Elementary schools in Japan
Elementary school (小学校, Shōgakkō) in Japan is compulsory.[1] All children begin first grade in the April after they turn six[1]—kindergarten is growing increasingly popular, but is not mandatory—and starting school is considered a very important event in a child's life.
History
In the Edo period, some children attended terakoya or temple schools where they learned practical methods of reading, writing, and calculation.
In 1886, the modern elementary school system started as
Today, virtually all elementary education takes place in public schools. Tuition to these schools is free, although families have to pay for school lunches, supplies, and non-school expenses, such as extra books or lessons.
Less than 1% of the schools are private,[2] partly because of the latter's expense. Some private elementary schools are prestigious, and they serve as a first step to higher-level private schools with which they are affiliated and thence to a university. Competition to enter some of these "ladder schools" is quite intense.
Elementary school classes are large, typically between thirty and forty students each.[1] Students are usually organized into small work groups, which have both academic and disciplinary functions.[1]
Courses of Study
The ministry's Course of Study for Elementary Schools is composed of a wide variety of subjects both academic and nonacademic.
Academic subjects include Japanese language,
Nonacademic subjects taught include art (including
"Information technology is increasingly being used to enhance education, and most schools have access to the Internet."
Daily life
Both Japanese elementary and middle schools begin around 7:50 AM, with lessons starting at 8:30 AM.[6] Japanese schools do not have school buses, both because of the small size of most school districts and because of the availability of public transportation.[7]
The first fifteen minutes of each day is set aside for either a schoolwide assembly (on Monday mornings) or attendance and announcements in homeroom.[6]
Classes are between 40 and 45 minutes each, with a break of 5 to 10 minutes in-between.[6]
Lunch
After four morning classes, at about 12:30 PM, students are sent to pick up their homeroom's lunches from the school kitchens.[6] Lunches are typically served in bento boxes, with small portions of a variety of freshly prepared foods.
These include "a whole range of meats, fishes, vegetables, and sea plants. A typical meal consists of stew or curry, boiled vegetables, a sandwich, and salad. Milk is served with each meal. Usually, there is also dessert, such as gelatin, ice cream, and fruit."[8]
Because there are relatively few cafeterias in elementary schools, meals are taken in the classroom with the teacher, providing another informal opportunity for teaching nutrition, health, good eating habits and social behavior. All students eat the same lunch, and are assigned to shifts for serving lunch to their homeroom.[6] Lunch lasts about 40 minutes.[6]
Afternoons
In some lower elementary school, classes are over after lunch and children are allowed to go home.[6] Upper elementary students in those schools have one more class after lunch.[6] However, other schools have a 5 or 6 classes per day, with only the youngest students not having a sixth period. Some schools allow for a 20-minute recess in-between, which is sometimes used for cleaning the classrooms: sweeping, mopping, throwing away trash, etc. Students then usually leave school around three o'clock.[6]
After-school clubs like sports and English club are offered at elementary schools, but unlike middle and high school clubs these usually meet only once a week.[6]
Problems
Japanese elementary schooling is seen[who?] as effective, but not without some problems, notably increasing absenteeism and school refusal and a troublesome amount of bullying (77,630 reported cases in 2010 throughout the school system)[9] In addition, special provision for the young children returning to Japan from long periods spent overseas is an issue. The government also is concerned with the education of Japanese children residing abroad. However, in most urban centers there are at least private international schools which can accommodate such returnees.[citation needed]
Controversies
A new course of study was established in 1989, partly as a result of the education reform movement of the 1980s and partly because of ongoing
See also
- Sports day
- Fushūgaku
- Juku
- Terakoya
- Education in Japan
- History of education in Japan
- Education in the Empire of Japan.
- Triangular eating
References
- This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. Country Studies. Federal Research Division. - Japan
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Schools - Explore Japan - Kids". Web Japan. Retrieved 2015-02-20.
- ^ "私立学校の振興". Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (in Japanese).
- ^ Tang, Warren M (2008-04-05). "Japanese primary schools to teach 285 English words in 2011 – Warren M Tang". Corpora.wordpress.com. Retrieved 2015-02-20.
- ^ "Japan". Atimes.com. 2002-06-27. Archived from the original on 2002-07-28. Retrieved 2015-02-20.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - S2CID 219452461.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "A Day at School - Schools - Explore Japan - Kids". Web Japan. Retrieved 2015-02-20.
- ^ "Ways to School - Schools - Explore Japan - Kids". Web Japan. Retrieved 2015-02-20.
- ^ "Lunches - Schools - Explore Japan - Kids". Web Japan. Retrieved 2015-02-20.
- ^ Japan Today
Further reading
- Stevenson, Harold, (1994), Learning Gap: Why Our Schools Are Failing and What We Can Learn from Japanese and Chinese Education. Simon & Schuster.
- James W. and James Hiebert Stigler, (2009, reprint), The Teaching Gap: Best Ideas from the World's Teachers for Improving Education in the Classroom. Free Press.
- Xenophobia and the effects of education (in Japan)