Japan: Reflections – Schools

What fun we had in the schools! Here are some of my observations and reflections after hearing an interesting lecture in Tokyo, meeting the Superintendent of the Schools and visiting three schools in Hashima.

Educational Reform in Japan
While still in Tokyo, Tsutomu Kimura, President of the National Institution for Academic Degrees and Vice Chairman on the Central Council for Education (an advisory board for the Ministry of Education) gave the keynote address on Educational Reform in Japan. He was forthright describing to us the challenges and problems in the current Japanese educational system. In particular, he noted that Japanese students are under enormous stress and that there is excessive competition for examinations; that students have an underdeveloped social side and moral sense; that students are delayed in their development of independence; that there are problems concerning health and physical stamina; and, finally, that there is a continuing decline of educational power of families an communities.

To address these concerns, the Central Council for Education has set forth a “Future Model for Education,” comprised of three main elements:

1. Nurturing Zest for Living to cope with an acutely changing society.
Included in this element is the “ability to identify problems for oneself, learn by oneself, think for oneself, make independent judgments and actions and solve problems properly.” This element also promotes “a rich sense of humanity to be capable of self-reliance, cooperation with others, compassion for others as well as good health and physical strength to live a vigorous life.” Thus, this element encompasses intelligence, emotion, and health.

2. More free time for children.
Included in this element is the strict selection of educational content and thorough mastery of basic essentials. Recognizing that they used to teach too much, schools must now determine essential content. A recent cutback to a 5-day school week also provides more free time for students. Finally, the Council recommends a “relaxation of excessive examination competition.”

3. Liaison between schools, families and communities.
The Council recommends “opening schools to the outside world,” making greater use of the buildings and facilities. They also recommend reducing the role of schools while strengthening the educational power of families and communities.

Nakashima Elementary School
Students at the elementary school were lively, out-going, and engaged in all of the activities and lessons we observed. They were full of smiles and cheer! The curriculum was more varied than I had anticipated and students had opportunities to participate in art, music, woodworking, calligraphy, and sewing, as well as the more “traditional” subject areas throughout their day. Students were well behaved and clear routines were evident in their self-directed behavior. In classes of up to forty, students were given opportunities to work in groups and on their own; they were given frequent feedback on their work from teachers and by correcting their own work. The students were very active during outdoor recess time. Using minimal amounts of equipment (stilts, unicycles, jump ropes, and balls), students played in small and large groups, using the whole blacktop and grassy area. There was lots of running, jumping, balancing, and laughing definitely a physical work out. A lot of student artwork was on display throughout in the school in classrooms and in hallways. The musical performances we witnessed both in classrooms and at the end of the day were very impressive. Students played wind-operated keyboards and sang on-key at full volume in music classes. The students showed poise and pride during the dance performance and choral presentation during the assembly. Teachers, too, appeared to take pride in what they were doing. They greeted students and visitors (us!) with smiles and energy. Read more about our visit.

Hashima Junior High School
The junior high students seemed more reserved than those in the elementary school. While eager to talk with us in their English classes, they were also typically adolescent and involved with social interactions with their peers. They were well behaved and appeared to be producing quality work (difficult for us to judge other than from artwork and visual projects on display in classrooms and hallways). Again, students were actively involved: a science lesson had them testing out possible electrical conductors and insulators, practicing music selections, and so on. Again, the performances were amazing to watch. The various martial arts were demonstrated, a drumming group performed, and the choral groups sang. We American teachers were especially impressed when the seventh graders ran from their seats on the gym floor to their positions on the risers and within seconds were ready to sing, led by a student conductor and student accompanist. While the students seemed to be full of fun with friendly waves and jokes, they were disciplined and self-directed. Read more about our visit.

High Schools
Japan’s high schools are not part of the compulsory education system so the high school we visited was not under the same jurisdiction as the other two schools we visited. Hashima High School was a former all-girls school that had become co-ed awhile ago. Having difficulty attracting boys to the school, the school population was still heavily female. Having read a lot of material on the high stakes testing that determines where Japanese students will go to high school, it was interesting to visit a school that is easier to get into, and therefore attracts lower-scoring students. While American schools struggle with tracking systems within a school, Japan operates a system that tracks students among its high schools. Studies in the U.S. show that while upper level students appear to do well no matter what the system, lower level students clearly suffer from tracking. This appeared to be the case at this school. Discipline was more lax, or was it that the students were more unruly? Attention to school work seemed to be lacking, but again it was not possible for us to assess the quality of the work produced. The faculty also appeared to be disengaged. Few of the teachers who met with us at the end of the day seemed willing to speak out frankly about their teaching experiences. One asked us to “read between the lines” on his response that his job was his job. It will be interesting to see whether Japan’s educational reform will lead to changes in this highly stressful system of testing and ranking of high schools. Read more about our visit.