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How literacy makes us more human

David Lewis Brooks, CMO, Philantropical.org (Hawaii-based NGO)

Retired Associate Professor, English Language Unit, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Kitasato University Article for October 2018 Kitasato Library News

[ The photo collage above is a composite of various old family photographs from the family picture albums of the author's parents: Jerry and Rebecca Brooks]

 Mr. Brooks first joined the teaching staff at Kitasato’s Sagamihara campus in April, 1996, as a emergency teacher recruited by Prof. Yukio Seya in March of that year to fill a sudden part-time English teacher vacancy.  Mr. Brooks was subsequently employed as a full-time teacher member of the English Language Unit  the following year, and has continued in the position of Associate Professor until his mandatory retirement in March 2019.  After his retirement,  he will remain as an adjunct professor at Kitasato University one or two days a week,  he'll likely be teaching part-time as well at Aoyama Gakuin University for two graduate or undergraduate courses, and may also be working on a volunteer basis in the part-time position at the University’s Office of International Affairs from April, 2019, until the 2024.  In addition, Mr. Brooks will be managing director of a new travel company based in Hawaii that specializes in edutrekking, travel expeditions for small teams that combine travel with eco-tourism and humanitarian endeavors.  

        The role that books have the power to play in and on one’s life can be as varied as the influences that he or she gains from the people one knows and meet throughout, as impressive as the places where a person has lived or traveled, or as significant as the experiences that a person encounters throughout the span of his or her lifetime.  I should say ‘can play’ because it really depends on what relationship literacy plays in a person’s life. As best as we know, humans appear to be the only animal species on our planet that encodes and records thoughts and stories in order to commu-nicate across time and space what it means to be a human, and to express both his or her awe for the natural world, including for human civilization itself, and to be able record for the edification of fellow citizens of this planet the impact that human activity has on these domains.

     Without any permanent way to leave a decipherable record of their thoughts or experiences, animals simply exist in all their glory and then die anonymously. But humans can leave a written record of their own or collective histories, and also their unique personal philosophies which can inspire both present and future generations.

       With this definition in mind, I would like to take this opportunity to recall how reading and writing have impacted my own life, and to hopefully stimulate my fellow humans:  the students, teachers, and staff at this institution, to become advocates and practitioners of effective literary communication. Just as learning to ride a bicycle is only useful as a physical skill if:

The person actually has a bicycle that he or she can ride when they need it.

The person knows how to ride the bicycle to actually go some place that he or she wants or needs to go.

The  person knows exactly or approximately where they want to go on the bike.

And lastly, the person described above actually rides the bicycle somewhere from time to time.

The person actually has a bicycle that he or she can ride when they need it..

Reading and writing are literacy skills that function similarly to the cognitive, physical and affective skills necessary for riding a bicycle. Let me explain this analogy in more detail, as it may not be obvious how the two behaviors relate.

         The literacy skills of reading and writing are highly interrelated to the total human communication skills encompassed in language acquisition, whether it’s with your own native tongue, or with a highly utilitarian international language, of which English is the single, most striking example in human history, or with one of  the many major and minor world languages that are learned by people around the globe,  the most popular ones being Spanish, Chinese, French, German, or Russian. If learning a language is a tool, as well as a skill — like riding a bike, then we first need to know that language in order to communicate what we need and want, and to understand what it is others are asking us to know, say, and do. That’s just basic communication.

        Further, like a bicycle, simply owning or possessing a set of foreign language vocabulary and being able to string them together in a reasonably correct way in order to make meaningful and effective sentences is inadequate if a person doesn’t actually do that. That would be like being a “paper driver” for a bicycle. We don’t need a driver’s license to ride a bike in any country because basic mobility on a two-wheeled vehicle is a fundamental human capacity. So too are the skills of reading and writing in any language. You simply don’t need a license to communicate—it is as fundamental to human existence as breathing, eating or walking. Learning to use a language like English should be as fun, as natural, and as uncomplicated as learning to swim, to ride a bike, or to play a musical instrument.

     Instead, in Japan’s fundamentally antiquated educational system, learning English has long been turned into a difficult mentally-challenging endurance competition and a social marathon race, whose ultimate prize is attaining admission to the hallowed halls of revered academic institutions. The negative effects of this educational institution rat race, which many students barely survive as independent, strong-willed participants, has far-reaching effects on the Japanese psyche.

        To prevent this essay from concluding its premise by sounding like the bitter murmurings of a disgruntled and unfulfilled language educator, let’s return to its central goal:

 To challenge everyone to give meaning to their lives by sharing, through reading and writing in English and in Japanese, in the joys and sorrows of the human condition, to gain valuable insights and wisdom in dealing with life through the recorded experiences and thoughts of our fellow human beings, and to add one’s own voice to the stream of billions of other human voices. In so doing, we enrich our own lives and add something of value to the legacy of the human experience.        

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Fostering Commitment to International Development ThroughvVolunteer Work Programs for Students and Teachers

David L. Brooks, CMO, Philantropical.org -- Hawaii-based NGO Adjunct Professor Kitasato University, Sagamihara, Japan One way to achieve optimal use of development aid is to capitalize on the low-cost human resources through the humanitarian spirit found among student and teacher volunteers in developed nations. Effective programs that employ volunteer teacher trainers, student workers, and health care volunteers can bolster professional development of teacher and student work experience in local communities; thereby meeting part of people's basic needs in developing countries. Such low-cost, cooperative efforts can energize the professional and international work expertise of both the local native people and the visiting volunteers. This presentation describes how three such programs had and are having a positive effect on developing education, health, and language programs by supporting three international development programs: 1) an in-service teacher training program in English language in rural Thailand, 2) building a community health service in rural West Africa, and 3) constructing homes for the economically disadvantaged in The Philippines. A short summary of the goals and logistics involved for the volunteers in three international development programs will be made. Guidelines for planning such programs, recruiting volunteers, and implementing a volunteer training program are outlined. Finally, ways to assist government offices, community welfare organizations, and schools to meet their manpower needs through cooperation with foreign education ministries, teacher training institutions, professional education organizations, and in tandem with committed individuals from developed countries are proposed. SUBMITTED online: The Clute International Conference on Education (ICE), August 5-9, 2018 San Francisco, CA Sunday, August 5, 2018 to Wednesday, August 8, 2018 at Hyatt Centric Fisherman’s Wharf San Francisco.