A simplistic view of democratic process is that it is about voting for what you want, but in reality democratic decision-making is far more complex: it’s about dialogue, and negotiation, and compromises both sides can live with. This is because democracy is founded on the idea that everybody has a valid perspective and therefore should have the right to contribute to decision-making – the aim then becomes a solution or compromise that satisfies as many of the interested parties as is realistically possible without compromising the central principle of mutual respect. “The Brexit debate is no longer democratic” の続きを読む
性暴力を促すTシャーツ
今日、授業で男の学生（大学１年生、１８歳）はこのTシャーツを着ていた。
彼はなんとも思っていないらしいが、私にとってこのデザインはかなり問題だと思う。
女性の顔をペンキで消すのは、性格（＝人間性）を消すことに等しい。 “性暴力を促すTシャーツ” の続きを読む
Real learning comes from curiosity
（この投稿を日本語で読むのはこちらです）
It’s my belief that we should leave children’s learning up to their own curiosity, because learning that comes from curiosity is true learning that they will remember throughout their life, whereas learning that they have forced upon them is shallow and soon forgotten. As an example, I want to reflect on my school-based maths learning.
At 16 years old I got an “A” in my maths GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education, a national exam in England), an exam that involved extensive algebra and trigonometry. Getting an “A” means that at the time I really must have learned the material, and yet now I can hardly do algebra at all. I can’t solve any but the most rudimentary of problems. “Real learning comes from curiosity” の続きを読む
好奇心から学ぶ
(Read this post in English here)
子どもの学びは子ども自身の好奇心に任せばいいと思う。好奇心から始まる学びは身に付いてずっと覚えているから。逆に、強制的に学ばされるものは身につかない：理解が浅くて、すぐ忘れる。
例えば、私は１６歳の時イギリスの公式算数試験で「A」を取った。内容は代数や三角法などで「A」を取ったなら解っているはずだ。でも今私は代数が解らないし、問題も解けない。２００５年にイギリスの小学校教員免許を取ろうとしたとき、代数の知識は全くゼロから学んでいる状態だった。１６才に覚えた内容を２９才には完全に忘れていた。 “好奇心から学ぶ” の続きを読む
メリークリスマス！
(English version here)
Merry Xmas!
（日本語版はこちらです）
Computer Games: an early experience of competence and confidence
（この投稿を日本語で読むのはこちらです）
For his birthday in January 2015 Boo decided he wanted Minecraft. In case you don’t know it, I’ll briefly explain: Minecraft is a computer game where you (along with other players) run around freely in a 3D world , building things and exploring – kind of like Lego if you and your friends could be the little Lego men and had an infinite number of blocks to play with (and an infinitely large bedroom). It’s a creative game that I was also really interested in playing, and once I installed it on our tablets we played together for at least a couple of hours every day. “Computer Games: an early experience of competence and confidence” の続きを読む
ゲーム：実力と自信の体験
(Read this post in English here).
２０１５年１月の誕生日プレゼントとして、ブー（現在６才）はマインクラフト（以下マイクラという）が欲しかった。マイクラは３次元の世界で建物を 作ったり冒険したりするゲーム。例えるなら自分がレゴマンになって、無限のブロック（と無限の建物）の世界を走り回れる感じ。かなり 想像力を使うゲームなので、私も興味津々だった。誕生日で二台のタブレットにインストールしてからは二人ともあまりの楽しさにハマってしまい、毎日のよう に何時間もやった。 “ゲーム：実力と自信の体験” の続きを読む
Introductory post
Hi.
Welcome to my new site. It’s a personal blog: I’ve got rather a lot I want to say, so this is where I’m going to try to say it. It’s hard to distill any clear theme, other than that I’d like everyone to live happy, healthy and fulfilling lives, so I’m going to write about topics that hopefully work to bring that about. Education and childhood are probably the topics I know best, so that’s where I’m going to start.
I also like drawing, so I’m going to experiment with adding illustrations and comics to the posts. Actually the word “experiment” probably applies to this whole endeavor: I can’t even decide what language to post in – even this English translation (of this original Japanese-language post) is experimental. I’d like to share my thoughts in English, but my focus is Japanese (to develop my ability, and because I live in Japan) and having to write everything twice is somewhat onerous. We’ll see how it goes….
Since this is my first post, I’m going introduce myself. I’m from England, and came to Okinawa in 1998 after a year on the Japanese mainland. I spent eight years as an Assistant Language Teacher (originally on the JET programme, now I have JETlag…) which involved teaching communication-based lessons in elementary and junior high schools. I enjoyed this so much that I wrote a book about it which you can buy here. Nowadays I’m an part-time lecturer at four schools on the island: Okinawa University, Okinawa International University, Okinawa Christian University, and Okinawa Language Center. I’ve also worked at several democratic schools.
I live with my wife and two children, who may well feature in this blog so I’m going to introduce them too:
“Wonderwife” is Okinawan, and three years younger than me. She’s cheerful and positive and funny, and as such is very forgiving of my various foibles, for which I am eternally grateful.
“Boo” is six years old, loves making things (in real life and in Minecraft) and rarely stops talking…just like his dad.
By contrast “Gwiddles” (AKA “Gwiddling” AKA “The Gwiddler”) at four and a half still can’t actually talk (certainly not with any grammar). She has WonderWife a little worried that she may never learn human language, though I’m confident she’s just a late developer – I’m more worried about what she’s going to say once she finally does decide to learn to talk like the rest of us.
(translating the drawings from Japanese is also a bit of a task, again, we’ll see how it goes…)
Most of our weekends are spent playing in various parks and beaches around the island. When I can sneak a little freedom I go surfing. And now I have a blog to keep me busy….
That’s all I have to say for now. There might be more English-language posts coming soon, but in the meantime thanks for stopping by.
Simon
はじめまして
はじめまして。
ロビンソン サイモンと申します。ファーストネームがいいですからサイモンって呼んでください。
イギリス出身です。1997年から日本に来て、1998年から沖縄に住んでいます。
職業は英語の講師で、８年間中学校のALT（外国語援助講師）として務め、現在は大学の非常勤講師です。職場は四カ所：沖縄大学と、沖縄国際大学、沖縄キリスト教大学、沖縄語学センター。科目は会話や討論、発表、批評的思考、教育実習の実践的な内容です。いくつかのデモクラティックスクールにも関わったことがあります。
家族がいて、奥さんと子ども二人もこのブログに登場するので紹介しましよう。
奥さんはワンダーワイフ、私より３年下の沖縄の人。明るくて優しくて、私の弱点を許してくれる。虫（特にゴキブリ）が苦手。
長男はブー、現在６才。お喋りが大好きで、ずっと喋っている！協力するのが好きなので勝負は苦手。
長女はグィドリン、現在４才。踊りやファッションが大好きで、言語発達が遅れていて言葉は苦手。
週末は家族でビーチや公園で遊ぶことが多い。私は時間があれば沖縄の美しい海でサーフィンするのが好きです。
このサイトは私の個人的なブログです。興味があるトピックについて書いたり、絵を描きも好きなのでイラストも入れてみたり。テーマは様々ですが、「教育」や「人間関係」、「社会改善」など世界の皆が幸せで健康的に充実した人生が送れるように書いていきます。
日本語は母国語ではないので少し間違った文章になっている場合がありますが笑い飛ばしてくださいm(__)m
では、ご閲覧、コメント、シェア、よろしくお願いします。
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