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Dr.J · Joined: 09 May 2003 Posts: 304 Location: usually Japan

I've been here a little while, and seen the usual complaints, some justified, some not, and I'd like to present an alternate view as to why things are as they are. This isn't a long post!

The Japanese school system was designed to produce people of good moral character, not academic excellence. This carries on to the present day, though it has changed. What this means is that the Japanese school system is not based around making kids smarter, but making them try harder. This is why so many foreign teachers come here and go "Lord almighty!" when they see the majority of teaching methods applied here, for they truly are medieval. This is because many Japanese teachers spend their time focussing not on their students' individual academic abilities, but their ability to function as part of the class, and their stamina. This is what is prized in Japanese society.

I like to think of movies. "Western" heroes almost always succeed by some clever trick or plan. Japanese heroes succeed by just doing whatever they do harder, and often dying as a result.
This is how I at least understand the society.

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

PAULH · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 4672 Location: Western Japan

Kestrel · Joined: 15 May 2003 Posts: 31 Location: Kyoto, Japan

I'd venture to say that this is all pretty much in line with the way that schools anywhere in the world are. They're much more geared to properly socialize students and ensure that they'll be compliant members of society that don't run off and do anything too crazy. Anything you happen to learn is gravy along the way. Perhaps I overstate the case somewhat, but not all that much, I think. These days, schools also provide the immensely valuable service of keeping out workforce from being flooded by hordes of teenagers.

With this in mind, I would say that the difference is not that Japanese schools exist to socialize people whereas schools from back home (wherever that is) don't, but rather that the Japanese picture of a model citizen is different from one back home. That's why the schooling is different.

As far as the whole 'medieval teaching techniques' employed here--I wouldn't put my home too far above that mark--but maybe that's just a Catholic school thing.

Tom

Brooks · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1369 Location: Sagamihara

well I tell my brother about my school, he thinks I am working in the old Soviet Union.

In Japan, I would say effort is prized more than ability.
But it bugs me that the slowest and the smartest get less attention than the middle.

I think things are changing, but slowly.
One problem are the large class sizes. I don`t know how oral communication can be taught to 40 students.

I think Bushido is still alive but not as strongly as it was during the Edo bakufu.
In January for a week boys (except sannensei) have to get to school early in order to learn either judo or kendo.
Boys certainly aren`t enthused about having to wake up at 4:30 a.m. so they can practice barefoot on a cold gym floor. One of my male students told me that it was unfair that the girls didn`t have to participate.
For girls this is optional. Girls have the option of cooking breakfast for the boys (that bugs me). At our junior high, the girls, boys and teachers have to run a marathon and spend a week getting ready for it. They are both in January, when the weather is coldest. Just like girls wear a skirt even if it is snowing. It is all about gaman.

I feel that our sports day is celebrated the way that North Korea would celebrate it. Girls and boys are separated. They do want to include everybody, but for those that don`t care for sports it is a drag.

One teacher told me that boys need discipline. At my school I would say that the girls are doing better than the boys, which is the case in other developed countries.

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

Brooks · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1369 Location: Sagamihara

I am fortunate that I don`t have to teach 42 kids in one classes like I did a few years ago.
Glenski, your answers are obvious and I agree but we are in the time of budget cuts.
One teacher I work with has two classes of 35 students. There is no one to help him out. I would, but I have to teach at the same time (about 30 students), as does another American teacher who is full-time.
I have let my boss know about this, and I asked a part-time teacher to help out but he said no. His answer? "tough. Deal with it."
I think there will be changes next year, but until kimatsu in March, we have to do the best we can.

Dr.J · Joined: 09 May 2003 Posts: 304 Location: usually Japan

Thanks for the replies.

Maybe 'medieval' was a little too strong, but the fact is that most teachers, even from very bad western schools, realise that the methods of teaching English are very ineffective. I know that Japan leads the world with their maths and science test scores, so I have no real beef with that, apart from what PAULH said about squeezing the original thoughts out of students.

I don't think the function of schools back home is to socialize to the extent that japanese schools do. A lot of it is more about being an individual and figuring out things for yourself. I was struck by the amount of copying done in my classes here in japan, but it's par for the course. There's no shame in 'stealing' someone's idea - which also means no one gets the credit.

ntropy · Joined: 11 Oct 2003 Posts: 671 Location: ghurba

The most important thing taught in Japanese schools, IMHO, is total and absolute obedience and submission to any group above you in the hierarchy. That and working extremely long hours. Never mind if you can be more efficient and find a way to do it in half the time. That would be subversive, because it would give you time to challenge the system.

One of the best books I have ever read is Karl van Wolferen's The Enigma of Japanese Power. Fantastic. I recommend it to all Japanophiles.

PAULH · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 4672 Location: Western Japan

Vince · Joined: 05 May 2003 Posts: 559 Location: U.S.

I won't get into descriptions like "medieval," because Japan is its own situation and needs to be taken on its own terms. The Japanese interpretation of Confucianism is obviously at the heart of most interactions in Japan, and school seems to be where it's instilled. I teach returnees between 5 and 10 years old and have seen them make the transition from recently returned kids with fully American personalities to overworked Japanese kids who endured for endurance's sake. I volunteer that it's hard for me to see, but I have to let it pass because they're not my kids.

It seems that the system works for Japan, or they would change it. Things like Nobel prizes are more about national face than about the merit of academic excellence, so they push a few promising people in that direction (an adult student told me that there are specialized programs for this) while funneling the mainstream down the typical Japanese path. In the talks I've had with students about Japanese Nobel laureates, the students seemed more concerned with the victory for Japan--as if it were the World Cup--than the scholarly example that the laureate offered Japan. Then again, it's a country where nobody wants to stand out. I remember my American friend telling me two years after putting his sons in Japanese school that they had said that they didn't want to be too smart, but just like everybody else.

Because of the drastic cultural difference, I pretty much teach EFL and keep the rest of it at arm's length. I neither hold my American ground nor try to appeal to them on the Japanese level. I'm just diplomatic and professional. I occasionally make mistakes and brush people the wrong way, but playing the resident gaijin diplomat has worked out well for me.

Dr.J · Joined: 09 May 2003 Posts: 304 Location: usually Japan

Japan does have it's own situation, but bad teaching is bad teaching wherever you go.

"The system works for Japan, or they would change it."

BATSU!

Heh, sorry. Japan does not change easily, even if it doesn't work. In fact, one measure of if the system "works" is how well it can resist change and remain harmonious.

But I respect your decision to keep it at arms length. Raising children here would be a very tough decision to make.

Vince · Joined: 05 May 2003 Posts: 559 Location: U.S.

G Cthulhu · Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2003 3:25 am Post subject:

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

Cthulhu,
Have you read this? Pretty confusing and contradictory "evidence" for and against various class sizes.
http://perso.club-internet.fr/tmason/WebPages/LangTeach/Licence/FLTeach/Class-size.htm

Yes, you are right in suggesting that there was one more option (putting two qualified teachers in one classroom), but you wrote that there were more options. What others do you have?

I'm also a bit puzzled with your next paragraph: