Japanese Culture and Comm 2 - School Life
Japanese Culture and Communication 2: School Life
I’ve talked about the students in Japan so logically the next subject should be school life. This got really long so I’m splitting it up. I taught at one kindergarten, three elementary schools, and one junior high school. There was also a brief stint at nursery school, but since I only taught the oldest class, I wasn’t able to learn much about the school. I’m not going to talk about kindergarten either because I visited them once a month and there isn’t much difference.
The Japanese school year runs from April to March. The students get two weeks off during the transition period during which teachers get transferred and the new ones are introduced to the rest of the staff. Teachers don’t get any days off except national holidays and paid vacation. Summer break lasts about a month (late July to late August), and winter break is a couple of weeks around New Year’s.
Elementary school goes from first to sixth grade. The kids don’t have uniforms, but they do have gym clothes that they change into in their classrooms. Also the lower grades wear little red caps when they’re outside (kindergartners also have the caps). There are two recess periods, and the playground is basically a large field with monkey bars off to the side. The kids can get balls, jump ropes, and even unicycles from a storage area. Dodgeball and soccer seem to be the popular sports. Some schools have a baseball team.
In both elementary and junior high, the students have to eat school lunch. There is no cafeteria, and they have to serve each other the food. Responsibilities, like serving lunch or acting as head students, are delegated at the beginning of each period. Teachers eat school lunches, either with their homeroom or in a classroom with the rest of the staff. While some of my fellow JETs had the opportunity to eat with their students, I sat with my fellow teachers in junior high. At my elementary schools, I got to "visit" and have lunch with a different grade every week.
After lunch, the kindergarten and elementary students have to brush their teeth, but they don’t use toothpaste. There’s also souji, a period for cleaning. Obviously not much is expected of the younger elementary students, but in junior high, there is a divide and conquer approach. A group of students come to the staff room every day to sweep, wipe the floor, and take out the trash. That's not to say that they don't have a janitor; he just focuses on repairs and maintenance. Another custom that elementary schools share with junior high is the way class begins and ends. The students stand up, bow to their teacher, and say, “Hajimemasu” (“We’ll start”…a rough translation but the best I can think of). At the end they stand up again, bow, and say, “Arigatou gozaimasu” (“Thank you very much”). The head student leads this.
Junior high school goes from seventh through ninth grade, or rather, first through third years. Students remain in their homerooms while a different teacher comes in each period. Teachers are assigned homerooms to be in charge of at the beginning of the year, as well as a club to be in charge of. You would think that it remains the same, but it changes. Speaking of clubs, each student is required to join one. I’ll go into detail on what the clubs are like next time. It’s not uncommon to see students going to school for club activities during summer break or staying until 5 or 6 PM during the school year. Third years study like crazy because they have to take entrance exams that determine which high school they attend. If they attend high school (it’s optional). Getting into a good high school raises one’s chance of getting into a good university due to the amount of exam preparation.
The junior high school students are required to wear uniforms, but they don’t seem to mind. In fact, some will wear their uniforms on weekends. It’s a sign of status. Almost all the junior high and high school boys wear the black uniforms that you see in anime. Sailor fukus are common, but my junior high’s girls uniform looked more like what Gogo Yubari wore (except the skirts were navy blue). The staff is very strict about students adhering to dress codes. Even their shoes are all alike. Girls do have the option of wearing a vest in the spring or winter, and their socks can vary in length. Like in anime, there are summer and winter versions of their uniforms. Half the time, my students end up wearing their gym clothes, which also have summer and winter versions.
You can see the different summer uniforms here, including the sailor fuku (girl in the pigtails). My school's uniforms are shown because none of the students place in the city-wide speech and recitation competition.
It sounds like Japanese kids have it tough, but they get away with things that would not be ignored in American schools. My town’s elementary and junior high schools seemed to be stricter and hold higher standards because I never encountered some disciplinary problems that other ALTs would talk about. Unfortunately, that also meant less opportunity for fun and creativity because the schools were so rigid and formal. Discipline is kind of strange thing because going to school is seen as a privilege. Everyone advances to the next grade. Depending on the teacher, the students may or may not get punished for not paying attention or disrupting the class. In one class, a teacher may ignore the student that’s marching around with a paper hat he made. In another, a kid who has dozed off may be whacked upside the head. The students get scolded more for not tucking in their shirts or properly stating their name, class, and business. In fact, they’re forbidden to come into staff room if they don’t follow procedure.
Once I had a conversation with my fellow ALTs about how different student-teacher relationships are in Japan. I noticed that students who have no interest in English ask a lot of questions because they want to learn about me as a person. In some ways, teachers are like surrogate parents. The students learn about morals and how to take care of themselves at school. Teachers will become emotionally attached to students and vice versa. Although I never got as close to the students, the relationship I did have with some made me realize that teaching wasn’t as bad as I thought-and that kids aren’t loathsome creatures. However, it also was one of the main reasons I chose to come home. I teetered too close to being like a friend or an older sibling, and I didn’t think I was a good role model. They need someone who gives 100% into being an ALT rather than someone who is distracted by other interests.
I’ve talked about the students in Japan so logically the next subject should be school life. This got really long so I’m splitting it up. I taught at one kindergarten, three elementary schools, and one junior high school. There was also a brief stint at nursery school, but since I only taught the oldest class, I wasn’t able to learn much about the school. I’m not going to talk about kindergarten either because I visited them once a month and there isn’t much difference.
The Japanese school year runs from April to March. The students get two weeks off during the transition period during which teachers get transferred and the new ones are introduced to the rest of the staff. Teachers don’t get any days off except national holidays and paid vacation. Summer break lasts about a month (late July to late August), and winter break is a couple of weeks around New Year’s.
Elementary school goes from first to sixth grade. The kids don’t have uniforms, but they do have gym clothes that they change into in their classrooms. Also the lower grades wear little red caps when they’re outside (kindergartners also have the caps). There are two recess periods, and the playground is basically a large field with monkey bars off to the side. The kids can get balls, jump ropes, and even unicycles from a storage area. Dodgeball and soccer seem to be the popular sports. Some schools have a baseball team.
In both elementary and junior high, the students have to eat school lunch. There is no cafeteria, and they have to serve each other the food. Responsibilities, like serving lunch or acting as head students, are delegated at the beginning of each period. Teachers eat school lunches, either with their homeroom or in a classroom with the rest of the staff. While some of my fellow JETs had the opportunity to eat with their students, I sat with my fellow teachers in junior high. At my elementary schools, I got to "visit" and have lunch with a different grade every week.
After lunch, the kindergarten and elementary students have to brush their teeth, but they don’t use toothpaste. There’s also souji, a period for cleaning. Obviously not much is expected of the younger elementary students, but in junior high, there is a divide and conquer approach. A group of students come to the staff room every day to sweep, wipe the floor, and take out the trash. That's not to say that they don't have a janitor; he just focuses on repairs and maintenance. Another custom that elementary schools share with junior high is the way class begins and ends. The students stand up, bow to their teacher, and say, “Hajimemasu” (“We’ll start”…a rough translation but the best I can think of). At the end they stand up again, bow, and say, “Arigatou gozaimasu” (“Thank you very much”). The head student leads this.
Junior high school goes from seventh through ninth grade, or rather, first through third years. Students remain in their homerooms while a different teacher comes in each period. Teachers are assigned homerooms to be in charge of at the beginning of the year, as well as a club to be in charge of. You would think that it remains the same, but it changes. Speaking of clubs, each student is required to join one. I’ll go into detail on what the clubs are like next time. It’s not uncommon to see students going to school for club activities during summer break or staying until 5 or 6 PM during the school year. Third years study like crazy because they have to take entrance exams that determine which high school they attend. If they attend high school (it’s optional). Getting into a good high school raises one’s chance of getting into a good university due to the amount of exam preparation.
The junior high school students are required to wear uniforms, but they don’t seem to mind. In fact, some will wear their uniforms on weekends. It’s a sign of status. Almost all the junior high and high school boys wear the black uniforms that you see in anime. Sailor fukus are common, but my junior high’s girls uniform looked more like what Gogo Yubari wore (except the skirts were navy blue). The staff is very strict about students adhering to dress codes. Even their shoes are all alike. Girls do have the option of wearing a vest in the spring or winter, and their socks can vary in length. Like in anime, there are summer and winter versions of their uniforms. Half the time, my students end up wearing their gym clothes, which also have summer and winter versions.
You can see the different summer uniforms here, including the sailor fuku (girl in the pigtails). My school's uniforms are shown because none of the students place in the city-wide speech and recitation competition.
It sounds like Japanese kids have it tough, but they get away with things that would not be ignored in American schools. My town’s elementary and junior high schools seemed to be stricter and hold higher standards because I never encountered some disciplinary problems that other ALTs would talk about. Unfortunately, that also meant less opportunity for fun and creativity because the schools were so rigid and formal. Discipline is kind of strange thing because going to school is seen as a privilege. Everyone advances to the next grade. Depending on the teacher, the students may or may not get punished for not paying attention or disrupting the class. In one class, a teacher may ignore the student that’s marching around with a paper hat he made. In another, a kid who has dozed off may be whacked upside the head. The students get scolded more for not tucking in their shirts or properly stating their name, class, and business. In fact, they’re forbidden to come into staff room if they don’t follow procedure.
Once I had a conversation with my fellow ALTs about how different student-teacher relationships are in Japan. I noticed that students who have no interest in English ask a lot of questions because they want to learn about me as a person. In some ways, teachers are like surrogate parents. The students learn about morals and how to take care of themselves at school. Teachers will become emotionally attached to students and vice versa. Although I never got as close to the students, the relationship I did have with some made me realize that teaching wasn’t as bad as I thought-and that kids aren’t loathsome creatures. However, it also was one of the main reasons I chose to come home. I teetered too close to being like a friend or an older sibling, and I didn’t think I was a good role model. They need someone who gives 100% into being an ALT rather than someone who is distracted by other interests.