Educator sees Japanese schools
November 29, 2008
Mass Live
HADLEY – It took him about two weeks to recover from his trip to Japan, but Hadley School Superintendent Nicholas D. Young said his visit was well worth the arduous travel.
Young was one of 158 educators from across the country selected to participate in the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund Fellowship, spending more than two weeks in Japan recently.
“It was a fascinating experience,” Young said, one that exceeded his expectations.
There were lots of surprises.
Japanese education is much higher-performing country than in the United States, yet class sizes were about 40. Many of the school buildings were in poor condition and would likely have been shut down had they been in this country. “The school districts didn’t seem all that well funded,” he said.
Young didn’t see any guidance counselors, for example, yet students were very serious and focused, adhering to more of a college model of discipline of study.
“The onus is on the student to learn, rather than the teachers,” Young said.
Education involved the whole community. Members of the community, whether they had children in school or not, volunteered for such jobs as cooking the rice and fish for lunch or helping students cross busy streets.
“We have strong parent connection in this community,” he said of Hadley. But in Japan, “I almost felt parents were part of the student body.”
Students don’t work at jobs. “Their job is to be a student,” he said. Students are very motivated to do well, “not wanting to bring discredit to their families.”
Being a good student means taking care of the body as well as the mind. Teachers have to pass a physical fitness requirement; otherwise, he said, “they’re (considered) not capable of keeping up with the students.”
Schools insist upon a good diet – all students must eat a school lunch, which they do in their classes, served by students who rotate trucking the food from the kitchen to the classrooms and then clean up. Parents must ensure the students get to sleep early.
Students dress in uniforms and bow to their teachers before and after class, and showed reverence for their teachers, whom they called “sensei,” or “master.”
Being a good student means taking care of the body as well as the mind. Teachers have to pass a physical fitness requirement; otherwise, he said, “they’re (considered) not capable of keeping up with the students.”
Schools insist upon a good diet – all students must eat a school lunch, which they do in their classes, served by students who rotate trucking the food from the kitchen to the classrooms and then clean up. Parents must ensure the students get to sleep early.
Students dress in uniforms and bow to their teachers before and after class, and showed reverence for their teachers, whom they called “sensei,” or “master.”
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Teachers are held in high esteem, he said, and their responsibilities extend into the night, when they run various clubs for students. These include traditional pottery and music, and learning to use samurai swords. “Traditions were infused in the clubs,” Young said.
He said students also clean their schools, as there are no custodians. As he was told by a teacher, “It’s our home.”
Young was also surprised by the structure of the day and would like to look into fashioning something similar here. While the class day was about as long as in the United States, there were five academic classes of 50 minutes each instead of the more typical seven 45 minute classes here.
After each class students and teachers had breaks. In the morning the breaks were 10 minutes, but were longer in the afternoon when everyone was more tired. Students went outside by themselves because the break was for the teachers, too. “We’re tired, we need breaks,” he was told.
Also, he said, instead of having homeroom to start the day where only attendance is taken, as it is here, students start each day with a drilling in basic facts.
They have to complete work sheets, alternating from basic math to reading and writing. A student will then review the answers with the classes. The idea is to reinforce the basic skills. “They use that time very productively,” Young said.