September 11 Digital Archive

Learning Japanese-style

Title

Learning Japanese-style

Source

born-digital

Media Type

article

Original Name

In an effort to promote Japanese-style teaching methods, a Japanese school in Greenwich, Conn., open

Created by Author

yes

Described by Author

no

Date Entered

2002-11-28

VTMBH Article: Edition

45

VTMBH Article: Article Order

5

VTMBH Article: Title

Learning Japanese-style

VTMBH Article: Author

VTMBH Article: Publication

Yomiuri America

VTMBH Article: Original Language

Japanese

VTMBH Article: Translator

Brian Byun

VTMBH Article: Section

news

VTMBH Article: Blurb

In an effort to promote Japanese-style teaching methods, a Japanese school in Greenwich, Conn., opened its doors to 140 American teachers from across the U.S. Teachers observed math classes and discussed issues such as the content of textbooks and problem-solving strategies, which are handled very differently in the two cultures.

VTMBH Article: Keywords

VTMBH Article: Body

On Nov. 21, The New York Japanese School (located in Greenwich, Conn; Principal: Kouji Yoshida) held open elementary arithmetic and upper-level math classes. The New York Japanese School has focused its resources on its arithmetic and math department for several years and began opening these classes for observation in collaboration with teachers from Paterson, New Jerseys School #2. The partnership has garnered attention as an example of U.S.-Japanese educational exchange in practice. At this years open class, more than 140 teachers and researchers from all over the United States came to observe the Japanese-style lessons with great interest. The group also included about 30 teachers from after school programs in New York, Detroit, Columbus, and Los Angeles. As always at this school of only Japanese students, the open class day brought an influx of U.S.-Japanese educators, and there was a palpable excitement in the airvery different from the normal everyday atmosphere of the school.

The open classes demonstrated how teachers created general unit guidance plans in conjunction with actual lesson plans. It is the goal of these open classes to encourage schools everywhere to practice this effective method of guidance used by Japanese schools in the United States.

American teachers observed (wearing earphones that offered simultaneous interpretation) a special arithmetic and math lesson in the Japanese style. Also, teachers from Patersons School #2 conducted an open sixth grade arithmetic class in the gymnasium. The students, though surrounded by more than 140 teachers, were calm, and carried on class as usual.

According to Principal Yoshida, Though the differences in educational methodology between the United States and Japan are strikingly clear. This open class day attempts to bridge that gap by sharing teaching systems and plans, and demonstrating them in a classroom setting.

In the United States, teachers have their own subjects and own themes which they must research individually, attending seminars on their own and putting their individual knowledge to use in the classroom. Meanwhile, in Japanese schools, research meetings are organized by subject committees, and the lessons are carried out according to the predetermined theme of the year.

The teaching methodology of arithmetic is also very different in the United States than in Japan. In the United States, the focus is placed on making students practice several problems and teaching them how to solve them. In Japan, teachers have adopted a guidance model of teaching that gives students various methods of calculating, say, the area of a trapezoid, and asks the students to choose the most effective formula themselves.

Furthermore, American elementary school arithmetic textbooks are thick, sometimes exceeding 300 pages. There is inevitably some overlap from one year to the next. Japanese textbooks, meanwhile, are systematically concentrated. Principal Yoshida points out this large discrepancy between the two countries educational ideologies.

The final part of the open class day was a large-scale assembly of all the participants and a free exchange of opinions and ideas. Several of the teachers who came to observe made comments like, I was surprised by the high level of education at Japanese schools, and I would like to use the Japanese methodology in my own class. However, some teachers had this to say: I actually tried using the Japanese-style methodology in my own class, but even though I went through all the motions, it still didnt work very well.

In light of the fact that there has been no previous consultation about methods of educational guidance between Japanese and American schools, and in light of the attention which has been focused on his school because of its epoch-making efforts to tackle this issue, Principal Yoshida had this to say: This open class day is a great stimulus for our schools teachers and students. There is still much more research and work that needs to be done, but I believe that the Japanese teaching methodology is being used more and more in American schools. I hope that we can work together with the schools in this area to promote further research and development.

VTMBH Article: Line Breaks

1

VTMBH Article: Date

2002-11-28

VTMBH Article: Thumb

VTMBH Article: Article File

VTMBH Article: Hit Count

64

Citation

“Learning Japanese-style,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed November 23, 2024, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/1438.