Month: August 2018

I listened to a podcast from the Aspen Institute entitled, “College Students, Mental Health and the University’s Role.  Two college presidents, Dan Porterfield, formerly from Franklin and Marshall College and Paula Johnson from Wellesley College were discussing how universities should be supporting students’ mental health. Much of what they talked about applies to our students at OIS and high schools need to begin this process before our students move on to university.

Increasing numbers of adolescents are experiencing anxiety and depression. I believe that international schools are here to educate the next generation of young people and before they can start learning, we need to ensure they are healthy, both physically and mentally. I 100% agree with Dr. Porterfield, and feel that we the educators at OIS must see the whole child – the talents, emotions, family, culture, etc. that they bring to our community. Often, emotional or psychological issues block great learning and students are not able to progress. We need to address these issues. Of course, we are not a hospital and we do not take the place of a family, but a school should be very aware of mental health, raise awareness with our families and deal with it the best we can and direct the student where they can receive further support.

One issue mentioned was stress. The International Baccalaureate is a challenging curriculum and with our Diploma Programme students, comes much stress. Many of our students are under pressure (from a variety of sources) to achieve and get into selective universities. Stress is unavoidable in our lives and can be good for us. We need to give students the tools on how to manage it. And as I always say, what is good for the students, is also good for teachers and parents. We need to focus on the well-being of all community members.

The speakers go on to talk about helping students learn how to socialize with alcohol, seek help for anxiety/depression and learn dating norms, especially when it comes to sexual harassment. Some of these topics are for the university level, but the groundwork should be laid in high school, and even in an age-appropriate manner down to the elementary school.

This academic year OIS is working on improving our pastoral care program. One major initiative will be in January when we will host a weekend workshop with Dr. Christopher Liang from the International Counseling Program at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. We will be learning how to identify and support the mental, emotional and psychological health of OIS students.

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a branch of the famous weekly magazine, Economist, publishes an annual Global Liveability Index. It was nice to see Osaka moving to #3 in the world! EIU tries to be comprehensive and objective when comparing the quality of life in cities around the globe. The overall rankings are the total of 5 categories which I put forth my point of view. Why does Osaka rank so high? 

 

1. Stability (25%) – Personal and violent crime is almost non-existent in Osaka. A lack of gun ownership and limited immigration has also contributed to the lack of terrorism or mass shootings. Another index in this category is the threat of military conflict and despite our proximity to North Korea, it did not hurt Osaka or Tokyo, another Japanese city in the top 10. 
2. Health Care (20%) – Japanese live an extremely long time, in part due to excellent health care. I trust doctors and nurses here when my family needs care. 
3. Culture & Environment (25%) – This is the category that is most noticed in our daily lives. I see Osaka ranking high in some areas, such as lack of corruption, censorship and social/religious restrictions. The city is a “foodie’s paradise” with great restaurants and cuisine. Shopping and the availability of products are also outstanding. One can get just about anything in Osaka and note that the city is not in the top 10 of most expensive cities in the world, although it is not cheap to live here and compares with cities in the USA. Sports and cultural opportunities to participate and view abound. Japan is the most distinctive culture of any developed nation. I ride my bicycle everywhere and could not do this anywhere else except perhaps Amsterdam. The humidity and temperature can be uncomfortable at times during the year, but Osaka does have the world’s average yearly temperature and we experience the change of seasons. I wish the insulation in the homes would be better in the three months of winter weather. 
4. Education (10%) – EIU judges the quality and availability of private education and I hope the Senri & Osaka International Schools helped Osaka score high in this category. It also looks at public school indicators and Japan always ranks high in student achievement. 
5. Infrastructure (20%) It is so easy and safe to drive in Osaka and the rest of Japan. it is rare to see a pothole and in this mountainous country, the number of tunnels that make one’s drive straight and flat is amazing. Public transport is also comprehensive and used a lot by everyone. There is quality housing, although people live a little bit too close together for my American sensibility. The internet connections are super fast, clean water, energy available, although utilities and gasoline are very expensive here. There are many international flights out of Kansai International Airport and Itami Osaka Airport. 

In summary, Osaka is a really nice place to live and the OIS community, teachers, parents and students are fortunate to have a high quality of life that according to the Economist at least, it one of the best liveable cities in the world. I like to think that SOIS played a small part of contributing the ranking!

I am a big sports fan and was so happy to see LeBron James invest some of his great wealth into public schools in his hometown of Akron, Ohio. I hope educational researchers do some long-term research on the students there to see if this model can be replicated in other public schools serving disadvantaged populations.

The Akron Public School District is spending 8.1 million dollars and LeBron’s Foundation is chipping in another over 2 million dollars to support the school. The model provides much support outside the regular classroom teaching. Parents will get job placement, GED and counseling to allow them to live better lives and be able to support their children in school better. All students receive a bike to promote health and give them transportation. Many poor families do not own cars and public transport is not comprehensive in Akron. There will also be extra summer sessions focusing on STEM education, extended school days, etc. to keep the students out of their troubled neighborhoods and not supervised. The best thing about the school, in my opinion, is graduates get free tuition at Akron University.

I see growing inequalities in the USA and the best way to attack this and lift families out of poverty is to give them the advantages of middle and upper-class families. The government and private citizens and organizations need to build our education system. I applaud LeBron James and the Akron School District on this project and wish them the best for the students.