Educational system in japan

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Transcript of Educational system in japan

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Basic History of Education

The history of education in Japan dates back at least to the sixth century, when Chinese learning was introduced at theYamato court. Foreign civilizations have often provided new ideas for the development of Japan's own culture. Chinese teachings and ideas flowed into Japan from the sixth to the ninth century. Along with the introduction of Buddhism came the Chinese system of writing and itsliterary tradition, and Confucianism.

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Basic History of Education

In the Edo period, the Yushima Seidō in Edo wasthe chief educational institution of the state; and at itshead was theDaigaku-no-kami, a title which identifiedthe leader of the Tokugawa training school forshogunate bureaucrats.

Under the Tokugawa shogunate,the daimyō vied for power in the largely pacifiedcountry. Since their influence could not be raisedthrough war, they competed on the economic field.

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Basic History of Education

Their warrior-turned-bureaucratSamurai elite had to be educated not only inmilitary strategy and the martial arts, butalso agriculture and accounting. Likewise,the wealthy merchant class needededucation for their daily business, and theirwealth allowed them to be patrons of artsand science.

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Basic History of Education

But temple schools (terakoya) educated peasantstoo, and it is estimated that at the end of the Edoperiod 50% of the male and 20% of the femalepopulation possessed some degree of literacy.Even though contact with foreign countries wasrestricted, books from China and Europe wereeagerly imported and Rangaku ("Dutch studies")became a popular area of scholarly interest.

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Basic History of Education

Meiji RestorationAfter the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the methods and

structures of Western learning were adopted as a means to make Japan a strong, modern nation. Students and even high-ranking government officials were sent abroad to study, such as the Iwakura mission. Foreign scholars, the so-called o-yatoigaikokujin, were invited to teach at newly founded universities and military academies. Compulsory education was introduced, mainly after the Prussian model. By 1890, only 20 years after the resumption of full international relations, Japan discontinued employment of the foreign consultants.

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Basic History of EducationPost-WWIIAfter the defeat in World War II, the allied

occupation government set an education reform as one of itsprimary goals, to eradicate militarist teachings and "democratize"Japan. The education system was rebuilt after the American model.The end of the 1960s was a time of student protests around theworld, and also in Japan. The main subject of protest was the Japan-U.S. security treaty. A number of reforms were carried out in thepost-war period until today. They aimed at easing the burden ofentrance examinations, promoting internationalisation andinformation technologies, diversifying education and supportinglifelong learning.

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Basic History of EducationPost-WWIIIn successive international tests of

mathematics, Japanese children consistently rankat or near the top (see TIMSS).[6] The Ministry ofEducation, Culture, Sports, Science andTechnology (MEXT) is responsible for educationaladministration. Students' academic skills, however,may have declined since the mid-1990s

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Educational Ladder

The school year in Japan begins in Apriland classes are held from Monday to eitherFriday or Saturday, depending on the school.The school year consists of two or threeterms, which are separated by short holidaysin spring and winter, and a six week longsummer break.

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Educational Ladder

• 6-3-3-4 system:•6 years of elementary school•3 years of junior high school•3 years of senior high school•4 years at the university

•Japan has 0% literacy•It is based on age, grade and available educational

facilities.

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Educational Ladder

Age Grade Educational establishments

3–4

Pre - school/Kindergarten

Special school

4–5

5–6

6–7 1

Elementary school

Compulsory Education

7–8 2

8–9 3

9–10 4

10–11 5

11–12 6

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Educational Ladder

Age Grade Educational establishments

12–13 7 Junior high school / Lower secondary school

Compulsory Education

13–14 8

14–15 9

15–16 10

High school / Upper secondary school

College of

technology

16–17 11

17–18 12

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Age Grade Educational establishments

18–19

University: U

ndergraduat

e

National

Academy

Medical

School

Veterinary

school

Dentistry

School

Pharmaceutic

al School

National

Defense

Medical

College

Community

College

Vocational

School

Educational Ladder

19–20 Associate

20–21

21–22 Bachelor

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22–23

Graduate

School: Master

National Academ

y: Master

23–24 Master

24–25

Graduate

School: Ph.D

National DefenseAcademy

: Ph.D)

Medical School: Ph.D

Veterinary School: Ph.D

Dentistry School: Ph.DPharmaceutical School:

Ph.D

25–2626–27 Ph.D

27–28 Ph.D

Age Grade Educational establishments

Educational Ladder

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Administration of the School

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Scienceand Technology (often shortened to Ministry of Education,MEXT) represents the central educational authority in Japan.It is headed by the minister of education, who is appointedby the prime minister and serves on the prime minister'scabinet. The Ministry oversees many national institutionssuch as universities, museums, research institutes, and youthcenters. It gives assistance to all levels of educationthroughout the country, especially at the municipal andprefecture level. Following are some of the specificresponsibilities of the Ministry:

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Administration of the School

· Plans and coordinates educational projects at all levels· Provides advice upon request from educational units

around the country· Gives financial assistance to enhance education· Operates many educational institutions including

universities, junior colleges, and technical colleges· Gives final approval for establishing public and private

higher education institutions· Promotes lifelong learning throughout the country, because

Japan has been making the cultural shift to this sort of system.

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Administration of the School

· Requires heads of municipal and prefecture governments to submit reports about their organizations, as deemed necessary

· Orders local authorities to make adjustments in policies, procedures, or situations that may be in violation of regulations or laws

· Oversees the curricula· Coordinates the selection of textbooks· Controls the programs for the training of teachers· Establishes standards for various types of equipment used

in the schools

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Administration of the School

Japan is composed of 47 prefectures. Every prefecture has a board of education that coordinates education in that geographic unit. Each board comprises five members who are appointed by that prefecture's governor, approved by the legislative assembly, and serve for a four-year term. Some of the main responsibilities of the board are as follows:Manage the wide variety of educational units in the prefecture, from secondary schools and schools for the handicapped to museums and public libraries

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Administration of the School

Promote events and activities related to physical education and the social education of youth

Provide advice and financial assistance to the mayors and municipal boards within the prefecture

Establish or close down kindergartens, upper secondary schools, special education schools, special training schools, and miscellaneous schools

Issue certificates to teachers

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Administration of the School

Education administration at the municipal level is handled by amunicipal board of education. Each board includes five membersselected by the mayor of the municipality with the agreement ofthe elected assembly. Holding office for four years, these boardmembers have the following responsibilities: selecting amunicipal superintendent of education from among its ownmembership, managing a variety of educational institutions in themunicipality, promoting cultural activities, and selecting textbooksfor elementary and middle schools. Then the municipal mayor hasthe responsibility to oversee the municipal universities and juniorcolleges and the process of preparing educational budgets.

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Administration of the School

FinanceThree main entities share financial

responsibility for supporting publiceducation: the national, prefectural, andmunicipal governments. Through the use oftaxes and other means of acquiring income,each of these units funds a diverse array ofeducational programs at its level

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Administration of the School

At the national level, the Ministry for Education funds two main units:

1. national educational establishments, such as universities

2. various public and private educational institutions at the prefecture and municipal level.

Significant level of financial support - provided to private institutions by the national government

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Teacher Preparation

Teachers for kindergarten schools are alwaystrained in the teacher training Institutions while thesecondary school teachers are also trained in theUniversities. In the same vein, teachers for theJapanese higher institutions are equally trained in theUniversities. It should be noted that before a personcan be appointed to teach in any public tertiaryinstitution, such a person is expected to have aminimum of Masters degree in the area where hewants to teach.

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Teacher Preparation

A different teaching certificate earned throughthese university and college training courses isrequired for teaching at each level of schooling, suchas kindergarten, primary school, lower secondaryschool, upper secondary school, and special needseducation Laws and regulations have established theminimum number of credits that a person mustacquire in the teacher training courses at universities,graduate schools, and junior colleges.

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Teacher PreparationThree Types of Teaching

CertificateRegular Teaching CertificateSpecial Teaching CertificateTemporary Teaching Certificate

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Programs & Projects to Education

Building International Research Networks・Strategic Young Researcher Overseas Visits Program forAccelerating Brain CirculationThis program works to foster excellent young Japanese researchers whowill become the nucleus of scientific networks that transcendconventional brain gain and drain in circulating talent internationally. Itdoes this by supporting activities carried out by Japanese universities todispatched, as part of a strategy to internationalize their researchorganizations, young researchers engaged in world-level internationaljoint research, expanding their opportunities to challenge diverse issues.(As a rule, research dispatches are for one year or longer.)

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Programs & Projects to Education

Teaching East Asia: Japan has been providingservices to K-12 teachers and schools since1985 through its summer institutes, studytours, one-day workshops, and special

projects.

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Programs & Projects to Education

STUDENT EXCHANGE PROGRAM

Connect with fellow students and futureleaders from the United States and Japan Tenselected high school students live with a host familyand attend a high school in the Tokyo metropolitanarea for approximately three weeks. Junior Fellowsare selected based on their future leadershippotential and demonstrated qualities necessary to asuccessful exchange

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Programs & Projects to Education

Japan-U.S. Teacher Exchange Program for ESDJointly funded by the governments of Japan and the

United States, this program is designed to introduceinnovative Japanese and U.S. K-12 educators to each otherscultures and education systems and to enhance ESD-relatedcurricula in both countries. The program aims to raiseawareness of ESD-oriented school programs and deepen asense of global interconnectedness between teachers inJapan and the U.S. in four vital areas of ESD focus: food andsustainable nutrition; environment; energy and resources;and international understanding and cooperation.

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Programs & Projects to Education

Educational Grants- supports teachers training curriculum

development and community outreachprogram efforts addressing the needs of K –12 students, teachers and the largercommunity.

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Issues and Problems

1. The lack of competition among educational suppliersStudents have different characters, and

accordingly, educational theories must be diverse.Therefore, many educational curricula should betried in a competitive manner. However, there is nosuch thing in Japan. The diversity of school booksand other materials is limited, and there is littleroom for developing new educational materials andmethods. Japanese education is far from vital.

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Issues and Problems

2. The risk of the nationally unified educationSince a government agency decides

educational content, if the agency makes amistake, all schools are forced to go along with it.Such a risk can be avoided if the power to decideeducational content is transferred to localgovernments or private schools. A neweducation system can be tried locally and thenspread, before the Ministry of Education makes anationwide decision. This would be both morenatural and desirable.

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Issues and Problems

3. Japanese education rejects individual differencesThe students who achieved excellent results in

a subject can frequently progress faster or proceed tothe next grade in the United States. The absence of anational curriculum allows such flexibility. In situationsuch as in Japan where educational curricula are fixedby a national curriculum, a student permitted toproceed faster must be considered as favorablediscrimination. No educational theory noreducational psychology argues that every child ateach grade develops at the same speed.

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Issues and Problems

4. The contradiction that any educational efforts not approved by the Ministry of Education are essentially useless

The Ministry of Education decides educational content in Japan. In other words, any educational efforts not approved by the Ministry are essentially useless. In the current system, doing only what is approved by the Ministry and cutting out (as much as possible) what is not approved is the most effective way to enter a famous university. Community and volunteer activities, home education, and learning styles are all useless. This is the largest contradiction in Japanese education. The definition of education is wider in the United States because the federal government does not decide the content of education. Experience in the real world, such as part-time jobs and social activities, are included in education. American high schools permit part-time jobs, while many Japanese high schools do not. Such differences result from the different definitions of education.It is a considerable problem that the Ministry of Education has the power to develop or eliminate specific sets of values.

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