My name is Liam Mortimer. I am entering my second year at Project Genius, although this is my 5th year in Japan. I suppose it best to reflect myself, as Jason did, about my path here. 

I spent 3.5 years in the Jet Programme in Akita, northern Japan. When I first arrived, I was escaping a corporate job in Australia that I had no desire to return to but no real plan after that. Within my first year as an English teacher, I realised I genuinely enjoyed my work for the first time in my life and since then I’ve continued down that path. That has included working on getting further teaching credentials and moving to Tokyo for better career opportunities, which brought me here.

I work 5 days a week at an elementary school in Tokyo that prioritises English education. This year, we have changed how the curriculum is taught, which has been a collective effort by the English department. Taking part in the process has been eye-opening and a great experience for all involved. The goal is to accelerate learning by having native and non-native teachers teach from the chosen textbooks. This was not the case last year and the change has been positive.

At the elementary school level, we mainly focus on student's communication abilities in grades 1 and 2. However, many students at this school can read English well by grade 2 or 3, with some being native or near-native in their general English ability. As the current 1-4 grade students move up into the higher grades, they shall be moving up a textbook each time, which is in contrast to the previous system, which used 1 textbook for two grades. Hopefully, these new changes will allow our students to pursue more English-focused junior high schools in the future.

I look forward to the year ahead on this adventure and with Project Genius as well. 

Header image by Douglas P. Perkins, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons