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Miss Haruko Ota, a third grade teacher, peeks over the shoulder of Brenda Sheets, 10, daughter of Master Sgt. and Mrs. W. G. Sheets, as pupils with the right answer raise their hands in their Kadena Air Base fourth grade classroom at Kadena, Okinawa, March 21, 1958. (Don Hausser/Stars and Stripes)
This article first appeared in the Stars and Stripes Pacific — Okinawa edition, Mar. 23, 1958. It is republished unedited in its original form.
KADENA AB, Okinawa — Forty-nine Okinawan educators got a first-hand look at American educational methods Friday and were surprised that American students “feel so much at ease in school.”
“There’s a nice relaxed feeling between students and teachers that is interesting to see.: said Kasei Kisegawa, chairman of the Myamae Primary School Parent-Teacher Assn.
Kisegawa along with the group of educators and members of the Parent-Teacher Associations of the Kadena Elementary and Junior High Schools and the Myamae Primary School, toured the Kadena AB Dependent Elementary School.
The visit was sponsored by the Ryukyuan-American Community Relations Committee. It included a tour of the classes, recreational facilities and administration offices at the school.
“There seems to be a very nice proportion of students to each class,” said Sanae Ikehara, chairman of the Kadena Junior High School PTA. “In our schools it is not unusual to have 50 to 60 pupils. Perhaps that is why we have stricter discipline.”
Ikehara added that he thought Ryukyuan history and culture were not stressed enough in Ryukyuan schools. “We used Japanese books printed after the war by Japanese Ministry of Education, but I feel that these are insufficient for our needs.”
His sentiments were echoed by Miss Haruko Ota, a third-grade teacher in the Kadena Elementary School. Miss Ota noted that there are 250 elementary and junior high schools in Okinawa which are overflowing with 120,000 students.
“Our greatest needs,” she said, “are more books, libraries and most of all, teachers.”
The group was divided into three parts which toured different sections of the school simultaneously. They were led by Mrs. Alice Johnson, principal of the Kadena school; Miss Dorothy McDonald, assistant principal and Maj. Daniel Ringle, military personnel officer, 6313th AB Wing, and chairman of the Ryukyuan-American Community Relations Committee.
Maj. Ringle, who in his second capacity helps solve problems of Ryukyuans living near the base, said that visits like these are “good” because they help promote better understanding “of how and why we do things and how we think.”
