Local teacher learns first-hand about Japanese schools

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

In an effort to promote cross-cultural understanding, Japan brings 600 American educators each year to its island nation. Through the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Program, teachers and administrators can learn first-hand about the country's way of life and its educational system.

The exchange program allows K-12 teachers and administrators to spend three weeks in Japan's classrooms, observing a very different kind of school system. Japan established the exchange program in 1997 and hosts three such trips each year, with all expenses paid.

For Patty Edgerton, a teacher in her 22nd year at Cache La Poudre Elementary, this big adventure brought some very big surprises. Edgerton was selected to participate in the latest Japanese exchange, Oct. 9 through 27.

Probably the biggest surprise for Edgerton, who teaches reading and math in the Title I program, was that reading is not taught in Japanese elementary schools. That's right - not at all. Parents are expected to teach their children to read during the early grades. In the classroom, instruction is focused on math, science, calligraphy and morality.

In Japan, the government offers free public education only through the ninth grade. After that a young person has three options: an academic high school, a technical high school or the world of work. Teachers and parents make this important decision for the student.

Learning disabilities are not recognized in Japanese schools. If a student is having difficulties in school, parents must hire a tutor to help. Special education classes are only for students with multiple handicaps, both physical and mental. Despite the fact that the Japanese are known for high-tech innovation, computers are not used in the schools there. Teaching, especially at the high school level, is geared to government testing. "If it's not tested, it's not taught," she noted.

Education costly

In Japan, Edgerton said, "education is honored, and parents put education above everything else." That means an investment of both time and money on the parents' part, regardless of their economic standing.

For instance, if parents want their children to attend an academic high school, they will almost always hire an after-school tutor from the third grade on. A student at an academic high school will generally have five to six hours of tutoring each day, including the summer months.

So what happens to sports, music and art? In Japan, they are not part of the school day but are taught as club activities after school.

"School is really expensive," Edgerton commented. For instance, elementary school children are required to use a particular backpack costing about $300. In Japan, she was told, education is a priority and parents will pay for what is needed.

Edgerton noticed that the atmosphere in Japanese elementary schools was much the same as at home, with lots of hands-on learning and joyful children. Once a student enters an academic high school, however, the fun stops.

"The students' entire three years are devoted to passing a test at the end of their senior year, and the test score determines what university they can get into," she said.

High school students don't have jobs, only school. With all this pressure, Edgerton said, students don't want to be wrong, and they are not taught to be risk-takers.

If Japanese schools sound like a recipe for burnout, they are - especially for teachers. Edgerton said it's not unusual for a teacher's day to run from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. It's typical of the culture, she said, which has an "incredible work ethic."

Ironically, Edgerton said, the pace at the university level is much easier than in high school, so young people have time to pursue extracurricular interests there.

Edgerton and her colleagues were able to witness some of the challenges facing the Japanese educational system. Bullying is a huge problem, Edgerton said. Also, with the emphasis on testing, English is not taught as a spoken language, only a written one, so students are unable to converse in English.

As a people, the Japanese are "incredibly gracious and kind," Edgerton observed. "They have a better understanding of the U.S. than we have of them."

As part of her Japanese experience, Edgerton spent time in Tokyo and in Tajimi, a city about the size of Fort Collins. She also had one free weekend, when she enjoyed visiting Buddhist shrines in Kyoto.

Outreach required

The JFMF program isn't just a one-way street, with Japan providing an interesting experience for educators. As part of the package, the participants are required to design and carry out a plan for exposing their students to Japanese culture. Edgerton plans to use Japanese fairy and folk tales, along with poetry and songs, to introduce her students to Japanese ways. Her class will also present a program to their parents about what they have learned.

"It was an amazing experience," Edgerton said of her journey to the Far East. She was interested to see other approaches to education, and she loved the way Japanese parents value and trust teachers. Nonetheless, she was glad to be back in her own classroom with its more relaxed atmosphere, where children are valued for many different talents and not just academic success.

For more information about the JFMF program, people may visit www.fulbrightmemorialfund.jp.