At this point, I have no idea what I will be doing and where I will be after I finish this program. "Your pieces of Laos, and pieces of what you've been learning...all those pieces haven't come together yet. But they will," said a friend. The way she articulated where I am and where I am heading to was so perfect and I was thankful for her insight and encouragement. My life as… a pastor's kid in a country where the Christian population is less than 1%, a teenage EL student in a predominantly white school in Michigan where I experienced both love and othering, a studious, free spirited student at a college where I learned how belonging feels like, an EFL teacher in Tokyo where I learned how tough and rewarding teaching was, an educator in an international development consulting company that took me to amazing fellow Asian countries like Laos, Cambodia, India, Philippines, and Thailand, and a grad school resident in a project based school where I longed to be part of.
Indeed, all of that has not yet come together. But I'm at peace to say, it's okay. "Trust the process." "Stay present," as Katie Weisberg often says, a co-director of my master's program whom I am honored to call her my role model. Indeed, one thing has led me to next, and wherever it takes me to my next phase of my life, I'm bringing all of it and most importantly, the people. People who have been part of my life, people who have shaped me who I am today and who will continue to inspire me to do things that God wants me to do.
My long-term vision is to create a project based school in the city of Urayasu, my hometown in Japan. A school I aspire to create is committed to creating an equitable, transformative learning environment that cultivates deeper learning and liberation. It is learner-centered, grounded in love, where students feel they belong to the community. "If you oversimplify what learner-centered learning is...that's love. It should look like love, feel like love," said Carlos Moreno (2022), Executive Director at Big Picture Learning. When I heard him say this in his keynote address at the New School Creation Fellowship, I experienced a transformative moment. My experiences of being loved by educators and my knowledge of learner-centered learning came together. Experiences met theory. Theory met love.
I want the school to embody the qualities of progressive education. "When we say a school is progressive, the school is constantly evolving. The school is capable of changing," said John Santos (2022), a founding HTH educator who embodies what HTH cares and stands for, whom I am honored to translate his workshop on deeper learning to fellow educators in Japan in a few weeks. Such a school cares about making continuous improvements with and for students and the community. I need this school to serve a diverse population of students with a diverse team of teachers, accessible and inclusive to all children as much as possible.
It sounds too idealistic, but I keep thinking, "What if I meet the right people who share the same vision and who have the will, skills, resources, and guts to make it happen...?" When that happens, there will be countless nights where I will feel discouraged, stressed, and overwhelmed by the complexity of work. A work on a culture of excellence will surely be messy and challenging. At such a time like that, I want to come back to this paper and remind myself of the gifts I received−the solid glimpses of excellence I captured through observations and relationships. So may my response always be, "Somlandela, Somlandel'u Jesu. Lapho eyakona Somlandela."
Somlandela (w/ Love is Calling)
Love is calling out To everyone here in this place Love is calling out Will you go for me? Will you go for me?
Somlandela, Somlandel'u Jesu (We will follow, we will follow Jesus) Somlandela, yanke indawo (We will follow Him) Somlandela, Somlandel'u Jesu (We will follow, we will follow Jesus) Lapho eyakona Somlandela (Wherever He leads us, we will follow)
"Somlandela" (Zulu Traditional song) "Love Is Calling" (Song & Music by Greg Jorden & Njabulo “NJ” Kunene, 2017)