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

Chapter 4

The Place of School in Adolescents’ Lives
(Part 1 of 2)

"I think with high school kids, their first priority is friends. They might be into school and everything, but I guess they are more into friends. School would probably come second."

(Student in U.S.)

"I would say that once the kids get to the junior high level that parents in this community feel more comfortable leaving the child in the hands of the school professionals and kind of backing off. The parental role is not visible, especially at the high school level."

(Parent in U.S.)

"The school plays a very great role in students’ lives because they find their friends here."

(Teacher in Germany)

"It is not school itself that plays the largest role in the students’ lives’; rather it is the certificate they get from school. This will make a great difference in their future lives. This piece of paper will determine which avenues are open to them in the future—whether it is, for example, an apprenticeship in a bank or university studies. "

(Teacher in Germany)

"School is a place to make friends. A place to contact others. There is also studying, but meeting friends."

(Student in Japan)

"If they just study they won’t have much humanity [personality]. It is best if they can combine the two: study and developing humanity. I think that is necessary for education at the junior high school. They should concentrate on more than just studying at this time of life. They need to learn to be in a group. Junior high school is a time when children need to learn how to make friends."

(Parent in Japan)

Once the elementary school years are over and children become adolescents, school takes on a different meaning in their lives. Japanese students, beginning to prepare for the demanding high school entrance examinations, are often described as losing the exuberance they displayed during their earlier years. German students are already separated into clearly defined tracks and are traversing routes that lead to different life courses. U.S. students leave the intimacy of their elementary school classrooms and enter classrooms of large junior high and high schools with different teachers and ever-changing groups of students. It is a time of transition, a time when students are faced with important choices about their lives at school, at home, and in society.

In organizing our approach to this topic we consider four major topics. First, we explore the time adolescents spend in academically-related endeavors compared to the time they are involved in nonacademic activities. A second perspective in which we are particularly interested concerns adolescents’ responses to education. What does getting a good education mean to adolescents? What do they and their parents perceive as the practical benefits of an education? A third set of questions deals with what happens when students leave school. By the time students finish their secondary school training they must either be qualified to enter a university or to find a job. Adolescence as a period of transition is potentially a source of great stress and we ask whether this is equally characteristic of adolescents in the three cultures with which we are concerned. In a final section of the chapter we attempt to describe the kinds of external influences adolescents experience with their friends and parents and how these in some cases lead to healthy adjustment and in others to deviant behavior.

For adolescents in all three locations, school occupies a significant portion of their everyday lives. For many, school is not only about classes, but is also the hub of an active life; it is where they meet friends and socialize, participate in sports, pursue personal interests through extracurricular activities, try out various social roles, and express themselves through their appearance and behavior. After-school time fits into a complex schedule of social life, studying, jobs, and leisure activities. The centrality of school in the daily life of adolescents is greatest in Japan. German students, in contrast, are expected to be at school during specified hours of the day, but the relationship of school to a student’s social life may be tenuous. For U.S. students, the time spent at school and the importance they assign to this time in their life varies greatly among schools and among individuals within the schools.

Japan. Japanese students have a long school day. Arriving at school shortly after 8:00 a.m., many students leave at 6:00 or even later in the evening. It is a mistake, however, to consider these long hours as reflecting time spent in academic courses. The daily schedule of classes departs no more than an hour from that found in many other countries. It is in the after-school activities that the major differences arise. Japanese junior high and high school students are expected to participate in one of the school’s clubs. Some Japanese students remain after school to study together or simply for social interaction. The picture of Japanese secondary school students returning home mid-evening may reflect the time spent in a game of soccer or in talking with friends rather than in academic activities.

Japanese teachers we interviewed also express a positive attitude about clubs because they believe that participation in clubs leads to a well rounded and healthy person. For teachers who see their obligation to foster the social as well as the academic development of students, clubs are considered to make an important contribution.

Germany. School begins each day between 7:30 and 8:00 a.m. and lasts until 1:00 or 1:30 p.m. Most students return home after this and eat lunch. During the school day, however, students in the different types of schools do not have the same number of lessons. Depending on the state, the type of school, and students’ year in school, they may attend from 30 to 36 lessons per week. The larger numbers occur for students in both vocational and academic Gymnasium. Vocational students have a heavy schedule because, in addition to the regular Gymnasium classes, they must also attend classes in vocational studies and economics. Students in the academically-oriented Gymnasium are likely to enroll in a large number of courses to improve their preparation for entering a university.

United States. The length of the school day is fairly common across the United States. Most of the students we interviewed described a formal school day of 6 to 7 hours. A typical pattern was from 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 pm. Junior high and high school students usually attended six or more classes a day, and moved from class to class, changing teachers each period. Classes typically lasted between 40 and 50 minutes, with a brief time between classes for getting to the next class. Students were usually expected to stay in the school building once they arrived and to eat lunch in the school cafeteria during a brief lunch period (generally no longer than 30 minutes). Students often could arrive before school hours or stay late for extracurricular activities.

Japan. Extracurricular activities in the form of clubs play a central role in the education of Japanese adolescents. Most schools offer a wide range of club activities, such as broadcasting, Japanese fencing, calligraphy, cooking, flower arrangement, Chinese chess, sports teams, band, and computer programming. Teachers proposed that there is a strong link between participation in clubs and success in academic classes. According to their teachers, students who do well in clubs tend to be serious and diligent, characteristics teachers deem to be important for achieving academically.

First-year students in Japanese junior high schools are required to take part in club activities and the majority continue to participate voluntarily after their first year. According to teachers we interviewed, over half of the students spend 2 to 3 hours per day in school clubs and the vast majority go to clubs more than 3 days a week. However, the entrance examinations that loom before third-year junior high school students reduce the time they have available for clubs. Participation is variable during the high school years. Studying for college entrance examinations, working after school in the case of vocational high school students, and other interests displace participation in clubs for many high school students.

Germany. Some German teachers expressed ambivalence about extracurricular activities. Although most teachers valued the teamwork and social skills that students might develop through such activities, some Gymnasium teachers placed the blame for what they perceive as declining academic standards on the time these activities take away from studying. There was general agreement among almost all of the teachers and students with whom we spoke in other types of schools that more extracurricular activities should be offered, but they acknowledged that lack of financial and human resources seemed likely to make this impossible.

The average school organizes three or four extracurricular activities. Depending on the school and the interest of teachers, schools might sponsor a student council and political or cultural activities. The most common activities listed in school bulletins, however, were musical (e.g., choir and band), athletic (e.g., soccer and basketball), or esthetic (e.g., theater, photography, or newspaper production).

United States. U.S. respondents pointed out several contributions of extracurricular activities to adolescent development: they stimulate and broaden students’ interests, occupy leisure time, provide opportunities for socialization, and—importantly—enhance the students’ qualifications in college-entrance applications. A review of the school bulletins from the various schools we visited showed that schools in affluent school districts offered the most activities and the range was great, including programs aimed at academic enrichment, such as the Science Olympiad, academic decathlons, and mathematics competitions, as well as more traditional activities such as sports teams, musical groups, and publication committees. Some of the inner-city schools we visited had dance clubs and sports teams that played important roles in the students’ daily lives. In other inner-city schools there were few after-school activities, primarily because of a lack of financial resources, but also because teachers and students were reluctant to stay after school in unsafe neighborhoods.

Some students told us of their pride in the time spent on their extracurricular activities and of the friendships that grew from common interests and shared experiences. Other students, knowing that they must distinguish themselves from others with similar academic records, said they have participated in extracurricular activities because they believe it will improve their resumes and strengthen their college applications.

Japan. The primary form of after-school instruction in Japan is through juku. Exact data concerning the percentage of Japanese adolescents who attend the classes taught at juku are hard to obtain. Juku are privately owned and competition for students makes it undesirable for all but the most successful juku to reveal yearly statistics about their success in attracting students. However, teachers indicated that attendance depends on the region of the country in which the student lives, the size of the city, and the student’s grade level. Attendance is greatest in large cities, especially those on the corridor extending from Tokyo to Nagoya, and during the last year of junior high school. Junior high school students enroll in courses that review or enrich their schoolwork or that prepare them for the high school entrance examinations. High school students are more likely to study for the college entrance examinations by themselves, but some do enroll in courses focused on the college entrance examinations or that are more advanced than the courses available in most high schools. In addition to juku, junior high school and high school students attend hoshu, the extra classes organized by teachers as a seventh period in the school’s daily schedule to help students do well in their high school or college entrance examinations.

Germany. Although private preparatory courses for the Abitur and other formal examinations exist, student attendance at academic classes outside of school is uncommon. Preparation for the Abitur occurs through individual studying, and among Gymnasium students, through after-school instruction for grades 11 through 13. Students attending these after-school classes remain at school until 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. several days a week. In addition, teachers in the 13^th grade (12^th grade in some states) may offer students in their advanced courses opportunities for study and review outside of school. Some Gymnasium teachers host weekend excursions where they conduct intensive review sessions in preparation for the Abitur. Peer-tutoring groups also are organized at most schools.

United States. According to school guidance counselors, increasingly large numbers of students enroll in review courses conducted by private companies, but the courses are expensive and attendance is limited to families that can afford the fee. Schools seldom organize review sessions for students, as is frequently done by teachers in German schools, and, for the most part, students are left on their own to study commercially published books containing cues about how to take the examination, summaries of important concepts, and examples of examination questions.

Japan. Few Japanese students are enrolled in organized recreational activities other than school clubs.

Germany. In Germany, where secondary schools seldom sponsor intramural or interscholastic sports teams, over three-fourths of the students participate in sports clubs sponsored by their neighborhoods or communities. The only other organized recreational activity described by German adolescents was dance clubs, which many families consider to be part of the "cultural" education of students.

United States. How U.S. adolescents spend their time after school depends on the availability of community activities, personal interests and aspirations, family finances, parental involvement, and the influence of peers. Some students lead remarkably complex out-of-school lives; others may focus on one or two activities; still other students may seldom engage in organized activities outside their school.

For students in wealthier neighborhoods, there is an array of after-school activities from which to choose or, as is often the case, in which parents encourage their children to participate. Middle school teachers in these communities told us about students who miss school for activities the parents believe take precedence over their schoolwork. According to their teachers, the result is that students often feel pressure from their parents to keep up with the demanding schedules and to meet parental expectations that they will distinguish themselves in areas of individual talent and interest.

According to parents, participation in after-school activities occurs because the parents believe this will keep their children "off the streets" while the parents are at work. Other parents are enthusiastic about organized after-school programs because of the worthwhile activities they provide. The opportunity for students from disadvantaged families to participate in many of these organized, out-of-school programs can be seriously limited by their inability to buy the necessary equipment for participation or to pay the fees that many activities require.

Japan. The close equivalence between doing "homework" and "studying" that exists in the United States is not shared by countries such as Japan. In Japanese, homework (shukudai) refers only to the time spent completing the assignments made by the teacher rather than the amount of time spent studying (benkyo). In addition, students may consider the time spent in preparing for lessons and reviewing class material (yoshu), or in answering practice questions (renshu mondai).

While the amount of time spent doing "homework" may be very modest, the time spent studying is not. Teachers informed us that by the time students enter junior high school they are expected to study every evening, whether or not they have been assigned homework. After completing their homework assignment, if there is any, it is expected that they will review the current day’s lesson and study for the next day’s lesson in anticipation of what will be presented in class.

It was clear from our interviews with both students and teachers that the amount of time Japanese students spend studying depends on the type of school they attend and their grade. Students generally study longer in the first year of junior high school and high school, when they are getting used to their new school, and in their third year, when they are preparing for entrance examinations. About a third of middle school students we interviewed said they studied one hour or less each day, and nearly 40 percent said they studied between 1 and 2 hours. By high school, academic high school students said they studied from 2 hours a night for ordinary school days to very intensive studying of up to 6 hours a night before the examinations. The role of homework in the three cultures is summarized in table 9.

Parents and teachers believe studying is a very important aspect of the adolescent’s development beyond the knowledge that it provides, for it instills discipline, persistence, and dedication, attributes admired by the Japanese.

Table 9—Homework

SOURCE: Third International Mathematics and Science Study, Case Study Project, 1994–95.

Germany. According to our interviews with students at the various types of schools, students in the upper grades of Gymnasium, compared to students in the other types of German schools, spend the most time on homework, typically between 2 and 3 hours a day. In contrast, students in Hauptschule, Realschule and Gesamtschule said that their homework assignments ranged from "none at all" to "an hour at most."

Parents of Gymnasium students often commented to us about the extent to which homework occupies their children's time. They said that their children had little time beyond that expended in preparing for the Abitur and in attempting to do well in their courses. The students' teachers, however, commonly suggested to us that students do not do enough homework.

United States. According to our observations and interviews, it is increasingly common in both middle schools and high schools that homework is done at school and simply represents work that teachers expect to be completed before the next class meeting. Teachers may provide class time for this, and students may make use of study halls, lunchtime, and other free time to complete their assignments. Accordingly, statistics describing the amount of time spent on homework need not indicate time spent after school or at home on this activity.

One of the teachers in a disadvantaged school explained why she did not assign homework:

I don't include much homework. A lot of the time I have no choice because we only have one set of books for the 160 to 175 students that I teach, and they can't take the books home...We really just have very little resources. When I did give out homework, I found myself losing books. I was also setting students up for failure because they wouldn't do it.

Students in the college preparatory track typically have more rigorous assignments and expect to spend more time on homework than students in vocational tracks. They estimated that they spend up to 3 hours a night and 3 or 4 hours on weekends doing their homework.

The lack of homework assignments was lamented by both parents and teachers we spoke to. Parents questioned how their children could complete their homework during school hours, a very different practice from what they experienced during their own school days. Teachers expressed their concern about the tendency of students to equate homework with studying; if there was no homework assignment, there was no studying. Even more important in many teachers' views was their impression that many students seem uncertain about what studying entails, demonstrate a limited repertoire of strategies for studying, and are not prepared to do academic work other than short assignments outside of class.

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[Chapter 3 - Dealing With Differences in Academic Ability (Part 2 of 2)]

[Chapter 4 - The Place of School in Adolescents' Lives (Part 2 of 2)]