Rhodes 1 Ebone Rhodes Linda Hoffman English 1102 21 April 2014 How Academic Performance differs between the

United tates and !apan Use "o#r imagination for a second$ and throw "o#rself into this sit#ation% &o# are twel'e "ears of age$ and (#st fo#nd o#t that "o# and "o#r famil" ha'e to mo'e to !apan from America beca#se "o#r father (#st landed a higher pa"ing (ob thro#gh his compan"$ which re)#ires "o# g#"s to #p and mo'e* &o# are terrified beca#se all "o# +now is "o#r American lifest"le$ "o#r friends$ the food$ social aspects and e'en ed#cation* &o# thin+ to "o#rself how in hea'ens will "o# be able to adapt$ especiall" to the school s"stems there* ,ime passes on$ and it is the da" to mo'e* &o# arri'e in !apan$ intrig#ed b" the c#lt#re$ "et still afraid of the change that lies ahead* &o# start school tommorow$ which becomes more and more of a realit" as the da" fades* -ast -orward to the ne.t /a"% &o# wa+e #p and attend school for the first time$ "o# of co#rse spea+ no !apanese and what "o# were (#st learning in school last wee+ at home in America$ changes drasticall" and has a totall" different approach* &ears past b"$ "o# are now in high school and ma(or test s#ch as the A, and A0, are coming #p and "o# are ner'o#s "et "o# feel 'er" prepared especiall" in math* &o# and "o#r new set of friends all +now that this test will be a piece of ca+e* ,est da" is here$ "o# ta+e the test$ and "o# wait for "o#r scores* 1aiting is alwa"s a Hassle$ b#t scores come in a wee+* -ast -orward a wee+% &o#r cores are finall" in2 &o# scored a 1300 on the A,$ and a 23 on the A0,$ "o#r friends in !apan scored abo#t the same* &o# are so e.cited$ so "o# call "o#r friends in America$ beca#se the" also too+ these test aro#nd the same time* ,he" mention that the" did o+a"$ b#t not as well as "o#* &o# secretl" let o#t a competiti'e 4"es25 b#t "o# also wonder wh" the" did not do as well$ +nowing that the" too are smart +ids* 1o#ld it possibl" ha'e something to do with how American and !apanese st#dents are ta#ght and what their ta#ght6 ,he 'er" image constr#cted within the stor"$ of st#dents in !apanese school s"stems doing a lot better on test than American st#dents$ lead me to research reasons for the difference in academic performance between these two c#lt#res* ,he sit#ation of a st#dent in !apan doing better on a test than an American st#dent is not the t"pical case$ b#t it definitel" is a stereot"pical ass#mption$ that 7 m"self am g#ilt" of ma+ing* 7 am s#re$ its weird to hear that an American st#dent ma+es the ass#mption that a !apanese st#dent co#ld potentiall" do better on a test than them* 7 also fo#nd this weird$ so 7 decided to reall" see if this ass#mption had an" tr#th$ and if so$ wh"6 ,"picall"$ we see Asian descent st#dents e.celling in school$ mainl" in s#b(ects s#ch as math and science* 1e +now b" word of mo#th$ that !apanese parents or Asian parents in general are 'er" m#ch so$ strict on their children to e.cel in school* 7 ha'e e'en seen e.amples thro#gh technolog" s#ch as the new generational app +nown as 8ine$ where there are parodies of Asian +ids$ (o+ing abo#t how strict their parents are when it comes to school and s#cceeding* 1e hear a lot less of American parents being e.tremel" strict$ and if we do$ the message of academic s#ccess does not come off as strong as it does from the !apanese parents* 7 +now for me$ m" parents definitel" pla"ed a h#ge part in what schools 7 attended$ when m" homewor+ got done$ and chec+ing in on how m" grades were doing* ,he" were not e.tremel" strict b#t the" did stress that ed#cation was important* According to research$ parent in'ol'ement is +e" moti'ation for

Rhodes 2 how the American and !apanese st#dents perform in school* Parent in'ol'ement 'aries between these two co#ntries b#t the )#estion is wh" do the d"namics of their in'ol'ement 'ar" so m#ch* 9allor" ch#eller$ the writer and researcher of an article p#blished b" the Uni'ersit" of 9ichigan$ sa"s that the !apanese societ" tends to p#t a lot of importance on s#ccess in schools$ which leads to 'er" high e.pectations from the parents* : ch#eller; 1ith this ideolog" stemming from the parents$ !apanese st#dents come to +now nothing b#t hard wor+ and e.treme efforts* ,hro#gh this societal o#tloo+$ !apanese parents tend to press#re their child into doing a lot of st#d"ing and homewor+$ e'en res#lting in e.tra classes after school* 4!#+#$5 +nown as the after school classes$ are not re)#ired thro#gh the school b#t more than li+el" re)#ired b" the parents* Abo#t si.t"<se'en percent of st#dents at the middle school le'el are participating in these after school classes abo#t twice a wee+$ for aro#nd two ho#rs* : ch#eller; =ow reading this "o# ma" thin+ to "o#rself that American st#dents do the same thing$ in a form of t#toring and sta"ing after school$ and this tr#e* ,he big difference tho#gh is that this after school treatment for the !apanese st#dents cost mone"$ #s#all" abo#t two<h#ndred and fort" dollars a month$ res#lting in parents spending abo#t ten tho#sand dollars a "ear* : ch#eller; /o "o# thin+ "o#r parents wo#ld spend this m#ch mone" if it was not for college6 Another iss#e is co#ld the" e'en afford it6 Another e.treme difference$ is that these st#dents go to the after school practice e'en if the" are e.celling in their s#b(ects* ,his was a 'er" interesting fact to me$ beca#se 7 +now personall" that when 7 needed help in m" lower le'el of schooling and in high school$ 7 wo#ld onl" see+ help when 7 had conf#sion$ b#t not when 7 felt that 7 +new what 7 was doing* 1ith these parents in'esting mone" and all of their time into ma+ing s#re their children s#cceed in school$ their actions show a great affect on the performance of their children* ,he actions of the American parents are not e.tremel" different$ b#t the" are not as e.cessi'e either* Parents in America definitel" are as in'ol'ed as !apanese parents$ b#t their beliefs of what s#ccess is in school$ is different from that of the !apanese parents* 7n two of m" articles$ it tal+ed abo#t this concept of abilit" 'ers#s effort$ and how American parents see their child>s s#ccess as how m#ch of an abilit" the" ha'e* -or an e.ample$ this concept was gi'en in one of m" articles% #s#all" with diffic#lt s#b(ects s#ch as math$ if American parents see their child doing well in that class$ the" res#lt in thin+ing$ 4 oh$ the" m#st be nat#ral with math$5 or either their fail#re in the class as 4 well the" are not as good in math as the" are in histor"*5 ,hese pre<conceptions affect how their children see s#ccess as well$ and so the children ta+e #p this belief of abilit" rather than the belief that "o# can p#t forth effort and s#cceed e'en in a s#b(ect that "o# ma" not be e.cellent in* 7n man" wa"s 7 do not agree that all American parents or st#dents ha'e this 'iew b#t definitel" a ma(orit"* A )#estion that 7 feel is fre)#entl" as+ed to man" st#dents$ and a )#estion 7 ha'e often heard is 4 1hat is "o#r fa'orite s#b(ect65 and #s#all" one wo#ld e.plain wh" a s#b(ect was their fa'orite* ,heir response wo#ld #s#all" consist of them li+ing the s#b(ect$ which 7 feel stems from the res#lts the" see from the class s#ch as grades* 7 +now for me$ one of m" fa'orite s#b(ects is English beca#se 7 li+e to write$ b#t 7 thin+ also beca#se 7 see m" abilit" to write is prett" good and 7 ha'e been told that b" others* Effort is not totall" stripped from the mentalit" of American st#dents$ b#t 7 do belie'e that we ha'e been engra'ed with that abilit" mentalit"*As parent in'ol'ement pla"s s#ch a h#ge role in the performance of these st#dents$ so do man" other factors* Parent in'ol'ement 7 feel is the most important beca#se we #s#all" tend to ta+e in the beliefs of o#r parents* 1e also$ o#t of respect for o#r parents tend to listen and obe" their commands* Along with parent in'ol'ement$ 7 feel that the go'ernment in these two co#ntries ha'e a great affect on the performance of these

Rhodes ? st#dents* pecificall" the control the go'ernment allocates$ has an effect on the performance$ in relation to how the c#rric#l#m$ teachers$and te.t boo+s are chosen for the st#dents* 1ith these sections of academia being 'er" important for the performance of st#dents$ the" all differ strictl" beca#se of how the go'ernment is ran in each co#ntr"* @eginning with the c#rric#l#m aspect of it all$ each st#dent from America and !apan both learn the traditional addition$ algebra and calc#l#s b#t (#st at different times and in different wa"s* As math is ta#ght in different wa"s$this ma" be the answer to the differences in performance for this partic#lar s#b(ect* ch#ller states%4 ,he fact that the math c#rric#l#m in o#r schools is set #p "ears behind that in !apan$ ma+es it almost impossible for st#dents to achie'e at the same le'el as them beca#se the information presented to each gro#p of st#dents is not comparable*5 : ch#eller; 1e see thro#gh this )#ote one 'i'id image of wh" American and !apanese academic performance differ$ especiall" in the math c#rric#l#m* ch#eller ma+es the point to incl#de this )#ote in the section of her research$ where she directl" and indirectl" e.presses the #nfair comparisons between the American and !apanese school* As time to learn the c#rric#l#m is different$ what is act#all" learned within the c#rric#l#m fl#ct#ates as well* ,hro#gh m#ch needed research the answer to m" pre<concei'ed )#estion of wh" !apanese st#dents were or seemed smarter in math than American st#dents soon presented itself* ,he difference in how math is ta#ght in schools in !apan and in the United tates$ are the difference in the n#mber of topics ta#ght* : ch#eller; 7n !apan there are #s#all" ten topics total a'aliable in their math te.tboo+s* 7n the United tates this n#mber is tripled to abo#t thirt" to thirt"<fi'e topics ac)#ired each "ear from the math te.tboo+s* : ch#ellerA chimdt$ 9c+night$ B Raison$ 1CCD; 1ith the American schools teaching more topics$ the c#rric#l#m as 9allor" ch#effer states$ becomes 4#nfoc#sed$ broad and red#ndant*5 #prisingl" 7 wo#ld definitel" agree$ and ha'e e'en fo#nd m"self complaining abo#t how some of the topics are pointless* 1ith !apanese ed#cation$ the" are ta#ght new things each time$ and with a less amo#nt of topics$ teachers can foc#s in on each one for a longer period of time$ gi'ing the !apanese st#dents ample time to grasp the concepts* As these c#rric#l#ms are distrib#ted among teachers$ the" ha'e to be implemented b" the go'ernment or proposed b" some higher force* -or !apan$ their co#rse g#idelines are determined on a national basis$ thro#gh the 9inistr" of Ed#cation and cience* ,his national s"stem determines s#b(ects that will be ta#ght$ the ob(ecti'es and e'en the content of teaching* :0oo+e; Unli+e !apan$ the United tates does not ha'e a set national based c#rric#l#m b#t is definitel" wor+ing toward or in the process of ma+ing the c#rric#l#m national based* @efore this process$ m#ch of what is ta#ght in schools was determined b" states* Ene state ma" ha'e different standards as to what content is ta#ght in the school than another* Another factor affecting performance$ are the te.tboo+s chosen for the c#rric#l#m* As each states creates their own c#rric#l#m in the United tates$ the" also ha'e the power to choose what te.tboo+s wo#ld be #sed as well* 7n !apan$ the te.tboo+s on each le'el of schooling ha'e to be appro'ed b" the 9inistr" of Ed#cation$ 0#lt#re$ ports$ cience$ and ,echnolog"* :0oo+e; Ene interesting idea bro#ght #p in an article from the Uni'ersit" of 9ichigan$ titled Ed#cational "stems of !apan and the United tates$ it spo+e abo#t the a#tonom" that each state has as well as the responsibilit" that each state has to determine what each st#dent will learn in the United tates* Another interesting idea in this article$ was the notion of reso#rces each state has$ for the" ma" 'ar" depending on the state*:Ed#cational s"stems of !apan***; 7 +now that for man" schools in low po'erished areas$ it is hard to get efficient reso#rces li+e comp#ters$ nice te.tboo+s and more* 7 saw difference in distrib#tion right in m" area$ where m" high school pro'ided personal comp#ters to e'er" st#dent$ b#t o#r ri'alr"

Rhodes 4 school$ located in another co#nt" did not ha'e as nice of personal comp#ters #ntil a later time* ,his is not alwa"s the case$ b#t sometimes e.tra reso#rces become more efficient and can ha'e an affect on performance and e'en on the attit#de of the st#dents to learn* 7n contrast to the United tates$ !apan>s national s"stem of c#rric#l#m$ allows their st#dents to recei'e the same ed#cation$ witho#t differences in c#rric#l#m* :Ed#cational "stems**; Along with the performance 'ar"ing in res#lt of c#rric#l#m$ it also 'aries in res#lt of teacher capabilit"* ,eachers as we all +now also pla" an essential role in the performance of the st#dents* 7t is #ltimatel" their (ob to prepare the st#dents for good academic performance* 7n !apan teaching is +nown to be a 'er" respectf#l (ob$ and is seen as honorable of a (ob as a doctor* 1e can all agree that the profession of a doctor in the United tates is definitel" seen as more honorable then the teaching profession* Us#all"$ in the United tates training as a teacher happens in their #ndergrad#ate or grad#ate career of college* 7n !apan$ a bachelors degree is not re)#ired for teacher$ onl" two "ears of college$ tho#gh most still recei'e their bachelors* : ch#eller; Along with this difference in hiring teachers$ what also differs is the e.perience that these two gro#p of teachers ha'e* -oc#sing more on !apan$ the" gain an e.tra "ear of e.perience$ as the" train closel" with a mentor or master teacher* : ch#eller; 7n the United tates$ f#t#re teachers are trained based on ta+ing co#rses abo#t teaching and ma"be interning or following a teacher aro#nd for a semester or semesters o#t of their college career* -or the !apanese teachers$ the" go straight to the classroom to get their e.perience$ and not solel" from attending school* As the d"namics between teacher positions differ$ so do the teaching methods* Ene interesting idea presented in ch#ellers article is the difference in how each gro#p of teachers ta+e ad'antage of seat wor+$ after the lesson is ta#ght* Her research states that American teachers #s#all" or sometimes #se seat wor+ time as a wa" to wor+ on their lesson plans* he mentions that teachers in !apan do the opposite and #se seat wor+ as a time for obser'ation$ which +eeps the st#dents e'en more foc#sed* ,his method is done b" American teachers as well$ b#t in !apan there are sometimes two teachers do this obser'ation$ res#lting in the st#dents foc#sing strictl" on class wor+* -rom m" personal school e.periences$ 7 definitel" remember finishing #p what 7 ha'e learned and then the teacher gi'ing #s class wor+ to wor+ on* 7 remember this from a recent e.perience from m" senior "ear of high school$ where m" pre<calc#l#s teacher wo#ld teach the lesson$ and then gi'e #s class wor+* 7 wo#ld #s#all" wor+ on it$ b#t then soon trail off s#b(ect and either begin wor+ing on m" comp#ter$ tal+ing to m" friends or e'en sleep* o 7 can see the relation between performance and teacher in'ol'ement in res#lt of the st#dents performing appropriatel" in school* Ene thing that 7 did not realiFe as being an important factor going into the performance is the notion of the school calendar* E'er" st#dent attends school reg#larl" b#t s#rprisingl"$ !apanese st#dents attend school at least si. wee+s longer than American st#dents* :0oo+e; pecificall"$ !apanese st#dents attend school for two<h#ndred and ten da"s$while American st#dents attend school for one<h#ndred and eight"<fi'e da"s o#t of the "ear* : ch#eller; As !apanese st#dents spend more da"s in school$ the" are able to learn more material and recei'e more practice on their s#b(ects* Another factor which allows them to spend more time on their schooling$ is that their s#mmers are shorter with a school starting on April 1st and ending 9arch ?1st* Us#all" st#dents in America$ attend school from a#g#st to !#ne and ha'e a two to three month s#mmer* As the calendar differs for the schools in these two co#ntries$ so does the performance of the st#dents* 7 personall" co#ld not imagine going to school for more than what 7 had to go to school for$ b#t 7 g#ess it is different for the !apanese st#dents beca#se of that important societal press#re of school being s#ccess* #ccess between these two societies differ

Rhodes G drasticall" in man" aspects besides the school* American see s#ccess as being good at a sport or e'en ha'ing a lot of mone"$ b#t for the !apanese$ as stated earlier it goes bac+ to that effort mentalit"$ and p#tting forth all that the" can to be s#ccessf#l* ,he abilit" and effort concept 7 feel is definitel" the root of how s#ccess is portra"ed in each co#ntr"* 7n relation to academic performance from the st#dents$ the reason wh" !apanese st#dents are portra"ed as ha'ing better performance is beca#se of their small n#mber of non<academic related co#rse or acti'ities* 1hoe'er sa"s that American st#dents do not +now what p#tting forth effort is$ are mista+en* ome ma" see this as a bloc+ing force to impro'ing the performance of man" American st#dents$ b#t 7 feel that the incorporation of sports and cl#bs is an amaFing wa" for st#dent to learn o#tside of the classroom* As a member on m" high school dance team$ 7 learned how to be a team pla"er$ choreograph dances which got m" creati'e (#ices flowing and e'en learned how to lead a team$ as 7 was captain m" (#nior "ear* ,hese non<academic s#b(ects prepares st#dents for real world connections$ where the" will ha'e to +now how to #se those leadership characteristics* 9ost importantl" these non<academic s#b(ects or acti'ities +eeps st#dents sane$ beca#se it becomes a stress relief and passion dri'en e.perience$ allowing st#dents to foc#s on something other than school* Pl#s who wants to be st#c+ with doing wor+ all the time$ when we can learn e'en in the mist of ha'ing f#n* !apanese school s"stems #s#all" do not incorporate this same e.periences for their st#dents* =ot allowing st#dents to be in'ol'ed in non<academic acti'ities co#ld be a flaw of the !apanese schools s"stems* ,oo m#ch stress on the !apanese st#dents co#ld lead to other iss#es$ li+e bad health and a lac+ of social s+ills* At the end of the da"$whose to sa" that one school s"stem is better than another$ or e'en if !apanese st#dents performance is more efficient than that of American st#dents* 7f each st#dent is satisfied with their performance$ their hard wor+$ their time spent$ then that is all that matters* Essentiall"$ ed#cation will either be a priorit" or a choice for both gro#ps of st#dents$ and hopef#ll" each st#dent$ no matter where the">re from$ will ha'e the free will to choose*

Rhodes 3

1or+s 0ited 0oo+e$ !ac+ie* HA 0omparison of !apanese and American Ed#cation "stems*HEregon 9athematics ,eacher* 01 200G% n* page* 1eb* 2? 9ar* 2014* Ed#cational "stems of !apan and the U *H itema+er* Uni'ersit" of 9ichigan* 1eb* 20 Apr 2014* Ihttp%AAsitema+er*#mich*ed#Aar#n*?G3AhomeJ* Ed#cation*H pice tanford* tanford Uni'ersit"$ n*d* 1eb* 2?9ar 2014* ch#eller$ 9allor"* H9athematic Ed#cation in !apan and the United tates*HUni'ersit" of 9ichigan* U*9* ite9a+er* 1eb* 2? 9ar 2014* 1oodward$ !ohn$ and &#mi+o Eno* H9athematics and Academic /i'ersit" in !apan*H!o#rnal of Learning /isabilities* n* page* 1eb* 2? 9ar* 2014*