Against Nihilism and Egoism

Let's Show the Best of Culture and Give Chances for Self-Expression to All Students

Suzuki Mitsuharu

chairperson of the Executive Committee

  Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Hamamatsu from north and south, and all parts of the country.  We are heartily grateful to you all for taking part in this national meeting of " Shin Eiken " ( National Association of English Teachers ).  

  We hope during the convention you will exchange your everyday English teaching experiences and listen to the reports of some of this country's best teachers. We hope you will renew old friendship and make new friends here.

  Well, we are now living in stormy times. And children are worrying. Those children who refuse to attend school to about 100,000. Dropouts from high school add up to about 100,000 every year. These are serious social problems.

  We grown-ups are responsible for these children's worries. Some politicians and high-ranking officials work for their own profits. They are egoists. And there is an overflow of information in which students are at a loss. In this ailing society children do not know what to do, lose confidence, and end up in nihilism. What can English teachers do in such a situation?

  Let's bring up our students so that they can find out the tricks of egoistic leaders. Let's develop their ability to select in a flood of information. To do so we should show students the best, for example, speeches of great leaders, etc., and help them to establish the standards for judging which is good and which is bad. We, teachers of Shin Eiken, have a wonderful tradition of teaching English with good materials and helping students to build up their own characters.

  In this poor uneducational environment, let's give our students the best of the world's culture and chances for self-expression.

  We sincerely hope this meeting will become one of your good memories and helpful for your daily teaching back at school.

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