Japanese Magic Lantern: The Minwa-za Company of Tokyo and the Art of Utsushi-e

I've posted on IHEC Blog in the past about the exposure my daughter (and son) is getting in her school this academic year to countries, cultures and issues across the globe (see links below).  This exposure is not new as it has been happening since she entered the Nursery school.  My son is in Kindergarten and in his three years at the school he has learned about such things as Diwali and had Greek celebrations in his classroom.  


This morning her class will learn how to make lanterns and in the afternoon they will watch a traditional theatrical performance of Utsushi-e, a classical style of theater that uses lanterns and puppetry! 


More on this event today and additional performances this week through Saturday are available here.


Related posts:
The internationalization of Room 404 [a 3rd grade class at The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools]
Cranes of Hope For Japan Relief fundraiser

The internationalization of Room 404 [a 3rd grade class at The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools]

I feel very fortunate that my children are able to attend the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools.  It’s truly an incredible place on so many levels!

Of particular interest to me this year is the international focus in my daughter's 3rd grade class!  Following are some of the main internationally focused projects of from her class this year:

- Towards the end of second grade students and parents had to select a language to begin in 3^rd grade.  Language offerings were Chinese, French, German and Spanish.  We spent a bit of time discussing the various languages with my daughter and in the end my daughter chose Spanish.

-       - Back in October to coincide with Halloween my daughter’s class participated in the Trick-OrTreat for UNICEF program!  The children collected over $300 and then used the information from the back of the collection box to see what their money could be used for—vaccinations for 20+ children, fresh drinking water, blankets, and school supplies for needy children.

-       - The children also had to bring in a pumpkin for a painted pumpkin globe class project.  The children painted their pumpkins blue, placed their equator and prime meridian to place Africa first and then traced the other 6 continents onto their globes.  Finally they painted and put labels on the continents and oceans.  After finishing their pumpkin globes the children began looking more closely at each continent.  They examined Atlases to find locations of countries, landforms, and special features of each continent.

-       - The class started a Global Grains project and in autumn started with South America then on to Asia and the Middle East where they cooked Tabbouleh, potato samosas, and rice noodle stir-fry and recently to Australia where the grains of study were wheat and waddle seed. The children made Waddle Seed Biscuits and meat and vegetable pies. They also got to sample a taste of Vegemite!   

-      -  In January the children prepared and presented reports on Asia to the other third grade classes.  After taking and organizing notes, each group composed a page long report on their assigned research topic. 

-       - Immediately following the class presentations on Asia the children met with their Kindergarten buddies to write and decorate letters to the families in Honduras that were receiving class/family donations of baby supplies.  The kindergarteners had drawn many (adorable) pictures of babies and hearts that were cut out and pasted around the letter for decoration.  The third graders helped their buddies choose a message to write around the border and together they composed a short note to the families.  Additionally, the children received the names and photos of children in the village and the class wrote letters to specific children as well.  Students taking Spanish helped with some basic Spanish phrases to include.

   - German Club pretzels! – This long-standing tradition of selling bakery fresh pretzels every Thursday began with Lab’s first German teacher.  My five year old son particularly likes this and every Thursday a different Kindergarten student is responsible for taking pretzel orders, collecting money, purchasing and distributing pretzels.  Proceeds fund the Pretzel Scholarship for one Lab student to participate in the school’s three week exchange in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg (reminds me of my high school exchange program).


This photo is of the morning welcome sign on my son's Kindergarten class door at Lab: "Hip Hop Hooray We Will Learn About Diwali Today!"  How awesome is that?!  Each student in the class received their own Diwali candle which we have at home (in fact we have two as my daughter was in this same Kindergarten class and also learned about and celebrated Diwali!).

What is really great is that the academic year is not over yet so I’m excited to see what the next internationally focused homework/project will focus on!

The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, 1896-1904 (the Dewey Years)

The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools are internationally known and respected. In order to fully understand and appreciate the factors that led to the establishment of the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools (known as the Dewey School from 1896 to 1901) one must not only inform themselves on John Dewey and his educational philosophy but also on William Rainey Harper, the first president of the University of Chicago. A third individual who was influential to the organization and early development of the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools was Colonel Francis Wayland Parker. The following brief description provides some historical context and reveals the relationships between John Dewey, William Rainey Harper and Colonel Francis Parker.

One cannot discuss the history of the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, specifically the first years of the school, without giving significant credit given to William Rainey Harper. President Harper, along with John D. Rockefeller, had the early vision to make the University of Chicago a world class institution of higher education. During the first few years of the University of Chicago’s existence, President Harper was charged with the task of recruiting educational leaders from across the country to become faculty members. Although John Dewey was first to make contact with President Harper, it was President Harper who understood and agreed with Dewey’s vision and invited Dewey to Chair the Department of Philosophy and allowing him to develop the University of Chicago into a leader in pedagogy. Two years prior to coming to the University of Chicago to Chair the Department of Philosophy in 1896, John Dewey wrote to President Harper informing him what other institutions, including Cornell, Harvard, and Columbia, were doing in the fields of pedagogy and experimental psychology (Harms and DePencier, p. 3). It is notable that in 1894, when John Dewey wrote President Harper, the University of Chicago was only two years old and it was already being compared to the Ivy League. John Dewey’s tenure at the University of Chicago was from 1894 to 1904 until his departure to Columbia University.

After the Civil War, Colonel Parker served as the school Superintendent in Quincy, Massachusetts and then came to Chicago in 1880 to serve as Principle of the Cook County Normal School. In 1899 a wealthy philanthropist from Chicago, Mrs. Emmons Blaine, wanted to start a private school called the Chicago Institute to serve as a teachers college under the leadership of Colonel Francis Parker. Mrs. Blaine’s commitment to provide one million dollars was very appealing to President Harper and the Chicago Institute became the School of Education at the University of Chicago in 1901 (Harmes and DePencier, p. 7) or 1902 (Mayhew and Edwards, p. 12). The Dewey School had already been operational under the direction of John Dewey and the University’s Department of Pedagogy for approximately five years by the time that Colonel Parker and his Chicago Institute began their affiliation with the University of Chicago. Both Dewey and Parker were progressive but held many differing views on education. Parker’s school was heavily endowed while Dewey’s school had no endowment. For a couple of years, the University of Chicago operated two separate elementary schools, the Dewey Laboratory School and the Parker University Elementary School (Harms and DePencier, p. 7). In 1902 (Harmes and DePencier, p. 8) or 1903 (Mayhew and Edwards, p. 14), Colonel Parker died and after much discussion between President Harper and the trustees, Harper agreed to merge the two schools along with two other local schools (The Chicago Manual Training School and the South Side Academy) and John Dewey became head of the School of Education at the University of Chicago (Mayhew and Edwards, p. 14).


References

Harms, W., & DePencier, I. (1996). Experiencing education: 100 years of learning at The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. Orland Park, IL: Alpha Beta Press.

Mayhew, K.C. & Edwards, A.C. (1966). The Dewey School: The Laboratory School at The University of Chicago, 1896-1903. New York: Atherton Press.