New Academic Year Meeting

There were about 50 instructors in the New Academic Year meeting. I was the only English instructor. Everybody else had his or her own subject to teach.

President Hirata finished his speech and asked the instructors if they had any questions. Everybody did not say a word. It was like they were waiting for the moment to finish.

I broke the silence by asking a question. I knew everybody in the room had similar problems and I thought that my question would trigger some active discussions.

I talked about the apathy that occupied my students. I also mentioned the difficulty of organizing an active class. President Hirata said, “That’s because you don’t know how to teach, Mr. Sekino. Write something on the whiteboard and make your students copy what you write. That’ll keep them busy.”

He said this in front of the 50 instructors.

The meeting soon finished.