Uchino,+Saeko


 * Assignment 1**

Hello my name is Saeko Uchino. I am Japanese and I work at Saint Maur International School, Yokohama, Japan. I used to teach English at a Japanese University, but I am now teaching Japanese.  I have many interests and hobbies, but what I really enjoy is singing. You can see in my photo that I am wearing something with lots of embroidery. This was the outfit when I sang Beethoven's 9th Symphony with Joe Hisaishi conducting (he's the composer who wrote the music for most of Hayao Miyazaki's films). If you are interested, please feel free to listen to a recording of the 9th song from Bach's Motet no. 3. I am singing the soprano 1 (higher soprano). media type="file" key="IX. Gute Nacht o Wesen .mp3" width="240" height="20"

Looking at the phrase, "conflict resolution" we see that there is two parts to it. That is to say, it is important for us to first know what "conflict" might mean to us. This is because, without a common understanding of what a conflict is within the school community, it is hard to have consistency amongst people who are involved in solving an issue. The second aspect is the word "resolution." Once the school community has a common language and expectation about student behaviour, the kind of action necessary to resolve the "conflict" becomes much clearer. From here, I believe that this course should firstly be about defining what conflict might be and secondly be about prevention and resolution.

The five topics that I would like to see included would be: 1) Nature of conflict and how to detect them 2) Methods to prevent conflicts to escalate. 3) Various methods to resolve issues (in accordance with the degree of severity) 4) Changing the school culture and the language used to talk about sensitive issues. 5) Applying the above to issues involving adults (children-adult; adult-adult)

Assignment 2
**Role of Nature/Nurture**: In the movie American History X, we see that nurture has a more dominant role in human reaction and interaction. We see Derek turning into a right winged neo-Nazi with the influence of his father and the leader of the gang group, Cameron. Looking at his upbringing, he is from a good family who was always supportive of good education. However, with the drastic change to his environment (his father killed and befriending Cameron) changes his course of life. Also, although it is not very clear from the movie, it is mentioned that those coming from poorer neighbourhood has a higher chance of committing crimes. This also might be one evidence to show that the environment has a great influence on human actions. **Role of School**: Although the screentime of the school is very limited, we still see glimpses of how a school might influence a child. School is a community where a child meets their friends, who may or may not have positive influence on the child. Also, the interaction between the school and child becomes a big factor in how a child acts in society. In the movie, we saw Mr. Sweeney (the headmaster) who steps in to help young people like Derek and Danny. Although we did not see much collaborative effort within the school, I can imagine that with a headmaster like Sweeney, there would have been some kind of system in the school to support the children's need. **Role of Teacher**: The banquet scene with the English teacher (mother's boyfriend) was an interesting one. Apart from Mr. Sweeney, he is the only teacher we see in the film. From the way he tries to move the discussion and be open to listen to different perspectives (while on the defense of his stand), I heard a lot of teacher-esque talking style which did not work out positively in that household. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**Role of Mentors**: THE mentor in this movie is Mr. Sweeney. He is the one person who took the time to face the young people in trouble without criticizing them (i.e. he criticizes the belief, but not the person). His role is at the core of the movie. Although we start off the movie learning that he is trying to help Danny, we learn later on in the film that he also tried helping Derek (and possibly more of them in similar situations). His success lies in the trust he builds between himself and the student. Although it is unclear if there was any trust between Sweeney and Danny, there certainly was one between Derek. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**Influences observed**: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">__Peer group__:- There are so many things to write about. I found it quite chilling how easy it is for people to be influenced by their peer group. Humans, being a social animal, cannot easily get out of social groups without being hurt; this is especially true with a more dangerous groups such as we saw in the movie. We see that Danny turns from a neo-Nazi thug to be, to a normal teenager in a matter of hours, showing us that quite often people choose to believe in a certain cause just to be a member of a group. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">__Family__:-When we are in school, we tend to overlook the influence of the family in shaping of that student's psyche, but as we have seen in the movie, family is one of the strongest influences one can get. I thought it was clever for the director to have left the scene with the father until towards the end of the film. It was rather chilling to see where Derek and Danny's racism was rooted (and because it was Dad who was killed, they had to re-inforce that racist notion to keep the father alive in their mind). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">__Neighbourhood__:-In general, where you grow up shapes who you are socially. In the case of Danny and Derek, they grew up in a neighbourhood that was predominantly white which later turned into a more multi-ethnic area. This seems to have caused negative sentiments amongst the people (thus the influence on children). Also, poverty and crime associated with poverty also cause people to be angry and hateful to each other. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">__Ideological Leader:__-Cameron is an interesting character. Although he has no prominent criminal record, he is the ideological leader behind the white power thug groups in the area. Having a charismatic leader with a strong negative influence in the community is not going to be easy to resolve. By only having somebody like Derek to dissuade, it would be hard for youths to be pulled away from a leader such as Cameron. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">__Friend__:-What ultimately changed Derek is not really Mr. Sweeney (he had a great impact too, though). I believe Lamont (the inmate that folds the sheets with Derek) was the one who actually turned him. Lamont faced Derek, kept talking to him no matter what and won his friendship. Their friendship, although very subtle was enough to make Derek realize that there is more to the world than anger. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">__Mentor__:-With the help of Mr. Sweeney, Derek transforms. As I wrote above, Mr. Sweeney does not attack Danny or Derek as a person. After Derek was attacked, Sweeney reveals to him some secret about his youth (was he black panther esque thug? it's hinted that he was) and shows understanding and compassion towards Derek.

Assignment 3
A. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**What would a peaceable school or community look like?** - Trust. Students trust the teachers and teachers have trust in students. Same with parents. There needs to be a mutual trust and respect between the people to have a peaceable community. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**What elements of communication would be included?** - Daily chatting (community building) is vital to build trust amongst people. However, people also needs to feel safe to come and talk to people with authority (e.g. principal, etc.) in case something happens. Also, the existence of counsellor (or just a local person who you can go to and talk about things) might also help. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**What would be tolerated and what would not be tolerated?** - Letting out of emotion might be tolerated, but given that it is done in a safe environment. Physical violence is not to be tolerated. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**What would the rules be?** - No touch. Don't do things that you don't want others to do to you. If there are problems, talk with people who can help. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**What would the expectations be?** - There there be no physical or verbal violence. If there are things that is causing issues emotionally, you need to talk. If damage has been done, it has to be compensated in some ways: which includes self reflection. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**What would the responsibilities be?** - Responsibilities for your well being (don't keep strong emotions in you: seek help), Responsibilities to your family and community so that everyone is in balance.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">D. <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times,serif;">If Hank walks into my classroom, he will see evidences of our school's effort to nurture a peaceable community. Firstly, he will see a big poster in any of our room (and also in corridors) which visually represents our school mission. In them, we have written out words such as "moral citizens" and "global citizens" to promote those ideas. The posters also provide what those words mean in our school. The teachers (including myself) use these common phrases in our class so that these ideas are ingrained in the minds of the students (it needs to be explicitly taught, as was said in the song...). Also, he will find in many places (including the student planner and teacher's grade book) a script for restorative justice. It helps us resolve issues in a way that is meaningful to our community. <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,Times,serif;">In order to promote peace in my community, I would like to keep promoting the idea of healthy communication. When one cannot communicate effectively, one feels frustrated. The accumulation of these frustration can cause things to escalate. Before this might happen, it is important for people to let their emotions or frustrations out in a safe environment so that the situation won't escalate as much. For this to happen, we need a safe environment and healthy communication to be happening on a dialy basis. As more on a preventive standpoint, I would like to make sure I can keep good relationship with people around myself (students included) by having a open communication and mutual trust.

Assignment 4
1. **Why do you think the rate of homicide violence has gone down in the last 800 years?**:- I am guessing that as more people are able to survive in this world (i.e. people's living condition is better), there would be fewer cases of killing done to steal food or other vital items for survival. Also, with a more systematic law enforcement measures, there are probably many cases where killing was prevented. 2. **Did you over or underestimate violence in the United States?** :- I underestimated the level of violence in the United States (question 2 in the quiz). I was assuming that there are fewer cases of violent crime in the United states, but according to the answer given this is not the case. 3. **What did your 4 subject colleagues think about violence in general?**:- A two of the people I asked thought that the number of violent crime in the western world (and thus including the US) is increasing. 4. **Why?**:- When violent crime is over mediatized, I believe, people get the impression that the world is becoming more violent. Also, living in a safe country like Japan (where all the subject who answered live) makes people believe that the world is full of violent crime. 5. **What did you think about this lesson?**:- This assignment made me realize that although the western world is still facing violent crime on a daily basis, it is not as sensational as we think. When we apply this to our daily life and in the school environment, I can see the danger of a similar kind of bias. I think, it we only focus on the problems and sensationalize it in a similar way as the News does, it only enhances the fear and hostility within the community. What is important then, is to look at the situation with a cool eye and try to assess the issue without any bias.

Learning about the strategy W.F. Burns Middle School in Alabama was eye opening. At first, the idea sounded as if the school meant it as a joke. But when you read the letter and see where the reasoning lies, it starts to make sense. The school is providing students with something safe, but something that also could be used for their protection. The important thing is that it is a group effort. As long as everybody in the room uses the canned food at the right time, it might actually save the lives of many students. As long as the students and the teacher/staff are trained properly (for example, who is going to tell the students to "aim" and "throw," is it going to be left up to the students to decide what to do on the spot? ) There are still (there must be) many unresolved issues that probably needs to be taken care of before it is proven to be truly effective, but at least it gives people a chance to think about what "safety" is and what "empowerment" can look like in a school community.
 * Extra Credit**

Although the strategy of asking the students to come to school with canned food might be successful, we also should not forget that guns and other dangerous weapon are still a great threat to the safety of students and staff in school. By doing a simple research about school shooting and fight back, it is very easy to see that it is not very easy to out do the shooter. The canned food might prove to be effective if the shooter is inexperienced or is a single shooter. However, if the shooter happens to be well trained or arrive in a larger group, canned food will not stand a chance (or even have negative impact on student survival). Given this, as I wrote above, there should be a proper training session for the students and staff so that they know when canned food method might work and when to simply hide and not resist.

**Assignment 5**
a) Born under the star sign of Cancer, I am somewhat more emotional than other people. As a child, I cried a lot. I couldn't resist the feeling that something was not right and the world was trying to hurt me in some way. As I grew up, I learned that the world is not actually a place where everyone was ready to hurt your feelings, but it was myself who was over reacting to the various stimuli in the world. Since then, I learned how to control my emotions in stressful situations. However, I realize that when the person you are talking to is just as emotional as I am, things tend to get escalated. One day, I was in a class with other college students and as a group, we had to vote what kind of topic we would like to do a presentation on. I voiced out that I was interested in topic A while this other person wanted Topic B. We voted and everyone except the topic B person wanted topic A. I think because of this, this person had a grudge against me...before the presentation. I was unlucky that I had to pair up with person topic B. I sent her emails to liaise with her (we had to present together, or if not, I had to know if she wanted to do something separate from me). She did not respond at all, so I prepared something on my own. On the day of the presentation, I asked her what she wanted to do and how I sent her emails...her reaction was very violent. She basically yelled at me for sending an email with fonts that was somehow encoded in the wrong way and how I was irresponsible and so on. We were quarreling for a while, but in the end, when she learned that I had prepared something on my own, she calmed down, but she never spoke to me or even looked in my face (not that I want to communicate with her either). I don't know what triggered her anger. I think it was the initial "I want to do topic A" which she took as an attack. I believe it was a case of Amygdala Hijack...

b) It wasn't the first time I watched this video, so I can't make any fresh judgement about this speech...However, I always find it amazing how the physical expression (body language) can affect how others perceive ourselves and at the same time affect how we feel in the moment. This is actually one of the things I tell the students to do when they are emotionally unstable. For example, I have a student who tends to have a negative view of himself and will act accordingly (putting his head on the desk, looking down, hiding his face, etc.). One day, this student got very emotional after his friend bugged him about something (it was really nothing, but he took it personally). He was crying with his head down. So, as a way of calming him down, I asked him to put his head up and face forward. It took some effort, but when he was able to make eye contact with me, he started to respond to me verbally and told me why he was feeling sad. Towards the end, I asked him to force a smile (which he didn't understand why, but I just told him it helps people to feel better). It took a few minutes, but I see the value of changing the posture to boost your self confidence. I showed the video to one of the my class. The reaction was quite interesting because, they immediately associated the whole topic to how they are being perceived from other people, instead of how it helps them to feel more empowered in certain situations. As teenagers, the students are highly social, and their reaction clearly showed that. Maybe the next time they sound pessimistic or shy about some activity in a class, I might ask them to do a power pose to make them more comfortable with a possibly stressful situation (e.g. presentation).

**Assignment 6**
The bottom line is: it is only a game that does not involve any real life prize or penalty. However, because both students were not able to control their emotion because of Amygdala hijack the situation escalated. Once they became very emotional, they were not able to communicate why they were angry at each other. This is probably why you need to separate the two, give them time to calm down and have them talk about what they are feeling at the moment and why. Usually, once they had some time to cool down, they are able to talk in a calm tone. It is hard to tell if Amygdala is always giving us a hard time when it comes to conflicts. Sometimes, people do need to get angry for many reasons. Sometimes, not letting out your emotion makes the problem deeper and more difficult to solve later on. In this case, instant reaction, though it causes issues on the spot, might actually help solve an issue earlier on in the year. However, having said this, it is also true that being reactionary has more of a negative effect on human relationship, but most people (especially if you are young) can't help it from happening. It is then important for us, teachers, to be there to help situation from becoming worse; or facilitate the reconciliation process is as important as stopping the situation from escalating.
 * Define Conflict**: There are several meanings to the word "conflict," but in general, it has to do with feelings or physical action caused by disaccord in views and positions. There is a struggle to come to an agreement.
 * Define Conflict Resolution**: Resolving an issue in a way so that it ends peacefully and in agreement from both (or every) parts involved in the conflict.
 * Description and Analysis of a conflict**: During an elementary recess duty, one student got into an argument and started shouting at the other student. The issue was this: while playing dodgeball-esque game, one of the boys called out to the other boy that he was "out" because the ball touched him. The other boy didn't think the ball touched him and started arguing about this. The boy who called out insisted that he was "out" and he wasn't willing to change the rule. The other boy became very emotional about this and started shouting out how unfair the game was and how it was not ok for one person to decide what was "ok" and "not ok" in a multiple player game. At this point, both students were very emotional (blaming or defending) and were both shouting at each other.

**Assignment 7**
Three I Messages: 1) When you take out your iphone to play games, it's distracting for myself and for others and that makes me feel very sad. 2) When you raise your hand to ask a question, it shows that you respect the speaker, and I am proud of you. 3) When you speak up in class, your class mates can learn from what you say, and that makes me happy.

When I delivered these messages (actually, it was slightly different, but in the same spirit...and also in a different language too), it was interesting because the student reaction was better than usual. It seems that when I talk logically and calmly to the students, the students respond to you in a similar manner. I realized that I also need to train myself to calm down and speak to the students in this manner because my first instinct is to say "stop doing that!" or "stop talking!" instead of saying, "when you chat with your friends in the class when I am talking, it is distracting for the other students and myself, and it makes me irritated." Just as much as students need to learn to be respectful, we also need to treat them respectfully to make sure they respond to you as a young adult.

Dear Abby: Negative: Gigi, when you go through my things without my permission, my boyfriend and I get irritated and I feel very upset. Positive: Gigi, now that you stopped going though my personal belongings, my boyfriend and I can relax and still be friends with you, and that makes me happy.

**Assignment 8**
When creating this contract, I was thinking of a student who was finding it hard to focus on his/her work in class and out of class. Usually, this student needs reminders about what to focus on in class, but finds it hard to complete work at home. Having the parent sign this document should help the student to receive reminders from his/her parent on a daily basis. Although the student might feel motivation because he/she doesn't want to be in trouble with the parent, it is also true that once the student starts receiving more excellent than low, then the motivation might shift from "I don't want to get scolded" to "I want to be told good things from my parent." In this sense, I can say that this is external motivation. Hopefully, once the student gets used the system, their motivation would switch to intrinsic one (striving to do better because it makes them feel good).

**Assignment 9**
Personal Profile test result: My result was fairly even (PP 24, EL 25, CP 25, PM 26). With only a difference of one, it looks like my strength is being a Practical Manager. There are aspects of my personality that fits with this description because it bothers me when there is no timeline when there should be. I know that independent work without structure tends to cause difficulty with me because I tend to relax too much in the beginning (or in the middle like the Hare and the Tortoise) and by having a defined due date, I can clearly see what to do when. However, it is also true that I have aspects that reflect the other personalities...yet, maybe I don't feel too close to their description. Looking at how I feel about my result and how it matches (or don't match) my personality, I am doubting myself if I actually HAVE these traits or if I BELIEVE I have these traits. That is to say, the descriptions do seem to fit me, but at the same time it is not the full picture and by being told that I am PM instead of PP makes me believe that I fit into that mold rather than the mold is seemingly the best fit of who I might be. I just think people are much too complicated to fit into these simplistic personality traits. It is interesting to see what the result is, but I think it is also wrong to assume that somebody will act accordingly. What is more important is to use this information as a way learn about how they perceive themselves as on the moment they took the test. In the end, observing that person on daily basis and understanding his/her personality through daily interaction has more meaning and impact on how much you understand that person. At least, this is what I believe.

**Assignment 10**
1) We saw in __American History X__ that Derek's father was a white supremacist and often made such comments in the household. Although the mother and the children did not share the same ideology as the father, when the father was killed, the two sons used their father's ideology to supplement the loss. In __October Sky__ Homer's family revers hard work and patience. Unlike Derek's family, Homer's family shares the same way of thinking and supports Homer's passion. In both cases, though, the son truly wants to be recognized by their fathers as a good son. Both sons try to fulfill their father's ideal, though in a way that is not exactly as what their father thought. 2) In both cases, the mother has a crucial role in the development of the two main characters. Derek was always supported by his mother, though often too scared to guide him in the correct way. It looks as if she gave up, but as you watch the film, you can see that she was the anchor that kept him himself. In Homer's case, the mother was more vocal in the family and openly supported her son. With her support (and the support of other people) Homer was able to pursue his passion. 3) Role of Murray in __American History X__ is a difficult one because he is not only Derek's teacher, but also a potential step-father. I speculate that the existence of Murray in the equation confused Derek and enhanced his persistence in being a White supremacist. Murray is Jewish and is very much a Liberal; his way of thinking is not compatible with how Derek's father understood the world--one can only speculate that because Derek lost his father and missed him, he chose to follow his father's ideology than with Murray's (which ironically is similar to what Derek used to believe in as a child). Miss Reilly in __October Sky__ is crucial to Homer's life. She is the first one to have openly supported Homer and always were on his side. Although her motive was partially personal, her actions and words helped Homer to always be focused on his passion. 4) Principal Sweeney is the one who was able to help Derek out of the mess he was in. He had personal interest in students like Derek and Danny and dedicated his life to help them. His actions are not the kind of action usual principles take, but in a situation as shown in the film, maybe that is the kind of action that needs to take place. The principle in __October Sky__ is a pragmatic and conservative. Although at first, he opposes Homer's experiments, once he understands he has talent in what he does, he decides to support his efforts. Without his support (such as re-enrolling Homer), Homer and the rocket boys would not have had any chance in being successful in life. 5) The role of community in the lives of both Derek and Homer was crucial. Derek lives in an area where violence is quite common. As a young white person who grew up around white supremacists, it is not very difficult to understand that he felt more a part of the community when he followed the same ideologies as the others. Homer grew up in a coal mining town where hard work and endurance is very important. Also, you can tell that the people in the town have a strong bond between each other (maybe because they entrust their lives to each other inside the mine). This is probably why people accepted Homer's efforts however bizarre it might sound to them. Although his actions are not related to mining coal, people understood how much effort Homer put into his project and needed the support of people in the town.

Saeko Uchino's Independent Studies Page