対応ｖ太陽 (Interaction versus The Sun)

From Jim Breen'S WWWJDIC: Word Search, an online Japanese/English dictionary -
対応 【たいおう】 (n,vs) (1) interaction; correspondence; coping with; dealing with; support; (2) {comp} software support; ability of a computer system to run specific software; (P) [Edit] [V][Ex][L][G][GI][S][A][W] [JW] (1) 私は敵意をもったまでも、冷ややかな対応を受けた。 I met with a cool, not to say hostile, reception.[Amend] (2) Windows95対応のゲームを動かしたいのです。 I want to run a Windows 95 game.[Amend]

太陽 【たいよう】 (n) sun; solar; (P) [Edit][Ex][L][G][GI][S][A][W] [JW] マリーゴールドは太陽とともに起きる。 The marigold rises with the sun.[Amend]

In Japanese, 対応する, pronounced “tai-oh-oo suru,” means to interact, correspond, cope with, deal with and support. It’s one of the main duties teachers have with their students.

During the morning meetings at school, teachers in Japan discuss strategies on how to interact with students and handle their issues the way that Vice Principals and their staff do in America. This is not to say that American teachers don’t care for their students. What it does mean is that Japanese take on more responsibility for and carry far more weight of the welfare of their students’ lives. There are some exceptional teachers in America who, every day, make great strides to improve the conditions of children’s lives. However, it is much more commonplace to see this kind of interaction among teachers and students in Japan.

I’m still studying Japanese and much of the learning I do comes just from listening. At those morning meetings, which remind me of team huddles right before a big match, I kept hearing the word 「太陽」する, pronounced “tai-yo-oo suru,” when referring to guiding the students in their particular circumstances. 太陽 literally means “the Sun” and I took it metaphorically that we were to guide the students as their sun, just as our own Sun warms and gives guidance to the planets of our solar system. Maybe I’m simply a poet or maybe I need to clean out my ears more. Whatever the case, it wasn’t until recently that I realized the mistake in listening I had made.

Yet, thinking about student guidance in this way initially gave me pause. Teachers, anywhere in the world, are very special to the students they teach. Teaching is not just a classroom, rote-memory practice activity. If is it, it should be transformed to modern times. Teaching is a unique interaction between children and adults who care for them in which the adults provide a role model, a sounding-board, a disciplinarian and, ultimately, a valued senior friend. We teachers have a lot to do to make this world a better place, one student at a time. Only time will tell, after generations come of age, if we did our job right.