A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Chapter 2 - The Development and Implementation of
Education Standards in Japan
(Part 2 of 5)

Elementary Schools

Elementary School Curriculum

Schools are required to provide students with the "official curriculum" throughout their 6 years at elementary school. Consistent with the concept of a uniform curriculum, Monbusho does not allow the tracking of students into ability groups at the elementary school level. The only exceptions are for students judged to have major emotional, developmental, learning, or physical disabilities. These students either attend special schools or classes and follow a different curriculum.

The standard number of school hours that must be devoted to instruction at the elementary school level is part of Monbusho’s curriculum guidelines. These guidelines also specify the number of instructional hours (50 minutes per class hour) required for each subject (Table 4).

SOURCE: Jichi Sogo Center, 1991.
NOTE:(Implemented in April, 1992)

In an effort to help Japanese students master and understand arithmetic, the Monbusho curriculum designates that third-graders receive instruction in the use of the Japanese abacus (soroban), a tool many Japanese we interviewed regarded as useful in promoting children’s skills at calculations and in promoting understanding of numbers.

The latest curricular revisions have had minimal impact on the difficulty of arithmetic at the elementary school level, but the introduction of the new curriculum has resulted in some changes in the curriculum. One official informed us that about 10 to 20 percent of the math curriculum has been "moved around" in the latest revision of the curriculum. Certain mathematical topics, such as finding the volume of a cylinder, have been moved from junior high school to elementary school. Conversely, mathematical topics that were considered too difficult for certain grades have been moved up to higher grades. Despite efforts to match the curriculum to the cognitive level of students, some parents and educators with whom we talked indicated that many students begin having problems with arithmetic around the third or fourth grade.

Life Activity Subject. The new elementary school curriculum emphasizes personal learning experiences, or (taikengakushu). The newly-created subject 'study of life activities' (seikatsuka) for first- and second-graders was created by Monbusho to provide such personal learning experiences to Japanese students in a formal, school setting.

The 'life activity' subject merges the study of science and social studies. 'Life activity' was created by Monbusho because it was decided that first- and second-grade students were not ready to study science in the traditional way since they lacked sufficient personal life experiences that form the basis for interest in the sciences. Several teachers said they believed that this lack of personal life experiences is the result of urbanization, whereby children have lost opportunities to interact with nature. One teacher described how young Japanese children living in cities do not have many opportunities to experience the pleasures of picking flowers, catching frogs and insects, or watching falling stars.

In an effort to provide experiences missing in an urban setting, one designated activity of the 'life activity' curriculum involves students raising rabbits. The principal of Matsu explained:

This principal suggested that the experiences the 'life activity' subject is trying to provide for children are not easily taught by schools, where the fear of liability and insurance premiums are also considerations. The primary goal of the "life activity" lessons is to get students to understand and to take responsibility for activities in their everyday lives. Despite the problems some Japanese educators may see with the 'life activity' subject, the 'life activity' subject reflects the policy of Monbusho of providing an elementary school education that stimulates interest in learning.

A typical elementary school lesson. The pace of the elementary school curriculum is illustrated by an actual lesson that is typical of those we observed in Japanese elementary schools. The goal of the 45-minute arithmetic lesson was to have students understand that fractions could be both greater than and less than one. The following observational notes describe this lesson.

1. Let's record the length of both arms outstretched.

Masako ___m X _____ therefore = _____ m
Friend ____m X _____ therefore = _____ m
Teacher ___m X _____ therefore = _____ m

2. Draw in the following with a colored pencil.

3/5 meter
5/5 meter
7/5 meter

3. Write the fractions that are represented by the shaded regions.

1/4 meter is shaded
3/4 meter is shaded
1 and 3/4 meter is shaded

The teacher explains the printout by using the television monitor and projection system. After explaining the printout, the teacher instructs students to break up into groups of four and five. The teacher gives each group a set of strips of colored paper. Students put their desks together and lay out the strips. Students work together and appear to be on task, although the students have become boisterous.

Mrs. H. alternates between making comments to each group and providing instructions to the whole group. For about 5 minutes, the students become quiet and focused on the task, without intervention by the teacher.

Mrs. H. gives one strip at a time to the groups. The groups of students begin working with the strip of paper that represents the length of Masako's outstretched arms. Then, after 10 minutes, the students return Masako's strip for the friend's strip. After another 10 minutes, the students exchange the friend's strip for the teacher's strip. In spite of the loud talking and cheerful demeanor of students, the students are on task. Altogether the group activity lasts about 25 minutes.

At the end of the group activity, the teacher instructs students to return to their desks, which the students do promptly. The teacher returns to the printout, which is being displayed on the screen, and in interaction with students, begins filling in the answers.

Conceptual versus Rote Learning

The instructional processes of this lesson and the others we observed in elementary schools were similar. Common to all of these lessons was the Japanese teacher's emphasis on teaching the understanding of concepts rather than calculating skills. In other words, arithmetic lessons in the Japanese elementary schools we observed were largely conceptual, involving a steady but relaxed pace of instruction, during which Japanese students were expected to think about mathematical concepts rather than doing many calculations.

Along with the emphasis on the conceptual in the classroom, Japanese teachers expect students to learn and practice calculating skills outside the classroom. Hence, calculators are rarely if ever used in Japanese elementary schools. Some teachers stated that calculators, unlike the soroban, do little to deepen understanding of arithmetic and, hence, are of little educative value. This attitude was typical of the ones expressed by other respondents.

Most teachers also believed that learning the soroban is highly useful for developing arithmetic skills. The principal of Matsu Elementary School agreed with this thinking, but added that the soroban is "not almighty." One parent, herself well-trained in the soroban, explained that at least one year of instruction, not the 5 hours as provided in the curriculum, is needed to reap the benefits of the soroban.

Perception and Use of Instructional Resources Outside of School
for the Mastery of Curriculum

In spite of its perceived usefulness in developing understanding of mathematical concepts, the popularity of soroban has declined in recent years. According to the principal of Matsu Elementary, very few parents at Matsu send their children to soroban lessons nowadays, opting instead for lessons in the Kumon method. The Kumon method provides supplementary instruction in arithmetic as well as in other subjects. Kumon lessons are based on a series of drills arranged in subtle gradations of difficulty. Students begin doing drills on material that they have mastered and progress from there.

One mother offered her observation of why the Kumon method has been so popular recently among parents at her child's elementary school:

Well, the Kumon method does not force anything upon the learner. Irrespective of grade, the Kumon method begins from an easy point that perfectly matches the learner so that he can get 100 percent correct. That is one point. After that, everything is repeated until it becomes second nature just like the soroban thing where you can visualize it in your head. Another good thing is that one can learn at one's own pace without learning from a teacher. One can skip above one's grade level, and I think this leads to self-confidence. The negative thing is that there are no application problems and no word problems. Since there are no application problems, by just knowing Kumon method arithmetic, one cannot do real arithmetic.

In spite of the popularity of Kumon lessons in particular and juku in general, the parents we interviewed expressed a reluctance to push their children of elementary school age academically. These parents may be in the majority. A recent study found that only 23.6 percent of elementary school students attend academic juku classes for instructional support outside of that provided by their school (Nohara, 1993).

Parental Perception of the Elementary School Curriculum

Most respondents did not perceive the level of math and science, or other subjects, required of elementary school students to be excessively demanding. In fact, one mother characterized the elementary school and the curriculum in the opposite way:

Elementary school has a lot of free time. For example, in arithmetic and science and such, the point is to make students interested in what is out in the world. For example, my son likes science and he used to make robots; now he makes things with legos. It is important not to push them. Rather, I think that one must give them time to think. Also, they study many subjects in elementary school. I think of this as a foundation for a lifetime. I think the purpose of elementary school education is to provide experience, to show kids what is out in the world, and to let kids develop an interest in things that comes from the spirit. (Mother of fourth-grader, Matsu Elementary)

Testing in Elementary Schools

Because there is no entrance examination for entrance into public junior high schools, elementary school education in Japan is not oriented toward an entrance examination. One elementary school teacher said that if they prepared students for examinations, the purpose of elementary school education would be lost. Public elementary schools provide no extra classes or special instruction for students taking entrance examinations for private junior high schools. Elementary school teachers, however, may give encouragement and advice about home study (kateigakushu) to these students. An elementary school in Kita City has a policy forbidding homework, but teachers expect that children will review the day’s lesson and will study the next lesson. Teachers also suggest topics of study to self-motivated students.

Although there is no concern about preparing elementary school students for testing oriented toward examinations, elementary school teachers do frequently test students. The purpose of these tests is to evaluate the students and the effectiveness of instruction. Tests are given by teachers once every 4 to 6 weeks and students are allowed roughly 40 minutes to complete them. Students are not ranked in comparison to other students according to their performance on these tests, but are given grades, typically on a three-point scale (A, B and C). The grades are used by teachers to calculate semester grades for report cards.

We found that standardized intelligence tests (IQ tests) are also administered in Japanese schools. At the elementary school level, for example, teachers reported that students are given group tests of intelligence in the second, fourth and sixth grades. The purpose of the intelligence tests, according to an elementary school teacher, is to determine the correlation between grades and intelligence tests scores to help determine whether students are performing at their potential. However, this teacher emphatically stated that he did not use these intelligence tests in any other way. Further, the intelligence test scores are never reported to parents, the elementary school teacher said because, "parents of students with high scores might force their children to study at home and parents of students with low scores might become sad."

Setting and Monitoring Standards in Elementary Schools

According to teachers at Matsu Elementary School, many elementary schools are devising their own school standards related to the new Monbusho curriculum. One teacher explained the importance of responding positively to children's effort:

The new Monbusho curriculum calls for the positive evaluation (hyoka) of students instead of critical evaluation (hyotei). The meaning of hyoka is that you look for the good part of the child and evaluate that. In order to recognize the good part, it is necessary to figure out what parts to recognize. The idea is that this will lead to students developing more positive attitudes toward learning. In the past, it was such that say, in calculation, you made students do all kinds of calculations, and then you would divide them up on the basis of scores. There was a time when students could only get half of the problems correct on a test of say 40 problems. Now, it is different. With the new thinking, we recognize both students who take 30 minutes and those that take 40 minutes to do a problem. That is the point of the new evaluations standards.

Matsu Elementary School devised its own standards based on the Monbusho curriculum, using a three-point grading scale. The standards for the school were created by committees of teachers. There were eight committees, one for each of the subjects in the curriculum. The committees created a text called the standard evaluation report that detailed the levels of attainment required in order to achieve each of the three letter grades: A, B and C. This report was several hundred pages in length.

Differences Between Elementary Schools

Minor differences in achievement between students attending elementary schools in poor areas and those attending schools in affluent areas were acknowledged by Japanese educators and parents. For example, one mother reported that the level of the elementary school her son was attending was higher than that of neighboring elementary schools, a belief she based on "conversations with her friends" and her own observations of the differences in the types of families of students at the various elementary schools.

Japanese educators spoke freely about the social characteristics of people in the community and how that influences the level of students in the local elementary schools. White collar communities were considered superior by Japanese educators because parents in these communities were perceived as providing more support for schooling. In general, the differences were considered minor by those we spoke with, and there was no indication that Japanese parents in the three regions based decisions about where they would live primarily on the quality of elementary schools.

[Chapter 2 - The Development and Implementation of Standards in Japan (Part 1 of 5)]

[Chapter 2 - The Development and Implementation of Standards in Japan (Part 3 of 5)]