Japanese Classes
Today we had the opportunity to attend and observe the elementary school classes. I was very surprised by what I saw.
Overall, the students had a great deal more freedom than students in American schools. They were allowed generous time in between classes to run around, usually unsupervised. At times there would be large groups of students together with no adult around. However, it was interesting to see that when students are used to that type of Independence they did not take advantage of it and nothing bad happened.
Class sizes were quite large, usually at least 30 students. We were told that if the number reaches 40 in a class they split it in half and form another class with an additional teacher. We were joking that a teacher with 29 1st graders prays nightly for one more to move to the island!
During classes the students often demonstrated less attention than one would expect, sometimes getting up or talking during the lesson. This was especially true with the older students.
During the day students typically have 5 classes, with a two hour break for lunch and recess. At lunch time, a few students are sent to the kitchen to get the days lunch and serving dishes. These are then brought to the classroom. The meal is then served to each person before anybody is allowed to eat. There is a high level of concentration on equality, making sure that each student receives the same amount of food (although there is more than enough to go around).
Overall, it was very enjoyable to see the classes and it helped break a lot of stereotypes that I had about the Japanese education system. For example, there were no computers in any of the classrooms that I visited and the library only had one computer. There was a small computer lab, but it was closed every time I tried to visit. I believe that it was important for me to see the classes in efforts of better understanding Japan.
Overall, the students had a great deal more freedom than students in American schools. They were allowed generous time in between classes to run around, usually unsupervised. At times there would be large groups of students together with no adult around. However, it was interesting to see that when students are used to that type of Independence they did not take advantage of it and nothing bad happened.
Class sizes were quite large, usually at least 30 students. We were told that if the number reaches 40 in a class they split it in half and form another class with an additional teacher. We were joking that a teacher with 29 1st graders prays nightly for one more to move to the island!
During classes the students often demonstrated less attention than one would expect, sometimes getting up or talking during the lesson. This was especially true with the older students.
During the day students typically have 5 classes, with a two hour break for lunch and recess. At lunch time, a few students are sent to the kitchen to get the days lunch and serving dishes. These are then brought to the classroom. The meal is then served to each person before anybody is allowed to eat. There is a high level of concentration on equality, making sure that each student receives the same amount of food (although there is more than enough to go around).
Overall, it was very enjoyable to see the classes and it helped break a lot of stereotypes that I had about the Japanese education system. For example, there were no computers in any of the classrooms that I visited and the library only had one computer. There was a small computer lab, but it was closed every time I tried to visit. I believe that it was important for me to see the classes in efforts of better understanding Japan.
posted by Dana Specht @ 3:51 AM
1 comments
1 Comments:
Cool!
Were the classes more or less advanced than ours, though students were given more freedom? Tell us all about it later!! WoW... their classes were up to 30 people... you must be right when you said "a first grade teacher with 29 students must pray night and day for just one more student!" Your updates and stories are full of insight... you must put a lot of effort into typing it up!
Have fun (though I've said that billions of times.. and you've heard it a lot too!)
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