Junten Junior High School / Senior High School

October 1^st, the Junten SGH delegates went to Mangaldan National High School in Dagupan.  Mangaldan National High School offers a Japanese lesson course, as a designated school by the Philippine government.  The day, Junten students visited, was “Teacher’s  Day”, so the students at Mangaldan National High School didn’t have classes but they held a Japanese lesson to show the Junten students.  From Japan, a university student Mr.Umezu was sent to the high school as an ALT from Japan Foundation.

The Japanese lesson was developed and carried out according to the MEXT’s Educational Reform Plan for the 21st Century.  At the beginning of the class, the teacher introduced the class hamburgers from different countries, then students from Mangaldan National High School and Junten were working to create the original ideas for their own hamburgers.  All the conversations and meetings were carried out in English.  

After the meetings, each group had a presentation on the hamburgers they crated.   The Japanese class at Mangaldan National High School focuses on the project based lessons, so the theme of the class was “hamburgers” but the students had a project that is to created presentations using the theme.  The students who are working to explore educational support in the Philippines participated in the class learned a lot by participating in the class.

After the class, Junten SGH students took the global attitude survey that they have developed.  Mangaldan National High School’s school paper’s writers came to see the class and interviewed Junten students.  The writers asked a lot of questions and the local students were very much interested in Japanese students.

Junten students asked questions to the local students for their research projects. The students asked La Salette’s students the same questions on the previous day, but they received different responses. 

After lunch, the group visited a slum called Karicaan in Dagupan.  The population is 600 and they live here illegally.  The Karicaan often hits by heavy flooding.

The village elder welcomed us.  He told Junten students about the Karicaan area and his own history and experience in English. He studied English on his own.

The students were grouped in two.  One group researched on public sanitation and the other group interviewed local people about their daily lives.  The people here and CFF have a long established relationship, so people readily answered difficult questions that Junten students asked.

Children gradually came together and surrounded the Junten students, as if they were looking at them as their teachers at a small school.  Karicaan is located in the town, but once you go to back streets, there are slums.  One of the Junten students home stayed at a house that is very close to the slum area, and she really felt that there is a big “gap” in people’s lives in the Philippines