Japanese education reform: developments and prospects at primary and secondary level.

Autor/in	Cave, Peter
Titel	Japanese education reform: developments and prospects at primary and secondary level.
Quelle	Aus: Can the Japanese change their education system? Wallingford: Symposium Books (2003) S. 87-102Verfügbarkeit
Reihe	Oxford studies in comparative education. 12,1
Beigaben	Literaturangaben 19; Tabellen 2
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; Sammelwerksbeitrag
Schlagwörter	Bildung; Bildungsstandards; Bildungsreform; Schulwahl; Schulzeit; Fünftagewoche; Pflichtschule; Primarbereich; Sekundarschule; Sekundarbereich; Praktisches Lernen; Curriculumreform; Ungleichheit; Standard; Japan
Abstract	"Of the rather stereotypical litany of accusations levelled at Japanese education, two are ... particularly familiar: First, it is said, Japanese education does not produce enough creative people and secondly, Japanese education is blamed for many of Japan's social problems, and especially problems within schools themselves, such as violence in schools, bullying, school refusal and classroom indiscipline. Both of these alleged sets of problems tend to be blamed on the same features of Japanese education - its supposed rigidity, uniformity and examination-centredness.... There is not enough attention paid to encouraging independent, self-motivated enquiry. All this stifles creativity and individuality, while the pressures of the system result in bullying, school refusal, and so on. Individual scholars might well question this diagnosis as simplistic, but it has achieved the status of common sense among the general public, can be found in major policy documents from not only Japan's Ministry of Education, but also the major teaching unions.... In Japan two major attempts to change the education system were made, one in the 1970s ... and the second in the 1980s ... backed by then Prime Minister Nakasone.... These two attempts ended up changing very little, mainly because of the strength of the educational establishment's attachment to the status quo, and the divisions between the would-be-reformers.... The history of Japanese educational reform is littered with fine-sounding proposals which were never implemented. While noting the trend of governmental rhetoric, therefore, one needs to ask, first and most importantly, what has actually been done, and secondly, what is likely to happen over the next few years. In this chapter, the author concentrates on elaborating the state of progress in some particularly high-profile proposals which have been a special focus of controversy (curriculum revision and five-day school week, six-year secondary schools, relaxation of catchment areas and school choice, integrated learning in practice) and he makes some comparisons with educational reforms in England and Wales." (DIPF/Orig.).
Erfasst von	DIPF \| Leibniz-Institut für Bildungsforschung und Bildungsinformation, Frankfurt am Main
Update	2004_(CD)