The Japanese Curriculum
1992 – 2003
CULTURAL FACTORS
by
Susan Sexton
University of Georgia
¯ Cross Cultural Studies
o
Who, exactly, is interpreting the curriculums?
¤
internal and external
viewpoints
o
Japanese education has long
been viewed in either two extremities
¤
great educational
achievement
¤
pressure and trauma on
students
¯ Moral Education
o
Confucian philosophy:
¤
childrenÕs deep respect
for their parents
¤
loyalty
¤
patriotism
¤
the pursuit of learning
o
perseverance
¤
Japanese vs. American
students
¤
parents and teachers
¤
all students can learn
mathematics
o
group cooperation
¤
mixed ability grouping
¤
uniformity of
educational experience
¤
lack of classroom
hierarchy
¤
the role of the
individual is downplayed relative to the group
¤
addressing group as a
whole
¤
less distractions by
off-task students
¤
tendency to credit good
acts over sanctioning bad ones
¯ Educational Pressures
o
When and why:
¤
increase as students
advance to higher grade levels
¤
further advancement within
the Japanese society
¤
get into the best high
schools and universities to ensure future employment and social status
o
Strategy:
¤
Juku:
á part of JapanÕs private sector
á
a means of providing
some form of supplemental education for Japanese students
á
preparation of entrance
exams into either the high school or the university
á to supplement current classroom education
á instruction in topics that are not offered by the
school
á
direct consequence of
parental concern as opposed to those of school officials
á
allows teachers to
maintain the system of single-track, mixed ability teaching
¯ The Workplace
o
employer criticism
absent in Japan of studens with basic skills
o
inherent sorting of
students by the entrance examination into high school and the university
o
moral development, group
cooperation, and perseverance are the qualities that employers desire
o
compulsory education
ensures that each student learns a basic level of set skills
o
the basic knowledge and
skills render students easily trainable in large companies
o
cycle of homogeneous
society
¯ The Cultural Influence on Mathematics Teaching
o
a more complex
interaction between the student and teacher actually exist
o
Japanese elementary
teachers (versus American counterparts):
¤
engage students in more
reflective discussion
¤
ask questions that
require longer answers
¤
provide more critical
feedback
o
Japanese mathematics
textbooks (versus American mathematics textbooks):
¤
emphasize more cognitive
modeling of problem solving processes
¤
seem to assume the learner
is a cognitively active problem solver seeking to understand the process for
solving
o
Japanese teacher:
¤
held in high esteem
¤
a product of the
Japanese educational system
¤
spiraling effect
¤
not a shortage of
mathematics teachers
¤
high school teacherÕs
subject knowledge is more specialized
¤
Japanese high school
teachersÕ instructional load is nearly 100% mathematics