Education - Creator of 2 Wildly Different Societies

I`ve mentioned this before – that Japanese students are considerably more immature than their western counterparts of similar age. The difference really does strike me strongly on occasions. It occurred to me again yesterday when I was planning a lesson concerning the differences between school in Japan, and school in the UK. As I made the list it was so apparent that the reason for their immaturity lies totally in the differences in the system of education.

People in Japan like it when everybody is the same. When everybody has the same. When everybody does the same. And this is reflected in the system of education. By age 16-17 in England students have already done some major subject selection – down to the 4 AS Level subjects they will be studying. They have made some big limiting choices and as a result students across the year could be studying very different things.

In Japan this selection just does not happen (there is some minor selection – but nothing too significant so as to differ your education from your peers). At age 18 in Japan, all students will take their end-of-school exams in 9 subjects. (This in itself, is I think better to the English system which becomes far too narrowed too early in my view).
But that isn`t the point I want to make. The result of this, is that all students are in having all the same lessons up until age 18! This is really surprising for me in comparing this to England. By age 18, I was in small classes, of about 15 students. We were having in depth discussions in the subject. We had relatively grown up relationships with the teachers because of the small classes. When I think about the development level of the third graders here (age 17-18), I am a little embarrassed really. They are still in these big classes (with a kind of dynamic that I left behind in year 8 – 9 (age 14). They are still learning - every single lesson of the day - with everyone in there homeroom class (in their homeroom classroom for that matter). All together - everyone the same - so everyone happy. This situation - of every student being the same, every student studying the same is, I think a one of the reasons for the immaturity. Students aren`t given the opportunity to separate, to develop their interests to a more in depth level. The fact everyone is still kept lumped together - at age 18 - regardless of strong interest of lack thereof in the subject, is a reason for an immature way of learning, and therefore immaturity itself.

I wonder how it is that everyone across the world manages to end up at the same educational level when they come to university/ do university exchanges etc. Or maybe they don`t. From my view here, I initially can`t understand how the students are able to study their 9 subjects in the detail we study our 3. They can`t. So there is be a fundamental difference in the education system – how all these subjects are taught. These fundamental differences will be the reasons for the huge differences between Japanese and UK society.

Perhaps in England we are given more individual project work to do. Perhaps we go slower with the textbook. I don`t know how subjects like Biology and Geography are taught here. But it must be in a significantly different way from this – just so that they manage to cover the same material!

I know that languages (English) is definitely taught in a different (read totally crap/ ineffective) way here. They are effectively learning paragraphs on some obscure subject in the textbook (the strange blood-sweat like secretion from Hippo`s skin, the history of light, to take two typical examples), writing translations based on a word list at the bottom of the page, to help them, or the teacher writing the translation on the board. Then answering questions using the formation of the question to identify the correct sentence in the passage to copy out, without having a clue what they are writing about, but, often producing the correct sentence none the less. Most of the words in the passage are forgotten as soon as they finish the lesson (because they are often so obscure that they will not often meet these words again).
This is how Japanese students are able to study English all their school life, and say very little. It is a phenomenally bad method of teaching, but is widespread.

Students are able to pass the school exams because the exams are so closely related to the textbook. Students are told which part of which lesson will be covered in the exam. This means that they can then memorise these strange textbook lesson words/ structures long enough to enable them to pass the exam.

The system of examination is another aspect of the education system which is key to note, in trying to understand the Japanese system. In England, to get into university, students must pass the national exams to achieve the required grades. Although in Japan, at age 18, there are national exams – these are only for the High Level students. Most of the students in most of my schools are not even put in to take these exams. As a result, all the exams that my students study for, are school based. The teachers (presumably) set the exam, they can teach exactly what will be on the exam, they can emphasise their teaching to what will be on the exam, to do their best to ensure that the students will mostly pass.

Perhaps these are reason why students in Japan are able to study 9 subjects and pass their age 18 exams. The lessons must have to be more intensive too, surely. Much less time for open discussions in lessons etc.

There are other Japanese education system features that are also important to appreciate in considering how the Japanese system can be how it is, and how this leads to immature students and the end of their time (and more generally – a different society!): The very heavy role of the teachers in getting the students through the education system. In England, by age 18 the onus to get through the exams, is definitely primarily on the student. If they can`t be bothered, then that really is their problem. They are afterall, age 18. However, in Japan, teachers are far more implicated in this problem. And to solving it. As I have mentioned in a previous blog, teachers will counsel students individually who have problems with their work. It is standard to have period 7. During this period (which is by the way, outside of the contracted work hours of teachers) teachers will run extra classes, for those students who didn`t do so well in their exams. Giving them that extra push, extra help, extra motivating force to get them to pass. This is for students up to age 18! They all have the teachers behind them like this! This doesn`t happen in England. If the student isn`t working, they are told to work, or get out. But in Japan students will always have the teachers coaxing them on, all the way. Alright for younger students maybe, but this is a major reasons why Japanese kids are more immature in their attitudes to work than western kids. Cram schools are the extreme end of this extra pushing. The cram school – an evening school for students who have difficulties with subjects, are very common. Many students will attend these schools – several evenings a week (after their regular school, after their club activities etc) for the extra pushing from the teachers to help. All of this is, in my view, so removed from the British method. Where students are left significantly more alone in their study. Of course most British teachers will give extra help. But frequently it would be that the student would identify that they wanted the extra help, and therefore the student would ask for it (in sixth form at least). In Japan it is the opposite way around. The teachers will take the first action. And this I think is a fundamental problem with the Japanese system. It helps to account for how British students are more mature, and the Japanese students are far less so.

The fact that students in Japan study 9 subjects seriously, and British students would take 3, obviously leads to some rather significant differences in the timetable. One most obvious difference is the free periods. Yao positively laughed out loud when I mentioned the words free period. The word is totally alien in the Japanese education system. They have nothing like it. They could have nothing like it! Independent study periods – for students aged 16-18??!! It would never work. School is somewhere where students are always shepherded to work. To be suddenly left with an hour to study independently, would be a totally bizarre situation to put Japanese students in. It would not work. But it does work in England. People in my school did get on and work in the free periods (generally). It`s because we were used to being independent more. Compared to the Japanese, we had a much more mature attitude to study.

It does feel a little strange going on about the virtues of the British education system. Because before I came to Japan I would never have thought of it as an example of a good system particularly. Certainly when I read about the education systems of more freer learning, and play in Scandinavia, British schools stressing excessively over health and safety concerns there are many ways in which I think the British system can be improved. However, I think this system, although definitely not perfect, does produce an important characteristic – independence, and self-motivation in students, which the Japanese system as it currently stands, does not.

There are of course several positive aspects to the Japanese system that should not be overlooked, (and are presumably the reason why the Japanese system came about, and why it continues). As a result of the 9 subjects all students study, as a result of the compulsory P.E. lessons, as a result of the compulsory all-life-consuming club activities (2-3 hours everyday after school + both weekend days) Japanese students` time is filled all the time by structured, productive activity producing healthy individuals who co-operate and work well with others.
English kids will most likely get home from school and watch TV. There is some virtue in the fact that presumably Japanese students are having a much healthier lifestyle. Both physically – as club activities are mostly sport. And in terms of developing good relationships by working with, communicating with, playing with real people (rather than developing a one-sided relationship with a screen). The strong community bonds that are developed during all this time that is spent at school (with your school family) must also be a good thing.

There are many aspects to Japanese society that is hugely better than the west. And I do think the reason fundamentally comes back to the education system where the values of community, the group, the team are so reinforced. Groups are predominant in the school life (your group is your homeroom class (with who you will have all of your lessons (ie – all your time from 8.30 – 4.30) – up until age 18!), and after lessons your group is your club activity 4 – 6/7pm and weekend days). The predominance of groups in the education system, and the application of group accountability (all members of a group are held at least partially accountable for the indiscretion of one of that groups` members) are some of the reasons why Japan is such a safe society, why the elderly aren`t a overlooked part of society (they are in general extremely present, active and healthy in Japan, taking an active role in groups and Japanese society – a big difference to the UK, I think),why Japanese people are courteous, polite and public spirited.

However, I can`t help thinking, that in spite of these positive effects the values in the education system have created, there are also negative effects that a Japanese person without an outside view would recognize. All these activities may create healthy young people, but surely people should have unstructured free time, without a leader telling you what to do. The lack of enough freedom to construct your own activities (or, equally importantly, relax!) is also problematic I think. The problem with the Japanese system, I believe, is that there is not enough freedom. Not enough freedom from structure, not enough freedom from leaders.

I think, it is the heavily structured, and heavily teacher-led days of young Japanese people have been a primary reason for the creation of a society that is so different from the individualist west, but is also the primary reason for their immaturity.