I am preparing to leave Japan and stop teaching English for Activists, a conversation circle that has been running in Tokyo for over ten years. As one step in thinking about how to continue EFA without me, I asked the group to write on index cards the features or ingredients I bring as a teacher. The idea is to have an inventory of skills and characteristics so that they can think about how to get them from various sources. In fact, much of what I do in EFA can be done by the participants. The elements they do not have or can not provide they can get from other people.
This idea is related to a problem in democratic self-organization, for example in cooperatives, where skills, capacities and information get concentrated in the person of a manager or executive, who then appears to be indispensable. The solution is to "socializar el saber" as Arizmendiarrieta said, to disaggregate and redistribute the necessary skills, capacities and information on a democratic and liberatory basis.
So, here are my ingredients:
- Skills in improvisation
- Idealist
- Flexibility
- Curiosity (say, “interesting”)
- Interested in social movements
- Emphasizes gender equality
- Skill in moderation and inclusion
- Coordination skill, discussion, equity, make sure that every participant can say something and enjoy the class
- Games
- Give some hints
- Native speaker of English-only
- Accent
- Passion for humor
- English to connect grammar and spelling sometimes, but not always
- Good imagination
- Creativity
- Knowledge of and interest in current issues
- Doesn’t use Japanese
- Good memory (names and faces)
- Experience
- Connection to Labor Now
- Ability to guess