Life Lessons Learned from Tokubetsu Shien

I've learned some good life lessons while teaching. The most valuable lessons have been learned at Tokubetsu Shien, which is a special needs school. Every semester I get to visit Kasukabe Tokushi, and it always makes me appreciate being a teacher and being in Japan. The students are wonderful. They are all developmentally delayed. To qualify for this school, students' IQ must be lower than 50. As you can imagine, the lessons I teach and the content of the curriculum in general are quite simple. Students at this school learn the skills they need to survive in society. Many of the graduates learn skills that will allow them to get a job in various places. So it seems that these schools are extremely valuable.

So what have I learned? The most important thing is how you treat others. The students at this school don't bully each other. They aren't mean or cold-hearted towards anyone either. The students have varying abilities and awareness of their surroundings, but the students always take care of each other and support each other. That's how we should act. It's heart warming, and everyone could learn a lesson in caring from these students. 

Aside from restoring my faith in humanity and reminding me to be more caring towards others, the ability of these students to accomplish tasks like singing, dancing or interacting in English, is amazing. They and their teachers work so hard, so when I get to see the fruits of their labour, I'm genuinely amazed and touched. The students learn and practice because they genuinely want to learn and do their best. They are a great motivation for me to be a better teacher, friend and worker. They are so inspiring.

Last year, I went to watch the soccer team play in a tournament. Their team was lacking players and there were some players with physical disabilities. Despite their challenges, the better players never showed frustration and each of them gave their all, even though they were exhausted. I was so proud of them. These students have so many barriers in life, yet they just accept it and they keep going and doing their best. They try hard everyday and they treat each other and the people around them with genuine love and decency. It's just so ... I don't know... Wonderful. 

When I go back to my regular school and face normal students with normal abilities and chances in life, I'm sometimes dismayed by how they treat each other and how lazy they can be. Mostly it's the ill-treatment of others that gets to me. Don't get me wrong, my students are generally wonderful, and I don't witness much bad treatment of others, but I know it exists. Working with teenagers is great because you see them developing into young adults, but sometimes it's sad to see the ones who shut themselves off from the world or who are so self conscious they don't make eye contact. I feel for those students and I want to encourage and support them, but a lot of the time they refuse to make any connection. 

Being a teenager is pretty tough, and I think these days it is even harder with the added dimension of the internet and social networking. My special needs students mercifully don't have to deal with that element, and I think they're better for it. Their innocence and ability to take care of their peers is so special, I wish I could get my other students to go back to those innocent ways and basic rules for treating others.