|
ShawnFettyFirstPaper 13 - 16 May 2010 - Main.StephanieOduro
|
| |
| META TOPICPARENT | name="FirstPaper" |
|---|
| | | | |
<
< | COMMENTS | | | | |
<
< | I liked your essay. I think the American public school system is broken for greater reasons than tracking. I never went to a public school, but reading the literature, it seems that policies that involve severe budget cuts and No Child Left Behind is leaving so many children behind. Public schools, especially those in the inner City, need more MONEY. But with No Child Left Behind, the schools lose money if their children don’t perform well on the exams. It seems a little backwards to me. If the children are doing poorly on the standardized tests, shouldn’t the school get MORE money? That’s just my opinion. | >
> | I liked your essay. I think the American public school system is broken for greater reasons than tracking. I never went to a public school, but reading the literature, it seems that policies that involve severe budget cuts and No Child Left Behind is leaving so many children behind. Public schools, especially those in the inner City, need more MONEY. But with No Child Left Behind, the schools lose money if their children don’t perform well on the exams. It seems a little backwards to me. If the children are doing poorly on the standardized tests, shouldn’t the school get MORE money? That’s just my opinion. | | | Also the schools that suffer from lack of funds are not able to hire enough teachers to teach and help the students. There’s also overcrowding which makes the school environments a place where it’s more difficult to learn in the classroom. | |
<
< | I did a little chuckle when I read about the part of the kumi system where the students help clean the schools. America is such a litigious society that I shudder to think what would happen if schools made children help clean the school buildings. They would go bankrupt from the lawsuits. | | | \ No newline at end of file | |
>
> | I did a little chuckle when I read about the part of the kumi system where the students help clean the schools. America is such a litigious society that I shudder to think what would happen if schools made children help clean the school buildings. They would go bankrupt from the lawsuits. | | | \ No newline at end of file |
|
|
ShawnFettyFirstPaper 12 - 16 May 2010 - Main.ShawnFetty
|
| |
| META TOPICPARENT | name="FirstPaper" |
|---|
| | |
What It Means | |
<
< | The Japanese education system cannot be imported to America. It works in Japan because of the underlying culture and the infrastructure of Japanese cities. Further, we should be mindful that the Japanese system is not without its own victims. Yet, the boy from my story is not one of them. True, he often got bored in class, but when I asked him what he wanted to do after middle school, he was very excited to tell me about enrolling in an agricultural high school; he wanted to learn to be a farmer. He wasn’t at all alienated from his peers, and he had the distinct honor of being the very best pitcher on the baseball team. | >
> | The Japanese education system cannot be imported to America. It works in Japan because of the underlying culture and the infrastructure of Japanese cities. Further, we should be mindful that the Japanese system is not without its own victims. The boy from my story, however, is not one of them. True, he often got bored in class, but when I asked him what he wanted to do after middle school, he was very excited to tell me about enrolling in an agricultural high school; he wanted to learn to be a farmer. He wasn’t at all alienated from his peers, and he had the distinct honor of being the very best pitcher on the baseball team. | | | We can look at Japan to get perspective on what’s happening with our own children. Tracking is often justified in America on the grounds that it improves academic achievement. This is intuitively attractive: in a society that puts great emphasis on improvement through competition, it seems natural that children, too, when exposed to increased pressure from their peers, will study harder—learn better. But even if that’s true, is it worth the social costs? We’re proud that all men here are born equal, but as early as elementary school, the system is letting them know that they’re not. We should give more consideration to this social harm. |
|
|
ShawnFettyFirstPaper 11 - 16 May 2010 - Main.ShawnFetty
|
| |
| META TOPICPARENT | name="FirstPaper" |
|---|
| | |
--Increased academic diversity | |
<
< | While we track students into different classrooms within the same school, Japanese students are tracked into completely different schools based on entrance examination performance. Except for extremely elite schools, however, the range of admissible scores for a school is not especially narrow. The goal is to eliminate extreme disparity and get students the education they need rather than maximize rather than total academic efficiency. Thus, in contrast with American classrooms, students in a Japanese classroom may range from the academically inclined to those with no plans of graduating high school. The result is already more exposure to people of different academic ability than what occurs in American schools. | >
> | While we track students into different classrooms within the same school, Japanese students are tracked into completely different schools based on entrance examination performance. Except for extremely elite schools, however, the range of admissible scores for a school is not especially narrow. The goal is eliminating extreme disparity and getting students the education they need rather than maximizing instructional efficiency. Thus, in contrast with American classrooms, students in a Japanese classroom may range from the academically inclined to those with no plans of graduating high school. The result is already more exposure to people of different academic ability than what occurs in American schools. | | |
--Prioritizing interdependency |
|
|
ShawnFettyFirstPaper 10 - 15 May 2010 - Main.StephanieOduro
|
| |
| META TOPICPARENT | name="FirstPaper" |
|---|
| | | The Japanese education system cannot be imported to America. It works in Japan because of the underlying culture and the infrastructure of Japanese cities. Further, we should be mindful that the Japanese system is not without its own victims. Yet, the boy from my story is not one of them. True, he often got bored in class, but when I asked him what he wanted to do after middle school, he was very excited to tell me about enrolling in an agricultural high school; he wanted to learn to be a farmer. He wasn’t at all alienated from his peers, and he had the distinct honor of being the very best pitcher on the baseball team.
We can look at Japan to get perspective on what’s happening with our own children. Tracking is often justified in America on the grounds that it improves academic achievement. This is intuitively attractive: in a society that puts great emphasis on improvement through competition, it seems natural that children, too, when exposed to increased pressure from their peers, will study harder—learn better. But even if that’s true, is it worth the social costs? We’re proud that all men here are born equal, but as early as elementary school, the system is letting them know that they’re not. We should give more consideration to this social harm. | |
>
> |
COMMENTS
I liked your essay. I think the American public school system is broken for greater reasons than tracking. I never went to a public school, but reading the literature, it seems that policies that involve severe budget cuts and No Child Left Behind is leaving so many children behind. Public schools, especially those in the inner City, need more MONEY. But with No Child Left Behind, the schools lose money if their children don’t perform well on the exams. It seems a little backwards to me. If the children are doing poorly on the standardized tests, shouldn’t the school get MORE money? That’s just my opinion.
Also the schools that suffer from lack of funds are not able to hire enough teachers to teach and help the students. There’s also overcrowding which makes the school environments a place where it’s more difficult to learn in the classroom.
I did a little chuckle when I read about the part of the kumi system where the students help clean the schools. America is such a litigious society that I shudder to think what would happen if schools made children help clean the school buildings. They would go bankrupt from the lawsuits. |
|
|
ShawnFettyFirstPaper 9 - 15 May 2010 - Main.ShawnFetty
|
| |
| META TOPICPARENT | name="FirstPaper" |
|---|
| | | -- By ShawnFetty - 26 Feb 2010 | |
>
> | A Story
I team-taught English to middle school students for a year in the rural northeast of Japan. One day, I noticed a particularly disengaged boy. He was having trouble matching words with similar vowel sounds: unusual since most find this exercise very easy. When I read a series of words to him, he had no trouble circling the correct answer. Yet when asked to try the next problem on his own, the boy just shook his head and said, “Sensei, it’s impossible.” I let him be, assuming for the moment that he ascribed to the common belief that learning English is categorically impossible for Japanese people. Sometime later, another teacher clued me in on what the real problem was: “That student can’t write. He has trouble reading and writing even in Japanese. He’s dyslexic.” He laughed, and I, awkwardly, laughed with him. | | | | |
<
< | Introduction—A story
I team-taught English to middle school students for a year in the rural northeast of Japan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tohoku). While making the rounds in class one day, I noticed a particularly disengaged boy. On inspection, he was having trouble matching words with similar vowel sounds: unusual since most students find this exercise very easy. When I read a series of words to him, he had no trouble circling the correct answer--but when asked to try the next problem on his own, he just shook his head and said, “Sensei, it’s impossible.” I assumed he ascribed to the common belief that learning English is categorically impossible for Japanese people. | >
> | Although seemingly disturbing cases like this exist, the Japanese system isn’t broken. After all, Japanese students consistently perform near the top on worldwide academic achievement tests [Note: they’ve fallen a few ticks in recent years]. More importantly, however, I think the system better socializes students than our own. | | | | |
<
< | Sometime later, seeking advice about expunging that attitude from my students, I related my exchange with the boy to another teacher. He responded, “That student can’t write. He has trouble reading and writing even in Japanese. He’s dyslexic.” He laughed, and I, awkwardly, laughed with him. Oh, of course. | >
> | The Social Costs of Tracking in America
When I was in high school, local public school students were divided into five levels, ranging from honors to vocational studies to special needs. Educators call this practice “tracking.” In my experience, students on different tracks in American schools share the same building but otherwise rarely interact. Long lessons of history and human nature teach us that “otherification” is the natural quotient of such divisions. So, unsurprisingly, a sense of elitism and entitlement was palpable among the honors students I knew—which in turn led to resentment by lower-track students. Worse, while students are ostensibly tracked according to objective criteria (standardized test scores), in fact, lower-track students tend to come exclusively from minority and low-income households. Irrespective of any positive effect on their academic performance, tracking reinforces feelings of difference in our youth—inextricably tied to race and class. | | | | |
<
< | Although seemingly disturbing cases like this exist, I submit that the Japanese system isn’t broken. Japanese students do consistently perform near the top on worldwide academic achievement tests(http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/11/26/world/main530872.shtml --Note: they’ve fallen a few ticks in recent years). More importantly, however, I think the system better socializes students than our own. It does this at least partially by better promoting community among students. | >
> | What Makes Japan Different | | | | |
>
> | --The obvious
Tracking in Japan seems to escape this problem. Indeed, stronger students often go out of their way to pull in students that appear disengaged. In part, this can be explained by acknowledging the difference in cultural context. For example, while Japan is not nearly as racially homogenous as the Japanese often suppose, the fact of the matter is, Japanese people believe their society is racially homogenous. Also, as a matter of tradition and social density, there is a somewhat greater expectation of interdependency among Japanese people than among Americans. Neither of these factors should be overstated, but they plainly influence how tracking affects students in Japan. Still, the structure of Japanese education bears more directly on how students work with and perceive each other. | | | | |
<
< | The Structure of Japanese Education | | | | |
<
< | Tracking in Japan
Japanese schools do not stratify and segregate students like American schools (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracking_(education)). In general, there are no “gifted” programs. Strong students might be labeled “high level,” but this is strictly informal; those children attend the same classes as their peers. At the other end, special education classes are offered, but enrollment is voluntary, and students enrolled in special education classes still ultimately join their classmates for PE, mandatory clubs (sports, etc.), music, and art. Thus, students in a classroom may range from the academically inclined to those with no aspirations of graduating high school. In the case of the child above, his parents didn’t want him to be in remedial classes, so he was kept with his peers. | >
> | --Increased academic diversity
While we track students into different classrooms within the same school, Japanese students are tracked into completely different schools based on entrance examination performance. Except for extremely elite schools, however, the range of admissible scores for a school is not especially narrow. The goal is to eliminate extreme disparity and get students the education they need rather than maximize rather than total academic efficiency. Thus, in contrast with American classrooms, students in a Japanese classroom may range from the academically inclined to those with no plans of graduating high school. The result is already more exposure to people of different academic ability than what occurs in American schools. | | | | |
<
< | This is not to say that tracking does not exist in Japan. It simply does not occur within schools. Where one goes to school in Japan is more a matter of entrance examination performance than attendance zones. Very few elementary schools require entrance examinations, so tracking largely begins with middle school. Broadly, based on the academic standards of each school, a specific set of middle schools tracks into a set of high schools--which in turn tracks into a set of universities. Except for extremely elite schools, these tracks are not especially narrow, so a fairly wide range of students will still be enrolled at most schools. This prevents extreme disparity while preserving a spectrum of talent. Granted, that spectrum may constrict as students continue their education. | | | | |
<
< | In the Classroom
In the shadow of examination tracking, several other factors promote students actively engaging with others at different ability levels. First, within each grade level, students are assigned to classes, or kumi, of 30 to 40 students. Schools try very hard to make kumi as balanced as possible with respect to gender and previous academic record. Kumi share the same schedule, and kumi assignments are fixed for several years: that is, the same group of students often shares a classroom for all of middle school or high school. In addition to class schedule, kumi share broader responsibilities. For example, as there are no janitors in Japanese schools, students (and teachers) spend part of each school day on maintenance. Chores (cleaning the floors, bathrooms, shoveling snow, etc.) are rotated between kumi every few weeks, but students in a kumi are always jointly responsible for a given task. Students from different kumi still interact through sports and other club activities. | >
> | --Prioritizing interdependency
Acting on that increased exposure, other institutional mechanisms promote interaction among students. First, students are assigned to groups (“kumi”) that share both class schedules and broader responsibilities in the school. As there are no janitors in Japanese schools, such responsibilities include students spending part of each school day on cleaning the school grounds. Chores (cleaning the floors, bathrooms, shoveling snow, etc.) are rotated between kumi every few weeks, but students in a kumi are always jointly responsible for a given task. The shared responsibility and mandatory cooperation ensure that these duties are as much about community building as they are about maintenance. | | | | |
<
< | Second, academic reform during the nineties has put a greater emphasis on working collaboratively. Contrary to popular belief, the Japanese education system is no longer characterized by robotic droning and rote memorization (Changing Realities). Group projects are common, and even for individual assignments, there is an expectation that stronger students tutor weaker students. All this, coupled with the intimate kumi setting, makes it very difficult for students to sit aloof and focus on their own achievements. Indeed, stronger students often go out of their way to pull in students that seem to be disengaged. The system structurally fosters interdependency among students in a way American education does not. | >
> | Second, during the nineties, Japanese education reform put a greater emphasis on working collaboratively. Contrary to popular belief, the Japanese education system is no longer characterized by robotic droning and rote memorization. Group projects are common, and even for individual assignments, there is an expectation that stronger students tutor weaker students. All this, coupled with the intimate kumi setting, makes it very difficult for students to sit aloof and focus on their own achievements. Beyond cultural differences, the system structurally fosters interdependency among students in a way American education simply doesn’t. | | |
What It Means | |
<
< | When I was in high school, local public school students were divided into five or so levels, ranging from honors to vocational studies and down to special needs. Where Japan obfuscates student classification, in America, we segregate students open and obviously. This harms the ability of students to relate to those classified differently. Students on different tracks shared the same building, but otherwise rarely interacted. Further, a sense of elitism and entitlement was palpable among honors students—which in turn led to resentment by low-track students. The structure here reinforces feelings of difference—inextricably tied to notions of race and class. We should give more weight to this social harm. | >
> | The Japanese education system cannot be imported to America. It works in Japan because of the underlying culture and the infrastructure of Japanese cities. Further, we should be mindful that the Japanese system is not without its own victims. Yet, the boy from my story is not one of them. True, he often got bored in class, but when I asked him what he wanted to do after middle school, he was very excited to tell me about enrolling in an agricultural high school; he wanted to learn to be a farmer. He wasn’t at all alienated from his peers, and he had the distinct honor of being the very best pitcher on the baseball team. | | | | |
<
< | The Japanese system is not without its victims (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikkikomori), but the boy from my story above is not one of them. True, he often got bored in class, but when I asked him what he wanted to do after middle school, he was very excited to tell me about his plans to enroll in an agricultural high school; he wanted to learn to be a farmer. He wasn’t at all alienated from his peers, and he had the distinct honor of being the very best pitcher on the baseball team.
END
Notes for revision.
I like a good story, but the wind-up is too long
Too much description; not enough substance? I feel constrained by the fact that I can't point to a source that just summarizes the system so I can spend my time dealing with other issues. Feels stuck between story and essay.
Agreed. The solution is
more spareness of language and compression of detail. You are having
the anthropologist's dilemma: without thick ethnographic description,
interpretation is unreliable or useless, but if ethnographic
description crowds out or overcomplicates interpretation, the point
of the exercise is lost. Here, as you say, you are at risk of losing
the space to interpret creatively what you rightly feel a
responsibility to describe richly.
Do a Japanese thing: pare down the material, leaving only the essence
of the entities. Use juxtaposition in presentation, showing how the
structures of Japanese and US schools, and sequences of schools,
reflect dissimilar cultural understandings and priorities. Reserve
space not only for your own interpretation, but for the reader's
expanding understanding, by at least indicating the direction of
ideas you cannot spell out fully.
The significance of the following is not lost on me, but I couldn't fit them into this initial draft (on second thought, not sure I even want to go down this road. Probably expands topic when I need to be narrowing it:
Race
Japan is not nearly as racially homogenous as the Japanese often suppose it is. Of course, the largest minorities in Japan are largely indistinguishable by physical characteristics. The fact of the matter is, Japanese people believe their society is racially homogenous, and that really does a lot of work towards cementing kinship.
Density of Japanese cities
Because schools in Japan are smaller and more numerous, students are still able to comfortably get from their homes to school easily on their own without busing. This expands the available options for students without inconveniencing families or the government.
This could be said in a
sentence, helpfully, as you nearly do it
here.
Culture
There may be a greater interdependency among Japanese people as a matter of cultural construction, but it’s not like America is so essentially a “screw thy neighbor; take them for everything they have” society.
Right, which is why
efforts of this kind to illuminate the grayscale rather than relying
on dichotomous distinctions are so important. | | | \ No newline at end of file | |
>
> | We can look at Japan to get perspective on what’s happening with our own children. Tracking is often justified in America on the grounds that it improves academic achievement. This is intuitively attractive: in a society that puts great emphasis on improvement through competition, it seems natural that children, too, when exposed to increased pressure from their peers, will study harder—learn better. But even if that’s true, is it worth the social costs? We’re proud that all men here are born equal, but as early as elementary school, the system is letting them know that they’re not. We should give more consideration to this social harm. |
|
|
ShawnFettyFirstPaper 8 - 06 Apr 2010 - Main.EbenMoglen
|
| |
| META TOPICPARENT | name="FirstPaper" |
|---|
| | | Too much description; not enough substance? I feel constrained by the fact that I can't point to a source that just summarizes the system so I can spend my time dealing with other issues. Feels stuck between story and essay. | |
>
> | Agreed. The solution is
more spareness of language and compression of detail. You are having
the anthropologist's dilemma: without thick ethnographic description,
interpretation is unreliable or useless, but if ethnographic
description crowds out or overcomplicates interpretation, the point
of the exercise is lost. Here, as you say, you are at risk of losing
the space to interpret creatively what you rightly feel a
responsibility to describe richly.
Do a Japanese thing: pare down the material, leaving only the essence
of the entities. Use juxtaposition in presentation, showing how the
structures of Japanese and US schools, and sequences of schools,
reflect dissimilar cultural understandings and priorities. Reserve
space not only for your own interpretation, but for the reader's
expanding understanding, by at least indicating the direction of
ideas you cannot spell out fully.
| | | The significance of the following is not lost on me, but I couldn't fit them into this initial draft (on second thought, not sure I even want to go down this road. Probably expands topic when I need to be narrowing it:
Race | | | Density of Japanese cities
Because schools in Japan are smaller and more numerous, students are still able to comfortably get from their homes to school easily on their own without busing. This expands the available options for students without inconveniencing families or the government. | |
>
> | This could be said in a
sentence, helpfully, as you nearly do it
here. | | | Culture
There may be a greater interdependency among Japanese people as a matter of cultural construction, but it’s not like America is so essentially a “screw thy neighbor; take them for everything they have” society. | |
<
< |
You are entitled to restrict access to your paper if you want to. But we all derive immense benefit from reading one another's work, and I hope you won't feel the need unless the subject matter is personal and its disclosure would be harmful or undesirable.
To restrict access to your paper simply delete the "#" on the next line:
# * Set ALLOWTOPICVIEW = TWikiAdminGroup, ShawnFetty
Note: TWiki has strict formatting rules. Make sure you preserve the three spaces, asterisk, and extra space at the beginning of that line. If you wish to give access to any other users simply add them to the comma separated list | | | \ No newline at end of file | |
>
> | Right, which is why
efforts of this kind to illuminate the grayscale rather than relying
on dichotomous distinctions are so important. | | | \ No newline at end of file |
|
|
ShawnFettyFirstPaper 7 - 05 Mar 2010 - Main.ShawnFetty
|
| |
| META TOPICPARENT | name="FirstPaper" |
|---|
| | | Sometime later, seeking advice about expunging that attitude from my students, I related my exchange with the boy to another teacher. He responded, “That student can’t write. He has trouble reading and writing even in Japanese. He’s dyslexic.” He laughed, and I, awkwardly, laughed with him. Oh, of course. | |
<
< | Although disturbing cases like this exist, I submit that the Japanese system isn’t broken. Japanese students do consistently perform near the top on worldwide academic achievement tests(http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/11/26/world/main530872.shtml --Note: they’ve fallen a few ticks in recent years). More importantly, however, I think the system better socializes students than our own. It does this at least partially by promoting community among students with different capabilities. | >
> | Although seemingly disturbing cases like this exist, I submit that the Japanese system isn’t broken. Japanese students do consistently perform near the top on worldwide academic achievement tests(http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/11/26/world/main530872.shtml --Note: they’ve fallen a few ticks in recent years). More importantly, however, I think the system better socializes students than our own. It does this at least partially by better promoting community among students. | | |
The Structure of Japanese Education | | | I like a good story, but the wind-up is too long | |
<
< | Too much description; not enough substance? Feels stuck between story and essay. | >
> | Too much description; not enough substance? I feel constrained by the fact that I can't point to a source that just summarizes the system so I can spend my time dealing with other issues. Feels stuck between story and essay. | | | The significance of the following is not lost on me, but I couldn't fit them into this initial draft (on second thought, not sure I even want to go down this road. Probably expands topic when I need to be narrowing it: |
|
|
ShawnFettyFirstPaper 6 - 02 Mar 2010 - Main.ShawnFetty
|
| |
| META TOPICPARENT | name="FirstPaper" |
|---|
| | | Too much description; not enough substance? Feels stuck between story and essay. | |
<
< | The significance of the following is not lost on me, but I couldn't fit them into this initial draft: | >
> | The significance of the following is not lost on me, but I couldn't fit them into this initial draft (on second thought, not sure I even want to go down this road. Probably expands topic when I need to be narrowing it: | | | Race
Japan is not nearly as racially homogenous as the Japanese often suppose it is. Of course, the largest minorities in Japan are largely indistinguishable by physical characteristics. The fact of the matter is, Japanese people believe their society is racially homogenous, and that really does a lot of work towards cementing kinship. |
|
|
ShawnFettyFirstPaper 5 - 02 Mar 2010 - Main.ShawnFetty
|
| |
| META TOPICPARENT | name="FirstPaper" |
|---|
| | | I like a good story, but the wind-up is too long | |
<
< | Too much description; not enough substance. | >
> | Too much description; not enough substance? Feels stuck between story and essay. | | | The significance of the following is not lost on me, but I couldn't fit them into this initial draft: |
|
|
ShawnFettyFirstPaper 4 - 02 Mar 2010 - Main.ShawnFetty
|
| |
| META TOPICPARENT | name="FirstPaper" |
|---|
| | | Notes for revision. | |
<
< | I like stories, but the wind-up is just killing my word count. | >
> | I like a good story, but the wind-up is too long | | | | |
<
< | The significance of the following is not lost on me, but I couldn't fit them into this draft: | >
> | Too much description; not enough substance.
The significance of the following is not lost on me, but I couldn't fit them into this initial draft: | | | Race
Japan is not nearly as racially homogenous as the Japanese often suppose it is. Of course, the largest minorities in Japan are largely indistinguishable by physical characteristics. The fact of the matter is, Japanese people believe their society is racially homogenous, and that really does a lot of work towards cementing kinship. |
|
|
ShawnFettyFirstPaper 3 - 01 Mar 2010 - Main.ShawnFetty
|
| |
| META TOPICPARENT | name="FirstPaper" |
|---|
| | | END | |
<
< | Notes for revision. The significance of the following is not lost on me, but I couldn't fit them into this draft: | >
> | Notes for revision.
I like stories, but the wind-up is just killing my word count.
The significance of the following is not lost on me, but I couldn't fit them into this draft: | | | Race
Japan is not nearly as racially homogenous as the Japanese often suppose it is. Of course, the largest minorities in Japan are largely indistinguishable by physical characteristics. The fact of the matter is, Japanese people believe their society is racially homogenous, and that really does a lot of work towards cementing kinship. |
|
|
ShawnFettyFirstPaper 2 - 27 Feb 2010 - Main.ShawnFetty
|
| |
| META TOPICPARENT | name="FirstPaper" |
|---|
| |
<
< | | | | | |
<
< | It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted. | | | | |
<
< | Paper Title | >
> | It's Not Your Grandfather's Segregation | | | -- By ShawnFetty - 26 Feb 2010 | |
<
< | Section I | >
> | Introduction—A story
I team-taught English to middle school students for a year in the rural northeast of Japan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tohoku). While making the rounds in class one day, I noticed a particularly disengaged boy. On inspection, he was having trouble matching words with similar vowel sounds: unusual since most students find this exercise very easy. When I read a series of words to him, he had no trouble circling the correct answer--but when asked to try the next problem on his own, he just shook his head and said, “Sensei, it’s impossible.” I assumed he ascribed to the common belief that learning English is categorically impossible for Japanese people.
Sometime later, seeking advice about expunging that attitude from my students, I related my exchange with the boy to another teacher. He responded, “That student can’t write. He has trouble reading and writing even in Japanese. He’s dyslexic.” He laughed, and I, awkwardly, laughed with him. Oh, of course.
Although disturbing cases like this exist, I submit that the Japanese system isn’t broken. Japanese students do consistently perform near the top on worldwide academic achievement tests(http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/11/26/world/main530872.shtml --Note: they’ve fallen a few ticks in recent years). More importantly, however, I think the system better socializes students than our own. It does this at least partially by promoting community among students with different capabilities. | | | | |
<
< | Subsection A | >
> | The Structure of Japanese Education | | | | |
>
> | Tracking in Japan
Japanese schools do not stratify and segregate students like American schools (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracking_(education)). In general, there are no “gifted” programs. Strong students might be labeled “high level,” but this is strictly informal; those children attend the same classes as their peers. At the other end, special education classes are offered, but enrollment is voluntary, and students enrolled in special education classes still ultimately join their classmates for PE, mandatory clubs (sports, etc.), music, and art. Thus, students in a classroom may range from the academically inclined to those with no aspirations of graduating high school. In the case of the child above, his parents didn’t want him to be in remedial classes, so he was kept with his peers. | | | | |
<
< | Subsub 1 | >
> | This is not to say that tracking does not exist in Japan. It simply does not occur within schools. Where one goes to school in Japan is more a matter of entrance examination performance than attendance zones. Very few elementary schools require entrance examinations, so tracking largely begins with middle school. Broadly, based on the academic standards of each school, a specific set of middle schools tracks into a set of high schools--which in turn tracks into a set of universities. Except for extremely elite schools, these tracks are not especially narrow, so a fairly wide range of students will still be enrolled at most schools. This prevents extreme disparity while preserving a spectrum of talent. Granted, that spectrum may constrict as students continue their education. | | | | |
<
< | Subsection B | >
> | In the Classroom
In the shadow of examination tracking, several other factors promote students actively engaging with others at different ability levels. First, within each grade level, students are assigned to classes, or kumi, of 30 to 40 students. Schools try very hard to make kumi as balanced as possible with respect to gender and previous academic record. Kumi share the same schedule, and kumi assignments are fixed for several years: that is, the same group of students often shares a classroom for all of middle school or high school. In addition to class schedule, kumi share broader responsibilities. For example, as there are no janitors in Japanese schools, students (and teachers) spend part of each school day on maintenance. Chores (cleaning the floors, bathrooms, shoveling snow, etc.) are rotated between kumi every few weeks, but students in a kumi are always jointly responsible for a given task. Students from different kumi still interact through sports and other club activities. | | | | |
>
> | Second, academic reform during the nineties has put a greater emphasis on working collaboratively. Contrary to popular belief, the Japanese education system is no longer characterized by robotic droning and rote memorization (Changing Realities). Group projects are common, and even for individual assignments, there is an expectation that stronger students tutor weaker students. All this, coupled with the intimate kumi setting, makes it very difficult for students to sit aloof and focus on their own achievements. Indeed, stronger students often go out of their way to pull in students that seem to be disengaged. The system structurally fosters interdependency among students in a way American education does not. | | | | |
<
< | Subsub 1 | | | | |
>
> | What It Means
When I was in high school, local public school students were divided into five or so levels, ranging from honors to vocational studies and down to special needs. Where Japan obfuscates student classification, in America, we segregate students open and obviously. This harms the ability of students to relate to those classified differently. Students on different tracks shared the same building, but otherwise rarely interacted. Further, a sense of elitism and entitlement was palpable among honors students—which in turn led to resentment by low-track students. The structure here reinforces feelings of difference—inextricably tied to notions of race and class. We should give more weight to this social harm. | | | | |
<
< | Subsub 2 | >
> | The Japanese system is not without its victims (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikkikomori), but the boy from my story above is not one of them. True, he often got bored in class, but when I asked him what he wanted to do after middle school, he was very excited to tell me about his plans to enroll in an agricultural high school; he wanted to learn to be a farmer. He wasn’t at all alienated from his peers, and he had the distinct honor of being the very best pitcher on the baseball team. | | | | |
>
> | END | | | | |
<
< | Section II | >
> | Notes for revision. The significance of the following is not lost on me, but I couldn't fit them into this draft: | | | | |
<
< | Subsection A | >
> | Race
Japan is not nearly as racially homogenous as the Japanese often suppose it is. Of course, the largest minorities in Japan are largely indistinguishable by physical characteristics. The fact of the matter is, Japanese people believe their society is racially homogenous, and that really does a lot of work towards cementing kinship. | | | | |
<
< | Subsection B | >
> | Density of Japanese cities
Because schools in Japan are smaller and more numerous, students are still able to comfortably get from their homes to school easily on their own without busing. This expands the available options for students without inconveniencing families or the government. | | | | |
>
> | Culture
There may be a greater interdependency among Japanese people as a matter of cultural construction, but it’s not like America is so essentially a “screw thy neighbor; take them for everything they have” society. | | |
You are entitled to restrict access to your paper if you want to. But we all derive immense benefit from reading one another's work, and I hope you won't feel the need unless the subject matter is personal and its disclosure would be harmful or undesirable. |
|
|
ShawnFettyFirstPaper 1 - 26 Feb 2010 - Main.ShawnFetty
|
|
>
> |
| META TOPICPARENT | name="FirstPaper" |
|---|
It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted.
Paper Title
-- By ShawnFetty - 26 Feb 2010
Section I
Subsection A
Subsub 1
Subsection B
Subsub 1
Subsub 2
Section II
Subsection A
Subsection B
You are entitled to restrict access to your paper if you want to. But we all derive immense benefit from reading one another's work, and I hope you won't feel the need unless the subject matter is personal and its disclosure would be harmful or undesirable.
To restrict access to your paper simply delete the "#" on the next line:
# * Set ALLOWTOPICVIEW = TWikiAdminGroup, ShawnFetty
Note: TWiki has strict formatting rules. Make sure you preserve the three spaces, asterisk, and extra space at the beginning of that line. If you wish to give access to any other users simply add them to the comma separated list |
|
|
|
|
This site is powered by the TWiki collaboration platform.
All material on this collaboration platform is the property of the contributing authors.
All material marked as authored by Eben Moglen is available under the license terms CC-BY-SA version 4.
|
|