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The previous descriptions of lessons demonstrate the variety of teaching methods, the movement and noise allowed during class, and the way fourth-grade students were already accustomed to working in a variety of conditions. There were more students at Hasu Elementary School who struggled with learning than at the other two schools. Three or four students often were noisy or moving around during class, and three or four struggled with most of their lessons (two children fit both categories). At Matsu, there was only one student in each classroom who seemed unable to keep up with the work, and one was a Korean girl who had arrived in March and was still struggling with the Japanese language. Similarly, at Tancho there was at most one student who struggled in various classes. Because this was the first lesson with the balancing scales in the science class described above, the teacher told me she was not overly concerned about the group that did not understand — they still had time to learn. However, teaching fourth-graders at Hasu Elementary School seemed to be more challenging than at some other elementary schools. The Hasu teacher described her students cautiously:
Well, their real circumstances, the underside of the students being so friendly, may be that they don't get enough affection, you know. There are various issues about their academic ability, too, but if I have affection for them and try to teach them, they respond.
Later, the same teacher described the home backgrounds of the students at Hasu Elementary School:
Yes, around this school there are a lot of families that have become single-parent homes. Now in Japan, they are increasing. So, there are quite a few children whose mothers are working, so providing affection to those children in school is important.
This evaluation of the school differed considerably from one a teacher gave me of Matsu Elementary School. I commented on his use of a bell to get students' attention and his response illustrated the different background of students at various elementary schools.
Teacher: The bell, right? When I ring that the children get quiet. And that is a good thing about this school — the students listen. When the bell rings, they get quiet. And when it gets quiet it gets really quiet. At my previous school, it never got that quiet. (He came to this school just this year.) I guess it is the differences in parents.
Interviewer: The neighborhood differences?
Teacher: Right, and the differences in the type of work (of the parents).
Interviewer: When you say that I am reminded of your earlier comment that several children are from mother only families, and that kind of circumstance. Even then your previous school was?
Right, my previous school had that too. I really don't know this area that well, but this area near the mountains as compared to the downtown area, (shitamachi), which connotes an area of shopkeepers and small businesses, not a wealthy area) there is quite a distance. This is a high-level area.
Slight differences in composition, employment, and income of the students' families seem to have a relatively large impact on how children participated in class. I discussed how much parental involvement effects the performance of children with a teacher at Tancho Elementary, the school in our sample with the highest-income families:
Right. I think that at some point they (students) start to be able to do things on their own, but when that is exactly, I'm not sure. For first-graders, they have to always have things written down on their memo pads and first the teacher checks to see if it is written correctly and then they must have it checked to show they have shown it (to their parents). By third grade we say, "have you written it? You've written it, right? Show me," and that's all. And we check that much. Today we had messages and things they cannot forget, and I wrote it down (on the chalkboard to be copied). Probably the parents, too, check and remind them about what they especially shouldn't forget. I think the parents usually do that. I think, for example, if they have forgotten their swimming things, I tell them, you can't say it is your mother's fault. And of course, maybe their mother has to get the swimming things out, but they have to remind her that they need it. I suppose there are big differences in mothers, each is different. Therefore, whether they remember things or not the next day really differs. Especially in first grade, what everyone says is that when they have things that have to be done or checked off, it is really like grading the mothers. It is that way in the end. And gradually they have to learn to do things on their own.
Her lengthy description confirms how important a parent's support is to a child's success in school and how even slight differences in the home lives of children may produce very different outcomes in classroom participation.
Science and math instruction at the junior high school level is quite different from that observed in the elementary schools. Almost all the math instruction I observed consisted of either lectures or giving problems to students and the students then taking turns to demonstrate the solutions on the chalkboards. Science was somewhat more lively, especially when it involved laboratory experiments. I observed three 2nd-year science classes at Shimogawa Junior High School. In the first class the teacher began by finishing a previous lesson on digestive systems by going through students' homework answers. Then he proceeded to begin teaching about the periodic table of the elements and the characteristics of metals in preparation for an experiment during their next class. The next 2nd-year class the same teacher taught was a little ahead and did the experiment. The third class was working on the same chemistry lesson but did not do the experiment. They spent quite a bit of time beginning to memorize the periodic table of the elements, using a rhyme that the teacher taught.
I also observed three different science classes taught by the same teacher at Chuo Junior High School. He taught one 1st-year class in the classroom, one in the laboratory where they performed an experiment on two types of metals, and in one class he had the students divide into groups (han) and create skits about chemical interactions. He told me that he only held classes using methods like a skit about once or twice a year and had scheduled it to coincide with my visit to provide variety. During the physics and chemistry segment of science students usually do an experiment once every 2 or 3 class hours. Before the most recent Monbusho guideline revisions they also had many experiments, but he told me that, "the recent emphasis on experiential learning has increased them." I asked him whether he had also increased the number of experiments over his six years of experience and he responded, "Yes, I think I have increased them but, well, I shouldn't tell you this, but the preparation is quite difficult." But he went on to suggest that experiments are useful:
Well, children like the experiments. If I listen to them talking, they say things like, "wow!" It is unusual for them to think that way, but usually they try things and say "this is great!" and "this is interesting." Since it is something that they experience on their own, I think experiments are definitely important.
Since Chuo is a highly ranked junior high school where most students are trying for high-ranked high schools, I wondered if time spent on experiments was in competition with examination preparation:
Teacher: Even if you don't do experiments, if you just remember the material, you could do the exams, without the experiments. But, the experiment itself isn't the only goal. Even for the connection to studying for the exams, they can learn the knowledge more easily through the experiment, I think. So, experiments are important, I think.
I asked him whether even during the 3rd year of junior high, when exam preparation is most emphasized, he takes time for experiments.
Teacher: Yes, they have them. In the 3rd year they are a little more difficult. Like neutralizing things, from acids and bases we neutralize things. Those types of experiments. Now experiments have gradually gotten more simple, when you compare them to before. And now we don't use very dangerous materials much. And if we use them we use very weak things — we have gotten so we don't use concentrated materials much.
The science teacher at Shimogawa Junior High School, where the level of students is more variable, also thought that experiments were useful. But he pointed out that the different levels of preparation of students, owing to the attendance at examination preparatory schools (juku) after hours, can create a problem. He said it is fun to teach science if the students are interested but if they have studied so much that they already know the results of an experiment that can be a problem. He also commented that it is a bit difficult because final grades have to be divided up so that one-tenth of the students get "1" (the lowest grade) and one-tenth get "5" (the highest grade) and "3" is the most common grade given. Some of the struggling students have trouble even taking notes, and I observed one girl who could not even do basic arithmetic. These differences take some of the fun out of teaching science at Shimogawa, but they probably do not occur as often at Chuo, where almost all students are getting outside help and have high-level abilities.
In the high school classrooms I observed similar mathematics and science teaching methods to those seen in junior high schools. One science class and one mathematics class that I observed consisted almost entirely of the teacher lecturing and the students taking notes. At Arata High School, the biology teacher prepared an extensive set of worksheets for each student that they kept together in a notebook. He offered two reasons for using this method — the lack of a textbook that was appropriate to the level of these students and the ability to cover more material more quickly if the students could fill-in-the blanks in the prepared notes as they followed his lectures. Students in his class were learning about the parts of a flower and the process by which genes combined to produce variations of a flower. For this lesson in genetics, students needed to draw in the various cell parts as the flowers developed and the prepared notes consisted of boxes for the drawings that were labeled as to the different stages in the process. Although the lesson was mainly a lecture given by the teacher with little room for student participation, the use of prepared notes involved each student individually in the fast-paced lesson. The reason for the fast pace was preparation for college entry examinations.
One chemistry class at Meiji High School consisted of a 50-minute lecture by the teacher, but he began with a demonstration experiment using colored liquids and digressed halfway through to include a lively example about photography. Again, although the lesson was fast paced and somewhat dry, it seemed well-designed to maintain most students' interest. There was much less concern for students who were falling behind than I observed at the elementary school level.
I observed some student presentation of problems prepared in advance and some lecturing or working out of a problem on the chalkboard by the teacher in all the high school mathematics classes. The more interesting teachers interjected descriptions of how problems were relevant to everyday life, or funny stories, or, in one teachers' mathematics lesson, a discussion of local festivals and where the best food could be found.
Teachers at high schools reported having some assistance when preparing for experiments and other activities. Most schools have at least one science assistant, but that person may be more or less qualified; in the school observed one assistant was really the library aide doing double duty and one was a fully qualified science teacher who had not yet been able to find employment in the district. Schools also sometimes have an office assistant who will help with copying and other basic clerical tasks, but such an assistant is not available at all schools.
At Meiji High School all students seemed to be prepared for class and be able to do most of the problems; at Arata High School a few students were clearly unmotivated and ill-prepared but most were prepared and seemed quite diligent and competent, and at Naka Vocational High, the teachers seemed to assume little preparation and instead worked on the assumption that most students could do the work if they went slowly and explained things carefully. At Naka I also observed a mathematics teacher asking students to solve problems and then asking other students for comments on how to improve the problems, a method similar to that of many elementary school teachers. It seemed that because there was little pressure to prepare these students for examinations, time was used to develop basic mathematical skills among all students.
Elementary and junior high school science teachers reported that they are not assisted by extra staff. At Shimogawa a teacher described how they prepare a budget for science materials and order the materials. He said they cannot do as many experiments for biology, partly because materials must be very fresh, and it is difficult to schedule all the classes and prepare the materials in a timely fashion on his own. During chemistry and physics sections they do more experiments. The teacher at Chuo Junior High School also told me that he has no help. He and another teacher share the science responsibilities in each grade. For example, when he has done the preparation and the experiment, he leaves things for the other teacher and the reverse. But this year he has all three 3rd-year classes, so he has to do all the preparations on his own.
At the elementary school level, too, I observed teachers in the same grade level sharing preparations and supplies for science projects. In addition, two experienced teachers were involved in the production of a teachers' handbook to accompany the science textbooks. One told me:
It's for the teachers who aren't science majors. It has everything written out right in order so when they teach it to the children they can do the bare minimum of science teaching.
This teacher added a note to the teachers' guidebook draft after the class I observed. He was teaching the children about the necessity of scales for weighing things and suddenly had the idea to have a child stand with his hands out like a scale and try guessing the relative weights of different numbers of paper clips in each hand. The teacher had one boy close his eyes and try to guess which hand had more weight and to the other children's great delight, the boy guessed incorrectly two out of three times. Through this entertaining action, he demonstrated the necessity of scales for weighing differences that humans are unable to perceive accurately. This is the sort of tip that they include in the teachers' guidebook that carefully follows the textbook lessons.
Teachers in Japan occupy a relatively high status and receive adequate salaries. Their work lives are busy but also flexible to some degree. How much time teachers spend outside of the usual 8:00a.m. to 5:00p.m. workday depends on their personality, their goals, and their stage in life. In general, teachers feel they are both responsible for and in control of most of what occurs in their schools and classrooms. Although there are times when administrators assert control and assign teachers to tasks or schools that were not requested, teachers see most assignments as part of what they expected when they became teachers. Although teachers are at their schools for long hours, junior high school and high school teachers usually teach no more than 4 of the 6 hours of classes each day. Elementary school teachers are very busy but they, too, are expected to be at school for planning, meeting with other teachers, advising students, and socializing for about a half-hour before classes begin in the morning and for at least an hour after school ends in the afternoon. Most teachers do all their school-related work at school, which contributes to frequent interaction among teachers.
A high level of academic ability is assumed among Japanese teachers because almost all have graduated from universities and have taken many credits in their area of specialization. Their academic knowledge is continually replenished through interactions with other teachers, in-service training, and especially through voluntary participation in small research and study groups.
Novice teachers are assigned formal mentors during their 1st year on the job. Teachers agreed that throughout their teaching years they look to other teachers for guidance and help. Most teachers seemed to feel they are effective at the basic tasks of teaching, partly because they have been explicitly taught about lesson planning, the use of materials, and more basic things such as how to write on the chalkboard. A variety of teaching techniques and presentation styles was observed and each teacher seemed to have a substantial repertoire of methods from which to draw. Even so, most teachers expressed a desire to improve themselves and their ability to reach out to all students.
Not all children in Japanese schools behave themselves well at all times, and I observed many instances of the need for discipline. In all cases teachers attempted to get students to resolve problems among themselves and to discuss disagreements. Usually a homeroom teacher initially addresses a discipline problem and then, depending on the severity of the infraction, the head grade level teacher, other homeroom teachers, or administrators may also be asked to get involved. No teacher expressed a sense of powerlessness in the face of student behavior. Minor infractions, such as making a joke during a lesson, were tolerated and even indulged. Since enjoyment and social development are seen as important goals for students during the school day, teachers seemed to feel they could freely engage their students in enjoyable activities, regardless of the subject being taught.
Especially in elementary schools, but also in junior high schools and high schools, teachers saw themselves as guiding students to become more fully developed human beings. Rather than focusing exclusively on academic subjects, all the schools allowed time for enjoyable interactions through free time between classes or after lunch, encouraging students to interact with their friends on school property before and after school hours, scheduling school trips and other outings, and planning special school events such as festivals, music contests, sports exhibitions and other activities. This emphasis on the development of a multifaceted person enables many students, not just the academically most able, to find some niche within the school world.
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