Interview

Chuck Sandy

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How much importance do you place on homework and how effective have you been in convincing your students to do work (if that's not too offputting a word) outside of the classroom?
I used to be scared of giving homework because I assumed few would do it and then asking them for it would cause me, the class, and the students embarrassment and no small amount of having to flounder around to somehow deal with this fact that the assigned homework was not being done.

Then, slowly, over the years, I completely changed my assumption. Now I assume homework is something that will get done and is expected. I let students know this and gently harangue anyone who doesn't do what they're supposed to do. I also give people an out, which is my email address. If they don't understand what they're supposed to do they can email me - or one of their classmates. If their dog runs away or they have a big fight with their parents or romantic partner or they get sick or have to work an extra shift at their part-time job, they can email me ahead of time to tell me what's going on with them and let me know they won't be able to finish the homework. Then, of course, I deal with the situation on an individual level.

Students with a cold turn the work in late. Students whose romantic interest ran away might get more of a relief. But anyone who comes to class without their work done - or without a book or pencil or whatever is needed - gets it done or gets what they need before proceeding further. This sounds awful to say, but students who forget their work or who show up with it undone without letting me know generally don't do this more than once. Those few who show up in such a state more than once get a cup of coffee and a conversation with me about what's going on in their life.

On my side, I try hard not to give meaningless homework - homework for the sake of having homework. I also try hard to show students where we're going with an out-of-class assignment and how it's related essentially to the next step in a project we're working on, for example. This helps convince them to do it even more than my disappointed face when they don't.

What do you enjoy most about teaching? And on the flip side, are there any aspects you could live without?
What I enjoy most is having the chance to work with and get to know my students - who are some really interesting people. What I could do without are long faculty meetings, committees, and paperwork.

External phenomena such as the declining birthrate and the stagnant economy are contributing to a major overhaul, including mergers and closures, of the university system in Japan. Is it just an admin problem or do you see any signs of a corresponding pedagogical change?
Difficult situations and tough economic times always bring significant pedagogical change. Schools that don't see this -- or that read the signs wrong, or that go off in some inane direction -- will close, if they haven't done so already. As always, the schools that are willing to innovate will not only survive, but will lead the change the rest will end up following. It's happening right now, and it's easily possible even at this early stage to see the direction the revolution is going in: a more diverse student body, greater autonomy for learners (and in many cases faculty), big curricular changes at every level.

A large number of schools are currently either accepting or getting ready to open their classrooms up to adult learners, international students, and those in Japan who have graduated from high schools that Mombusho used to deem unworthy, e.g. Korean schools, International Schools, Christian schools, and those who have been home-schooled. With these students welcomed into universities and colleges, pedagogy will necessarily change, is changing, and this is a very good thing.

And like those schools that will or have closed rather than change, professors who have and are bemoaning the fact that this change is taking place will either retire early or move on. This natural process of weeding out the embedded and the truculent will in itself produce great changes in how learning is approached and carried out.

Buckminster Fuller once said of education: "What usually happens in the educational process is that the faculties are dulled, overloaded, stuffed and paralyzed so that by the time most people are mature they have lost their innate capabilities." A recent study showed that starting formal schooling at age four was seriously damaging students' attitudes to learning - this not in Japan but in the UK. How much damage do you think is actually being done by education these days?
I think a lot of damage is done in the name of education, a lot of it irreparable, but this has little to do with real education or real learning. This damage is the result of the usual things that damage to others is caused by - the urge to control, whip into some preconceived shape, humiliate, or belittle another human being. That this takes place in some classrooms in some schools because of some teachers is a crime of huge proportions and is the direct cause of the same thing later happening in families and in companies and in society at large.

Elsewhere I've called these damage-mongers the black hats of education, and one would hope that we'd find a way to get them out of schools instead of slapping them on the wrist when they're found out - usually after causing enough damage to make the evening news. As for education dulling one's innate abilities, it happens, sadly, and it's a shame that anyone has to spend time in schools with people who make that Pink Floyd song about bricks in the wall a sad reality.

Language education has gone through several evolutionary stages over the last few decades, from drills and rote memorization, via the communicative method to a more all-inclusive, holistic style. Where do you see this evolution moving next?
We'll no doubt continue to learn more about learning in general and learner styles in particular. This will result in more individualized teaching both in terms of procedures and materials. At the same time, I predict a resurgence of some back-to-basics sort of movement with a renewed emphasis on grammar and vocabulary learning, but I don't think that this is anything to fear, given the other changes taking place. It's a good thing, which will move us closer to a balanced approach to language learning.

Also, I see more of a move towards content-based or content-rich learning, a steep decline in textbooks for young adult and adult learners built around dialogues and functions, a rise in internet-based publishing (which will make individualized materials more feasible), and the profession being filled with the sorts of people who are now in my seminars and in your classes - which is a very good thing. It's an exciting time to be a teacher or a learner or a materials writer, and as they almost say, may you live in exciting times.

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