Japan has built one of the world’s most admired education systems. It is driven by the country’s historical and cultural heritage, a strong national consensus on the importance of education, and strong parental commitment to their children’s educational efforts.
Honda identifies an ultranationalist core within the school system. She also describes a wider band of authoritarian schools, including sports clubs in junior high school, that subject students to daily harsh treatment.
History
Japan’s school system has long been influenced by external influences. China’s teachings and ideas first reached the country in the sixth century, and since then learning from other cultures has become an important part of education.
The rise of militarism in the 1930s shifted the focus of education toward preparing loyal subjects for the empire, and schools were called “kokumin gakko” or national people’s schools. At the same time, educational institutions were pushed to expand their ranks.
In addition to teaching students basic skills, the curriculum stresses moral development. A small amount of hours every year are devoted to moral instruction, and teachers also encourage students to practice widely admired societal traits such as putting forth intense effort at work and responding warmly to teacher greetings.
Classes remain large by OECD standards, and tuition for public upper-secondary education is expensive. In addition, demographic aging and declining enrollments are taking their toll. Those trends are expected to have significant ramifications on nearly all levels of the educational system. Japan is attempting to address these challenges by creating programs designed to free young Japanese students from debt and equip them with the skills they need to contribute to the nation’s economy.
Motivation
Education is a powerful tool for unlocking one’s potential. This is why the country has a national scheme that gives low-income students the opportunity to pursue higher education with government funding. It is hoped that the scheme will prevent young Japanese from getting saddled with student debt and stalling their careers. According to Yumiko Murakami, the head of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Tokyo Centre, if this fails, Japan could see a gap between the rich and poor widening in its educational system.
In late medieval times, Japan’s educational system came under the influence of Jesuit Catholic missionaries, including Francis Xavier, who introduced education and Western technology to the nation. The education that followed emphasized general skills, vocational training and-of course-Christianity, but it also reinforced Confucian values and an imperial mindset.
By the end of the Tokugawa era, Japan had a public school system with a nationwide reach, and its literacy rate was higher than that of many Western nations. Today, despite international criticism of its rigidity and exam-centeredness, the Japanese education system is still considered to be world class.
Socialization
For Japanese, socialization is essential for unlocking their potential. They are encouraged to talk openly about their feelings and opinions in a social setting. They are also taught to respect other people’s space, even in stressful situations. Spending time with colleagues in a non-work environment – eating, drinking, golfing, karaoke – is a great way to build relationships.
The socialization process continues in school, where students learn to value their membership in the classroom homeroom (kumi). They treat the kumi as a “home away from home” and may even arrange the furniture and decorate it with plants and personal items. In contrast to schools in the United States, teachers do not call on individual children to answer questions.
This study uses a structural equation model to analyze adolescent reports of cultural socialization practices. Multi-group confirmatory factor analyses show invariance of the four subscales – family heritage cultural socialization, family mainstream cultural socialization, peer heritage cultural socialization, and peer mainstream cultural socialization. This demonstrates that the model is robust and can be used to predict outcomes in diverse settings.
Discipline
Since the 1980s Japan has conducted extensive education reforms to bring its educational systems into the twenty-first century. These include curricula reforms, educational administrative systems, university entrance examinations and education policies, teacher training and school evaluations.
At the same time, however, Japan’s society and its public educational institutions have undergone major transformation. This has resulted in problems such as children’s declining academic ability, bullying, truancy, and school violence. In addition, a lack of leadership and a sense of responsibility at local schools and boards of education have also contributed to these issues.
A key issue is the discipline process. During interviews with principals and teachers, many expressed that discipline is most effective when the students like their teachers and feel that they care about them. In such a situation, students will be more likely to obey the teacher’s orders. The discipline process should be carried out with a clear understanding of the consequences of disobedience. Moreover, the discipline should be based on mutual trust and respect. If the teacher is someone who the student does not like or agree with, the child will not comply with his/her orders.
Character
Japanese education has long played a key role in molding the nation’s character. In the Meiji period (1868-1912), Japan’s educational system was radically overhauled to bring it more in line with Western school systems, and make schooling compulsory for all children. A new system of primary schools, secondary schools, and universities was put into place.
At the same time, the nation’s cherished values of unity and harmony were promoted through education. The emperor’s enactment of the Gokajono Goseimon in 1868, a set of five articles that outlined international objectives for education, made clear that the goal was to educate students to become leaders who “seek knowledge from all over the world and contribute to national unity.”
Following World War II, the educational system was again overhauled by the occupying Allied forces. The Fundamental Law on Education of 1947, and the School Education Law of that same year established a more centralized Ministry of Education. Curriculum guidelines emphasized objectivity and neutrality to avoid divisive political, factional, or religious issues.
