America Versus Japan

Should America adopt some of the educational standards of Japan? In comparisons of

educational testing in different countries , the outcome has always remained constant. Japanese

scoring the highest , mainly in math and science , and Americans scoring the lowest. If America

takes pride in thinking "we're the best" then why aren't we turning out as many successful

graduates as the Japanese? Let's explore the different teaching and learning methods of both

countries to see if we can get a better understanding of what the Japanese are doing that is so

much different and see if it wouldn't make a difference in American schools.

Starting with the mind set of the Japanese society. According to them it is the mothers

sole responsibility to make sure her children strive to do well in school. If the child is doing

poorly they blame the mother for lack of parenting skills. The better her child does in school the

higher up in society and her social class she becomes.

In America we believe not only is it both parents responsibility to see his or her child

does well in school in school but there are many other factors contributing to the child's learning

process in school system as well. Such as : the teachers , schools , curriculum , neighborhoods ,

etc.

In Japan the government establishes the curriculum then distributes it to every school ,

teacher , and child. Which means every student gets the same opportunity to learn on the same

level. Arguments suggest with everyone learning the same thing it creates students with no

individual personalities and too much competition between the students with the Japanese

striving to be the best.

In America we are not presented with the same material for every school nationwide.

This means the students do not have the same opportunities as others in their grade level.

That's why when children switch schools , especially school districts , they are either farther

ahead or behind in the new school work.

The Japanese teachers teach strictly from the books they are given The students are

given the same books with a workbook that comes with each book so that they can do their work

and homework right from the books. The Japanese are not encouraged to learn any other way

than by rote memorization. In American schools the teachers have a variety of teaching

techniques the students can benefit from along with a variety of learning materials. Thus

encouraging opinions and individual thinking methods form the students.

The school year for Japanese students is year round. It begins in April and ends in March.

The students are granted vacation time for holidays and in between grade levels. The school

week consist of attending Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and every other

Saturday 8:00a.m. to noon. The elementary schools are grades first through sixth with students

starting at the age of six. Kindergarten is not required.

Our school year begins in late August and ends in early June. We are also permitted time

for holidays. Only we have a summer vacation June through August in between grade levels.

The elementary attends Monday through Friday 8:15 a.m. to 2:40 p.m. The elementary is made

up of grades kindergarten through fifth grade. Kindergarten is required.

In Japan the teachers teach the students as a whole , assuming everyone should

understand. There are no special schools or remedial classes for students with disabilities. The

students are graded only by their test scores , which does not seem to matter in elementary

because the teachers at elementary schools are more opt to pass students onto the next grade level

with their peers. They don't even have report cards.

They learn the same basic subjects we do , reading , arithmetic , science , etc. Only their

writing class is called calligraphy , where the students learn to write over one thousand symbols called Kanji , that is their written language. In between every subject lesson taught there is a ten

minute break giving students time to rest their minds. After school most students will stay to

participate in activities like soccer , arts and crafts , and more. These activities are hosted and

sponsored by the parents of the community. The elementary students stay busy enough all day

not giving them much time to be lazy. This helps gear them towards being more goal oriented.

In the elementary schools of America the day is also spent learning basic subjects only the

students are rarely ever permitted free time in between subjects. They learn one then it's onto