  Japan has also reacted to the election of Barack Obama, and we have summarized some of the early reports of Japan's response to Obama's election.  We also have a more general summary of Noteworthy Japanese News.)

We would also like to solicit your input as we develop these types of resources. We particularly would like you to share with us (and other readers of About Japan), the answers to the following two questions:

1. What events or issues related to current events in Japan would you like more information about?

2. How have you successfully integrated the issues raised in our current events pieces, such as the impact of the financial crisis on Japan, into your classroom? Have you found other resources on these topics that would be useful for other teachers? For example, if you have a great idea as to how to teach students the relationship between Japanese and American financial policies and students’ lives, please share it with other educators through the discussion feature at the bottom of each page.

We hope that you find these new resources useful, and look forward to hearing your feedback and ideas.

Sincerely,
Robert Fish
Director of Education and Lecture Programs
Japan Society