Sunday May 27, 2012

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  • 0

    studebaker

    It is a great system for creating memorizing drones with no opinions or capability for expression. Those who make it through with an ability to think critically are rare and lucky.

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    ronaldk

    Thanks!

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    bamboohat

    I like the skirts they make the high school girls wear.

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    Simon_Foston

    It's hard to know where to begin. I just think it's completely absurd that the high school curriculum does not include the necessary information to pass university entrance exams, especially since parents have to pay for senior high school and then shell out even more money to send their kids to the cram schools where they supposedly can learn what they need to know. On top of that, it's stupid that older teenagers have to waste time with lots of compulsory subjects that they have no interest in or aptitude for, when by the age of 16 or 17 they should be focusing on what they are actually good at. Finally, as long ago as 1998 the then Prime Minister was making harsh but valid criticisms of the education system, but since then absolutely nothing has been changed or improved. The people responsible for Japan's anachronistic mess of an education system should all be fired, chained up and then paraded around in public so that everyone can throw rotten cabbages at them.

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    boarder

    The school system here is outdated. No one is encouraged to speak their mind, Always just told what to do. I went to a Jr High School graduation 2 weeks ago. Never will you see such dull faces in North American Jr high Schools. All the japanese kids looked like they had the life sucked out of them. It was really a sad thing to see. japan needs to reform the school system NOW! Seeing those kids I was thinking I wonder how many of these kids will grow up to be crazed killers.... Probably a few

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    combinibento

    At least the kids in college appear to be having a blast. Of course, even the best schools don't require a whole lot from the students. Seems backwards. The institutions for younger kids should be enjoyable while college should be tougher.

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    bakabaka

    Japan's school education system is simply a gross abuse of human rights. Anyone who works for it is guilty.

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    realist

    I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand it is antiquated, outdated and dictatorial, but on the other hand, it produces some lovely, respectful kids who are a joy to teach in university - much nicer than many of the obnoxious brats you find in western countries. That said, I agree with studebaker`s comments above. Many of the students have no opinions, and if they have, are incapable of expressing their opinions. The system is designed to produce robotic-like creatures without a mind or a will of their own, who will tow the line and not question anything. The result is the terrible one-party politivcal system, where the fascist LD have been in power for the past 60 odd years. So, the system is successful in producing exactly the results the political leaders want.

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    Potsu

    It's good at producing good little subservient sheep...

  • 0

    Deguchisan

    I like the system, a lot.

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    Wakarimasen

    I think it is great. Disciplined, lots of knowledge based learning, uniforms, prepares kids for later life.

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    ronaldk

    Well, I went to a really good high school in the US, and had a very good education so I am biased in that sense. After graduating university I got a bit of experience teaching in the US and Japan. A good school in the US beats the average Japanese school, but the variance from inner city to suburb in the US is so drastic and schocking that I cannot say US schools in general are better than Japanese schools. For all the faults, at least Japanese schools provide some consistency and there is no risk of getting shot, perhaps punched/slapped/kicked. Also, Japanese teachers do not seem to be required to be "performers" as much as I felt was necessary at a US inner city school.

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    jonnyboy

    no risk of getting shot, perhaps punched/slapped/kicked

    that's not true. there have been some gruesome cases of violence in japanese schools. it certainly seems to happen more than in the uk, but considerably less than the US. usually it's as a result of ijime, although that could be said to be an element of the system in itself

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    Nessie

    The educational system?

    Too much system. Not enough education.

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    memyselfI

    Teaching English as second language needs to be reformed. The kids have no opinion and really have no idea in how to create one.

    I Hate Group Thinking.

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    memyselfI

    Today , a PTA member told me what to do and what to think about my lesson planning. Not a teacher a PTA Volunteer. Weeeeeeeee !!!!! First of all, PTA controls to much and has toooooo much power. These brats need discpline

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    akaguma

    Japan's education system serves the needs of Japanese society. Children here do not receive an education so much as social conditioning. individualism is stifled and the law of averages is enforced in order to benefit the whole. the result being that the dumb kids get included officially and the smart kids feel too afraid to speak up. the result; universities full of dolts. of course Japan is a an advanced nation, rich with knowledge and technology. but it is scary to think how far ahead they could be if the education system could be improved

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    jessssicaaa

    I love the japanese education system! ive been researching about it comparing it with australias, its 10times better.

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    neverknow2

    I love the japanese education system! ive been researching about it comparing it with australias, its 10times better.

    Um...no. Australian students usually work in the field where they have studies. For example, if one was to study Chemistry, one would work in that particular filed. In Japan, one studies anything from Engineering to IT, and one works in an office pouring coffee and doing filing. Ten times better than Australia's you say?

  • 0

    samsarks

    it is good to my ratings.i schooled in states and it is no better either.give them some break ,all u americans on here.Japanese are doing fine by their system here and your rantings is not even considered

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    Tatsumaru

    Just like any country's education system, there will always be problems, except for maybe the Finish (look into it, it is rather amazing). Listing them all would be a waste of time. The best suggestion I can give is to focus on one over bearing problem and fix it, then move to the next. The problem with politicians is they think they can fix the whole problem with one bill (i.e. USA's 'No Child Left Behind Act').

    The overbearing problem of the Japanese education is that it isnt education, it is memorization. Starting there would probably be helpful.

  • 0

    jacqueshellacque

    Antiquated. An evolutionary dead end. Think about this peeps...in the 21st century, the Age of Reason, when we have such wonderful inventions as our current medium, in which all of the information and thought ever conceived by mankind can be converted into 1s and 0s and transmitted around the world in a flash..or our the makeup of nature itself can be determined by 4 letters in a DNA chain, J-ed still consists of ritualized activities in which Ss are not expected, indeed not allowed, to engage actively with reasonably useful subjects or conduct any sort of meaningful enquiry. Instead it's bunkasais and "os os os" during masochistic and developmentally retarding club activities. The classroom, where presumably Ss should be developing socially and intellectually, is mostly just considered fluff. Japan brought feudalism into the 21st century, but it won't bring it into the 22nd. Scrap their ed system or risk very serious decline before our century's out.

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    OneForAll

    It is a class system. Those with the money, and or few children will succeed quite well in the system. The lower classes will remain there. Large families will drop to the status of serfs in general. High school should be equal to private and free as in the USA. Unfortunately this system is causing demographic problems and a class system that Japan likes to say does not exist. It does and is a shame on Japan for not giving so many children a chance. Also schools in America are paid for by school taxes which shares the burden of education. Most homeowners are OK with giving children an education. The people of Japan are rather shelfish in this regard and burdens families. The facilities in the USA are spectacular as well as what is offered to the children.

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    OneForAll

    selfish

  • 0

    cleo

    It's not perfect. In terms of encouraging more thinking-out-of-the-box, maybe it could do better. And it costs too much. But in terms of mean academic and moral achievement - producing functionally-literate, law-abiding citizens - it does a lot better than a lot of other places (I'm thinking of countries that turn out hordes of semi-literate, trigger-happy morons who make law-abiding citizens feel they need guns and walled communities to protect themselves).

    Maybe the best of some other countries are better than the best in Japan. The worst are certainly worse than the worse in Japan. Overall, Japan does pretty good.

  • 0

    samsarks

    notginger-can you elaborate on what u really mean by that?

  • 0

    mix123

    I believe I can provide some insights on undergraduate and graduate eduction. I attended undergraduate in the states and did my graduate degree in Japan. Major difference...professors in Japan praise those who go to school from 9am and stay until midnight (doesn't really matter what they do as long as they are at school - to me that is inefficient) and scold those who go to school at noon and get their work done by 6pm and leave. Professors in the states are vice versa. I know a dude in my graduate course who has been studying for PHD for 7yrs and stay at the lab from 9 to midnight almost everyday (including Saturday...the professor loves him but he is still not close to finishing his paper when i graduated in 2008...it must be something in the Nobel quality). In terms of level of education, there are not much difference if you don't apply yourself...you can go to Harvard and still not learn anything. But honestly I went to Waseda (I think it is a pretty good school in Japan) for grad and it was a breeze...really the level of difficulties was definitely easier than my high school AP courses!!

  • 0

    DJJapan

    Samsarks: I don't think notginger needs to elaborate. It looks like you are writting your comments from your mobile phone. If you were educated in the U.S then your written grammer is a poor reflection on the American education system as well. Why do we need to give the Japanese education system a break on this? Please point out the positives? Let's name the facts. The Japanese education system was made for a country that was coming out of the ashes from WW2. Either Russia was to take Japan or the U.S. As it turned out is was the U.S and the rest is history. Either way the thoughts of the powers that be as a whole were communists. (In the non-Lenin way but also that was part of it as well as the comunal aspect of the society) Since the new constitution was made the communist party of Japan wanted to still be a political party but wasn't allowed under the newly developed system. It got it's way through the education system which hasn't developed any further than from where it started in the first place. It stifle's people who could really be true leaders of their potential to go onto greater things. There are many trully intelligent and smart people here. If they took away some of the chains within the system the potential would be so much greater.

  • 0

    whynothow

    Dj

    We say grammar not grammer... so much for lecturing others...

    The Japanese school system(or any other) produces the individuals it needs to perpetuate itself and the social structure. In Japan it produces people incapable of making decisions , fearful of making mistakes and very bland personalities. They go on memorizing/reciting "facts" from books and call it knowledge. I am not saying that Japanese people are dumb.

  • 0

    DJJapan

    Whynothow: Thanks for the spell check. Remind me to download you into my computer next time I am typing away;) Your points though are right and it continues into the working life unless you manage to be one of the lucky ones that goes through keeping your mouth shut brown nosing the right people and you'll end up in your management role just to be part of the machine.

  • 0

    Simon_Foston

    Since the new constitution was made the communist party of Japan wanted to still be a political party but wasn't allowed under the newly developed system. It got it's way through the education system which hasn't developed any further than from where it started in the first place. It stifle's people who could really be true leaders of their potential to go onto greater things. There are many trully intelligent and smart people here. If they took away some of the chains within the system the potential would be so much greater.

    I agree with you about the flaws in the education system but can't really see why they are the fault of the communists. The LDP, conservative and right-wing in all but name, have been calling the shots since 1955. Surely they played a bigger part in developing the education system and then keeping it pretty much the same for six decades? Anyway, Japan does have a bit of a track record when it comes to keeping people under control and discouraging free thought and expression. These are not just things that communists do.

  • 0

    DJJapan

    Simon: Goes into a lot more explaining and I can only write it briefly. I didn't state that the communist side is at fault but this is where they got their way within the new constitution when it was drafted. My statement is not based on my opinion either it is a matter of fact. The person that explained this to me very well in detail as well as the LDP objectives is a pretty reputable person who does have a grasp of all of these facts from the past. If you notice the LDP don't really play that big of a part within the education system and are always at odds with it. The LDP is a group of parties that have combined over the years and their task is more focused on business which was the reason for the mass industrialization of Japan after WW2. The education system then was for the masses which was to make everyone equal so they could churn the machine. In that the left compliments the right to get the result.

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    tasha77

    I have taught at a various colleges in Japan and I am always surprised when it comes to test time that the students who fail redo the same test (vice principles request) over and over and over and yes thats right folks...over again...until they pass. The people in charge of these "places of wonder" always have the same answer.....just let them pass!!!!!And hey look at the statistics...100% pass rate...wow that must be a good school!!! Lets go there!!! What a joke!!Education system in Japan....the people in charge only care about money money money. I had a student two years ago in a class of 45 who spent the entire year without speaking one single word (I later found out he did the same in the other courses as well, which were all in japanese). The many times questions were directed at him was followed by the most painful silence you could ever imagine. Even spoon feeding the answers to this "creature" like you would to a 3 year old did nothing to motivate him to whisper an answer. His final exam was handed in without as much as his name on the sheet.....and guess what folks.....when it came time for the retest.....he didn't show up but who do you think was there accepting his graduation paper at the end of the course????And the school gave it to him!!!

  • 0

    cathrynm

    Well, at least somehow they manage to learn all those Kanji. (Struggling with this myself.)

  • 0

    tasha77

    But they don't.....give a newspaper to a student and ask them to read it. Some of them can't.

  • 0

    jonnyboy

    Well, at least somehow they manage to learn all those Kanji. (Struggling with this myself.)

    you would hope so, with 11 years of classes and daily exposure

    agreed that the school system produces individuals which perpetuate a particular system. whether or not this system is still advantageous to anyone involved in a matter for another debate entirely

  • 0

    Disillusioned

    No punishment! The kids are hardly ever held responsible or accountable for their actions. The punishment used is either a buzz-cut or public humiliation and short suspensions. They are mollycoddled and have no need to improve themselves because their teachers are proxy parents that wipe their bums and noses for them. They are given given clear instructions as to where to find all the answers to tests. No wonder these kids don't grow up til they are in their forty's (some never do). They don't know whether they are Arthur or Martha cos they never had to make a choice.

  • 0

    Simon_Foston

    The LDP is a group of parties that have combined over the years and their task is more focused on business which was the reason for the mass industrialization of Japan after WW2. The education system then was for the masses which was to make everyone equal so they could churn the machine. In that the left compliments the right to get the result.

    Quite, but I think it could be argued that the education system has precisely the opposite effect of making everyone equal. At every stage there is competition to pass the entrance exams for the best schools, and rich parents are at a clear advantage as they can pay for the cram schools that everyone thinks are so vital. Senior high school has to be paid for, on top of yet more fees for cram schools to pass the tests to get into the best universities, as, guess what, the content of those entrance exams isn't in the high school curriculum. I'm also fairly certain that there is very little financial support available for teenagers from lower-income backgrounds who are academically eligible for university. Now say what you like about left-wing parties and governments, that doesn't tend to be the way they set up education systems.

  • 0

    pointofview

    Considering they dont have to do a thing and can still pass school. Id say it needs some work...

  • 0

    thundercat

    I tend to agree with Cleo on this one. I think for the most part the end justifies the means in Japan. There are a number of short comings but Japanese education is hardly the 3rd world caliber that many would have us believe.

    Having studied in three different countries and worked in three different education 'systems' I can honestly say that I was most disappointed with universities in Japan. Jr/Sr high schools, for the most part, produce respectful and honest kids who are generally interested in continuing their studies, while many universities are far more concerned with the bottom line than they are educating their students.

    If a society is a reflection of it's education system than I feel that Japan has done very well but there is always room for improvement.

  • 0

    hepy1

    i think japan education system is very good now, gambarre nippon.

  • 0

    TokyoHustla

    It is unequaled on this planet and turns out the best workers who work unquestioningly so that a select few of us may get rich on their backs. It is a wonderful system.

  • 0

    sf2k

    memorization is not knowledge...memorization is not knowledge...memorization is not knowledge...memorization is not knowledge...

  • 0

    jessssicaaa

    Um...no. Australian students usually work in the field where they have studies. For example, if one was to study Chemistry, one would work in that particular filed. In Japan, one studies anything from Engineering to IT, and one works in an office pouring coffee and doing filing. Ten times better than Australia's you say?

    neverknow2, i live in australia, the enducation system is shit. ;] simply put. I never said about anything after school did i, plus thats not always the case. Anyways i ment the schooling itself is alot better.

  • 0

    Simon_Foston

    Having studied in three different countries and worked in three different education 'systems' I can honestly say that I was most disappointed with universities in Japan. Jr/Sr high schools, for the most part, produce respectful and honest kids who are generally interested in continuing their studies, while many universities are far more concerned with the bottom line than they are educating their students.

    That's a very good point. Japanese university students could be doing with a bit more stress and pressure whereas school students would benefit from a bit less, but that has everything to do with the university entrance exam system and its fundamental incompatibility with the high school curriculum.

  • 0

    jewel

    "PTA controls to much and has toooooo much power", as a parent, I thought just the opposite. Sitting in PTA meetings in America, parents can help choose textbooks, have their say about teachers & teaching methods, etc, but sitting in a Japanese PTA meeting we are read to and just asked if we have any questions about what we were instructed such as when our kids should eat, go to bed, and how to cross the street. There is no room for discussion or suggestions. I feel parents should have the freedom to have full say in how the school operates since its their money funding the system and their kids in the system. But with that said, I have few complaints about the Japanese school system so far. I have experience in 6 ele. & JHS so far. As I can see, Japan produces some of the most brilliant technological and scientific minds in the world so academically it is doing fine. I also appreciate that it focuses more on academics than controversial social engineering. I also like the wholistic approach of walking to school, caring for gardens and animals, caring for the school property, and giving the kids lots of responsibility in the classroom itself. I dont particularly like the way the teachers use students to discipline other students. I think although this helps nurture a group mentality, it also can help nurture a bullying mentality. Finally in the 6 different Japanese schools I have experienced, they are ALL different with different strengths and weaknesses but overall Ive had mostly good experiences in them, but Im a proactive parent which I think is needed to ensure the best treatment and education for one`s child.

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