is a
Japanese education policy which reduces the hours and the content of the
curriculum
In education, a curriculum (; : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view ...
in
primary education
Primary education or elementary education is typically the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary school. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first ...
. In recent years, the mass media in Japan have used this phrase to criticize drops in scholastic ability.
About
In
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, primary education is prescribed by a teaching guideline called . Since the 1970s, the Japanese government gradually reduced the amount of class time and the contents given in the guideline, and this tendency is called yutori education. However, in recent years, notably after the
2011 earthquake, this has been a controversial issue.
Yutori education may be translated as "relaxed
education
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...
" or "education free from pressure",
stemming from the word ja, label=none, ゆとり, yutori, leeway.
History
In the 1970s, school
violence
Violence is the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy. Other definitions are also used, such as the World Health Organization's definition of violence as "the intentional use of physical force or Power (social and p ...
and the collapse of
classroom
A classroom or schoolroom is a learning space in which both children and adults learn. Classrooms are found in educational institutions of all kinds, ranging from preschools to universities, and may also be found in other places where education ...
discipline
Discipline refers to rule following behavior, to regulate, order, control and authority. It may also refer to punishment. Discipline is used to create habits, routines, and automatic mechanisms such as blind obedience. It may be inflicted on ot ...
became a big problem in junior high schools. So, the government revised the teaching guideline in 1977. The main purpose was to reduce education
stress
Stress may refer to:
Science and medicine
* Stress (biology), an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition
* Stress (linguistics), relative emphasis or prominence given to a syllable in a word, or to a word in a phrase ...
and to introduce relaxed classes called .
In 1984, during the time of
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Yasuhiro Nakasone
was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party from 1982 to 1987. He was a member of the House of Representatives for more than 50 years. He was best known for pushing through the ...
, the was established as a consultative body. The council recommended that
education
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...
regard the individual personalities of each student as paramount. Two major revisions of the teaching guidelines in 1989 and 1998 were implemented following this announcement.
In 1987, declared four basic core principles to improve education in
kindergarten
Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...
s,
elementary schools
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...
, and
junior and senior high schools.
# To form people with strength, confidence, and open minds.
# To create self-motivated students able to deal with changes in society.
# To teach the fundamental knowledge needed by Japanese people and to enrich education to ensure it considers individuality as very important.
# To form people who fully understand international society while still respecting
Japanese culture
The culture of Japan has changed greatly over the millennia, from the country's prehistoric Jōmon period, to its contemporary modern culture, which absorbs influences from Asia and other regions of the world.
Historical overview
The ance ...
and traditions.
Under these principles, the teaching guideline were revised in 1989. In the lower grades of elementary schools,
science
Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
and
social studies classes were abolished and "
environmental studies
Environmental studies is a multidisciplinary academic field which systematically studies human interaction with the environment. Environmental studies connects principles from the physical sciences, commerce/economics, the humanities, and social ...
" was introduced. In junior high school, the number of elective classes was increased to further motivate students.
From 1992, schools closed on the second Saturday of every month to increase student spare time in accordance with the teaching guidelines. From 1995, schools closed on the fourth Saturday also.
In 1996, when the 15th was asked about what the Japanese education of the 21st century should be like, it submitted a report suggesting "the ability to survive" should be the basic principle of education. "The ability to survive" is defined as a principle that tries to keep the balance of
intellectual
An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or a ...
,
moral
A moral (from Latin ''morālis'') is a message that is conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader, or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim. A ...
, and
physical education
Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...
.
In 1998, the teaching guidelines were revised to reflect the council's report. 30% of the curriculum was cut and "time for integrated study" in elementary and junior high school was established. It was a drastic change.
The School Curriculum Council stated its goals in a report.
# To enrich humanity, sociability, and the awareness of living as a Japanese within international society.
# To develop the ability to
think
In their most common sense, the terms thought and thinking refer to conscious cognitive processes that can happen independently of sensory stimulation. Their most paradigmatic forms are judging, reasoning, concept formation, problem solving, an ...
and learn independently.
# To inculcate fundamental concepts in children at an appropriate pace while developing their individuality.
# To let every school form its own ethos.
Around 1999, a decline in the academic abilities of
university
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
students became a serious concern. Elementary and secondary education started to be reconsidered. This trend focused criticism on the new teaching guidelines and aroused controversy.
In 2002, schools were no longer compulsory on Saturdays.
In 2007, a was created.
Criticism
Many people who oppose pressure-free education worry that it may lower children's scholastic ability, and also create a widening gap in scholastic ability. Some criticism is based on a misunderstanding of Yutori education.
* Japanese education performance test (
PISA
Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...
) results are not keeping pace internationally.
* Surveys of university students'
math
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
ability show very poor attainment.
* Yutori education may be good in principle but has not been implemented successfully.
* The workload of teachers has increased.
* Insufficient attention to educational fundamentals.
* If state schools are insufficient, children will need to go to a
Juku
''Gakushū juku'' ( ja, 学習塾; see cram school) are private, fee-paying schools that offer supplementary classes often in preparation for key school and university entrance exams. The term is primarily used to characterize such schools in ...
, which costs a great deal.
*
Working class
The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...
children will find it more difficult to progress to higher education and find good jobs.
Responses
* The drop in scholastic ability is natural because the society is more affluent. Students in
OECD
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...
nations are comfortable and less
motivated.
* How should we define "scholastic ability?"
* Has scholastic ability really dropped?
* It is very difficult to judge scholastic ability objectively, so the results of tests don't necessarily indicate an overall drop in scholastic ability.
* Yutori education may reduce average scholastic ability, but it can develop the talents of a small number of
gifted children.
* The criticisms lack adequate
evidence
Evidence for a proposition is what supports this proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the supported proposition is true. What role evidence plays and how it is conceived varies from field to field.
In epistemology, evidenc ...
.
* It is reported that achievement tests by the
IEA and PISA both indicate Japanese students ability has continued to fall, but these two tests are different in what they intend to measure.
* The IEA mainly checks students' ability to recall facts while PISA checks their "ability to survive" and "ability to think". PISA's tests have been done only twice, and in the second test, countries participating increased. Moreover, in Japan, integrated studies were introduced in 2002, and PISA's test was done in 2003, so Japanese examinees had been under the new curriculum for only one year in junior high school. It is too early to determine whether integrated studies are successful.
See also
*
Education in Japan
Education in Japan is managed by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan. Education is compulsory at the elementary and lower secondary levels. Most students attend public schools through the lower ...
*
History of education in Japan
The history of education in Japan dates back at least to the sixth century, when Chinese learning was introduced at the Yamato court. Foreign civilizations have often provided new ideas for the development of Japan's own culture.
6th to 15th ce ...
*
Juku
''Gakushū juku'' ( ja, 学習塾; see cram school) are private, fee-paying schools that offer supplementary classes often in preparation for key school and university entrance exams. The term is primarily used to characterize such schools in ...
*
References
*Yamanouchi, Kenshi (山内乾史) Hara, Kiyoharu (原清治). 2006. ''Gakuryoku mondai・Yutori kyouiku'' (学力問題・ゆとり教育). Nihontoshosentā.
*
Terawaki, Ken (寺脇研). 2007. ''Soredemo, Yutori kyouiku wa machigatteinai''(それでも、ゆとり教育は間違っていない) Fusousha.
*
Iwaki, Hideo (岩木秀夫). 2004. ''Yutori kyouiku kara Kosei rouhi shakai e'' (ゆとり教育から個性浪費社会へ), Chikumashinsho.
*
Asahi Shimbun
is one of the four largest newspapers in Japan. Founded in 1879, it is also one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan. Its circulation, which was 4.57 million for its morning edition and ...
kyouiku shuzaihan(朝日新聞教育取材班). 2003. Tenki no Kyouiku (転機の教育, Education at a turning point) Asahibunko. {{ISBN, 4-02-261405-6
External links
Gakushu shidou youryou(in Japanese)
Academic pressure in East Asian culture
Education laws and guidelines in Japan