Re:Japan home to 541,000 young recluses
by mikekchar on Thursday September 08, 2016 @04:00AM
(#12451114)
Keep in mind that Japanese schools are very different from NA schools. There are advantages and disadvantages, but for better or worse students are aggressively streamed from junior high school.
Basically, you go to whatever elementary school or junior high school that is in your area. When you are ready to go to high school, you choose which high school you want to go to and you have to pass an entrance exam.
A high level high school is very stressful and you have to study all the time. A low level high school is very easy going and it is not unusual for some students to graduate without having studied anything at all. At a high level high school you are expected to go on to University and have to prepare for University entrance exams. At a low level high school, you may still prepare for University entrance exams, but you are not necessarily expected to do so.
In a low level high school there are many activities surrounding how you can can contribute to society. In the high school I taught in (a very low level one), every Wednesday afternoon was taken up by classes on what it's like to work in a factory, or a convenience store, or a farm. There were classes on basic etiquette, how to talk to customers, how to get along with people, how to dress, etc, etc, etc. I was always annoyed because they wouldn't let me join in on those classes -- it would have been fascinating!
Essentially, students in a low level high school are indoctrinated into society as well as having a very basic education. There is a lot of emphasis on skills that students are likely to need (like using an abacus, typing, writing kanji, very simple foreign language exchanges, etc). Things like math, science, etc were taught, but I never got the impression that they were seen to be particularly important parts of school. The main thing about a low level high school is that apart from normal bullying, there is practically no stress. Seeing a student who is not smiling is an indication that something has gone absolutely pear shaped.
My colleagues in high level schools told me that things were pretty much the opposite. Tons of stress every day. Pressure to perform. Lots of expectations. Focus on academics, almost exclusively. Students are expected to already know how to act in society, etc, etc. Very different life.
But low level schools outnumber high level schools by about 4:1, so the huge high school stress that everyone assumes exists in Japan is really limited to a minority of top performing students.
Having grown up in Canada, I would choose the Japanese system hands down over the Canadian system. I would have been in the super stressed high level school and having a much better time ;-)
Basically, you go to whatever elementary school or junior high school that is in your area. When you are ready to go to high school, you choose which high school you want to go to and you have to pass an entrance exam.
A high level high school is very stressful and you have to study all the time. A low level high school is very easy going and it is not unusual for some students to graduate without having studied anything at all. At a high level high school you are expected to go on to University and have to prepare for University entrance exams. At a low level high school, you may still prepare for University entrance exams, but you are not necessarily expected to do so.
In a low level high school there are many activities surrounding how you can can contribute to society. In the high school I taught in (a very low level one), every Wednesday afternoon was taken up by classes on what it's like to work in a factory, or a convenience store, or a farm. There were classes on basic etiquette, how to talk to customers, how to get along with people, how to dress, etc, etc, etc. I was always annoyed because they wouldn't let me join in on those classes -- it would have been fascinating!
Essentially, students in a low level high school are indoctrinated into society as well as having a very basic education. There is a lot of emphasis on skills that students are likely to need (like using an abacus, typing, writing kanji, very simple foreign language exchanges, etc). Things like math, science, etc were taught, but I never got the impression that they were seen to be particularly important parts of school. The main thing about a low level high school is that apart from normal bullying, there is practically no stress. Seeing a student who is not smiling is an indication that something has gone absolutely pear shaped.
My colleagues in high level schools told me that things were pretty much the opposite. Tons of stress every day. Pressure to perform. Lots of expectations. Focus on academics, almost exclusively. Students are expected to already know how to act in society, etc, etc. Very different life.
But low level schools outnumber high level schools by about 4:1, so the huge high school stress that everyone assumes exists in Japan is really limited to a minority of top performing students.
Having grown up in Canada, I would choose the Japanese system hands down over the Canadian system. I would have been in the super stressed high level school and having a much better time ;-)