After three months here, I'm starting to gain a better understanding of Japan's educational system, at least in junior high schools and somewhat in elementary schools. These are just a few quick thoughts about what I've appreciated so far. And as a bit of background, I work primarily at two junior high schools, one with 75 students and about 15 teachers, and the other with 400 students and 35 teachers. I also do one-day visits to elementary schools 2-3 times a month.
1. Every student is part of a homeroom. They stay with this same group of students for the entire day, in the same classroom. At first, I didn't really like this concept because I wondered how they'd make friends with the rest of the school or perhaps they'd get bored more easily by not moving around enough. But now I see it as more of a positive. Students have so much pride for their homeroom group and there are several competitions throughout the year where each homeroom is a team. Also, being with the same students all day gives the students the ability to figure out each other's personalities, learning styles, etc so that they can mold together and find each other's strengths. Also, I feel like in American schools, students who move to a new classroom each period have to take a few minutes to "warm up" to the classroom, teacher, and all the new faces in their class each day since their surroundings change every hour or so. But in Japan, they've already warmed up to all the students in the morning, so maybe it's easier to learn throughout the day because their setting is consistent. Lastly, each homeroom has one homeroom teacher that they see for "homeroom" time in the beginning and end of the day. This teacher seems to become their friend and sometimes like a mother/father/mentor to the students.
2. School festivals. To quickly compare America and Japan, I think America is much more individualistic and pushes its students to do things on their own, rather than babying them along. I don't think Japan "babies" its students, but I do think there are more places and people to fall back on if you can't do everything yourself. Anyways, something that I think allows students to not only build up their individual strengths, but combine them with the strong efforts of a team and shared vision, are school festivals. It's kind of hard for me to describe them to an American reader, because we really don't have anything quite equivalent to them at home. But they're basically a two day festival with the first day being only for the students/teachers and more like a formal rehearsal and the second day being the actual festival that parents and the community can attend. There is chorus singing by each homeroom and the whole student body, brass band performances, speeches from students, tons of student crafts and things being sold, tons of student art and work on display, and a "restaurant" type thing during lunch time where students' classrooms are turned into dining rooms and students serve food and bus tables for all their guests. The festivals are usually from about 9am-3pm with something going on almost all day. Together, they spend weeks preparing for their festivals and they are largely orchestrated by the students, rather than the teachers. I feel like it gives them a huge opportunity to work together as a team, get creative, and see the amazing things they can accomplish if they wanted to.
3. Every student (at least at both of my schools) is mandated to join a club activity (i.e. a sport, art club, brass band, etc). At first, I also wasn't too sure about this. What if they can't afford it? What if they don't like the selection of clubs? (At my small school, their only options are baseball, volleyball, tennis, or brass band, I think). But now, I like this aspect of school life. In a way, it forces the students to become connected to the school. I think I was apprehensive of this idea at first, as an American, because I really appreciate autonomy and felt that this somewhat violated one's free will. But then I think about American schools where I'd estimate that at least 50% of students aren't involved in anything and have no reason to feel pride for their school or the work they do at school. If you don't have pride for your school, then why would you feel motivated to do your best work there? I think that the connections Japanese schools try to create right away give students the ability to want to succeed at school.
I know there are other things I'm forgetting, but I'll save them for another post! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment