After 11 years of teaching English conversation in Japan for the biggest money-grubbing school, which went bankrupt through very corrupt business practices, I feel the time has come to either share what the beauty and horror of this experience, or sink further into the desperate frustration of the misunderstood.
What will follow are descriptions of the students I have taught, my observations and thoughts of them, and tidbits of their conversations with me. Names will of course be changed to protect identities. It is my hope that through reading these descriptions, people interested in learning about Japan and its culture will find new, unexpected insights into its people.
So, without further ado, I need to start. But who to start with? The good or the bad?
Sorry I've not been commenting. I find this very interesting. I see you've been writing in your book and sharing, I hope to be able to read it one day.
Thanks for all of your thoughts. I've taught in the mast and I'm studying to become a teacher, and I've spent a lot of time thinking about the different educational systems and philosophies and wondering what works best. Your blog is an excellent tool for me; I'm able to see something of the inside of a different culture's educational system.
Finding a way to meld the two has long been one of my goals--and putting it into practice in my own home has been a source of constant frustration, something my wife and I "discuss" often. Process philosophy of teaching? Not sure. A work in progress.
I often praise the Japanese education system, too, but not without reservation. I criticize the American one, but not without some regrets my son doesn't attend school there as I did.
Anyway, thank you for reading, and for the comment. Much appreciated.
My brother, a Marine who has traveled all over the world and spent some time in Japan, was praising the Japanese education system while all I could think about was this blog. I think the most interesting thing that you put forth was the observation that Japanese parents will look with envy at the independent thinkers the American education system produces while American parents look with envy at the hard working, maths and sciences -capable students the Japanese education system produces.
It makes you wonder if there ever could be some kind of "perfect" education system, held up by some kind of "perfect" culture. I don't think so, but naturally, you wonder if both cultures and education systems could and would learn a few things from each other.
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