What I've learned

It's all a question of framing....

I'd love comments on the idea of how our nationality frames our worldview.
Here's a 10 list to open up the discussion.

1. If you remember one of my first posts about education, I mentioned that teachers switch schools every few years. In talking with faculty members at various schools, they couldn't believe that the US did not do this. Every teacher that we spoke with thought that this process was necessary to ensure equality among the schools, that one school didn't become a magnet for a certain type of teacher. Others reasons we were given as to why this system is superior is that it refreshes relationships, keeps teaching from becoming stale, and stops bad patterns with co-workers at any one school.

2. Japanese elementary schools have one class hour of moral education each week, learning age-appropriate social morals as set forth nationally by the Ministry. Students also learn social rules through outdoor experiences and school excursions where they stay together in the same hotel. (This is loosely related, and I don't want it to take up another point, so I'm adding it here. In our group of 15, there were 2 strict vegetarians, 2 part-time vegetarians, and 2 with food allergies. School lunches are the same across the district and schools frequently plan student trips. I never once heard about a student having a food allergy or needing a special meal.)

3. People in Japan get an average of 20-30 vacation days annually. The actual number people take is only 2 to 3. (50% of high school teachers work 7 days a week during the school year and also come in to work over school breaks.)

4. The most common former profession of school principals is math teacher. (Japan values logical thinking and problem-solving!)

5. Toyota's "Five S" system (seiri, seiton, seisou, seiketsu, and shitsuke) has been recognized as one birthplace of cooperative learning. They roughly translate to best arrangements, cleanliness, and discipline. Businesses value these values. :)

6. Japan follows strict rules of propriety, reserved public behavior, and professional dress. Yet, the country also has a tradition of bathing together in hot springs, in the nude. One Japanese woman explains that communal bathing is an important part of Japanese culture because the hot baths relax and soothe you and because being naked together cements relations. It leaves people vulnerable, which is essential for building trust.

7. I sadly missed watching the elementary school students do this, but before they eat lunch as a class, they brush their teeth together. Each child keeps a toothbrush and toothpaste at school, and they brush at their desks. I did, however, witness the women who work for the Tomigusuku city government brushing their teeth simultaneously in the city hall bathroom during their lunch hour.

8. It isn't only schools that are lacking in debate and discussion. There isn't even a model on tv programs. Instead, Japan holds "panel discussions," during which "each panelist usually delivers his own message regardless of what others have to say, and the role of the moderator is often limited to designating the next speaker or simply introducing various opinions." No actual debate occurs, and you will rarely seem Japanese people directly contradict or confront each other.

9. Most societies are either guilt- or shame-based. In the US, we do something, then feel bad later. In Japan, they worry ahead of time about how something will be perceived, individually and as part of a family and community. Japan is definitely a shame-based society.

10. Illiteracy is not a problem in Japan; over 99% of the population is literate. Here's what the keynote speaker had to say on the subject. "We do not have any special programs regarding literacy because we assume that it is quite natural for all Japanese to be able to read and write Japanese language without any problems. Enrollment rate in elementary schools has been over 99% since 1940's and as all the parents can read and write Japanese, their children can learn it from their parents even before they go to school. (Essentially, there aren't reading coaches and literacy coaches in Japan.


There you go. I told you that the observations would go slightly deeper by the end of the three weeks. Yet for all the differences in a group versus individual-based society, there are some ways we just seem the same. Tell me that this video couldn't have been taken on the streets of America.