Job Discussion Forums

[John Hall]

Here is something that I have written as part of a course that I am taking on teaching and constructivism. I thought it might be interesting to post it here. I taught English in Japan between 1995 and 1999, so perhaps things have changed a bit since then. If so, let me know...

When I think of the seven principles of good university teaching, which derive from constructivism, I see them as being in direct contrast to teaching as it is done in Japanese universities. Although I never taught in a Japanese university myself, while I was in Japan, I knew several English teachers working in Japanese universities, and they told me quite a bit about how things were done in those institutions.

1. Promotion of contact between professor and students:

In Japanese universities, there is no contact between professor and student outside of the classroom.

2. Development of reciprocity and cooperation among students:

In Japanese universities, there is none. Each student works on their own.

3. Active Learning:

Japanese university students can graduate from their universities without ever having spoken a word in class!

4. Quick Feedback:

What feedback? Japanese professors never speak to students as individuals. It is also not part of their job to care about students. Their only job is to be an expert in their area of study.

5. Emphasis on the programming of homework:

Homework? What homework? There are a few tests to write, but they are not difficult. The difficult thing about a Japanese university is the entrance exam to get into the university. Those are notoriously difficult. But once a student is accepted into a university, it is pretty smooth sailing from then on.

6. Communication of high expectations:

As I have already said, Japanese professors are really only required to be experts in their field of study. They are not motivators in any way whatsoever.

7. Respect for the diversity of talents and styles of learning:

Well, to begin with, let me point out that in kindergarten in Japan, all students are required to learn how to write with their right hand only. Left-handedness is forbidden in school. You will never see a Japanese person write with their left hand. So is there any respect for different talents and styles of learning? Of course not. Besides, there is only one way to learn things in Japan: by rote memorization. That is the only skill you need to pass the exams.

[canuck]

[Gordon]

John, I disagree with most of what you have written. I have been teaching in a Japanese university the past 5 years and much of what you have written is not true, from my experiences.
Japanese profs have regular contact with students, all students in my university have an advisor (a prof) which they have contact with regularly. When a student does not show up for classes or behaves badly, we contact their advisor.
Students do need to speak in a class, from my experiences, if they want to pass. This may not be true in a big lecture class, but that is the same in most unis anywhere in the world.

The past few years, entrance exams have gotten easier as unis here are getting more relaxed on their requirements. Competition is not as fierce as it was once as there are fewer students in HS than before. This trend will continue.

John, I generally agree with much of what you have written about on Dave's, but if you are going to write a paper on Japanese unis and profs, I suggest you base it more than a "couple friends who once taught in a J uni".

[John Hall]

Well, I was in Japan a few years ago, so maybe things have changed. That's why I posted here: to find out if things were still that way.

Those were not just a couple of friends who taught briefly at a J university. Two of these friends were full-time English professors at universities in Kyoto. I should point out that they did not teach their English courses in such a teacher-centred fashion, but they pointed out this was basically how things were done in other courses.

[Brooks]

these are quite a few generalizations that you posted.
Entrance exams are only tough for the best universities.
Many private universities don`t have high standards so the tests aren`t difficult.
Things are getting tough since there are fewer students applying for universities.
Some universities will probably close since there aren`t enough students.
Exams at many universities (mostly private) are easier since there are fewer students taking the tests.
Schools want to survive.

"Japanese professors never speak to students as individuals" - well some may but I can`t say all are like that. Nor can I say that there is no contact between professors and students outside classrooms. Sometimes, yes.

[taikibansei]

[may be going]

like others preceding me, i have to disagree with almost everything that you've written, for the most part because it is mass generalisation. in your response to gordon, you said you based your ideas on 2 profs in kyoto, who basically said........no offense but that's not really good enough for a paper.

for a general discussion perhaps but not a paper.

anyway, as gordon said, my experiences are almost at polar opposites to your points. all of them. at my univ. students and teachers have a lot of contact and rapport. they also meet teachers often and receive a healthy amount of homework, from japanese and foreign teachers.

and the right-hand left-hand argument is pretty weak for a paper.

i think you need to do a bit more research on the topic if you want an academic point of view. if not, discussion is fine but i think you'll find most will disagree, at least in part, with what you said.

[taikibansei]

[Glenski]

[movinaround]

I agree with others and I think you need to work out how you came to those conclusions and if your basis and research will meet a graduate degree professors standards.

[Smooth Operator]

Hi. I have been working in Japanese universities for 5 years, at all those 3 different levels that taikibansei mentioned, and I can concur with the other posters that you are hopelessly misinformed on almost all of your points. The certainly with which you wrote such is also comical.

I wonder if anyone with experience of Japanese universities will be marking that paper because it deserves a fail and nothing else.

[gaijinalways]

1 Definately not true. Even part-timers have some contact with students outside of class. Also, at quite a few universities full timers are required to run a club or circle, which often has their students in it.

2 Depends on the class, as noted by posters before. Unfortunately with many Japanese lecturers, less is more (like one voice).

3 Depends on the class.

4 No, that's not true. Some of them deal with some real basket cases, wrecked families, etc.

5 Homework is minimal in a lot of Japanese lecturer classes, but not all.

6 Yes unfortunately, usually true.

[John Hall]

Hmm.... well, I certainly have provoked discussion!

Perhaps I posted the original message a little too hastily. My original title was "Teaching Methodology Based on Constructivism Vs. the Traditional Way of Teaching in Japanese Universities." However, that was too long, so I cut it down to "Constructivism vs. Japanese Universities," which I now realize was too much of an oversimplification. I definitely should not have left out the word "traditional." I think that I should also point out that Kyoto has always been a more conservative place than others in Japan, and that that would probably apply to the universities there as well.

I will certainly concede that I was totally wrong about 1) and 2). However, I would still argue that it used to be the case that a Japanese student could pass university (at least in the Kyoto area) without ever speaking a word in class. Okay, I do not remember what the status was of the professors who told me this, but I certainly found that one of the most difficult things for me to do in many of my English classes in Japan was to get the students, the vast majority of whom were university-educated, to actually speak in class. Okay, there were many reasons for that: shyness, that fact that their co-workers and supervisors were present in the same class, tendency toward perfectionism, "the nail that sticks out gets hammered down," feeling uncomfortable in the presence of a foreigner, etc. But what I really came to believe toward the latter part of my time in Japan was that many of my students had never had the experience of voicing their own opinion in a classroom before, had never had the opportunity to be active learners before, and had never experienced the classroom as a place to practice a skill in order to get better at it.

I will also stand behind my statement that at least when I was in Japan, none of my students were left-handed because it had been prohibited throughout their education. I remember my Japanese friends telling me all about this. Also, I never saw a left-handed student desk the whole time I was in Japan. Apparently, that has changed now, and I am glad to hear it.

Finally, I will admit that my first post was not meant for a paper. It was, in fact, something I posted on an electronic discussion board for the course that I am taking.

[Glenski]

[Gordon]

In many countries, you weren't supposed to write with your left hand. My Dad used to get hit if he wrote with his left hand and this was in Canada. Things change slowly in Japan.