Methods of Education: East and West
A teacher from Canada recently visited an elementary school in Japan. In one class, she
watched sixty young children as they learned to draw a cat. The class teacher drew a big circle on the blackboard, and sixty children copied it on their papers. The teacher drew a smaller circle on top of the first and then put two triangles on top of it; the children continued their cats in exactly the same way. The lesson continued until there were sixty-one identical cats in the classroom. The Canadian teacher was startled by the lesson. The teaching methods — and their effects — were very different from those in her own country. An art lesson in a Canadian school would lead to a room full of unique pictures, not a series of identical cats. Why? What causes this difference in educational methods?
In any classroom in any country, the instructor teaches more than just art or history or
language. Part of what's going on — consciously or not — is the teaching of culture: the attitudes, values and beliefs of the society. Every education system is inevitably a mirror that reflects the culture of the society it is a part of.
In many Western societies, such as the United States or Canada, which are made up of
many different nationalities, religious groups and cultural orientations, individualism and independent thinking are highly valued. And these values are reflected by the education systems in these countries. Teachers emphasize the qualities that make each student special. Students are seldom expected to memorize information; instead, they are encouraged to think for themselves, find answers on their own and come up with individual solutions. At an early age, students learn to form their own ideas and opinions, and to express their ideas in class discussion.
In Japan, by contrast, the vast majority of people share the same language, history, and
culture. Perhaps for this reason, the education system there reflects a belief in group goals and traditions rather than individualism. Japanese schoolchildren often work together and help one another on assignments. In the classroom, the teacher is the main source of knowledge: He or she lectures, and the students listen. There is not much discussion; instead, the students recite rules or information that they have memorized.
The advantage of the education system in Japan is that students there learn the social skill
of cooperation. Another advantage is that they learn much more math and science than most American students. They also study more hours each day and more days each year than their North American counterparts do. The system is demanding, but it prepares children for a society that values discipline and self-control. There are, however, disadvantages. For one thing, many students say that after an exam, they forget much of the information they memorized. For another, the extremely demanding system puts enormous psychological pressure on students, and is considered a primary factor in the high suicide rate among Japanese school-age children.
The advantage of the education system in North America, on the other hand, is that students learn to think for themselves. They learn to take the initiative — to make decisions and take action without someone telling them what to do. The system prepares them for a society that values creative ideas and individual responsibility. There are drawbacks, however. Among other things, American high school graduates haven't studied as many basic rules and facts as students in other countries have. And many social critics attribute the high crime rate in the US at least partially to a lack of discipline in the schools.
