BRENT'S LECTURE

    At the test, I got the highest points at integration (6 points) and the lowest at results (0 point), that is, the test shows that I am an integration type not the results type. I am satisfied with the fact because that describes me well (I tend to consider others more than pursuing the result).

    It is interesting to find that Brent and Ken and I have different types. I could accept smoothly that Brent was development type and I was integration type, but could not believe Ken was baser type because he is a teacher who leads students. I want Ken to take a more thorough test to reveal what type he actually is. He looks integration type... Anyway, I realized that there are various people in the world. I assume that many Japanese people are integration type or baser type because Japanese are said to be modest.

    Development type and result type seem to be favorable for leaders because creativity and the ability for goal achievement are required to leaders, but I wonder whether there are historical leaders or executive heads who are not those types.

    Brent's lecture was really interesting. Thank you!

MARSHMALLOW CHALLENGE

●Marshmallow Challenge itself
    At the first try, we were thinking too carefully how to construct the spaghetti, so we could not have enough time to put it into practice. However, after listening to Rab, we tried to move our hands even without any plans. Thanks to that, we could complete it barely which was pretty better than the first one. Usually I do not do something recklessly, so it was actually hard for me to keep moving, but one of the members said "move your hands" to us, which I think helped me a lot when my move stopped unconsciously. As I wrote before, I thought Shackleton's "Do something tentatively" is important to achieve something. Although we could not make a high tower, it was really fun!

●TED about Marshmallow Challenge
    I was surprised that kindergarten children were doing well at Marshmallow Challenge. From that, I realized that creativity was spoiled by the society as people grew up because probably people are forced to change their way of thinking consciously or unconsciously in order to fit the society. At school, people learn the common sense, but that will uniform everyone and deprive their creativity. The way to educate which not only teach the common knowledge but also keep the creativity is required, I think.



Sorry, I cannot put some picture images now.

SHACKLETON CH 10

●Encourage relentless creativity at the edge

   During the expedition, not only Shackleton but also the members never gave up the hope for going back home, and tried to propose creative ideas as many as possible for survival. Above all, the photographer Frank Hurley and the carpenter McNeish whom Shackleton regarded as troublemakers produced a lot of interesting ideas. For example, Hurley could come up with an idea to make the bilge pump from the Flinders bar because he was familiar with metal. McNeish thought of repairing the frozen canvas by using the nails which were originally used for packing cases.

   I found that troublemakers have something special which ordinary people do not have such as creativity instead of the inability to maintain the mood in the group. Generally, people tend to exclude such problematic people to keep the group stability in two meanings. 1) By removing troublemakers from the group, members can get rid of the likely problem caused by the troublemakers. Moreover, 2) by doing so, members can feel to be accepted and also accept others as members of the group from the fact that they are not excluded.

   However, to reject such troublers means to lose the possibility of enjoying their unimaginable gifts. Especially at the edge, the existence of those people is very important to find the creative solutions. Therefore, to make a comfortable condition where exclusion do not happen is really important.

(Now I think Shackleton dared to choose troublemakers as the crew members because he knew those people would exert the unbelievable power under the severe condition which was fresh for normal members...)

SHACKLETON CH 8

●Find something to celebrate

   Even during the terrible expedition, Shackleton let the members celebrate some days, which made the positive mood. For example, on Empire Day on May 24, they honored their country by singing in the Ritz. Moreover, surprisingly Shackleton regarded the day as a festal day when they started the expedition just one year ago, which day many people must want to avoid to remember because if the expedition went along the original plan, they had already reached home at the time, so basically the day would not the festival but the disappointing day. As this shows, Shackleton thought even the negative day as a positive day.

   I love this idea to make festive days as a few amusements under the hardship. However, I do not like to celebrate the original holidays such as Empire Day. I might be depressed by the celebration because I would think that people in the hometown might be more enjoying delicious food with lovely family in the warm house on the festal day especially Christmas. Therefore I think we do not have to celebrate something on the festival days, but it is good to set up some joyful days in which we can forget the terrible condition by enjoying something. There might be some crews who think in that way, but everyone celebrate some days as Shackleton did because probably they believed they could go home by following the leader. Therefore I really admire Shackleton's leadership which has power to move even the opponents.

INTRODUCTION

Teacher's leadership for extermination of bullying

    Bullying is a serious problem all over the world today. When asked for the solution of bullying, people will come up with some ways such as ethic education or strict punishment. However, there is another key to decreasing bullying; teacher's behavior. According to Shinkichi Sugimori, who is a professor of Tokyo Gakugei University, teacher’s character is highly connected with bullying, that is, teacher's behavior has a big impact on whether students bully someone or not. So, if teachers as classroom leaders try to have a fine attitude, it is possible to create a school environment where bullying is not likely to occur.
    However, what is the fine attitude? According to PM theory which a social psychologist Misumi proposed in order to describe what the favorable leader is, people who have both P (Performance function which is for goal achievement) and M (Maintenance function which is for group stability) strongly tend to work well as a leader. Applying this theory to teachers, Fujihara and Ohki report that teachers who show P and M highly seem to make a comfortable school climate in which students are getting along with one another. It can be said that PM teachers as leaders in classroom can contribute to the extermination of bullying.
    This paper will show how bullying is a serious problem and the importance of teacher's behavior as a key to suppressing bullying. Firstly, it will identify what bullying is and how bullying is terrible. Secondly, it will introduce PM theory to show the leader's impact on the group mood. Lastly, it will present how teacher's behavior affects students in order to show the possibility to get rid of bullying from school.

SHACKLETON CH 6

●Minimize status difference and special privileges

●Insist on mutual respect and courtesy

   Shackleton was a leader of the team, but he never took a big attitude. Far from it, he tried to be equal to the members even under the desperate circumstance. Of course, he demanded all crew members to be equal despite that there were various people on the ship such as scientists, physicians and seamen.

   For example, when there were not enough number of sleeping bags, Shackleton did not take the bag arbitrarily by asserting the privilege of leader. Instead, he decided who got the bags by a lottery (and surprisingly he did not participate in it).

   This attempt created a environment where everyone respected each other.

   I think this mutual respect contributed to the success for everyone coming back alive because I believe good human relationship is one of the most important things for survival at the edge, and for creating such a circumstance, leaders have to treat everyone in the same way in order to be the first role model who show the respect for everyone.

   However, it must be very hard to do so because people are likely to lose self-control and come to put the heaviest weight on their own lives at the edge, or rather, come to be impossible to consider others in despair. Therefore, I really admire Shackleton for his behavior. Despite he was a leader, he never exercised the authority even in the severe situation, but he treated crews equally. He did a really great job as a leader.

   Why was he able to behave in this way? I think his optimism helped him  be cool-headed enough to care others. The confidence for survival made him seek the certain way to get crew members back. Probably he knew that keeping the fine mood was closer to success than acting selfishly because by cooperating with others, we can often get some fresh ideas which cannot be came up with alone. On the other hand, bad relationship will eliminate our motivation and also there are a lot of things which are hard to do only one person. His inborn optimism was really helpful there to be calm, also, it was fortunate for him to have learned the importance of human relationship which enabled him to take care of other members.

   Of course, I am confident to think of others a lot because I have done so until now when making some decisions with other people, and I know the importance of human relationship. However, I have never experienced such a severe situation as the expedition, so I do not know how I behave at the edge. Therefore, I will try to be optimistic in my daily life so that I can be cool enough to care others even under the terrible circumstance following Shackleton.

OUTLINE

Outline


Thesis statement

Teachers whose character works for suppressing bullying can contribute to the extermination of bullying.


Formal outline

 Ⅰ. Introduction

    A. Background information

    B. Thesis statement

Ⅱ. What is bullying?

    A. Definition

    B. Statistics

    C. Effects of bullying on children

        1. Bully
        2. Victim
        3. Observer

Ⅲ. How is teacher’s character connected with bullying?

    A. PM theory

    B. Connection between teacher's attitude and bullying


Ⅳ. Conclusion





    In the last class, Ken advised me that I could make some parts independent as one section, so I decided to write about bullying in section Ⅱ (this part was at first included in section Ⅰ. Introduction).

    However, I do not do so in some
other parts such as Ⅲ-A. PM theory and Ⅲ-B. Connection between teacher's attitude and bullying because I want to explain Ⅲ-B by using Ⅲ-A, so I thought these two parts should be in one section.

    Of course, this outline is still open for discussion, which will almost 100 percent be changed later. In addition, I have not introduced some advices yet for some reasons which my classmates gave me. Therefore I want you and Ken to look at my outline, and give me advices again.

SHACKLETON CH 4

●Let go of guilt (but learn from mistakes)
(●Find outlet for your own feelings)

   This is not a Shackleton's story, but two English mountaineers' one; Joe Simpson and Simon Yates. When they were climbing the Andes Mountains together, Simpson fell down and got injured seriously. Who in danger was not only injured Simpson but also Yates because probably they were connected by the rope, so even Yates did not have any injuries, he could not move as well as Simpson. Therefore, he had only one choice then to survive "To cut the rope". He was succeeded in reaching the base camp, but really tortured by a guilty feeling of sacrificing Simpson by cutting the rope. However, Simpson was alive, and could get to the camp! If Yates did not make a decisive decision which was cutting the rope, or if the guilty conscience deprived his hope to live of Yates, both of them would be dead possibly.  

   There is a proverb "It is no use crying over spilt milk." While reading this part of the book, I came up with this proverb. Even when we regret something, we should not bother ourselves because that will make matters worse. Based on the regret, we have to consider what to do next not for repeating the same mistake.

   Regret makes everyone discouraged at the time, but later, that works differently from people to people. Some people can be developed from the regret, while the other remain in despair. In order to be the former people, I think "Find outlet for your own feelings" is really effective. Usually it is hard to change mind to the positive direction when regretting something alone, so we should receive help of others. Sharing our thought with others, especially with the trustworthy people helps us recover as Shackleton did (He told his negative feeling to Frank Worsley, the captain when he was depressed in the middle of the terrible expedition).

   I hate regret because it is very uncomfortable, but on the other hand I love it because I can be developed from the mistake. For getting better, I may need people's help, so I want to be willing to give a hand to others, too.

RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Teacher's leadership

  Nowadays, bullying is rampant among children at school. According to Shinkichi Sugimori, who is a professor of Tokyo Gakugei University, teacher’s character is highly connected to bullying. So, they have to have a character which tends to supress bullying. This paper will seek the way to bring up such ideal teachers because to grow up those teachers can contribute to the extermination of bullying. Ministry of Education’s research shows the increase of the number of bullying (2014). As written above, Sugimori’s report reveals the relation between teacher’s character and bullying (2012). About how to grow up ideal teachers, there are two research papers which have fine information(Craig, Bell & Leschied, 2011; Allen, 2010). An investigation has a successful example about building favorable leadership (Seki, Takaoka, J. Misumi & E. Misumi, 2007)

   Probably, most of you have witnessed bullying in your school days, and actually, I have seen it at every stage from elementary school to high school. When I was in junior high school, there was a boy who always bullied someone. He seemed to have been bullied in the past, so he apparently attacked people to defend himself from bullying in advance. Everyone should have stopped his bullying together, however, everyone including me could not do nothing for that. From the time, I have thought bullying was a serious problem which only produced negative spiral, and also I came to have doubts toward such a school environment where no one could raise their voice against bullying.

   There are many things which can be causes of bullying, and one of the cause is teacher's character (whether strict or not, etc). We know bullying is bad because teachers taught us, however, bullying is still around many schools. It shows that to give knowledge to students is not effective, or rather, it has been sufficiently done so far. Bullying is not only a problem among students but also a problem which adults should consider. So, from now, teachers should think about what they can do for bullying as the only adults in the classrooms except for teaching that bullying is bad without regarding it as a problem only students have to concern. At the first step, I want teachers to know that to change their behavior can be one of the solutions for bullying.

MY GROWTH

    I have a coming-of-age ceremony tomorrow, so I write about my growth in my character until now.

    When I was an elementary school student, I could not do anything only by myself. I followed my friends and did almost everything in the same way as them. For some strange reason, I may have believed unconsciously that to be different from others is something embarrassing.

    However, one of my friends who I met in junior high school liked to be different from others. She could take an action based on her thought, not following others. She was really opposite to me. I was surprised that there are such independent people in the world, and also I realized that the different behavior from other people was no problem. Since then, I started trying to make a decision only by myself.

    From junior high school, I got to be able to do something following my thought, moreover, from high school, I became capable of telling my opinion to others even if there are many opponents depending on the situation (but I am still not good at talking on the academic issues because it takes a long time for me to come up with one idea). Many of you will think that these are easy to do, but for me, this was really hard, which is unbelievable for what I was in the past. I really feel my growth by writing this process of my development.

    Now, I try to read books for improving my vocabulary in order to express my thought clearly. I want to grow up more! So, even if I can succeed in achieving that, I will continue to set some goals again and again to make myself better.


    (I will add a picture after the ceremony.)

SHACKLETON CH 3

●Spread the spirit of optimism

    Leader's behavior has a big impact on their members both positively and negatively. Once leaders show their negative feeling, the members will never be positive. So, even in a terrible condition, Shackleton kept smiling in order to make an optimistic mood among them. Even when he told the crews that he had already been sure that the ship would be unusable in months or in days, Shackleton did not make a sad face so that he can prevent crew members from pessimism as much as possible. Moreover, at the same time, he also expressed his optimistic thought. Shackleton said that he was enthusiastic about the next adventures, and promised that they could get over the present difficulty based on thorough researches by books and maps.

    It is hard for the most people including me to behave positively when we are in despair, but Shackleton could do so despite that a person who was in the most fearful state in the expedition members was clearly Shackleton himself. I think this is because he succeeded in instilling optimism into himself in a correct way. If we get to be optimistic inappropriately, we will be apart from the reality or be discouraged in the middle of a terrible condition that makes us more depressed. To avoid those two bad results, I find "Reality-based research" is very effective. An assured investigation helps us keep clinging to the actual world, and also that gives us hope for success if we have a confident to the research.

    I write "Do something tentatively" (This may be Optimism) is nice in the last blog because that removes the negative feeling from members by the concentration on what they are doing tentatively, and makes members closer by doing something together. And also, I write I want to do something after thinking a lot with a certainty (This may be Pessimism). As you can see, I thought "Tentatively" (Optimism) could not be together with "Certainly" (Pessimism), but now it turns out to be wrong, or rather, the thorough thinking makes it possible to take an action tentatively. Shackleton could be optimistic and his positive behavior made crews optimistic, too because he may have a self-confidence based on the narrow investigation adhering to the reality. I will try to have a thorough investigation toward anything to be an optimistic leader who can inspire others optimistically.