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Education
Maury County Literacy Coach Observes Japanese Teaching Methods Through Fulbright Program
Angela Bunyi, a literacy coach for the Maury County School System, works with first-grade student Dillon Allen.
Angela Bunyi cannot speak Japanese‚ but she can certainly speak about the Japanese school system.
That’s because Bunyi‚ a literacy coach for the Maury County School System‚ spent three weeks in Tokyo in 2006 touring private and public schools. She met with Japanese teachers‚ principals‚ administrators‚ school board members and PTA parents‚ and all her expenses were paid by the government of Japan.
“I’m working on my education doctorate at Tennessee State University‚ and a classmate told me about a Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund that featured this overseas program‚” Bunyi says. “I applied and was one of only 200 educators in the nation chosen to visit Japan‚ then return to America to inform as many people as possible about the Japanese teaching methods.”
Bunyi says she was impressed with the Japanese school day – including what happens before the morning bell.
“The kids arrive at school at 7:30 a.m.‚ prior to their 8:15 start time‚ and they are all doing something constructive‚” she says. “It’s an impressive sight. They might be playing soccer or baseball‚ while other kids are planting flowers or cleaning up the grounds. Some sit in groups to read and write.”
Speaking of reading and writing‚ that’s exactly what Bunyi does to help teachers as a literacy coach in the Maury County School System.
“I might stop by a classroom and ask a teacher how’s it going‚ and they might tell me that their students are having trouble with writing assignments‚” she says. “I have about 30 top-notch writing resource books that I lend to teachers‚ plus I do whatever I can that day in the classroom to help students become better writers.
“Hopefully my showing up in the classroom from time to time can help make the difficult job of a teacher just a little bit easier.”
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