The World Leaders in Education
Lessons from the Successes and Drawbacks of Their Methods
Summary
Excerpt
Table Of Contents
- Cover
- Title
- Copyright
- About the author
- About the book
- This eBook can be cited
- Table of Contents
- Chapter One: Introduction—What World-Class Nations in Education Do That Makes Them So Good
- Chapter Two: Finland—Ethos of Equality: Finnish Educational Policy and Practice
- Chapter Three: The United States—Schooling in the United States: What We Learn from International Assessments of Reading and Math Literacy
- Chapter Four: Japan—The High-Achieving Educational System of Japan
- Chapter Five: Canada—Education in Canada: Separate but Similar Systems in the Pursuit of Excellence and Equity
- Chapter Six: South Korea—South Korea’s Education: A National Obsession
- Chapter Seven: Singapore—Success in Singapore: A Model for Excellence in Education
- Chapter Eight: New Zealand—Education in New Zealand: Maintaining Quality in an Era of Change
- Chapter Nine: China—Reconciling Fairness with Efficiency: Reforming the Chinese Examination System
- Chapter Ten: Conclusion—What We Can Learn from High-Ranking Nations in Education
- About the Contributors
- Index
The High-Achieving Educational System of Japan
LAWRENCE BAINES AND MANO YASUDA
For many years, students from Japan have been among the highest-performing students in the world on international tests, particularly in mathematics and science. “Among OECD countries, Japan is now ranked second in mathematics performance and first in…science performance” (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD], 2014c, p. 1). Recently, the scores posted by Japanese students in reading and problem solving have improved to the extent that they now also rank among the highest in the world in those areas (OCED, 2014a).
Similarly, on the 2011 administration of the TIMSS international mathematics test for fourth and eighth graders, Japanese students ranked among the top performers, just below marks set by students from Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, and Taipei (Mullis, Martin, Foy, & Arora, 2012). Perhaps one of the most remarkable aspects of Japanese success is that high performance is not the result of a few high achievers but is distributed throughout the system. For example, in the most recent administration assessing problem-solving skills of 15-year-olds, PISA found that only 7% of Japanese students scored below level 2 on the assessment, compared to 18% of American students (National Center for Education Statistics, 2014). Of Japanese 15-year-olds, 22% scored level 5 or above, compared to 12% of American 15-year-olds.
As the Center on International Education Benchmarking (2014) notes, “As long as there have been international comparisons of national student achievement, Japan has placed at or near the top” (p. 1). Over the past decade, East Asian ← 61 | 62 → countries have consistently dominated international rankings, with Singapore and Korea typically in the lead, and Japan and China Taipei not far behind (Mullis et al., 2012).
In terms of global competitiveness, the World Economic Forum ranked Japan 6th (Schwab, 2014, p. 13), and Cornell University ranked Japan 21st of 143 countries on the global innovation index (Cornell University, INSEAD, & WIPO, 2014, p. xxiv). Despite such lofty levels of achievement, many Japanese are highly critical of the nation’s educational policies. Fujita and Dawson (2007) comment: “Japanese schools and teachers, especially public schools and their teachers, have been under relentless attack from various stakeholders since the 1980s” (p. 50). Willis, Yamamura, and Rappleye (2008) note that criticisms over “lack of creativity and imagination, not to mention the dearth of Nobel Prizes, a point of wounded national pride, has people seriously worried” (pp. 496–497). Even a recent report from OECD (2010) on the highest-achieving school systems in the world acknowledged the furor over the state of public education in Japan:
Over the last two decades, there has been a rising chorus of criticism about Japan’s education system, especially concerns over a deficit in encouraging creativity and innovation and whether Japan can maintain its top place in the international league table of student achievement. Other concerns center on an apparent erosion of moral and group values. (p. 147)
Data on the attitudes of Japanese students indicate that they experience more anxiety, enjoy learning less, and have lower confidence in their abilities than students in other countries. In contrast, students in the United States are less anxious, enjoy learning more, have higher confidence in their abilities, but perform at lower levels (OECD, 2013).
As a recent document states, one of the functions of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) is to inculcate in students the importance of exerting great individual effort for the betterment of the local community and the nation:
Through the steadfast efforts of each and every individual citizen, education in Japan realizes the ideal of equal opportunity, raises the education standards of the nation, and responds to the needs of the times while making significant contributions to the development of society. (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology [MEXT], 2014c, p. 1)
ATTITUDES TOWARD EDUCATION
When students do not perform well in school in Japan, their failure is more than just an individual disappointment; it is a blow to the stature of the entire family, ← 62 | 63 → especially the mother. Conversely, when students do well, they advance the family name and reputation. As a professor of sociology at Komazawa University in Tokyo has noted, “The social status of parents is related to their child-rearing and child’s education” (Pasion, 2014, p. 1). In this way, academic success is inextricably linked to “saving face.”
Perhaps as a result of the importance of performance in school, truancy in Japan is rare. Students in Japanese schools tend to be punctual and are unlikely to be disruptive. Most Japanese students reported that they listen to what the teacher says; 90% of Japanese students agree that noise or disorder never or rarely disrupts learning (OECD, 2009). Overall, Japan has the “best disciplinary climate… among students in all other OECD countries,” and it continues to improve (OECD, 2013, p. 7). The remarkable compliance among students derives not only from pressure from parents, but also from the meticulous record keeping of teachers. In Japan, a student’s record describes not only grade point average and academic performance, but also detailed comments on attendance, participation in extracurricular activities, behavior, and attitude. At every level of schooling, schools require students to submit school reports as part of the admission process. Thus, students who misbehave, who do not participate in extracurricular activities, or who exhibit poor manners significantly decrease their chances of getting into the better schools.
The Japanese constitution states that education is both a right and a duty. Children have the right to receive an education, and it is the parents/guardians who should provide the best education possible. Homeschooling does not exist in Japan, unless extreme circumstances require a child to be housebound.
Education is compulsory for grades 1–9 (Ellington, 2005), and public schools are free except for the cost of lunch or extracurricular activities such as field trips. Municipalities and private sources pay for kindergarten, but national, prefectural (similar to state or provincial), and local governments pay almost equal shares of costs for students in grades 1–9.
Textbooks are free as well. Interestingly, MEXT pledges to provide free textbooks to Japanese children, no matter where they might live. Thus, a Japanese family living in the United States could contact the nearest Japanese Embassy and request that textbooks be sent to them.
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
Details
- Pages
- VI, 210
- Publication Year
- 2016
- ISBN (Hardcover)
- 9781433129575
- ISBN (PDF)
- 9781453915929
- ISBN (MOBI)
- 9781454191247
- ISBN (ePUB)
- 9781454191254
- ISBN (Softcover)
- 9781433129568
- DOI
- 10.3726/978-1-4539-1592-9
- Language
- English
- Publication date
- 2016 (February)
- Keywords
- Education Comparison PISA Studies Pisa
- Published
- New York, Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, Frankfurt am Main, Oxford, Wien, 2016. VI, 210 pp.
- Product Safety
- Peter Lang Group AG
