Job Discussion Forums

[matador]

Q. I have heard that the Japanese school system is good for kindergarten and elementary school BUT from junior high its all cramming for tests, loads of homework and high pressure.

Is the international school option the way to go (if you can afford it)?

[6810]

I hear this again and again... loads of hearsay.

Before you go seeking advice on international schools etc... why not go around and check out some of the schools in the local area? Talk to the teachers, parents and some students if you can.

Get to know the system yourself.

Get beyond the gaijinron (I know it's not a word, but there seems to be a theory of being "alien" in Japan, which includes the circulation of the same myths again and again, like the no fluoride in toothpaste and it is primarily perpetrated by "gaijin" as opposed to gaikokujin etc*).

Get beyond the comparisons - there vs here etc.

I've found in getting to know junior high age kids, teachers etc, a lot of the myths, while having some grain of truth to them remain largely imaginary.

There are problems in schools everywhere you go. The more I study pedagogy, the less I see perfect schools. But the more I study pedagogy, the more I am able to see the individual potential among students.

In other words, what you and your children make of Japanese schools exactly what you put into them.

Do your research, get some first hand experience, make your decision based on evidence, not hearsay.

*This is not a sleight on the OP, just a thought in general.

[Nagoyaguy]

International schools are generally very expensive- upwards of 2 million yen per year. They dont get any funding from Mombusho, the ministry of Education.

Private junior and senior high schools are much less expensive. They receive partial funding from the government, so tuition is not so ruinous. Generally about 500,000 yen per year.

In terms of education, it depends. I have heard not so good things about international schools- basically they are babysitting services for the children of expats who will go back to (insert home country here).

My case;

My son is in grade 6 of elementary school here in Japan (public school). He has been in the system since kindergarden, and it has been a very good experience for him. He has been blessed with good teachers, friends, and so on. From next year (the start of JHS) we will send him to a private school that has a good languages programme. I dont want his English to suffer after starting JHS.

As for public JHS and SHS, it really depends on where you live. Some are good and some bad, even within the same town. High schools (even public ones) require students to pass a competitive entrance exam before they can enter, so much of the JHS curiculum is designed to help kids pass.

If your kids are young enough, get them into the public system. They will pick up Japanese amazingly fast and probably have a great time.

[johanne]

As others have said it depends on the school. My daughter goes to Japanese kindergarten and she loves it. The teachers are very nice and she has made friends and become fluent in Japanese. She's also learning to read and write and do wonderful art.
I work in an international school and standards definately vary. I would disagree that they are babysitting services. Many ex-pats who send their kids to internatioanl schools also send them to private schools back in their home country, meaning the kids have had to study seriously enough at the international school to get accepted back in to their home country private school. Kids can not really just be sitting around for 3 or 4 years in Japan or they will be way behind when they return homes. Also, most reputable international schools have external exams to verify the progress of the students and most graduates do end up going to university in the US or UK. The typical high school curriculum in international schools is the IB which in its final year has several components equivalent to first year university. It is very academically demanding.
Also, there are some schools that have a much larger Japanese population of students and this will effect the culture of the school. Some are more like immersian schools with 60-70% of the kids having at least one Japanese parent and a low level of English literacy (as opposed to fluency which is native-like) becomes a problem because the students cannot cope with the curriculum that is geared towards high acheiving native English speakers. Some schools also promote a more bilingual style education geared towards long-term international families, while others are more "international" in the traditional sense with a large ex-pat community who have high expectations of the school.
Given the huge range in programs and quality, the best thing to do is talk to parents who have their kids there, or better yet, if you are friendly with some of the teachers you can get the inside scoop.
Personally we are planning to send our daughter to Japanese school until the end of grade 2 and then she will come to the international school where I work (I only pay 10% of the tuition as staff so cost is not an issue for us. Without the discount it would be 2 million + a year). Our main reason for doing this is we only plan on being in Japan for another 5-6 years and will then either live in a 3rd country where we are both "foreigners" or return to Canada. Since our daughter's education will be mostly in English we didn't want to leave the change too late. On the other hand we wanted her conversationally bilingual so she could talk with her Japanese dad and his family. so we wanted her to get a few years in the Japanese system.
It's tough call, especially for international couples and all kids are different. International schools tend to have small classes - usually no more than 20 and often even fewer and the current style is an "inquiry - student centred" approach which works best when the teacher has lots of time for individual help. Japanese classes are much larger, but if your kid is the type to sit quietly and listen, understand quickly and then get on with the work, this isn't a problem. If they need a slightly different approach or more "hands-on" type of activity (which is much tougher with bigger groups), the Japanese school might not work as well, or maybe it would if the school has a talented group of teachers. You are going to find good and bad teachers in both systems. The best school is the one that best prepares YOUR kid for what they need and that won't always be the same school for every child.

[Gypsy Rose Kim]

[Nagoyaguy]

Like I said, it depends on the school. There are also many schools that use the word "international" in their name, but do not offer the IB (International Baccaloreate) standard of curriculum. Also, many international schools do not offer a full programme from grade 1 to grade 12. THey are international elementary schools only. It is really a case of "buyer beware", as well as doing a lot of research before choosing a school.

I left my son in his elementary school (Japanese public school) because I wanted him to be biliterate as well as bilingual. It is a lot easier IMHO to teach him English literacy at home than Japanese literacy.

[gaijinalways]

Some of the school standards are bad, it really does depend on the school. Some of the schools also have poor facilities (then again, so do some of the universities ). The fees also vary, as some of the schools are 'just' a little over 1 million yen per year.