Barkstall art teacher Grant Thomas bought a tea bowl at Japan House’s Matsuri Festival, and found inspiration for incorporating the traditional Japanese tea ceremony into his art curriculum for the year. Typically students do a clay project, where they shape and paint and fire their pieces, so he decided to have them create their own tea bowls. After making a connection with Japan House through some professional development, he reached out and asked Director Jennifer Gunji-Ballsrud if she could bring a tea ceremony to the students.
This is one of those “wow, teachers are amazing at making connections across curriculum areas and subjects” situations. For the 3rd and 4th grade students that participated in the project, this goes beyond the lessons learned through creating and using a specific medium. Thomas’ project brought cultural significance as well as broader character principles to their learning experience. Gunji-Ballsrud saw the project as a way to further Japan House’s reach into the community, and something that will maybe inspire some of the kids to want to visit in the future.
As Gunji-Ballsrud and Japan House Assistant Diana Liao prepared and led the class through the steps of the tea ceremony, the students were introduced to Japanese traditions and customs: When and how to bow, why you don’t wear shoes on a Tatami mat, drinking the last bit of tea with a slurp, and more generally the concepts of considering others, acknowledging those around you, focusing on what’s in front of you at that moment, being attentive to every step and not rushing through, and staying quiet to take in the sounds — a lot of things that don’t necessarily come naturally to 8-10 year olds, or really any of us.
Gunji-Ballsrud explained that the Japanese writing means “One life, one opportunity.” This tea ceremony, this moment, will never happen again in the exact same way.
3rd graders Anshika and Parker participated in the tea ceremony alongside Thomas, as the others looked on, and they did a wonderful job of following the detailed instructions given by Gunji-Ballsrud. I got a chance to talk to them after class, and they both learned something new. Parker did not know that there was such thing as green teas (they had Matcha tea), and Anshika learned that “bowing was respectful in Japanese culture.”
They unanimously, and unsurprisingly, voted eating the sweets as their favorite part of the experience.
Photos by Kwamé Nyerere Thomas