One of the reasons I came to Japan was to learn about the education system and to compare/contrast it w/ the American system. Surprisingly, there’s almost nothing to compare and almost everything to contrast. When teachers and students here ask me how American school is different than Japanese school, I am totally at a loss. ‘Um…in America, kids and teachers don’t clean the school. Someone does that as a job.’ …‘Students don’t wear uniforms.’ And that’s about as far as I get—those two overt differences. Yet in reality, the things that are the same barely number over two, while the things that are different make up the overwhelming majority of the aspects of American school and Japanese school. It's just hard to explain most of the other differences to people who don't know any system other than this one; for me, the second part of that challenge is to explain in a way that doesn't sound critical. Not to mention, I'd have to explain these complicated, delicate issues in very basic English or risk-ridden Japanese (I say "risk-ridden" because of the high chance of sounding offensive in this language that has soo many rules and formulas for showing respect and communicating indirectly, especially with a message that could potentially be taken as negative). No one ever asks me, “Mya, what’s the same about American school and Japanese school?” Presumably, it’s because they expect that most things are the same and few things are different. Subconsciously this must have been what I thought, too, before coming here and entering the world of Japanese education by becoming an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher). Ha! I can’t believe I ever thought that! It's laughable now. If anyone ever did ask me about the similarities between the education systems of our two countries, I could give a complete answer in about 20 seconds. ‘There are students and teachers. There are desks and chairs. Teachers write on chalkboards……[14 seconds remain, so I’m wracking my brain for other things that are the same.] ….There is a lunch break (though almost everything about them is different from the other country). There is bullying (though in America, it’s not acceptable for teachers to bully). There are parent/teacher/student conferences……[9 seconds left…???? That’s all I’ve got.]
I have thought several times that this job would be a lot easier if I wasn’t a teacher…if I didn’t have any background in education…if I hadn’t studied any classroom mgmt. strategies, child psychology, assessment, lesson plan design, etc. etc. Like, if I was just some engineering major who wanted to come experience Japan and so I decided to apply to be an ALT and hang out in Japanese school for a bit, I think I’d be way less appalled and frustrated than I often am. I wouldn’t have so many defined expectations about what education should look like or even what its purpose is. One of my friends here, Rocio, who is from Spain, recently told me about a book she’s been reading. It’s about Japanese society, and specifically, she was talking about the education portion of the book. It says: the purpose of Japanese education is to create Japanese people. !!! This made SO MUCH make sense! SO MUCH sense. It was as if all the lights in Tokyo—well, that’s a lot of lights! …so, maybe not quite that many...it was as if all the lights in Tokyo Disney Land came on in my head! I’m often frustrated and shocked and baffled at what I see in the education system here, because I’m evaluating it and analyzing it through the filter of what is considered right by American education standards. BUT when Rocio told me that, I realized that the purposes of American education and Japanese education are entirely different [even if upon further consideration it could be determined that one of the key purposes of American education is to create Americans-- people who think as Americans, work as Americans, communicate, express their opinions, balance their time, hang out, ask questions, love, apologize as Americans-- as we do all of these things in vastly different ways than Japanese people do them], so it doesn’t make sense for me to judge the system here through the lens of the American system. I felt SUCH relief. In an instant it was as though a heavy burden had been lifted from my shoulders. I no longer have to try to make sense out of the countless disparities I encounter every day. (sigh) :)
However, today was a day of extreme dissatisfaction with “the system” of English education in Japan (guess I haven’t really shed my American education lens! ;D)…which is what prompted me to start writing...but I’ll have to save the details for another sitting. I’m going to Matsumoto Castle (松本城) in Nagano Prefecture (長野県) EARLY (ugh!) tomorrow morning with one of the 9th grade math teachers, Nakayama Sensei (中山先生), and his daughter. So for now…I’ll just leave you with two final things to consider:
A quote from Japan’s first minister of Education, Mori Arinori, 1885: “In the administration of all schools, it must be kept in mind that what is to be done is not for the sake of the pupils, but for the sake of the country.”
And on a lighter note, something I learned from Shimoda Sensei (下田先生) during 9th grade English today: Only 3% of our communication is verbal. (I was pretty stunned when I heard her say this in 1st period, and I thought maybe I misunderstood her Japanese…so I listened more carefully in 6th period…and she said the same thing! Can you believe it?! I think I’ll have to do some investigating before I do.)
