"MacDonald helped "crack the seal" on Japan. He gave American officials hints on how to impress the Japanese, and equipped Japanese officials with tools for understanding the intruders. His life was, and is, a bridge between wildly different cultures, races, and eras."

In 1848, Ranald MacDonald--son of a Hudson's Bay Company official and Chinook Indian princess--convinced the captain of an American whaling ship to cast him adrift in a rowboat off the northern Japanese coast. Held captive for nearly a year, MacDonald taught English to Japanese interpreters, some of whom interpreted for Commodore Perry when the U.S. Navy forced Japan to open its doors to outsiders in the 1850s. After his release, MacDonald traveled the world before returning to the Pacific Northwest to join the British Columbia gold rush.

Variant spellings of MacDonald include McDonald, Macdonald, Macdonell, MacDonell, and McDonell. .

In 1848, Ranald MacDonald--son of a Hudson's Bay Company official and Chinook Indian princess--convinced the captain of an American whaling ship to cast him adrift in a rowboat off the northern Japanese coast. Held captive for nearly a year, MacDonald taught English to Japanese interpreters, some of whom interpreted for Commodore Perry when the U.S. Navy forced Japan to open its doors to outsiders in the 1850s. After his release, MacDonald traveled the world before returning to the Pacific Northwest to join the British Columbia gold rush.

Part of the well-known Staff and Educational Development Series, this practice oriented book brings together leading research and evaluation approaches and supporting case studies from leading educational researchers and innovative teachers. With much emphasis on change, innovation and developing best practice in higher education, it is essential that those involved in actually developing, researching or implementing approaches to teaching, learning or management, are informed by the experiences of others. The emphasis of this book is on changing practice in HE; how developments come about; what research underpins desirable development; and the impact of development of student learning, staff expertise and institutional practice and policy. Specifically, the book is developed in two themed parts: Part A, Supporting change within subjects and departments. Part B, Supporting change within institutions and the wider environment.

MacDonald was the son of a Scotsman and a Chinook woman. While still young, he met shipwrecked Japanese sailors and developed a fascination for Japan. In 1845 he was a sailor on the Plymouth, a whaling ship. As it neared Japan, he convinced the captain to set him off in a small boat to land as a shipwrecked sailor in Japan. He was made a prisoner and used by the Japanese to teach English. In 1849, the American warship USS Preble under Captain James Glynn rescued MacDonald and other stranded sailors. Some of his students were involved the negotiations with Commodore Matthew Perry to open Japan to foreigners. MacDonald wrote of his experiences and favorable evaluation of the Japanese to the U.S. Congress. MacDonald traveled to Australia and Europe before returning to Washington state.