Education in Japan

Presented by Jayender Rathore

Facts and Figures
Japan
4 major islands and over
4,000 smaller islands

Primarily mountainous
terrain

Population: 127,417,200

Capital City: Tokyo

Currency: Yen

Language: Japanese

Religions: Buddist and

Shinto 85%
 Perceived Strengths of
Japanese Education

Math and Science foundation of students

Society committed to academic excellence
Respect among students
Teacher culture focused on designing and implementing lessons
Challenges Facing Japan

 Population decline

 Political Apathy

Lack of will to reform

 Self-centered youth
Reform
Efforts
 Reduced Intensity Reforms
 MEXT
 Teacher
frustrations
 Parental fears

 Private School role

 Integrated Studies
 Focus of Educational Reform
Emphasis on Individuality - this is significantly
different from the current system that emphasizes
harmony and uniformity. They will focus on creativity
and have more hands-on activities for children.
Emphasis on Life Long Learning - this will bring
about change in the current system from rote
memorization to learning how to learn and higher level
thinking.
Emphasis on preparing students who can plan and
cope with change and succeed in the information age
and global society - there is political pressure for
students to acquire the skills to compete
internationally. There is a move to provide students
with comprehensive international learning; to help
students understand other cultures, history, and values.
 Crisis in Education?
PISA League Table
2000 – Literacy 2003 – Math 2006 -Science
Japan = 8th Japan = 4th Japan =
3rd
U.S. = 15th U.S. = 24th U.S.= 21st

Is the crisis in Japanese education real or a

ploy to incite panic within the nation?
 Structure and Governance of Schools
System is organized as follows:
6 years of elementary school
3 years of junior high school
3 years of high school
4 years of college

Compulsory education from ages 5-14

240 day school year with a 6 day school week – approximately

30 days devoted to out of classroom experiences

MEXT – Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and

Technology regulates educational system
 Japanese Culture

 The role of the family in education of children is vital

The culture promoted within school focus on:

 Cooperation
 Relationships
 Responsibility
 Following set rules and routines
 Values
 Punctuality
 Stewardship
 Loyalty
 Leadership & subordinate roles

 Place a high value on economic success

Confucius had a great impact on education in Japan

 School Finance
 National Government bears one third
to one half of the cost of education

 4.7% of the GNP is allocated to

education

 Schools across the nation are viewed

as equal. There is little variation in
quality of the school due to area socio-
economic factors.
Public School Curriculum in
Japan
A Day in the life of a Japanese student…
 Peace Curriculum

As part of the Peace Education Curriculum which combines moral and political topics for
Junior and Senior High School students, a trip is made to the Hiroshima Memorial. An
inscription there reads:

Hiroshima was the first city in the world to suffer an atomic bombing. That terrible
experience gave us a new understanding of the cruelty of war, the terror of nuclear
weapons, and the importance of peace. Until the day when all people on Earth can live in
peace, we will continuously send messages of peace from Hiroshima to the world.
 Special Education

There are 995 schools for handicapped individuals.

70 schools for the deaf

107 for the blind
790 for those with disabilities

This number is not seen as adequate to serve the population of special needs
in the country.
 Diversity and Equity
There is a disparity between the percentage of women
and men who attend 2 year colleges. Approximately
95% of those attending are women. There is
discrimination in the fields open to women and the
level of education they are encouraged to pursue.
Changing roles for women may help address problems
with aging society. United Nations report stated that
Japanese women are falling behind women in other
countries in terms of being able to participate in
economic and social activities.
Although, Japanese women are some of the most
highly educated in the world with 42.5% having some
post secondary education.
Most education settings are co-educational.
 Teacher Methods and Training

 Strong Professional Learning Communities among teachers

 Teachers have 4 year degrees and are licensed through the government

 Role of schools and teachers shifting in discipline and motivation of students

 Teaching methods have shifted with reform efforts and movements, not a tremendous amount of
technology seen in classrooms.

 Strive for democratic classrooms

 Moving away from skill and drill and are now expected to respond to individual students needs
and encourage a “zest for living”.

Called to be facilitators of learning rather than disseminators of knowledge

Post war teaching methods were designed to organize and transmit large amounts of information to
large groups and was very effective.
 Class size averages 28 students
…to be honest we don’t always teach what we are supposed to. We don’t have enough time in the schedule to teach math,
so we use that morning IS time for math. If we don’t use that time for math, we have to find other times to teach math.
(Mr. Aoyama, 7th grade teacher)
…the Course of study contents have changed and were reduced. The teachers have less material to cover but they aren’t
sure how to deal with the changes. They have become rudderless, shifting from one direction to another. They are under
pressure to raise student’s academic abilities, which creates work and pressure. (Mr. Sekine, 9 th grade teacher)
 Higher Education in Japan
 Japan is the world’s largest source of study abroad students
Both younger and older students (ages 12 – 50+)
Economic downturn and need for life long learning
Growing dissatisfaction with challenges and outcomes of higher
ed.
Very little guidance in courses or career paths
Attendance in class is poor and behavior is often disruptive

There is a push to increase the number of foreign exchange

students
to aide in the development of Japan and international relations.
The number grew from 10,000 in 1983 to 64,000 in 2000.

 Rapid decline in birthrate has higher education scrambling for