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Why the United States Should Look to Japan for Better Schools
NY Times ^
| November 21, 2005
| BRENT STAPLES
Posted on 11/21/2005 12:14:01 AM PST by neverdem
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To: wideminded
"profound cultural difference "Respect.
21
posted on
11/21/2005 1:07:12 AM PST
by
endthematrix
(Those who despise freedom and progress have condemned themselves to isolation, decline, and collapse)
To: neverdem
I'll never forget seeing in my wife's issue (she was a HS teacher) of IL-NEA news of Chinese Communist school teachers visiting Illinois schools. Now I don't remember if China was here to give or receive lessons of indoctrination. But I'm sure the visit hurt America.
22
posted on
11/21/2005 1:11:26 AM PST
by
endthematrix
(Those who despise freedom and progress have condemned themselves to isolation, decline, and collapse)
To: neverdem
You're welcome.
-good times, G.J.P. (Jr.)
To: Prime Choice
That's a very good idea, and I agree completely. \
Honestly, a lot of the blame falls on the parents, too.
My mom brought a class that had only the year before had 30% of the class pass reading at a level of proficiency and brought 83% of the class to proficiency.
She was singled out and bullied by a group of mothers (i.e. old hens) who said that she was making their babies work to hard, giving them homework (gasp!), and she was GIVING them lower grades than they were used to getting.
End of story: my mother was run out of the school, undermined by a group of parents who NEVER came and brought their complaints to her but rather ran to the administration. Lots of false accusations went around, the mothers, ganged up on her, and she spent the next 3 years looking for a new teaching job.
Now that she's there, imagine the fact that their test scores have gone up substantially!
Parents are a major, major problem. Until they start becoming proactive and fostering a learning environment at home WITH EXPECTATIONS our kids are bound for failure.
To: All
The liberals and the liberal media look to other countries for guidance. That is just plain nuts.
THE ANSWER:
Look to homeschooling and/or good private schools for a quality education.
If public schools are allowed to continue, then let's clean house -- the school house. Only the basics will be taught. All classes will be in English. No frills and no liberal/anti-American social agendas will be allowed in the public schools. All teachers MUST pass a competency test and a background check before being allowed to teach at any school.
25
posted on
11/21/2005 1:22:07 AM PST
by
Cindy
To: wideminded
I have been an ALT in Japan for 10 years ...They've got English teachers in the schools who can't even speak or understand the language they are teaching ...Great . I could write a book about the Japanese education system , but can tell you that like anywhere else it has its +s and -s ...Also , nepotism rules .
26
posted on
11/21/2005 1:27:45 AM PST
by
sushiman
To: Prime Choice
I agree - the education I got in the 1970s in a Catholic grammar school and in the 1980s at a Jesuit high school were excellent. Classic case of it not being broken and people wanting to fix it.
In any case, we don't want to be like the Japanese. Strangely awkward in almost any situation, unable to relate and unwind, incongruous giggliness, etc. just isn't something I think we should emulate. Legend and lore had it that young kids had so much pressure to succeed that they flip out if they score low on exams.
Life is way too short to seriously think that a person's lifepath is horribly altered if they don't get into their top choice of college. In fact, that mentality is remarkably immature and unimpressive: whenever I meet someone like that, I tune them out and can't take them seriously.
Luckily, most grow up to be successful doctors and lawyers who hate their life.
27
posted on
11/21/2005 1:35:52 AM PST
by
HitmanLV
(Listen to my demos for Savage Nation contest: http://www.geocities.com/mr_vinnie_vegas/index.html)
To: HitmanNY
No thank you for the kids being nannied from dawn to dusk. I love my kids and they are subject to enough as it is. I am praying for an opportunity to home school, but it isn't looking good. For the amount of time they are in school, neither can spell very well, and math could be improved.
The worst of it, instead of teaching science all year, they teach social studies then science half year.
It's insane.
28
posted on
11/21/2005 2:20:26 AM PST
by
momincombatboots
(Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber)
To: neverdem
Most of the people in the United States have the misconception that schools are responsible for teaching students! SCHOOLS, actually TEACHERS, TEACH SUBJECTS, not students.
A student, at any age, has to have an interest and a desire to learn. Until that threshold is reached, there is a huge sink hole that money is poured into. A student has to want to learn. Once that is achieved, there are almost unlimited resources to help that student, including many good teachers and well equipped schools, both public and private.
One only needs to look at the nationality of the students who get the academic awards for excellence.
To: Jeff Chandler
I used to teach. I have degrees in Chemistry and Biology. I took my teacher programs in order to obtain certification. I did not particiapate in a Teacher degree program. I was a good student. I love my subjects and believe kids in Chemistry need a rigorous course to prepare them for college Chemistry. A principal told me (I kid you not) that he didn't think smart people made good teachers. He didn't like me. I didn't do enough group teaching (making molecules out of gumballs etc).
30
posted on
11/21/2005 4:06:55 AM PST
by
bronxboy
To: bronxboy
I meant I took teacher courses. This did not come out right!
31
posted on
11/21/2005 4:07:48 AM PST
by
bronxboy
To: neverdem
Parents do not expect responsibility and accountability for their own actions, and expect dopey liberal, uneducated, "educators" to do their bidding. Pathetic times in which we live.
Eubonics.101 anyone?
/barf
32
posted on
11/21/2005 4:16:13 AM PST
by
Cobra64
To: neverdem
I just want to remind you of one thing: Last I heard, the United States was the only nation who tested and reported all of its students, not just the ones on the college track. If that's correct, then apples are being compared to oranges here.
To: HitmanNY
Life is way too short to seriously think that a person's lifepath is horribly altered if they don't get into their top choice of college.Or, to put the same thing differently, life is way too long to think it's over if you're not slotted into your government-approved niche by the time you're 18.
34
posted on
11/21/2005 4:29:51 AM PST
by
Tax-chick
("Everything is either willed or permitted by God, and nothing can hurt me." Bl. Charles de Foucauld)
To: neverdem
Actually, the US needs to study Singapore---not Japan.
To: Prime Choice
We will never match Japan's educational system and the reason is that we have these little programs like "No Child Left Behind." And what that means, of course, is that everything will be "dumbed down" so they everyone can pass.
But never believe that there is no academic excellence in this country. It's just that it is sometimes difficult to see the wheat because of all the chaff.
36
posted on
11/21/2005 4:47:28 AM PST
by
davisfh
To: neverdem
Japan is xenophobic, increasingly sterile, and the US takes in many legal immigrants in accordance with US law (and deals with illegals as well)--in Japan, there are immigrants who've been in the country generations who aren't allowed to apply for citizenship.
37
posted on
11/21/2005 5:06:16 AM PST
by
Mamzelle
(.)
To: neverdem
My wife is Japanese and, recently, she volunteered to help with 3rd grade FCAT tutoring (in FL). She was shocked that 3rd graders were using their fingers to do multiplication. She then learned they no longer taught math by memorization of multiplication tables! Memorization of multiplication tables was done by the end of the 2nd grade in Japan! THe Japanese are still taught the way we were 40 years ago. The liberal, touchy feely learn in a group at your own pace is total nonsense. Too emphasis is placed on false self esteem and not enough on getting things in kids heads early on. Over their, the younger you are, the more intense the education. That's because the younger you are, the more readily you learn! THey also go to school 6 days a week with very little time off for breaks. THey also have an extremely competitive academic environment where the school you go to depends on your grades and entrance tests. It's more competitive to go to a good highschool there than to get into a good college here. You can only go to a school with a score less than what you did on your entrance exams. SO if you got 80%, the schools you could go to had to have a score of 80 or lower. There is intense pressure to get good grades so you can get into a good highschool.
Unless the U.S. completely dumps the current education system, we will never be a match for the elementary schools in Japan.
38
posted on
11/21/2005 5:42:59 AM PST
by
doc30
(Democrats are to morals what and Etch-A-Sketch is to Art.)
To: neverdem
How about the US should start teaching again instead of indoctrinating? That might help.
39
posted on
11/21/2005 5:43:07 AM PST
by
metmom
(Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
To: Frohickey
Does Japan have a teacher's union? ;) One thing Japan does not have is a flood of non-Japanese speaking immigrants.
If you look at America's public schools there are basically two kinds: those that are doing a pretty reasonable job and achieving a decent outcome and those that are overwhelmed by non-English speakers.
40
posted on
11/21/2005 6:03:37 AM PST
by
jackbenimble
(Import the third world, become the third world)
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