The Japanese Education System

by Yasuhiro Nemoto

Overview

This comprehensive study of the Japanese education system follows the Japanese child from the kindergarten, through the progressively more arduous and competitive environments of the elementary, middle and high schools, to the relative relaxation, even hedonism, of university life. Drawing on numerous surveys and on the author's personal experience, it provides a wealth of information on teaching methodologies, discipline, class sizes, the school day, assessment and the national curriculum. It also examines the role of the central Ministry of Education and the local boards in administering education throughout the country, and outlines and assesses the government's recent programs of educational reform. The behavior, attitudes and expectations of pupils and parents are discussed in detail, and placed within their political, social and historical context, revealing the complex cultural assumptions determining learning and socialization in Japan.

This study thus contributes to the efforts of educators and sociologists to understand and evaluate different approaches to education in diverse cultures, increasingly important in the global information age. It shows how the American and Japanese education systems are based on fundamentally different concepts of society: democratic individualism and hierarchic collectivism respectively. While discussing the positive and negative effects of each extreme, it suggests that American educators might learn from a system in which truancy, insolence, violence and drug abuse are comparatively rare. However, the study shows how the traditional ideals of Japanese education - unquestioning acceptance, self-sacrifice, and respect for superiors - face serious challenges in a time of globalization, and moral, social and cultural change.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781581127997
Publisher:	Universal Publishers
Publication date:	12/19/1999
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	236
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.54(d)

Table of Contents

Chapter 1	Introduction	11
	Structure of the School System	12
	History	13
	Common Education	14
	The State Curriculum	15
	Authorized Textbooks	16
	Local Boards of Education	17
	School Districts	18
	The School Year	19
	The Classroom	20
	Teachers	21
	Moral Education	23
	Special Education	24
	Physical and Health Education, and School Lunch	26
	State Funding	28
	School Buildings	28
	Private Schools and School Expenses	29
Chapter 2	Kindergartens	31
Chapter 3	Elementary Schools	33
	Discipline and Studies	33
	School Ceremonies	34
	The Daily Schedule	36
	After Class Activities	39
	Example Class Schedule for Fifth Graders in the 1998 School Year	40
	Sample Math Calculations Grade by Grade	42
	Teaching Guidelines and State-Authorized Textbooks	43
	Teaching Methods	44
	The Report Card	46
	Group Activities	47
	The Class President	48
	Class Size	49
	The Pecking Order	52
	Fun Activities	53
	Perfect Attendance	55
	The School Visitation	56
	The Home Visit	58
	Teachers' Responsibilities for Children after School	59
	Decline of Educational Functions in the Home	60
	Home Training and Non-Corporal Punishment	63
	Community Activities	64
	Volunteer Spirit	67
	Female Teachers	68
	Gender Discrimination in School	69
Chapter 4	Middle Schools	72
	Children's Psychological Development	72
	School Rules	73
	Corporal Punishment	76
	Lax Discipline	81
	Role Models and Morality	82
	Studies and Tests	84
	Memorization	86
	English	87
	Juku, Private Cram Schools	94
	Parents and Children in Japanese Society	99
	Parents' Attitudes Towards the Five-Day School Week	101
	High School Admission and Entrance Exams	103
	High School Admission Reforms	105
	Reforms of Regular Exams in Higashi Middle School	107
	Test-oriented Japanese Education and "Standardized Children"	109
	Environmental Education	111
	Extracurricular School Excursions	113
	Extracurricular Club Activities	114
	Surveys on Students' After School Activities	119
	Improving Students' Reading Skills	120
	A Survey on Students' Sense of Values	121
	The Paradox of Freedom in American and Japanese Education	123
	Disabled Students	127
	Truancy	128
	Violation of School Rules	130
	School Violence	132
	Bullying	135
	Knife-Wielding Teenagers	141
	Prevention of Juvenile Knife Crimes	143
	Anti-Drug Measures	148
	Counseling	149
	Strong Leadership from the School Principal	151
	A "Bill of Rights" in Tokorozawa High School	153
	Management of Schools by "Outsiders"	157
	The Authority of Local Boards of Education	158
	The Authority of the Education Ministry	160
	Moral Education and Home Training	162
	Confucianism	165
	Education of Japanese Children Living Abroad and Returnees	167
	An Academic Survey on the State of International Exchange in High Schools	169
Chapter 5	High Schools	171
	School Rules	172
	Allowances	173
	Single-Gender Education	174
	Femaie Students and Science	175
	Types of High Schools and Study Programs	176
	General Study Programs	178
	Vocational Study Programs	179
	Part-Time Study Programs	180
	Reforms on Flexibility in High School Education	181
	Iwayado High School	185
	Student Transfers	186
	College-Bound Students in Competitive High Schools	188
	Reasons for Self-Sacrifice	189
	Selection of the University	191
	University Entrance Exams	192
	The University Entrance Qualification Exam	195
	Reform of University Entrance Exams	196
	Ronin and Yobiko	198
Chapter 6	Higher Education	201
	Types of Higher Educational Institution	202
	Funding	203
	The Academic Year	204
	Foreign Students	205
	Japanese Students Abroad	207
	The Rank Order of the Universities	208
	Education Expenditures and Scholarship	210
	The Wide Disparity Between High School and University Education	212
	The Academic Curriculum and Studies	212
	Faculty Staff and Nepotism	215
	Part-time Work and Leisure Activities	216
	Club Activities	217
	Volunteer Activities	219
	Employment	220
	Corporate Views on University Education	225
	Reforms to the University System: The University Council's 1994 Reports	225
1)	Report on Improvement of Employment Procedures	225
2)	Report on Management	226
	The University Council's 1998 Interim Report	228
	The University Council's 1998 Final Report	230
	Appendix	233
	The Number of Schools, Teachers and Students, based on surveys by the Education Ministry	233