Context Matters: Teaching in Japan and in the United States
By: Nancy Sato and Milbrey W. McLaughlin
From: Phi Delta Kappan, January 1992
J. Geffen
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
1.
Even though such apparently straightforward terms as teacher and student can
be translated easily into Japanese, these simple words convey significantly different
meanings in the two cultures. Teachers in the U.S. and Japan hold different expectations, play different roles, and meet different responsibilities in the school workplace
and in society. However, few comparative analyses of educational practices and
outcomes acknowledge these different, culturally embedded conceptions of teachers
and teaching. This article, which is based on a collaborative study between
researchers at the University of Tokyo and at Stanford University1, examines the
context surrounding teachers’ professional lives with the goal of creating a more solid
foundation for mutual understanding and for comparative study between the U.S. and
Japan.
2.
The data for the study came from the responses of elementary, junior high, and
high school teachers to two surveys. One was developed by Japanese researchers; the
other, by American researchers. Both were translated and administered to samples of
Japanese and American teachers. The Japanese survey assessed teachers’ goals, use of
time, roles, and responsibilities, and professional development activities. The
American survey investigated organizational conditions, professional climate,
teacher/student relations, and external support.2
Major Findings
3.
Preliminary findings point up both similarities and differences in teacher
perceptions of their roles and responsibilities, in the institutional contexts for their
teaching, in the use of time, and in professional development activities. Japanese
teachers have a much longer work week: they spend at least 20 more hours a week at
school than do their American counterparts. The role of Japanese teachers is also
much broader. Besides teaching, they typically take on a wider variety of duties
within the school, including sharing more in the administration and program planning
aspects of their schools. Moreover, their nonacademic roles are broader. Japanese
teachers are responsible for students’ use of vacation time, students’ personal habits
and hygiene, and students’ appearance and behavior on and off campus.3
4.
Japanese teachers participate in more professional development activities – both
inside and outside of school – than do American teachers. Japanese teachers regularly
devote their personal time – weekends and vacations – to professional growth, and
professional development occurs routinely at the school site as well.
5.
American and Japanese teachers have different relations with their colleagues
and with administrators. American teachers rate the leadership of principals and the
Teaching in Japan and in the U.S. / 2
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
participation of site administrators in their professional worklife higher than do
Japanese teachers, but Japanese teachers report much stronger and better-defined
collegial relations at the school level. American teachers report greater problems with
student disruption than do Japanese teachers, and they express more concern about
their effectiveness with “today’s students.” In particular, those American teachers
who report feeling ineffectual attribute these feelings more to external factors, such as
change in student attitudes and demographics.4 On the other hand, Japanese teachers
feel that they have relatively greater influence on in-school policy and more help from
their fellow teachers. They also have a greater belief that their professional efficacy
derives from their own efforts and abilities.5
6.
These findings suggest some interesting points of comparison, but they raise
questions rather than provide answers when reported as generalizations without
accompanying context. In this article we will situate these findings in their organizational and cultural contexts to show how understandings of teachers and teaching are
necessarily embedded within our national cultures. We examine differences in
teachers’ roles and responsibilities in Japan and the United States in terms of four
broad contexts for teachers and teaching: 1) social norms, values, and expectations; 2)
norms of the teaching profession; 3) organizational environment of the school context;
and 4) character of teacher/student relations.
Social Context
7.
The broad social and cultural contexts of teachers and teaching in Japan and the
United States differ in important ways, especially in terms of the goals society assigns
to education, to educational governance, and to the place of learning in the broader
culture.
8.
Goals. The goals for education and society’s expectations for teachers are much
broader in Japan than in the United States. America’s educational purposes are framed
primarily in terms of cognitive achievement and academic performance. For example,
the Bush Administration’s education plan, America 2000, adopts goals for students of
“demonstrated competency in challenging subject matter” and reaching first place “in
the world of science and mathematics achievement.”6
9.
In Japan, the “basic” goals for education encompass a greater range of
competencies, including social, aesthetic, and interpersonal skills. As a Japanese
science educator explained:
One of the priorities in selecting [educational] objectives in Japan is to encourage
the children to become aware of and respond in a positive manner to beauty and
orderliness [in] their environment. One of the most important aspects of Japanese
science education is to find ways to inculcate the ideals of beauty and orderliness
in nature, love of nature, adjustment to nature, and not to conquer nature.7
10. Several aspects of Japanese educational philosophy support this more inclusive
conception of the goals of education. First, skill in human relations is considered
essential to the educated person, and Japanese teachers accordingly place high priority
on developing students’ interpersonal competencies and promoting a sense of social
Teaching in Japan and in the U.S. / 3
80
85
90
95
100
105
110
115
cohesion and collective responsibility among students. Many hours of teacher time,
school time, and class time are spent in activities designed to develop peer
socialization, peer supervision, and peer teaching/learning skills. The fact that
Japanese students advance to each grade with age-level peers regardless of achievement reflects the priority Japanese society places on group identity and cohesion.
11. Second, the Japanese view academic knowledge as just one part of the more
comprehensive goal of developing ningen (human beings). Ningen, a concept that
transcends basic skills and academic achievement, assumes a holistic conception of
students’ growth and learning. Japanese educators see a fundamental contrast between
this Asian, phenomenological view of education and western concepts of learning that
are rooted in scientism.8 They believe that the broad educational goals set for children
cannot be accomplished “if there is a separation and/or a differentiation of heart and
body, and if knowledge is provided only through language.”9
12. Thus, “whole person” education is the ideal in Japan, and teachers’ routine
responsibilities pertain to aesthetic, physical, mental, moral, and social development.
Student guidance, personal habits, motivation, interpersonal relations, and on- and
off-campus behavior constitute important components of school activities and of the
teachers’ responsibility for developing ningen. Furthermore, experience with a wealth
of nonacademic learning activities, such as cultural ceremonies at each grade level, is
considered essential to this process as well as to full comprehension of academic
subject matter. Thus the longer Japanese school year (240 days compared with 180
days in the U.S.) supports the broader Japanese conception of goals for education and
includes more time devoted to nonacademic studies and activities (special events,
ceremonies, and extracurricular activities), rather than simply more time in
conventional academic instruction.
13. Governance. Both Japanese and American teachers complain about what they
consider excessive intrusion on their professional autonomy, but the realities of
professional decision making are quite different in the two countries. Japanese schools
operate in a centralized, nationally controlled school system; teachers throughout
Japan must plan their instructional activities within the structure and guidelines
prescribed by the Japanese Ministry of Education.
14. Within this framework, numerous conceptions of teachers and their roles exist.
One point of contention is the degree to which Japanese teachers are civil servants,
obligated to follow the scripted guidelines and mandates imposed by the national
government, and the degree to which they are professionals with latitude to exercise
their wisdom and professional judgment. Yet this debate, too, is culturally bound and
would play out differently in America. Despite the central policy mandates and within
an overall structure and curriculum dictated on a national level, Japanese teachers in
fact have significant professional latitude to devise activities and create materials that
meet the centrally defined instructional guidelines. In practice, Japanese teachers are
Teaching in Japan and in the U.S. / 4
120
125
130
135
140
145
150
155
actually less controlled in matters of instruction than are most of their American
counterparts.
15. Although the U.S. system is more decentralized in terms of formal governance,
many pressures work to restrict teachers’ professional latitude. For one, district
concerns about legal liability and insurance requirements limit such activities as field
trips, sports, and science experiments, all of which Japanese teachers are free to
initiate – often at the last minute. Textbooks, curriculum guides, and other “adopted”
instructional materials in fact specify the details of the content of classrooms to a
greater extent in the U.S. than in Japan.
16. Moreover, different roles for administrators have different effects on teachers’
professional autonomy. Whereas many American administrators define their
responsibilities in terms of close supervision and control of practice, most Japanese
administrators frame their role in terms of maintaining good relations with the district,
buffering teachers from outside influences, and managing the school environment in
ways that enable teachers to act in accord with their best professional judgment.
Japanese teachers respond to centrally determined objectives by choosing the
materials, events, and opportunities appropriate to their students, their locale, and their
school.10 The highly centralized Japanese education system actually requires more
planning, curriculum development, instructional decision making, and professional
choices at the local level and engenders more diversity at the classroom level than
does the apparently less controlled American system.
17. Social Status. The pivotal position of schools in Japanese society and the
esteem accorded teachers reflect the high value assigned education by the Japanese.
Educating the nation’s youth assumes top priority in Japan. One Japanese educator
explains the different attitudes towards education in Japan and in the U.S. in terms of
natural resources: “Japan has few natural resources, with little mineral and energy
resources, and scarce agricultural lands. Many Japanese consider their people to be
their most important resource.”11 This educator reasons that Americans assign lower
priority to education because the country’s many rich natural resources deflect
attention from the importance of educating the nation’s young.
18. Whether or not this analysis holds up, cultural factors do play an important role
in the differing social importance assigned education in the two countries. Japan has a
reading public with a high regard for intellectual and educational pursuits; the
importance of literacy and book learning has been prominent since the 19th century.
(One recent trend disturbing to adults, however, is that Japanese youths do not read
newspapers or books as much as before.) In addition, learning – more generally
conceived – constitutes an important aspect of life for all Japanese. Adults and
children in Japan tend to have more hobbies (academic, artistic, and athletic) than
Americans do, and formal lessons in a variety of activities – e.g., tennis, arts and
crafts, languages, calligraphy – are common for people of all ages and from all walks
of life.12
Teaching in Japan and in the U.S. / 5
160
165
170
175
180
185
190
195
19. Given this broad social regard for and participation in learning, the
responsibility for educating Japan’s young people is shared by many segments of
society. In contrast to the relative institutional isolation of schools in America,
education in Japan takes place in an articulated and mutually reinforcing network,
both inside and outside schools. This network includes business, the media, government, community organizations, and the family. It is assumed that a variety of
educative agents and institutions contribute to the education of Japanese youth and
adults.13
20. Compared with the U.S., there is a greater degree of mutual obligation and
responsibility between teachers, parents, and students within Japanese schools and
between schools and other institutions in society. The Japanese assume that everyone
must share in the effort to educate the young. When problems occur, everyone is
expected to accept responsibility, although schools and teachers bear the main
responsibility for education.
21. Social Diversity. Diversity most certainly lies in the eye of the beholder.
Teachers in Japan and the U.S. remark on the diversity within their classrooms, but
they mean significantly different things. In comparison to America’s diverse,
immigrant society, Japan has a fairly homogeneous population in terms of language
and racial background. American teachers must respond to many cultures and
languages and to a wide range of students motivation, interests, attitudes, and skills.14
22. In Japan, however, diversity is judged by different criteria and is recognized
both within and between schools. Cultural diversity is less a matter of different
languages and races than it is of varying regions, occupations, and social classes. In
addition, factors of which Americans are not even conscious, such as cleanliness or
“purity,” are regarded as significant. For example, atomic bomb victims frequently
face social discrimination because of the “impurity’ of radioactivity.15 These cultural
divisions in Japan often create barriers as significant as those of race or language in
the U.S.
Professional Context
23. Norms established within the teaching profession combine with social expectations to further differentiate the roles and responsibilities of Japanese teachers from
those of their American counterparts. Perhaps most striking are differences in the
amount of time spent on professional growth and development.
24. Japanese teachers have a strong commitment to their profession and are
dedicated to maximizing their own professional growth and that of their peers. Thus
teachers in Japan systematically engage in a wide variety of activities aimed at
expanding their professional expertise. Some participate in formal research groups;
journal articles by teachers about their educational research outnumber by a third
those of university educational researchers in Japan.16 Other teachers form voluntary
study groups in which members review and critically evaluate one another’s
curriculum activities and ideas. These groups meet outside of school time and take up
Teaching in Japan and in the U.S. / 6
200
205
210
215
220
225
230
235
such diverse topics as painting techniques, choir conducting, poetry, voice projection,
teaching handsprings, and social studies concepts. Student work – drawings, cassette
tapes of singing, and videotapes of classroom activity or of physical education –
forms the basis for study group meetings. Some teachers participate in short training
courses or institutes that deal with such topics as volleyball or computing.
25. In addition to these outside activities, Japanese teachers regularly hold
professional development activities in the school with the dual goal of enhancing
individual competence and fostering group identity. An observer comments:
“Individual teachers are given the chance to demonstrate to the other teachers in the
school the teaching techniques they are developing in order to emphasize the value of
being recognized as an important part of the group, or school.”17 In short, Japanese
teachers’ involvement in professional growth activities is continuing and is a central
aspect of their professional lives.
26. In contrast, American teachers report low levels of involvement in professional
organizations and spend little of their personal time on activities related to their
professional growth.18 American teachers allocate their free time to family activities
and social or religious groups, and they draw clear lines between their personal and
their professional time. A teaching job in the U.S. carries no institutionalized
expectation about professional development outside of school hours.
27. Professional norms and arrangements also require Japanese teachers to allocate
more time to their jobs. Because schools run Monday through Saturday noon and
fewer vacation days dot the calendar, Japanese teachers work many more days than do
their American counterparts. Moreover, professional norms dictate that they work
more than just the 240 scheduled school days. Teachers report to school on at least
half of their 50 to 60 school vacation days, and some teachers schedule activities with
students outside school on these days. Various meetings, administrative tasks, and
curriculum planning must be carried out during the two-week breaks at the New Year
and between school years. Since teaching is considered a full-time occupation, teacher
salaries reflect 12 months of work, and teachers are forbidden to do any other paid
work, even on their own time. In contrast, approximately one-third of American
teachers “moonlight” on other jobs, and most of those jobs are unrelated to
education.19
28. The number of hours that Japanese teachers spend at school also greatly exceeds
the time put in by American teachers. Most Japanese teachers get to work early
(between 7 and 7:30 a.m.) and stay late (until 5 or 6 p.m. and later) to prepare for the
next day, to consult with one another, and to tend to other administrative tasks.
Teachers’ professional roles and socially defined responsibilities in Japan encompass
a broad range of administrative, teaching, parental outreach, and counseling duties
involving attention to the cognitive, social, psychological, emotional, and physical
well-being of their students – on and off campus.
Teaching in Japan and in the U.S. / 7
240
245
250
255
260
265
270
29. All these professional demands on their time and energy notwithstanding,
Japanese teachers do manage to have families of their own. Most female teachers are
married, often to male teachers. Women are entitled to maternity leave of approximately one year; when they return to work, they have access to excellent governmentsponsored child care. Extended families also play a role in child rearing.
30. The distribution of male and female teachers at different levels of schooling
may reflect the division of family responsibilities (see Table 1).
Table 1
Sex Distribution in the Japanese Teaching Force
Level
Women %
Men %
Kindergarten
97.3
2.7
Elementary
56.5
43.5
Middle
34.7
65.3
High
19.2
80.8
Source: Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture, Outline of Education in Japan
(Tokyo, Government of Japan, 1989)
31. Just as teachers’ duties are not limited to the classroom, students are
accountable to their teachers for a wide range of personal and academic habits beyond
school walls. For example, prior to each vacation period, students must submit to their
teachers daily schedules, listing what they will do (watch TV, read) and when (wakeup times, bedtimes, study times, play times). Teachers read and approve or revise each
schedule. Then parents, students, and teachers sign the document as a mutual pact. If
any misbehavior happens outside of school, witnesses often report it to the school,
rather than to the family). Teachers and principals are then responsible for contacting
parents and handling the affair with them. In cases of stealing, teachers, principals,
and parents must all apologize in person to the store owners. School rules regulate
much of the students’ personal lives: their appearance, their study and personal habits,
and their behaviors. For Japanese students, the school is the primary organization in
their lives.
School Context
32. Our surveys highlight many differences in the school context for Japanese and
American teachers. U.S. teachers rate the support of principals and site administrators
higher than do Japanese teachers. But Japanese teachers feel that they can depend on
more help from fellow teachers. Japanese teachers also believe that they have more
influence over school policy. Their lower ratings of support from principals and site
administrators may reflect the fact that many responsibilities of school administration
and program planning are delegated to teachers in Japan.
33. Interestingly, Japanese and American teachers’ ratings of “collegiality” are quite
similar. Yet what they mean by collegial relations and work arrangements differs
substantially. Some of the differences can be explained by differing expectations of
kinds, degrees, and frequency of collegial contact. And the high level of collaboration
Teaching in Japan and in the U.S. / 8
275
280
285
290
295
300
305
310
and collegiality among Japanese teachers surely derives in part from structural and
cultural aspects of the school.
34. Interdependence. The school context reflects and reinforces the professional
context in Japan, especially in the degree of interdependence and networking required.
Many areas of Japanese society mirror the expectations and demands placed on
students, and the congruence between the adult world and the student world –
particularly in terms of obligations, expectations, and work patterns – is invaluable to
the successful daily operations of each classroom and of the school as a whole.
Teachers’ work arrangements often mirror those established for students. For
example, one school-level integrating structure in Japanese schools is the whole-staff
meeting. Every day begins with a whole-staff meeting; just as students meet in their
classroom groups, so teachers meet to reaffirm purpose, to resolve problems, and to
set goals. Teachers, like students, work together in cooperative groups, have interdependent work assignments, and have rotating duties that all must perform. Some of
the duties assumed by teachers and students are even the same: teachers participate in
school management and administration in the same way that students participate in
classroom management and administration.
35. A complex subcommittee structure supports these activities and is outlined in
each school’s particular komubunsho (division of school duties). In addition, teachers
are divided into grade-level and mixed-grade-level subcommittees to deal with such
administrative areas as finance, health and nutrition, students guidance and activities,
textbook selection, and school-wide curriculum development and planning with
representatives from each grade level.
36. In addition to teaching their homeroom classes, teachers share responsibilities
for running student councils, club activities, and whole-grade and whole-school
activities, events, and ceremonies. These tasks are accepted as the duties of Japanese
teachers. American teachers, by contrast, generally see such duties as “extra”, and in
many districts these activities are subjects for collective bargaining and are regulated
by contracts. The result is that not all U.S. teachers involve themselves in extracurricular activities, and their opportunities to interact with colleagues and their sense
of “professional responsibility” differ accordingly.
37. Physical Layout. The physical arrangements of Japanese schools also shape the
character and frequency of collegial interchange. Teachers’ main work desks are in
the faculty room, and their classroom desks are used just for teaching and students
work, primarily during classroom time. The common working room for all teachers
signals the existence of a cohesive work group, akin to a “family.” On-going
communication is facilitated by the open space in the working room, which allows for
constant contact, interaction and negotiations. In addition, this arrangement reflects
the strong identification of the classroom as the students’ “castle.” The classroom is
the realm of the students, not of the teachers.20 High school teachers also have
separate departmental rooms where faculty members from each department can
Teaching in Japan and in the U.S. / 9
315
320
325
330
335
340
345
350
gather. But high school teachers are criticized if they spend too much time
sequestered from the rest of their colleagues.
38. By contrast, American teachers complain of the lack of common space where
they can come together routinely, by grade level or department, to confer about
students, practice, and problems. American teachers value the opportunities for such
collegial interactions and assert that, without common space, the daily interactions
that form the heart of substantive, positive collegial relations simply cannot occur.
The physical layout of most American schools discourages rather than encourages
regular teacher exchange, and the provision of the necessary common space seems
low on planners’ and administrators’ lists of important organizational attributes.21
39. Contractual arrangements. The required rotation of teachers and
administrators is another feature of Japanese schools that necessitates continuous
communication. Districts throughout Japan differ, but in Tokyo administrators change
schools every three to four years, and teachers change every six or seven years.
Organizationally, this means that each year several veteran staff members leave and
several new members arrive. The new members include a range of veteran teachers
(those who have taught for many years) and of novice teachers. Incoming teachers –
veterans and novices – are equally unfamiliar with the school’s climate, relations,
activities, and modes of operation. Thus, regardless of years of teaching experience,
teachers come to depend on one another to learn about their new school.22 With
structural and normative interdependence, lively camaraderie and constant
communication characterize the lives of students and teachers in Japan.
40. American schools and contexts for collegial exchange stand in start contrast to
those in Japan. Few American teachers have the physical space or the available time
to work together in the way Japanese teachers do. And few school-level structures
exist to stimulate collaboration or collective problem solving. Furthermore,
professional norms of privacy constrain the open examination of practice and the
collegial exchange that characterize Japanese schools. The strong collaborative
relationships and the sense of belonging to a professional community that are the
norm in Japan are the exception in the United States.
41. Classroom context. The classroom constitutes yet another culturally
determined context for teaching and learning. Japanese teachers generally function
more as facilitators and “knowledge guides” than as dispensers of information and
facts.23 Japanese teachers traditionally have subscribed to what Americans call
“situated cognition” or “teaching for understanding.” Accordingly, Japanese teachers
view knowledge as something to be constructed by students rather than to be
transmitted by the teacher.
[S]ome of the major tasks for the teacher are to pose provocative questions, to
allow adequate time for reflection, and to vary teaching techniques so that they
are responsive to differences in students’ prior experience. Through such
practices, Asian teachers are able to accommodate individual differences
in learning, even though instruction is not tailored to each student.24
Teaching in Japan and in the U.S. / 10
355
360
365
370
375
380
385
390
42. Consistent with this constructivist view of teaching and learning, much more
authority for classroom management and control is delegated to students.
Consequently, Japanese teachers spend much less time on direct discipline and
classroom management issues than do American teachers. Instead, their time is spent
guiding interpersonal relations and arranging the instructional patterns of mixedability grouping in the belief that peer supervision, peer teaching, and group learning
can be more effective for all students.25
43. This conception of classroom processes and of the teacher’s role is one strategy
for dealing with diversity in Japanese classrooms. At the school level, diversity is also
dealt with on an individual basis in terms of personality, academic interests, and
accomplishments. For example, moving whole classes along together (regardless of
achievement) may create a greater range of abilities within Japanese classrooms than
is likely to occur in the U.S., where retention is common and skipping grades is not
unheard of. However, Japanese teachers feel strongly that all students can learn from
the diversity within the group.
44. Moreover, Japanese teachers assume that successful group work depends on
substantial shared personal knowledge of individual students. Whereas American
educators sometimes see “individualized instruction” or “whole-group instruction” as
dichotomies, Japanese educators see them as complementary. Japanese teachers
believe that the whole-group lesson, when done well, can benefit every child and
teach important lessons about social interaction and problem solving, as well as about
subject content.
45. With these different cultural norms and assumptions about classroom roles,
“student disruption” in Japan is seen more as the students’ mutual responsibility than
as the sole responsibility of the teacher. Americans and Japanese also appear to have a
different conception of what constitutes “disruption,” at least at the elementary level.
Most Americans visiting Japanese classrooms notice that noise levels are much higher
than are typically permitted in American classrooms; these differences reflect
different levels of tolerance as well as fundamental pedagogical differences: Japan’s
group processes, built around peer interaction, as opposed to America’s teacher-led
lessons or individual seatwork.
46. The idea of “personalization” is highly valued by teachers in both countries. But
personalization conveys different meanings in the two cultures and carries different
implications for the obligations and activities of teachers. In Japan, getting to know a
student requires yearly visits to the student’s home, active teacher involvement in
vacation and leisure time planning, and, above all, universal participation of teachers
and students in a variety of academic and nonacademic activities. The regularly
scheduled extra-curricular activities, school and classroom cleaning time, and
numerous monitoring duties are central to student life and learning. Teachers see these
activities as primary vehicles for getting to know the diverse strengths and
Teaching in Japan and in the U.S. / 11
395
400
405
410
415
420
425
430
435
weaknesses of the students and for increasing student motivation, engagement, and
achievement.
47. Furthermore, participation in activities is every student’s right, not a privilege to
be manipulated for control or extended as a reward for achievement. No student is
denied participation because of behavioral or academic problems, and – just as
important – no student receives special attention or rewards because of excellent
performance. Most significantly, in order to enhance group solidarity and individual
recognition for all students, selection for various activities is by rotation (including all
students), by chance (e.g., rock-scissors-paper game), or by student election rather
than by teacher designation. These practices are seen as important ways to ensure
fairness and avoid favoritism.26
48. Both Japanese and American teachers point to the value of interacting with
students outside the homeroom as a way to obtain multiple views of their own and
other students; such personal knowledge in turn contributes to the quality of relations
that teachers and students build in classrooms. Yet only in Japan is this extraclassroom function an integral part of teachers’ duties.
49. The structure of Japanese teachers; workdays accommodates this broader conception of role: Japanese teachers do not teach all day, as do American teachers.
Japanese teachers spend many more hours at school each day than do American
teachers, but they typically have fewer teaching hours. Only about 60% of their school
time is spent in classroom activities; the remainder of the day is spent carrying out
extracurricular responsibilities and fulfilling other duties to the school.27
Content Matters
50. Teachers’ roles and responsibilities in Japan and in the U.S. are products of the
cultures in which they are embedded. Both American and Japanese teachers
distinguish clearly between their roles and those of students and their families. But
because Japanese teachers are responsible for developing skills and knowledge
“beyond the basics,” their roles include – in addition to developing traditional
academic competencies – overseeing the growth of youngsters’ social skills, aesthetic
sensitivity, and personal habits. This broader role for teachers and for schools reflects
Japanese society’s espoused goals for education and its conception of ningen.
51. Japanese teachers and American teachers also differ in the extent to which their
professional and personal lives are clearly demarcated. Whereas American teachers
protect their out-of-school time as “off duty” time to be used for friends, family, and
social events and allocate little of this time to professional development activities,
Japanese teachers routinely spend significant portions of their “free” time engaged in
completing school obligations or in various types of professional growth activities.
The high level of continuing professional development in Japan mirrors the high
priority given learning of all forms by Japanese society. Teachers’ engagements with
professional activities beyond the “official” workday comports with this cultural
norm.
Teaching in Japan and in the U.S. / 12
440
52. Japanese teachers enjoy support for and take direction from an intricate social
web of citizens, families, and public and private agencies. In this context, such matters
as student disruption, collegiality, parent involvement, professional development,
public regard for education, and even educational goals carry meanings substantively
different from those Americans associate with them. Comparisons of teachers and
teaching – and of students and learning – across Japanese and American cultures must
take account of these culturally embedded differences if the conclusions drawn from
such comparisons are to be valid and the interpretations of survey responses clearly
understood.
445
NOTES
1
450
455
460
465
470
475
480
The collaborative study came about through the efforts of the Japan/United States Teacher
Education Consortium (JUSTEC), a group of approximately 70 professors from schools of
education that convenes annually to discuss issues in teacher education. Professors Tadahiko
Inagaki and Yasuhiro Ito of the University of Tokyo developed the Japanese survey,
administered both questionnaires, carried out analyses of the U.S. and Japanese survey data,
and provided helpful comments on a draft of this article.
2
The first survey, developed in Japan, was administered in Japan to 16 elementary teachers
and 28 junior high school teachers in Nagano; 24 teachers in the San Francisco Bay area also
completed this survey. The second survey, developed in America by CRC, was administered
to 148 junior and senior high school teachers in Nagano (17 junior high school teachers),
Hyogo (29 senior high school teachers, 66 junior high school teachers), and Tokyo (four
senior high school teachers, 32 junior high school teachers). The American survey was
administered to 455 senior high school teachers in California and Michigan. (A better
comparison will be possible once the Japanese survey of senior high school teachers in
Hiroshima has been completed in December 1991.)
3
Japanese elementary teachers expressed a stronger sense of responsibility for the personal
habits and hygiene of their students than did junior and senior high school teachers.
4
For an analysis of teachers’ sense of efficacy, see Milbrey McLaughlin, Joan Talbert, and
Patricia Phelan, 1990 CRC Report to Field Sites (Stanford, Calif.: Center for Research on the
Context of Secondary School Teaching, Stanford, University, November 1990).
5
Findings from both surveys are present in Tadahiko Inagaki, Yasuhiro Ito, and Gun’ei Sato,
“Teachers’ Roles and Responsibilities,” paper presented at the annual meeting of JUSTEC,
Stanford University, July, 1991.
6
America 2000: An Education Strategy (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education,
1991), p. 19.
7
Shigekazu Takemura, “A Study of the Knowledge Base for Science Teaching as Perceived
by Elementary School Teachers in Japan and the United States,” paper presented at the annual
meeting of JUSTEC, Stanford University, July 1991, p. 8.
8
The distinctions between these two philosophies of education occupied a prominent place in
the discussions that took place at the July 1991 meeting of JUSTEC at Stanford University. In
the view of Japanese professors of education, the two education systems reflect these root
differences in many aspects of schooling and teacher training.
9
Takahisa Ichimura, “A Philosophical Approach to the ‘Knowledge Base’ in Teacher
Education,” paper presented at the annual meeting of JUSTEC, Stanford University, July
1991, p. 3.
Teaching in Japan and in the U.S. / 13
See, for example, James W. Stigler and Harold W. Stevenson, “How Asian Teachers Polish
Each Lesson to Perfection,” American Educator, Spring 1991, pp. 12-47.
11
Takemura, p. 3.
12
Involvement in hobbies is true especially for housewives and those whose jobs do not
require long hours. Japanese “salarymen” rarely have time for such pursuits, but they
nonetheless see them as integral to family life.
13
One problematic feature of the Japanese education system is the existence of juku (-private
cram schools). Their function and their influence on schooling are serious issues in Japan,
along with the strong pressures exerted by the system of college entrance examinations.
Moreover, Japanese educators have noted a decline in participation in informal educational
activities, especially those in the home.
14
For an analysis of the pressures and challenges facing American teachers because of
today’s diverse student population, see McLaughlin, Talbert, and Phelan, op. cit.
15
See Nancy Sato, “Ethnography of Japanese Elementary Schools: quest for Equality”
(Doctoral dissertation, Stanford University, 1991).
16
Manabu Sato, “Issues in Japanese Teacher Education,” in Howard Leavitt et al., eds., International Handbook of Teacher Education (San Francisco: Greenwood Press, forthcoming).
17
Takemura, p. 17.
18
Inagaki, Ito, and Sato, op. cit.
19
1989 CRC Report to Field Sites (Stanford, Calif.: Center for Research on the Context of
Secondary School Teaching, Stanford University, November 1989).
20
In middle schools, the students stay in their homeroom throughout the day, and the teachers
rotate in and out. In elementary schools, the classroom is occupied jointly by the students and
their homeroom teacher, who is responsible for teaching all subjects. Typically, teachers stay
with their students for at least two years.
21
CRC surveys found that measures of collegiality varied as much within schools as between
them. When asked to explain these differences, teachers quickly pointed to the presence or
absence of a common space, a place to gather as a department for coffee or for lunch. Most
departments in our sample had no such spaces.
22
A commendable offshoot of this required rotation is that teachers develop friendships and
professional contacts that span the boundaries of schools and districts and form an everwidening network of professional contacts.
23
See, for example, Stigler and Stevenson, op. cit.
24
Ibid., p. 20.
25
For a discussion of teachers’ roles in managing group processes in Japanese elementary
schools, see Sato, op. cit.
26
As one teacher explained, those students who cause the worst behavior problems or who
perform least well are the very ones who need additional opportunities to socialize, to build
better relations with teachers and peers, and to take on responsibilities if they are to improve
their performance and learning.
27
Stigler and Stevenson, p. 45.
10
485
490
495
500
505
510
515
520
Teaching in Japan and in the U.S. / 14
Answer in your own words.
Answer the question below in English.
1.
What would be the authors’ aim in writing this article?
Answer: ____________________________________________________________
Answer the question below in Hebrew.
2.
What do the authors – paragraph 1 – focus upon in their discussion of the
respective educational systems?
Answer: ____________________________________________________________
3.
4.
Answer the question below in English.
How were the data required for this particular study – paragraphs 1-2 –
obtained?
Answer: ____________________________________________________________
Answer the question below in English.
What do paragraphs 3-4 suggest about the scope of the work done by the
average American teacher?
Answer: ____________________________________________________________
Answer the question below in Hebrew.
5.
What does paragraph 5 suggest about the social climates prevailing in Japan on
the one hand and the U.S.A. on the other hand? (generalize)
Answer: ____________________________________________________________
Answer the question below in Hebrew.
6.
How do the goals set by the American educational system differ from those of
its Japanese counterpart? (paragraphs 8 – 11; generalize)
Answer: ____________________________________________________________
Teaching in Japan and in the U.S. / 15
7.
Answer the question below in English.
Is the term scientism – paragraph 11 – as applied by the Japanese educators
meant to be complimentary or perhaps critical? Substantiate your answer.
Answer: ____________________________________________________________
Choose the best answer.
8.
Paragraphs 13-16 would suggest that so far as actual teaching is concerned the
Japanese teacher is rather ______________________ than his American counterpart.
a. less independent.
b. more narrow minded.
c. better educated.
d. more autonomous.
Answer the question below in English.
9.
How, according to some Japanese educators (paragraph 17), are the abundance
of natural resources in America and their scarcity in Japan reflected in their
respective educational systems?
Answer: ____________________________________________________________
10.
11.
Answer the question below in English.
What serious problem facing the American educational system is discussed in
paragraph 21? Elaborate.
Answer: ____________________________________________________________
Answer the question below in English.
What means are available to the average Japanese teacher intent on building up
his professional status? (paragraphs 24-25)
Answer: ____________________________________________________________
Answer the question below in Hebrew.
12. Provide the information – paragraphs 27-28 – that would most strikingly
illustrate the degree of near total commitment of the Japanese teachers to their
work.
Answer: ____________________________________________________________
Teaching in Japan and in the U.S. / 16
13.
Answer the question below in English.
How does the existence of well provided and separate staff rooms – or their
absence – affect the work of Japanese teachers – paragraphs 37-38 – and their
American counterparts?
Answer: ____________________________________________________________
Answer the question below in Hebrew.
14. What factors – paragraph 39 – provide for a smooth working relationship
between veteran and novice teachers?
Answer: ____________________________________________________________
15.
16.
Answer the question below in English.
To what physical factor is the isolation of American teachers behind the
classroom door – paragraph 40 – attributed?
Answer: ____________________________________________________________
Answer the question below in English.
On what important point does the teaching approach of the Japanese teacher –
paragraphs 41-42 – differ from that of his American counterpart?
Answer: ____________________________________________________________
Answer the question below in Hebrew.
17. What practice would be considered unacceptable by Japanese school authorities
according to the information provided in paragraphs 43?
Answer: ____________________________________________________________
18.
Answer the question below in English.
What fact – paragraph 45 – might apparently contradict the notion that Japanese
students are highly disciplined?
Answer: ____________________________________________________________
Teaching in Japan and in the U.S. / 17
19.
Answer the question below in English.
What makes it possible – paragraph 49 – for the Japanese teacher to be involved
in so many extracurricular activities?
Answer: ____________________________________________________________
Answer the question below in Hebrew.
20. Discuss the main emphases in the American and Japanese educational systems:
which would you consider more acceptable? Elaborate.
Answer: ____________________________________________________________