The Language Teacher
05 - 2001
What a difference a chapter makes
Keith Lane
Miyazaki International College
To apply a double-entendre, despite Miyazaki JALT's small size and very brief history, it is a chapter chock-full of pages of professional involvement in JALT. The record of this chapter serves to demonstrate the value and benefit a chapter-- even a small one -- can have for the organization.
Miyazaki Chapter was formed in a dynamic surge of energy in 1996. At the time, however, doubt was raised as to the efficacy of establishing small chapters, each requiring operating budgets and additional funding. "How much does it cost to finance a chapter?" and "What is the cost efficient breakeven point in chapter size?" These questions were repeatedly proposed to serve as a litmus test of chapter viability, but reflect a misconception that the real working capital of JALT is financial rather than the volunteer energies of our membership. So, I would like to outline how establishing Miyazaki Chapter has profited JALT.
Firstly, Miyazaki membership has remained fairly stable over an extended period of gradual national membership decline. Yes, we are small -- fewer than forty-- with membership consisting of mostly foreign faculty of local colleges and universities. Taken as a whole, however, Miyazaki membership figures are not something to disparage. Against the background of the considerably lower wages earned in Miyazaki -- arguably Japan's least economically developed prefecture -- a very conservative and institution-centered career ethic, and faculty downsizing as well as severely restricted operating budgets, Miyazaki's membership stability is respectable. Locally, we see much of the profession in retreat: informal study groups dissolving, an annual seminar with over a decade of success discontinued, and opportunities curtailed. Our many efforts to cultivate more participation among AETs, secondary school teachers, children's teachers, and other segments of our local teaching community have met with mixed success. Even early on, we were able to stage events drawing large audiences of appreciative non-members who nonetheless fail to join. Perhaps that will some day change, but we have learned not to hold our breath. However, by focusing on community service, we have furthered the JALT mission in a place where it is greatly needed.
While we are not large, we are very active. The effects of that activity spread regionally. Strong ties with other Kyushu chapters support an informal but resilient and dynamic fraternity promoting JALT's mission. Much of this good fortune we owe to collaborative programming. Miyazaki Chapter deserves mention for its initiative in this regard. In 1998, Miyazaki initiated and hosted the first Pan-Kyushu Retreat, which each year serves as a planning and networking opportunity and a catalyst for other collaborations. Likewise, the impetus for the first Kyushu Distinguished Lecture Tour in 1999, as well as regional coordination of Four Corners Tours in recent years was initiated here. Collaboration enables all Kyushu chapters to capitalize on efforts, stretch budgets, and extend the sense of inclusiveness. The attractiveness of JALT in all communities is enhanced through this mutual involvement.
Threads of Miyazaki are woven into so much of the fabric of JALT. Miyazaki Chapter has the highest level of subscriptions to SIGs as a percentage of its membership. While in terms of real numbers, this subscription ratio is just a drop in the bucket, in terms of leadership in a few select SIGs, the Miyazaki presence is very significant. Over the past few years alone, beginning in 1998, Miyazaki members have filled no fewer than fifteen key positions in College & University Education, Professionalism in Administration and Language Education, and Learner Development SIGs. In the same period, Miyazaki member names have appeared nearly two dozen times in the table of contents of The Language Teacher in addition to the regular and substantial editorial work they do. Miyazaki appears to lead the pack in terms of presentation proposals to the annual conferences as well, and was represented in key areas in the JALT2000 conference programming. Two of JALT's official representatives to other Asian conferences during 2000 were Miyazaki members. We are likely to see even greater involvement for Miyazaki members in the future; Miyazaki members have put their names forward in two of the past three Director elections.
The difference a chapter can make as a gateway and conduit for leadership talent and collaboration is very significant. It is wrong to consider a chapter merely as a membership-harvesting vehicle. One small chapter's contributions can be so much more profound. Miyazaki's potential for positively affecting "the bottom line" has more to do with its galvanizing affect on other JALT institutions than whatever improvements it might make in membership numbers. Given Miyazaki Prefecture's small population, lack of economic stature, and overall professional conservatism, the chapter will inevitably remain small in size, but in other ways, it has already proven itself a giant.
Keith Lane, Miyazaki Chapter Vice President,
Miyazaki International College, <klane@miyazaki-mic.ac.jp>
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