NSJLE 2016 Proceedings: Visible and Valuable

Integrating the learning of language and culture across the primary
curriculum
Susan Palmer
Balgowlah Heights Public School (NSW)Introduction
Through the medium of language and culture the Japanese program at Balgowlah
Heights Public School aims to provide experiences that connect and integrate learning
across the curriculum. This requires a flexible and collaborative approach, working
closely with students, parents and classroom teachers to ensure the learning has purpose,is relevant, meaningful and fun.
In these formative years of schooling, as educators our goal is to develop the minds ofour students and provide the necessary knowledge, life skills and experiences that will
enable them to face the challenges ahead in a diverse, rapidly changing and increasingly
complex global society.
An integrated Languages program that exposes students to different ways of being andprovides many and varied experiences can achieve substantive outcomes by enhancing
and complementing learning across the curriculum. There are obvious limitations towhat can be achieved in terms of language acquisition given the lack of face-to-facetime and dedicated teaching space. Despite this, I believe it is still possible to teachsuccessfully by ensuring the facilitation of four key elements, Communication,Connection, Purpose and Experience, each to be explained in the course of this paper.
Background
Balgowlah Heights PS is located near Manly on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. The
school has over 700 students in attendance. Japanese language has been taught at theschool since the early 1990s, commencing at a time when Japan was at the height of its
economic success and demand for Japanese language at its peak. I have been employed
as the Japanese teacher since 2004. The student population then was just 450. Currently
in 2014, I am responsible for teaching and assessing 640 students from Kindergarten toYear 5. I teach 25 lessons for approximately 25 minutes, in 25 different classrooms
with 25 different teachers over a period of 3 days. Students have a lesson just once aweek. In NSW public schools Languages education is not compulsory and my positionin the school is supported and financed by the parent community.
Over the past 10 years the aim has been to develop a Japanese language and culturalprogram that fosters a collaborative, intercultural and integrative approach to teaching
and learning. In providing the program I bring 30+ years of Japan-related anecdotal
experience, having lived and worked in Japan for several years and as well as working
for Japanese organisations in Australia prior to marriage and children.
It is important to emphasise these are my own views and based entirely on personal
experience and not on any academic research.

NSJLE 2016 Proceedings: Visible and Valuable

The key elements
Communication
Communication is about building and maintaining positive relationships with all key
players within the school – the executive, staff, parents and students.
An executive team, in particular a school principal who actively promotes and supports
languages in the primary system, is essential. Their enthusiasm for language learningand encouragement validates the program and gives it ‘status’ within the school.
Involving the executive team, keeping them informed of the program content, andproviding opportunities where they can witness the Japanese program in action (forexample, performances, festivals, competitions and visual displays) are all very
important.
Likewise, engaging the classroom teachers by discussing and sharing the teaching
programs and lesson plans, working collaboratively and providing feedback, all help tofoster ongoing support. Involving the classroom teacher in the lessons and having themengage and learn alongside their students is motivating and fun for everyone.
Keeping parents informed is also essential, particularly in my case where my positionin the school is dependent on their support. Ensuring they understand the aims andobjectives of the Japanese program and don’t have unrealistic expectations of me or of
their children is important. Many of our parents are themselves monolingual andtherefore don’t necessarily understand that the fact that their child will not be a fluent
speaker of Japanese language after six years of learning in primary school is not to say
they won’t have engaged in valuable and important learning and experiences.
At the beginning of each year, time is made to speak to all Kindergarten parents tooutline the aims and objectives of the program, giving them insight into the type ofactivities their children will be involved in and what we hope to achieve. All newfamilies that join the school at a later date are also provided a letter of welcome, aprogram outline and information on the language content taught to date. They arereassured that their child will not be disadvantaged should they not have had previous
exposure to the language and culture. Parents are also kept informed via the school
newsletter, or directly, of upcoming extracurricular activities or events (for example,manga and art exhibitions, movies, festivals, performances and Japan-relatedcompetitions).
In addition, at the end of each reporting period letters are written and distributed to allparents providing a summary of activities, the content covered during the semester andwhat students are expected to know. Lastly, it is also important to take the time, either
before or after school, at school events or when the opportunity arises, to be visible andcommunicate face to face with parents as this builds their trust and confidence. These
are also opportunities for advocacy and receiving their feedback.
Building a positive relationship with the students and striving to ensure that their needs
and interests are catered for is probably the most important recipe for achieving successin the Japanese classroom. If you can demonstrate that you care, value and respect themas people, are able to build a rapport and they like you, then you can teach themanything. They will want to learn and want to please you. It is necessary to be always

NSJLE 2016 Proceedings: Visible and Valuable

being upbeat, positive, smiling and making eye contact with every student to commence
every lesson, even if it is the ninth class for the day. Stopping to chat to them at recessand lunchtime, arranging extra activities, having a joke, being involved, interested andrespectful is essential to maintaining that relationship. It takes time and energy but thebenefits are tangible. There are always students who are challenging and difficult, buteven in circumstances when dealing with inappropriate behaviour, it important to taketime to reach an understanding and a solution to any issues that have arisen.
Connection
Connecting existing knowledge and experience with language content is anotheressential element to achieving success in the classroom. Languages cannot be taught inisolation but must connect to all learning areas of the curriculum, whether it be maths,science, history, geography or even art. A foreign language and culture provides theperfect medium for consolidating knowledge, enabling connections to be made andmeaningful learning to happen.
To have an awareness and knowledge of what is happening in the school and inclassrooms is paramount to facilitating language integration. For example, I teach ‘time’in Year 3 after or concurrently with the learning occurring in the maths class. By doing
it in the target language you are also consolidating what has already been taught. I also
introduce the months, the date and the seasons at the same time as that learning isoccurring in the Year 1 classroom.
Knowing your students and what they are learning across the different year levels andin individual classrooms can ensure the effective integration of the languages program.
This does, however, require time, flexibility and constant adaptation. It means regularly
attending year-level meetings where student needs can be discussed, and I can work
collaboratively with classroom teachers and be involved in the planning process.
A languages program that demonstrates cross-curriculum connections and reflects anintercultural and holistic approach combined with a sound knowledge andunderstanding of your students can greatly enhance, or ‘value add’, learning outcomes.
PurposeTo achieve success in the classroom, what is taught and how must have a purpose forit to have value and meaning. Students need to understand what they are learning andwhy as well as how they will learn and for what purpose. To cite an example, in Year
5 students are asked to research, discuss and compare food etiquette at home and inJapan. Students often find this interesting and very useful as many are not aware ofwhat constitutes appropriate food etiquette and table manners in their own culture, andof course everyone’s experience will differ depending on what social and cultural
background they have come from. Many also do not know how to use chopsticks
properly, nor do they have any concept of appropriate etiquette surrounding their use.
Hence teaching food etiquette is practical and has purpose.
Teaching language and cultural concepts that are relevant, and connecting it to what
they know already, helps I believe to develop an understanding of self, others and thegreater community in which we live. It teaches students to value, respect and appreciatedifference between cultures. I think it also helps develop an awareness and sensitivity
that our attitudes and our actions can impact and affect others.

NSJLE 2016 Proceedings: Visible and Valuable

When determining what we teach and how, it is worthwhile, where possible, to engage
the students in the decision process, thus empowering them to take responsibility for
their own learning. This has become increasingly possible with the use of technology,
the internet, Youtube and language learning applications. We as teachers no longer needto teach but can step back and act as facilitators in the education process. In Year 5 atBalgowlah Heights students have the opportunity to do a PIP (personal interest project)
where they are encouraged to focus on an area of Japanese language and culture ofinterest to them and to make a presentation to the class. They are then peer assessedfollowing set criteria. This has proven to be very motivating for students. I too learn
from them and am often in awe of the effort, quality and standard of what I now referto as ‘teach the teacher’ presentations. Examples have included detailed models andexplanations of Japanese architecture, gardens and Mount Fuji, an origami zoo, mangadrawing lessons, Japanese dance performances choreographed by the students
themselves, karate and ninja demonstrations (complete with outfits and homemade
ninja weapons), Japanese cooking and ikebana demonstrations, Harajuku fashion,
robotics and homemade kimonos. There have even been students who had previously
underachieved in many areas of their schooling but have excelled in their PIP
presentations. In one presentation a normally very quiet and introverted young boy wasable to impress and amaze us all with his incredible knowledge of the Pokemon
phenomenon, simply because Pokemon was his passion. The reaction from his peers
did wonders for his self-esteem and confidence, and his engagement in school life
improved.
Experience
I have discussed communication, connection and purpose as essential for achieving
success in the primary classroom. The last of the key elements is experience. For this
there is no substitute. Experience enables deeper, richer and meaningful learning tohappen. When evaluating the program at the end of the students’ six-year ‘Japanesejourney’ at Balgowlah Heights, I ask them to recall what they have learned,remembered and enjoyed. Not surprisingly, it is always the experiential learning thathas had the greatest impact on student knowledge and language development.
To cite some examples from Kindergarten, it is the classroom full of helium balloons
when learning colours and decorating the bamboo tree with their wishes for Tanabata(Star Festival) that the students remembered. It is dancing the tankobushi (folk dance)with their parents under the kohaku (red and white striped celebratory bunting), eating
yakisoba (fried noodles) and competing with their class wearing their team hachimaki(symbolic headband) at the undōkai (sports festival) in Year 1 when learning aboutcelebrations. It is not the token lantern they could have made or the Youtube clip theycould have watched, it is the actual event they experienced that they remember. In Year2, it is the making of the kakejiku (hanging scroll) and learning of Matsuo Bashō’s
journey around Japan writing haiku poetry they recall from lessons about theimportance of the seasons and connecting with nature. In Year 3, it is the Japanese playand performing a traditional folk tale at the drama festival and in front of the school. It
is the making and painting of our kaminendo daruma (paper clay figurine) whenlearning symbols of identity and goal setting or creating amazing patterns doing shibori(traditional dyeing technique). It is the meditative art of creating stylized pictures withink and brushes doing sumie (ink painting) and introductory speeches in Year 4 as theypretended to be exchange students in Japan. It may be the making and selling of washi
paper products for the spring fair or the trip to the Japanese restaurant on the local bus

NSJLE 2016 Proceedings: Visible and Valuable

at lunchtime to put our knowledge of Japanese etiquette into practice or the sumo
competition in the sand pit that makes the learning of the language and the culture cometo life.
The most worthwhile and valuable experience of all, however, is the study tour to Japan.
Below I have extracted passages from a letter to the school principal from a parent
whose son participated in the Japan Study Tour:We would like to formally let you know how much our son John appreciated the Japan
Study Tour… Perhaps the best indicator of his enjoyment of the trip was John
expressing an interest in seeing more of Japan … and not just Tokyo Disneyland. …
John returned from the tour raving about the things he had seen… We believe that theheightened sense of curiosity and enthusiasm for learning he is exuding this term canbe traced directly to the stimuli the tour provided… In summary, the trip was a brilliant
cultural learning experience. John has returned a more confident young man with anenhanced understanding of what the world has to offer…
In the words of Confucius, ‘I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I
understand.’ There is only so much we can learn from a textbook and in a formalclassroom setting. Language and culture is real and therefore must be lived.
Conclusion
It is in the primary years or earlier that we should be placing more emphasis on actively
promoting Languages teaching and learning. Young children acquire language
naturally and without fear or prejudice. I see what can be achieved in less than 30minutes once a week teaching Japanese and the enjoyment children get from learning
language. It is encouraging also when made aware of how well our past students
perform in their high school language programs because of the experience they had at
Balgowlah Heights PS. I often lament to think what could be achieved if languages
were more valued and more time allocated to the teaching and learning of Languages
in the NSW primary curriculum. Hopefully this will change with the introduction ofthe new Australian Curriculum and as the need arises for us as Australians, individuallyand collectively, to compete on increasingly connected rapidly changing world stage
where the educated majority can already communicate in more than one language.
To have the opportunity to teach in a primary school is extremely fulfilling andrewarding. The key to achieving success in a Language classroom is not just what istaught and how but also that it is perceived positively and valued in the wider
community. It is important to communicate aims and objectives, to work
collaboratively, to be actively involved in the school and to develop an integrative andexperiential program that focuses on students’ needs and supports and connects thelearning across the whole curriculum.

NSJLE 2016 Proceedings: Visible and Valuable

Postscript
This paper was written four years ago. It details comments I expressed following apresentation given at the NSJLE in 2014 as a primary Japanese language teacher
in NSW. Fast-forward four years, and despite having become more aware ofimportant educational research such as Professor John Hattie’s Visible Learning(2012) – which sees us now all versed in the rhetoric of ‘Learning Intentions andSuccess Criteria’ – I still believe that what is written in this paper is as pertinent
today as it was in 2014.
None of it is new and much of it has been said before. Today, I/we may be moreexperienced and better informed as teachers. But the key to ultimate success for us
all is be to be able to adapt to the needs of society. We must strive to develop andmaintain positive relationships, ensure important connections are made in context
and provide relevant, purposeful and valuable experiences that give our students thebest opportunities to succeed in the future.
It takes enormous courage and fortitude to be an educator/teacher today. Whilst wecan easily get caught up in the vexatious and demanding daily expectations placed
upon us, we must not lose sight of the value and importance of our work, but insteadrejoice in the difference we can make and what we can do for others.

References
Hattie, J. 2012. Visible Learning for Teachers: Maximizing Impact on Learning.
Abingdon: Routledge.