free schools in Japan
regan
There was a really interesting article in the NY Times Education Supplement
this weekend... about the formation of "free schools" in Japan to try to
assist kids who are floundering in the regular schools. Lots of great info
about how, even though Japanese test scores in science and math have always
been so high, many graduates have a hard time later in the workplace because
they haven't learned to think for themselves.
The article is here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/12/edlife/12MIKIT.html
Here is an excerpt:
Free to Be
By MIKI TANIKAWA
It was a typical exercise to promote orderly response. The teacher called on
each student, who was to shout out his name. ''Here! Yuuki Tamori, I am
fine.'' But Yuuki, 10, was shy.
''Why can't you do it when everybody else is doing it?'' the teacher
admonished him. He was made to stand beside his desk for the rest of the
class. Yuuki failed to respond to his name on several more occasions.
''The more the teacher pressed him, the more difficult it was for him to do
it,'' said his mother, Haruko Tamori. ''I felt a sense of crisis after a
while because Yuuki was losing self-confidence.'' Mrs. Tamori decided to
send her son to the Learnnet Global School in Kobe, one of a growing number
of ''free schools'' that have emerged in reaction to the rigid curriculum,
group-oriented instruction and large class size (typically 40 students) of
the Japanese school system.
Like alternative schools in other countries, free schools in Japan range
broadly in quality and mission, from helping children who have difficulty
adjusting to regular schools to offering nontraditional approaches to
education. But unlike in other countries, they are by definition
unaccredited in Japan. While not enforced, the law requires that children up
to age 15 attend schools that comply with government stipulations on
curriculum, facilities and number and qualifications of instructors.
Strictly speaking, free school attendance is illegal.
Nonetheless, 300 to 500 such schools have opened over the last 10 years,
fueled by a phenomenon known as toko kyohi, or refusal to go to school.
Nearly 140,000 children refuse to attend -- one in every classroom in Japan
and more than double the number a decade ago, according to the Ministry of
Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. While poor grades and
boredom often lead to chronic truancy, the reason most often cited is
bullying, a problem so severe that it has drawn international attention. The
government is considering accrediting a school in Tokyo designed for toko
kyohi children, and it has deployed counselors to schools around the
country. But nothing has stemmed truancy, which is a particular problem in
junior high.
this weekend... about the formation of "free schools" in Japan to try to
assist kids who are floundering in the regular schools. Lots of great info
about how, even though Japanese test scores in science and math have always
been so high, many graduates have a hard time later in the workplace because
they haven't learned to think for themselves.
The article is here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/12/edlife/12MIKIT.html
Here is an excerpt:
Free to Be
By MIKI TANIKAWA
It was a typical exercise to promote orderly response. The teacher called on
each student, who was to shout out his name. ''Here! Yuuki Tamori, I am
fine.'' But Yuuki, 10, was shy.
''Why can't you do it when everybody else is doing it?'' the teacher
admonished him. He was made to stand beside his desk for the rest of the
class. Yuuki failed to respond to his name on several more occasions.
''The more the teacher pressed him, the more difficult it was for him to do
it,'' said his mother, Haruko Tamori. ''I felt a sense of crisis after a
while because Yuuki was losing self-confidence.'' Mrs. Tamori decided to
send her son to the Learnnet Global School in Kobe, one of a growing number
of ''free schools'' that have emerged in reaction to the rigid curriculum,
group-oriented instruction and large class size (typically 40 students) of
the Japanese school system.
Like alternative schools in other countries, free schools in Japan range
broadly in quality and mission, from helping children who have difficulty
adjusting to regular schools to offering nontraditional approaches to
education. But unlike in other countries, they are by definition
unaccredited in Japan. While not enforced, the law requires that children up
to age 15 attend schools that comply with government stipulations on
curriculum, facilities and number and qualifications of instructors.
Strictly speaking, free school attendance is illegal.
Nonetheless, 300 to 500 such schools have opened over the last 10 years,
fueled by a phenomenon known as toko kyohi, or refusal to go to school.
Nearly 140,000 children refuse to attend -- one in every classroom in Japan
and more than double the number a decade ago, according to the Ministry of
Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. While poor grades and
boredom often lead to chronic truancy, the reason most often cited is
bullying, a problem so severe that it has drawn international attention. The
government is considering accrediting a school in Tokyo designed for toko
kyohi children, and it has deployed counselors to schools around the
country. But nothing has stemmed truancy, which is a particular problem in
junior high.