A Visit to Elementary School

It's hard to define what makes a school successful. You just know it is. When I walked into Higashiterakata Municipal Elementary School in Tama, I knew I was in the presence of excellence.

There was the customary musical welcome......


....and then we toured several classes on our own.

Like all schools in Japan, Higashiterakata puts a heavy emphasis on math and science. When I asked several kids what was their favorite subject, they said either math or science. Of course, subjects like history and Japanese are also an important part of the curriculum, although I wasn't very successful today with my Japanese, despite my fourth grade tutors.



The public elementary school looked like many of our elementary schools in the United States. Here fifth graders are working on power point presentations.




But, once again, I found some differences between this Japanese elementary school and elementary schools in the United States.

For years, schools across Japan have been teaching foreign languages, especially English, at the elementary level, but there are no national laws requiring it. That will soon change.

By 2011, all fifth and sixth graders will be required to take a certain number of hours of a foreign language each term.

In this picture, a second grade class is working on their numbers in English. The teachers in our group also practiced introductions with the kids.



When I asked the principal of the school why Japan was so concerned about foreign languages, he simply said, "We want to nurture the ability of our students to live in a global environment." Unfortunately, foreign languages are not taught at many elementary schools in the United States, and in some states where foreign languages were taught, they have been cut due to budgetary restraints.

Another difference I saw in this school was the emphasis on the arts. As I've said before, art is considered to be an essential part of the educational experience.





Today, I found kids making wooden baskets, playing instruments,








and singing. I was told this is a common site, at all grade levels.







At the same time, another difference with Japanese elementary schools is that students often are involved in agriculture. At this school, students grow many things, including rice. Teachers say the activity teaches kids to respect the earth, to have a sense of where food comes from and to learn a valuable skill.


I was surprised to find a rice field on the play ground.

Finally, as with all students at all grade levels, kids are expected to take turns serving lunch in their classrooms each day and be involved in cleaning up the school each day before going home.















After school, we had the opportunity to talk with some of the parents. They said that one of the main reasons that they felt that the school was successful was because of the involvement of most of the parents in the school and the involvement of the community.

The parents said they also felt that their kids benefited from physical activities like P.E. and growing food. The Japanese are big believers in the importance of addressing all the needs of a person, both physical and mental. I get the sense that the Japanese have a much more holistic view of learning.


But, the parents also echoed many of the concerns of parents in the United States. First, the parents said they believed that the scholastic level of their children had declined because of relaxed standards. At the same time, the parents said that they believed too much of an emphasis was being put on kids passing standardized tests, instead of kids just learning for the sake of learning. Finally, the parents said they felt their kids weren't getting enough homework.



It was a great day of learning for me, but I have no idea how elementary teachers have enough energy to get through the day. I definitely have much more of an appreciation for what elementary school teachers do. I'm beat. Good night.