The Language Teacher
03 - 2000
Mutual Benefits of Chapter and SIG Cooperation
David Brooks
West Tokyo Chapter Program Chair
Membership Secretary, Culture SIG (Forming)
Chapter Cooperation
A year ago, the March 1999 column was devoted to describing how neighboring JALT Chapters, such as those in the Tokyo metropolitan area, were finding ways to enhance professional development programs for their members by building partnerships and by joint sponsorship of area-wide events. Since that time, the Tokyo metro Chapters have hosted Guy Cook of the University of Reading, shared support for Dick Allwright as Kantos JALT99 4-Corner speaker, jointly sponsored the Tokyo Metro Mini-Conference in December, held joint Chapter meetings, and started a co-chapter newsletter between West Tokyo and Yokohama. The exciting prospects for continued cooperation seem almost imperative based on the success thus far.
Chapter and SIG Cooperation
Perhaps as a hallmark of the maturity of JALT as a professional teaching association or in response to the constraints of a less-than-vibrant economy and shrinking membership, an equally important trend in intra-association cooperation is indeed noteworthy. JALT Chapters and Special Interest Groups are communicating and supporting each other, engaging in joint planning of events, and cosponsoring new opportunities for JALT members with increasing frequency and with apparent enthusiasm. It was not much more than a year ago that the general tenor of the discussion on JALT mailing lists and at Executive Board Meetings seemed to highlight the rivalry between Chapters and SIGs. A cacophony of arguments about inequalities in funding, the definition of JALT membership, and predictions of the demise of Chapters made for confounding voices until the reality of applied economics firmly put down its heavy foot. Competition, while providing valuable pressure for advancing into new territory, cannot replace the sustained growth brought on by cooperation.
Both Chapter and SIG officers now seem to more widely appreciate the mutual benefits that cooperation affords. Some of the major advantages of JALT Chapters and SIGs working together are shared staffing of events, increased publicity through use of both SIG and Chapter newsletters, benefits reaped from planning for and gaining experience in specific types of events or projects, pooling of resources (meeting locations, expertise, mailings, program brochures, photography and reporting), ability to tackle more ambitious events, such as one- or two-day conferences, joint financial support, and sharing of event proceeds.
Examples of Such Cooperation at West Tokyo Chapter
The West Tokyo Chapter has been fortunate to have been able to cooperate with various Special Interest Groups during the recent past and will do so again in the near future. We held the Second Annual Symposium on Bilingualism in Tokyo in cooperation with the Bilingualism SIG and hope to make it an annual event, drawing even wider participation. Our Chapter co-hosted the CALL SIG National Conferences in 1996 and 1998 and will be supporting CUE SIG as it presents the CUE Mini-Conference on May 20 and 21. Along with the Teacher Education SIG, we were sponsors of Andy Curtis, a Conference Institute Speaker at JALT99. The success of the recent Tokyo Metro Mini-Conference on December 5 was due to the essential and valuable cooperation between the Teaching Children SIG, the Junior/Senior High SIG, and our Chapter. The majority of mutual benefits mentioned above were achieved through cooperating for these events. In the future, we envision new types of events and projects where West Tokyo and its fellow Chapters can work together with JALT SIGs. We hope someday to participate in a multi-chapter themed retreat where the program would be created by supporting SIGs. Additionally envisioned, publication of teacher resource materials, research monographs, and mini-conference proceedings could be brought about through cooperation between SIGs and Chapters. Plans for a JALT Metro Tokyo Conference are in the early stages for either 2001 or 2002.
How to Encourage Cooperation
How can Chapters and SIGs go about building cooperative relationships? The most important step is the realization that the mutual benefits of cooperation are too great to overlook, hence the purpose of this article. Next, the groups need to start communicating. Every Chapter has both officers and active members who are supporting participants of JALT Special Interest Groups and the opposite is equally true. They should act as conduits to channel important communication between SIG and Chapter officers. Program and publicity officers for both groups should frequently contact each other for programming advice and to keep all informed of upcoming events. SIGs might appoint regional liaison officers to coordinate communication with specific Chapters, while Chapters could be encouraged to elect SIG liaison officers to improve communication and cooperative efforts especially where there are no local members directly involved in a specific SIG. Finally, working together starts to become second nature when there is a shared vision by the leaders of both Chapters and SIGs as to how cooperation can help them achieve the overall goals of JALT: the improvement of language learning and teaching in Japan.
David Brooks
West Tokyo Chapter Program Chair
Membership Secretary, Culture SIG (Forming)
(Editors' Note)
The coeditors of this column encourage 800-850 word reports (in English,
Japanese, or a combination of both) from Chapters and SIGs alike.
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