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* * * * KnoK NEWS * * * *
-- Views from the world of learning in Japan --


[Second Section of 6 May 2000 Edition]


If you're still with us here, thanks for sticking around!

We continue on to the second feature of our KnoK NEWS double report this
time: a wrap-up of our Q & A on homeschooling in Japan by Tomiko Kugai, a
respected Japanese homelearning parent and advocate.

This Q & A has its roots in a Japanese-language listing that Ms. Kugai
compiled in 1997 to help introduce the homelearning environment to the
slowly but steadily rising number of Japanese families seeking
alternatives to school. With Ms. Kugai's cooperation, KnoK NEWS has
recently translated, expanded and updated that original Japanese Q & A
list into English. We share the latter part of that listing with you now.

Kugai, along with her partner, Mr. Junichi Ono, and their 14-year-old
daughter, Momo, have been homelearners for more than six years. Kugai
also heads a support group called "Home Schooling Network - Himeji" in
the city of Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan. (The group's
Japanese homepage is at: http://www2h.biglobe.ne.jp/~hsn-hime/ )

Kugai's family and homelearning activities have been reported on Japanese
TV, as well as in Japanese newspaper and magazine articles. The Kyoto
Shimbun, a major metro daily newspaper in the Japanese city of Kyoto,
just last month carried a few articles on Kugai and other regional
homelearning activities; the stories came across as supportive of
home-based learning in Japan.

You may remember that in Part 1 of our Q & A listing, sent out about a
month ago, we introduced some of the basic questions being asked by
Japanese families about homelearning. We also touched upon some of the
general legal issues concerning home education (i.e., It is *not* against
the law for children to learn at home in Japan).

Part 2 of our Q & A listing by Tomiko Kugai covers topics that are more
specific to Japan, such as *fu-toko* (avoiding school), and the
educational challenges young homelearners in Japan may face as they get
older.

As mentioned last time, we hope to take a deeper, more comprehensive look
in the future at legal and other issues as they relate to homelearning in
Japan. For now, however, we offer this Q & A overview in the spirit of
honest, open information-exchange and networking.

* * * *

* Q & A ON HOMESCHOOLING IN JAPAN -- Part 2 *


Q-12: EXACTLY HOW DO FAMILIES IN JAPAN GET STARTED IN HOMESCHOOLING? WHAT
KIND OF STEPS DO THEY HAVE TO TAKE?

A-12: In many cases in Japan, families start out homeschooling through
*fu-toko* (school avoidance) on the part of their child: Parents think
their child has a problem, so they go through counseling and prepare to
send the child back to school through so-called corrective facilities
[kyosei shisetsu], such as an "adjustment guidance room" [*teki-o shido
kyo-shitsu*] at school, a municipal "child consultation center" [jido
sodan-jo] or a "free school" program.

On the other hand, there are those exceedingly few parents in Japan who
are finding a problem with the methods of school itself, and they go on
to choose learning at home as a way to raise their children. In such a
case, the homeschooling child's name will continue to be listed on the
school register in Japan, so there would be no need to individually
notify the local board of education. Once parents have notified officials
at the school of their child's desire to learn at home, that is generally
sufficient in many cases.

There is also a slowly rising number of households in Japan that are
choosing homeschooling from the very beginning. Here, too, there are no
fixed procedures in Japan for dealing with homeschooling, so many
homeschooling parents find it easier at this stage to go through the
formal motion of registering with the school, and then inform school
officials at that time of the child's intent to learn at home, instead of
at school.

Q-13: WHAT HAPPENS IF A FAMILY IN JAPAN INTENDING TO HOMESCHOOL RECEIVES
NO COOPERATION FROM EDUCATION/SCHOOL OFFICIALS? WHAT RECOURSE DOES THE
FAMILY HAVE?

A-13: It used to be that a child in Japan who didn't show up for school
would not be moved up a grade or would not be allowed to graduate -- but
this was for *fu-toko*, not for homeschooling in particular. And even
then, such actions by a school against *fu-toko*, for the most part, are
rarely taken nowadays. There are the occasional cases of a school
principal -- usually one who possesses little understanding of the matter
-- making such threatening statements, but the Ministry of Education is
telling school officials these days to refrain from such actions. If a
homeschooling family finds itself facing such a situation, it can -- with
the backing of a support group, for example -- obtain the actual facts
from various areas in Japan and present that information to the school
principal during discussions. (Taking the case to a local board of
education in Japan usually proves futile, and unfortunately no other
official organization exists to mediate such matters between a family and
school.)

Regardless of whether or not there are restrictions on graduation, it is
still possible for a child to proceed to a higher school level by taking
and passing tests sanctioned by the Education Ministry, such as those for
graduating from middle school [*Chu-gaku Kentei*] and entering university
[*Dai-gaku Kentei*].

Q-14: ARE THERE ANY COURT CASES IN JAPAN BEING HEARD AT PRESENT ON THE
SPECIFIC ISSUE OF HOMESCHOOLING?

A-14: There are none at present, as far as I know.

Q-15: AUTHORITIES IN SOME COUNTRIES TEND TO CONFUSE HOMESCHOOLING WITH
"CHILD NEGLECT" OR "CHILD ABUSE." IS THIS A PROBLEM IN JAPAN TOO?

A-15: There is always the possibility of such confusion occurring. But
where homeschooling itself is concerned in Japan, the relevant
authorities for the most part don't make it a point to come to the home
and check on things. So there doesn't seem to be a problem in this regard.

Q-16: HOW MANY HOMESCHOOLING SUPPORT GROUPS ARE THERE THROUGHOUT JAPAN?

A-16: There are about 10 independent support groups in Japan, like "HSN
Himeji," that have no religious affiliation. Many families in Japan are
also registered with "free schools" such as Tokyo Shure that have
homeschooling support programs, and with overseas schools like Clonlara
in the United States. There are other Christian-affiliated support groups
in Japan too.

Q-17: WHAT IS A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A "TYPICAL HOMESCHOOLER" LIKE IN
JAPAN? ARE ALL HOMESCHOOLERS THE SAME?

A-17: Homeschooling differs with every home. In our family, for instance,
homeschooling is centered around our child's interests. So, excluding
time for meals and household chores, our child herself decides how each
day is spent. She reads books, paints pictures, cooks, does workbooks,
watches TV -- it changes with her interests and moods. Once a week, she
goes to the library and checks out books. We as a family also participate
in our support group functions, do some shopping, go to the movies. So we
spend a lot of time outside as well.

Q-18: WHAT IS THE OFFICIAL STANCE OF JAPAN'S MINISTRY OF EDUCATION ON
HOMESCHOOLING? HOW DOES THAT STANCE AFFECT HOMESCHOOLERS' DAILY LIVES?

A-18: The Japanese government has issued no official opinion on
homeschooling one way or the other. The ministry did, in 1992, issue a
statement on *fu-toko* [school avoidance] to the effect that: "As any
child is likely to turn to avoiding school at any time, children need not
be forced to return to school." This signaled the government's apparent
recognition that to continue pushing school avoiders to go back to school
could worsen an already serious problem. Following this statement by the
ministry, school officials nationwide have generally softened their
stance on children who avoid school.

As for those who homeschool: Though there may be exceptions, the ministry
for the most part does not interfere in the daily lives of homeschooling
families at present, neither encouraging nor discouraging such activities.

Q-19: WHAT HAS JAPANESE MEDIA COVERAGE OF HOMESCHOOLING BEEN LIKE?

A-19: The Japanese mass media have been covering homeschooling in Japan
as an issue since around 1993. At first, many news stories focused on how
to remedy the rising numbers of "school-avoiding children." But recently,
media coverage in Japan has been treating homeschooled children's own
personalities and self-determination more seriously; as such, media
stories these days are introducing homeschooling in Japan as a new
learning alternative to school.

Q-20: HOW DO THE RELATIVES, NEIGHBORS AND COMMUNITIES OF HOMESCHOOLING
FAMILIES IN JAPAN REACT TO HOME-BASED LEARNING?

A-20: Among those people who are actually familiar with homeschooling
families or are aware of the educational growth of homeschooled children,
there seems to a broadening of understanding, though it is hard to say to
what extent. (This, of course, may also depend on the region in Japan.
There seems to be little interference in homeschooling matters in urban
areas, anyway.)

Q-21: DON'T HOMESCHOOLED CHILDREN NEED A DIPLOMA OF SOME KIND TO GET INTO
UNIVERSITY? DO THEY STILL NEED TO TAKE JAPAN'S INFAMOUS UNIVERSITY
ENTRANCE EXAMS?

A-21: There are two ways to enter college or university in Japan: by
graduating from high school or by passing the Education
Ministry-sanctioned university entrance test (*Dai-gaku Kentei*). It is
not necessary to graduate from primary school, middle school or high
school to TAKE the *Dai-gaku Kentei*. It should be noted, however, that
passing this test would merely qualify a person to take university
entrance exams; a homeschooler wanting to enter a university would still
have to take the entrance exams of the university she/he wanted to get
into, just like other applicants.

Q-22: ARE JAPANESE COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES ACCEPTING HOMESCHOOLED
"STUDENTS"?

A-22: If a homeschooler passes a college's or university's own entrance
exams, there would be no problem getting in. There is no special system
set up for homeschoolers.

Q-23: DO HOMESCHOOLERS IN JAPAN HAVE ENOUGH KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS TO GET
SATISFACTORY JOBS? CAN THEY SURVIVE IN THE COMPETITIVE JAPANESE JOB MARKET?

A-23: We don't know much about this area yet, since the homeschooling
movement in Japan is rather young and the numbers of children being
raised through homeschooling are comparatively few in Japanese society.
Even so, it can be said with some certainty that lots of homeschooled
children in Japan are broadening their capabilities and that they have an
abundance of will to try things.

Academic record is still regarded as important for fighting it out in the
Japanese job market. But just because somebody is a homeschooler doesn't
mean the roads to higher education are closed in Japan: Former "school
avoiders" go on to graduate from university and do well as adults in the
business world; many of them work in a variety of fields as newspaper
reporters, teachers and so on. And of course, there are many working
people who have never been to college.

For homeschoolers, it is their own efforts and abilities that count most.
Many people who choose homeschooling tend to place a higher value on
whether or not they are playing the leading role in their own lives, or
whether or not they are truly happy, rather than on social success or
fighting to victory in competition.

[End]

* * * *


WISH I'D SAID THAT (Quote of the Day):

*On knowledge....

"To know is to exist; to exist is to be involved, to move about, to see
the world with my own eyes."
--Alice Walker, *In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens*, 1983