Punishment in Japan for schoolchildren. The most cruel punishments in schools

About a Japanese girl who was forced to dye her naturally brown hair black by the school authorities. And then I came across a spread in a magazine with bizarre high school rules (高等学校, grades 10-12 when translated into Russian standards) all over Japan. So, what was the imagination of the heads of educational institutions enough for (all examples are from different schools).

• If a student has a hole in his toe, they are forced to buy at least 5 pairs of new socks;


• It is forbidden to come to school with a backpack. If caught with a backpack - the “inappropriate” bag is seized and destroyed, the student is given a paper bag for folding things;


• If a high school student eats something sweet, and a teacher passes by, the student must offer a piece to the teacher;

Lots of rules about hair and hairstyles.

• At the beginning of the school year, the length of the bangs is measured with a ruler and recorded in a table. And then during the year they check the length for each student, and in no case should you have a bang longer than the previously established one;


• Elongated strands of hair on the sides of the face are prohibited. Violators are forced to wash the floors with a rag. Whose strands are cut off - to stab with invisibility;


• And in another school, invisible hairpins are allowed only if the girl has registered them with the management. After registration, it is obligatory to come to school every day with exactly this number of invisibility;


• Overly frilly hairstyles are prohibited on school holidays and festivals (and they are quite popular among the contingent “what district are you from”). Those who are caught are sent to the shower to wash off the hairspray;

• Girls are not allowed to pluck their eyebrows;


• It is impossible for shirt cuffs to be seen from under the sleeve of a uniform jacket. Children are bought a uniform slightly for growth (but I still have a hard time figuring out how to enforce this rule in action);


• Girls at school are forbidden not only to meet with boys, but simply to walk alongside ( not by the hand! near!) along the school corridor. Violators are severely interrogated by the teacher;


• It is forbidden to walk down the street out school!) from a man other than his father. There were precedents for scandals when a girl walked down the street with her brother ( this is completely, completely beyond my comprehension);


• It is forbidden to use a mobile phone at school for any reason and in any form. Violators - a personal lecture by the director of the school on ethics;


• It is forbidden to use buzzwords and slang on school grounds;


• At school, it is forbidden to run along the corridor, even if you are late - a fairly common occurrence, concern for safety so that students do not hurt themselves. And in one of the schools, the teacher shouts to the caught runners: “Stop 10!” The student should immediately freeze in place in the position he had to, and wait for the teacher to count to 10;


• During the morning call for classes, it is supposed to stop everything that you are doing and start meditation;


• For minor misconduct, high school students are forced to rewrite Buddhist sutras as punishment;


• The blackboard must be washed to such a state that you can press your cheek against it ( honestly, I can hardly imagine how much time and rags it takes);


• Students are prohibited from visiting fast food establishments, with the exception of takeaway food (in case parents asked to buy, for example);


• You are not allowed to work after school. The two exceptions are New Year's holiday work at a Shinto shrine and post office with greeting cards;


• And the last, a little touching. There are no uniforms in the school and anything can be worn, except for one single exception. It is forbidden to come to school in national geta shoes. These are such wooden bench sandals, common shoes until the 1930s, photo from Wikipedia.

Because the geta clattered loudly when walking on the pavement, residents of the houses next to schools in the early 20th century complained that the morning march of clattering schoolchildren was hard on the ears. Therefore, many schools forbade coming to geta (soft straw zori sandals or European shoes were an alternative). Now geta are worn with kimono only on holidays, but the rules in the old schools have remained.

It should be recognized that some progress in the strange rules of Japanese schools is still outlined. In Osaka, for example, after the spring scandals, many schools revised the rules for the appearance of students for the first time in 80-90 years, somewhere they removed the bans on geta and curling irons for boys, many schools reformulated the bans on brown hair and curls to "dyed hair" and "self-made curls." And somewhere, on the contrary, the rules have been tightened, adding colored contact lenses and false eyelashes to the list of prohibitions.

China
In China, negligent students were punished by beating their hands with a bamboo twig. It just doesn't seem scary if you don't know how many times schoolchildren got it. The most interesting thing is that parents only supported this method of raising children. It was canceled just 50 years ago.

Russia
In Russia, rods were used to drive the truth into children. In theological seminaries, they could be beaten with rods for excessive zeal in eating or for not knowing the names of all 12 apostles.

This is how they looked like. Rods are twigs soaked in water for elasticity. They hit hard and left marks.

Great Britain
In the UK, schoolchildren were put on peas. Yes, this tradition originated from there, and quickly reached us, we also practiced such a punishment. They put bare knees on scattered peas. Believe me, it does not hurt only the first 30 seconds, and Russian schoolchildren sometimes stood on peas for 4 hours. Corporal punishment was abolished only in 1986.

Brazil
Brazilian children are banned from playing football. No matter how simple it may seem for us, for any Brazilian child it is comparable to death, because everyone plays football even at recess!

Liberia
In Liberia, children are still punished with a whip. Recently, Liberian President Charles Taylor personally lashed his 13-year-old daughter 10 times for indiscipline.

Japan
That's who is experienced in torture, so it's the Japanese. They had many punishments, but these two were the most brutal: to stand with a porcelain cup on your head, straightening one leg at a right angle to the body and lying on two stools, holding on to them only with your palms and toes, that is, in fact, it turns out - between the stools.
Also, there are no cleaners in Japanese schools, punished students are cleaned there.

Pakistan
In Pakistan, for two minutes late, you have to read the Koran for 8 hours.

Nambia
Despite the prohibitions, in Namibia, delinquent students have to stand under a hornet's nest.

Scotland
The standard Scottish school belt is made of thick hard leather by special order of the educational authorities. They usually use it folded in half, and, they say, it’s better not to try it on yourself.

Nepal.
Nepal. The most terrible punishment there is when a boy is dressed in a woman's dress and, depending on the degree of fault, is forced to walk in it from one to 5 days. In fact, girls in Nepal are not sent to schools, they are considered only a burden and they are fed very poorly. Boys can not stand such a diet and begin to ask for forgiveness on about the second day.

The subject of school punishments is very old. Many artists wrote their paintings about this, which allows us to conclude that it worried people at all times.

But despite the progress, even now teachers allow themselves to raise a hand against students and punish them in sophisticated ways.

This teacher made me hold a chair over my head for being late until "it hits an empty head"

And this teacher completely lost his temper, and could hardly restrain himself. A high school student brought him to the point that she spoke about his wife.

Maintaining discipline is a difficult task, and not everyone will be able to cope with this task. A bunch of restless kids can drive anyone crazy and destroy a school in a matter of minutes. That is why punishments were invented, and we will talk about the most terrible today.

China
In China, negligent students were punished by beating their hands with a bamboo twig. It just doesn't seem scary if you don't know how many times schoolchildren got it. The most interesting thing is that parents only supported this method of raising children. It was canceled just 50 years ago.

Russia
In Russia, rods were used to drive the truth into children. In theological seminaries, they could be beaten with rods for excessive zeal in eating or for not knowing the names of all 12 apostles.

Tatsuhiro Matsuda worked for 28 years in a Japanese school as an assistant director of studies. In addition to a huge number of issues of organizing the educational process, he had to solve difficult conflict situations between students, teachers and parents, the problems of teaching young colleagues, and reflect on truly philosophical issues of education. Tatsuhiro Matsuda talks about the traditionally high moral standards of Japanese society.

“In Brazil, in Natal, a hot fight continues at the World Cup. But the media around the world showed one not-quite-sporty story from Brazil: a blue plastic trash bag brought from Japan. After the defeat of Japan in the match with Côte d'Ivoire, Japanese fans began to remove garbage from the empty stands in their garbage bags.

These actions of the fans are a sign of caring. This is not often seen in Brazil, so the response was very wide and one of the reporters of the national newspaper wrote that he welcomed these people and was proud of them. The Brazilian television channel Globo wrote about the fans: “They were not happy with the results, but despite this, they collected garbage, and showed the height of the cultural standard and education. They lost, but got a high score in politeness." The e-newspaper Forya de São Paulo conducted a survey, 100 million readers responded and rated the actions of the fans as a "model citizen".

For the Japanese, this is not surprising, such behavior is characteristic of them, because from school they get used to considering such actions ordinary. This means that the fans acted according to the principle of "make more beautiful, better than before" on the principle of moral education, which is the core of school education in Japan.

The education system in Japan is carried out from 3 to 22 years of age. It all starts with kindergarten, then comes elementary, middle, high school, college and university. In the process of education, moral education is separated from academic education and is designed to teach how to make life better.

Children learn to be an independent person through the basics of discipline, they learn to be masters of their actions in the basics of everyday life. In elementary and middle school every week in the lesson of morality, children learn virtue by concrete examples. But not only at these lessons, but also at school events, holidays, festivals. For example, sports holidays are a specific practice of moral education. The teacher has a difficult task to observe and evaluate the efforts of children: children receive grades a, b, c for participation in holidays and events, for accuracy, for politeness, etc. (about ten marks!). These assessments are very important for the future: activity, participation, independence, cleanliness, honesty, caring are valued in society. Thus, while the student's personality is not yet fully formed, it is necessary to lay in it the foundations for one's own moral guidance.

Lessons in morality 道徳 (doutoku)

In order to instill the foundations of morality, special lessons are held. There are also special textbooks, which are called so - textbooks of moral education. One of them has this story:

Yuka-chan is in the second grade. On Sunday she went shopping with her mother. "Let's go to the cafe!" Mom suggested, Yuka agreed. There are a lot of people in the cafe in the mall. A man was drinking coffee alone at the next table. There was a white cane by the table. "What is that white cane?" Yuka asked. This man does not see. With a cane, he checks whether it is possible to go forward. Yuka looked at the stranger again. He finished his coffee and took out a cigarette, began to grope for the ashtray with his hand. But there was no ashtray on the table, and the man seemed to have given up smoking, hiding the cigarettes in his pocket. "Yuka, it's time to go," Mom said as she stood up and removed her and Yuka's cups from the table. The man got up too. Yuka approached him: "I'll clean it!" – said the girl. "Thank you very much!" he answered and smiled.

This story is discussed by children in the second grade (7-8 years old). In elementary school, a moral lesson lasts 45 minutes. The role of a teacher is not to say what is good and what is bad, but to teach students to understand and recognize how to behave in a way that makes them better. Children discuss situations and make their own choices, deciding what to do. In this lesson, they will ask themselves the question “What would I do?” Almost all children participate in this discussion. Those who don't say anything think. Understanding, compassion, kindness develop in the soul of the child.

The main idea of ​​moral education: "to make it better than it was." This is what Japanese fans did at the World Cup, because they were used to doing this from childhood.

Prior to World War II, there was a 修身 (Shushin) system of moral education, but it differed from the modern doutoku system because it was based on an exclusively authoritarian approach. The students did not think or reason, they were simply obliged to comply with the requirements of the moral code, which the teacher told them about, and completely - without reasoning - obey them. An example of this upbringing is the practice of kamikaze during the war. Children learned not to think, but only to obey implicitly.

On August 15, 1945, World War II ended in Japan. A regime of American control was established in the country, led by General Douglas MacArthur. He abolished the shushin education system. In 1958, the Japanese government introduced a new system of moral education, the doutoku. And it was built on the fact that the students themselves assess the situation and learn to think how to behave. Therefore, in the doutoku system, the teacher talks little, the students themselves discuss a lot, talk a lot in the class and decide how to behave. In the doutoku system, subjectivity is important, in contrast to the authoritarianism of shushin. Therefore, children love doutoku lessons, they themselves reflect on life in these lessons. The doutoku materials are also very interesting. Often these are biographies of prominent people, for example, Edison, Einstein, Hideyo Nogushi 野口英世 (Japanese bacteriologist, died in Africa in Ghana while developing a vaccine. He created the yellow fever vaccine, was repeatedly nominated for the Nobel Prize, but refused to receive it) , Gandhi (the Indian president and politician, known for his philosophy of non-violence, came to Japan and was very popular there), Japanese baseball player Ichiro Suzuki 鈴木 一朗 (he was able to score 262 hits in one season, this record has not yet been surpassed). Ryōuma Sakamoto 坂本龍馬 (in 1850, this samurai established a new democratic regime that replaced Japan's period of isolation from the rest of the world).

There is also a series of 6 doutoku textbooks. In all textbooks, topics are grouped into 4 sections: “about oneself”, “relationships with other people” (politeness, sympathy, care, strength, effort, politeness, public opinion, modesty are discussed) “about nature and nobility” (topics are discussed: love to everything, to the environment, respect for life, protection and care), “about groups and society” (family, homeland, responsibility, right and duty, legality, work, voluntary assistance, protection of national culture and international exchange and understanding). Each section has 4-6 lessons on separate topics). The doutoku class is held once a week.

Doutoku.jpg

Doutoku Tutorials

But subjectivity (in the sense of “individually think, reason, make decisions independently”), the ability to think are also developed in other classes, at sports competitions, holidays. Not only victory is important, but the ability to train independently, help friends, think a lot, plan, find a solution, learn to cooperate. The teacher observes the students and evaluates them on all these parameters, so doutoku is a combination of lessons and practice. Of course, the assessment of the teacher must be objective, it cannot be subjective assessment, emotions. The manager checks the objectivity of the teacher's assessment and, if necessary, draws attention to the shortcomings of the assessment, points out the need to take into account all aspects of the child's activities, not to focus on his mistakes or successes. There is no place for emotions in education. Grades are made up of tests (80%), 20% are homework, behavior in class, expressing one's own opinion, keeping notebooks, diligence, etc. But the main thing is that tests are objective results.

There is no punishment system in Japanese schools. The student himself thinks about his actions, and the teacher observes whether the student thinks or not. If not, then the head teacher asks the student about his actions: “What do you think about this. What do you want?" and observes the reaction of the child, whether there is a reflection (in the sense of thinking about what is happening, reflecting one's own behavior in the mind of the child). If a child hits someone in anger, the child is first calmed down. Then they talk to him: "Tell me, what's going on?". This is done alone with the head teacher, a neutral party, in a calm atmosphere. The child tells everything and at the same time thinks for himself what is happening. There is good and bad in every person, and it is necessary that the child sees the good in himself, so there are no punishments. Neither physical nor verbal. But if the child does not react, does not reflect, then the parents are invited for a conversation.

The child says what he achieved with his behavior, an atmosphere of understanding is created, the head teacher does not allow parents to scold the child. Children do not understand that everyone is sometimes bad and adults should help them understand this, understand the mistake and learn to control their emotions and actions. Doutoku is not an order from above, it is cooperation with the child, on the same level, looking into the eyes of the child, establishing mutual understanding. The teacher must wait until the child says: “Ah, I understand where my mistake is!” - then it is success in education. For example, children fight: "He was the first to start ...". It is important to hear the child's opinion, his truth: "Yes, you were hit." In the conflict of children, it is very important to establish the truth, so two teachers clarify the situation with each student in private, taking notes. Then they compare what they said.

Truth is a solid starting point for conflict resolution. If a child wants to hide something and lies, finding out the truth helps him realize his weakness, he confesses. But the teacher must show each child that he understands and accepts his actions, understands the reasons. But not all teachers and do not always remain impartial, and do not accept the actions of the child. Then the child ceases to trust, and not only the teacher, but people in general. This is not education. To recognize everyone is education. All people make mistakes - everyone! All mistakes must be accepted by the teacher. This is the real hard work of a teacher. But some children are mentally or mentally ill. In this case, turn to specialists. There are no punishments.

When everything is clarified, parents are notified. The teacher does not decide, the child decides: "I did badly, I did well." Tears in this case are often evidence of understanding and trust. Sometimes after ten or twenty years, a good student commits a crime, and a bad student commits a feat, so the teacher cannot evaluate the child, the person, whether he is good or bad.

As for the relationship between children, here, as among adults, modesty and politeness are valued. It is no coincidence that in Japan they bow at a meeting - a bow means “my head is lower”, “I value myself lower than you”, I respect you. Therefore, Harry Potter, Narnia, and books about great scientists, writers, heroes, whose greatness of mind or outstanding abilities are combined with high morality, are so popular among children.

There is no difference in moral education for girls and boys. Previously, education for girls was not provided, as in other countries. After the Second World War, Japan realized the need for education for girls, not without the influence of American views. But older people still often believe that women are inferior to men in status. So a few days ago, a deputy in parliament in her fifties rudely rebuked a woman deputy who expressed her point of view, saying that she should supposedly get married and have children. The media raised a fuss and, apparently, a careless deputy will have to part with the mandate, since such statements are regarded as persecution based on gender difference

Returning to our first example, we can summarize. Cleaning the stadium, without coercion, is a manifestation of subjectivity, the ability to independently make decisions in accordance with the “how to do it better” setting (lessons in self-awareness - approx. transl.). This is real morality based on consciousness. This cleaning is a symbol of doutoku education.

In recent years, developed countries are faced with ever more complex tasks that require new approaches in training and education.

On the one hand, modern production and management throughout the world require specialists who are able to process large amounts of information, make decisions taking into account many factors, etc. On the other hand, the intensification and complexity of labor increase in value those national features of education (upbringing) that have evolved over centuries in different countries, regardless of the fact that someday they may suddenly be in demand by modern society.

In this regard, it is a very striking example. During the Tokugawa period, for two and a half centuries, the country was practically isolated from the outside world. Traveling abroad or unauthorized contacts with foreigners was punishable by death. During this time, certain ideas and traditions have been established in society, many of which continue to operate to this day. This fully applies to the process of education and upbringing. After the defeat of Japan in World War II, Japanese education was determined by American experts as unsuitable for further use and was radically reformed. However, much has remained unchanged. And this remaining part, admittedly, played an important role in the economic miracles that Japan demonstrated to the astounded world in the second half of the 20th century. " How should a child be taught and educated to work the way the Japanese work?” - are being asked today all over the world.

Many years of teaching experience in Japanese universities allows me to assert that Japanese approaches to education are fundamentally different from Western ones. They have huge, uncompensated advantages in other cultures, and equally deep, organically inherent in the system and not corrected overnight, shortcomings. It was these advantages, formed over the centuries, that turned out to be in demand and played a decisive role in the fact that the country, utterly defeated and not having its own natural resources, quickly rebuilt the second economy in the world and provided its citizens with a high standard of living. And the shortcomings became the main target of criticism when it turned out that the personnel trained in the Japanese system were not able to independently solve those tasks that no one else in the world had yet to solve. Namely, this is required from a country that has taken a leading position in many respects.

Japanese school

So, what is this system that allows you to catch up with anyone, but does not allow you to get ahead? Mountains of books have been written about Japanese upbringing as a specific and highly exotic phenomenon. Therefore, I will only try to supplement the reader's knowledge with personal observations from Japanese pedagogical practice. The Japanese education system is a whole complex of main and secondary principles, rules and methods. They began to be developed back in the 17th century by the founders of Japanese pedagogy Nakaz Toju, Kaibara Ekiken and other scientists. Its main position is that a child is a being, psychologically, fundamentally different from an adult, therefore, one must behave with him in a fundamentally different way. “You can’t immediately make an adult out of a child, each age must have its own requirements, restrictions on behavior should be introduced gradually,” these scientists said. Regular reports of journalists about that. that Japanese children don’t spit at all, and mothers calmly let them sit in puddles, testify: current parents and children conscientiously fulfill the precepts of the classics.

Full-scale and purposeful work on the preparation of real members of Japanese society begins with the first grade of school. In the first days, children practically do not study at school. They come to it with their mothers for an hour or two, as if on an excursion. At school, they are shown what a desk is, how to sit at it and how convenient it is to put a briefcase. Special attention to etiquette: how to say hello, how to say goodbye, how to listen to the teacher, how to ask a question, how to answer. From this begins the accustoming to the most important part of adult life, the observance of formal norms of behavior. Numerous etiquette requirements accompany the Japanese throughout his life, so their assimilation begins from early childhood. On the door of the teacher's room, a piece of paper caught my attention, on which was written:

For students who are part of the teacher's
Instruction

• Gently knock on the door two or three times.
• Having received permission from the teacher, enter, apologize.
• Briefly state the point.
• At the end of the conversation, apologize.
• Exit, carefully closing the door behind you.

The habit of strictly observing the established rules is one of the main goals of school education. In any activity, even creative, the norms of admissibility are always determined in advance, which should be followed. So, if secondary school students decide to shoot a video film about their school on a movie camera, then its duration will be determined in advance, the main subjects of shooting, functions will be distributed among the participants, etc. The solution of a mathematical problem in an original way will receive the teacher's restrained praise, but will certainly be accompanied by a remark that it was solved, albeit quickly, but not in the proper way. And this is a disadvantage. Accuracy and accuracy of actions, adherence to established rules are valued above improvisation, even the most talented. If the high school baseball team travels to a game in another area, a detailed daily plan from wake-up to lights-out with travel time is drawn up in advance. There is usually no free time when group members are left to their own devices. One of the duties of the school health committee is to regularly check students for the presence of three necessary things: a bag of paper tissues, a handkerchief (safety in case of fire) and trimmed nails. The ultimate goal is to ensure that all students meet these requirements at all times. Belonging to a group and being recognized by a group is the most important condition of life in Japan. Therefore, one of the tasks of education is the development of the ability to subordinate one's actions and desires to its interests. The first thing a teacher does when the children are comfortable in school is Divide the class into groups of five or six. Moreover, students with different abilities, characters and inclinations are necessarily united in one group. It has a leader, second and third numbers and a couple of outsiders. Of course, these roles are determined by the teacher himself, and under no circumstances does he advertise them, realizing that they will and must change. A good teacher is a teacher who will be able to achieve the coordinated work of the whole group in completing the task. Any conflicts in the group must be excluded - this is the main rule. Japanese school groups are very reminiscent of the October “stars” or pioneer “links” in the Soviet school. But with one significant difference: the Japanese managed to achieve the real effectiveness of such an organization.

Each class, like the whole school, consists of a large number of groups or committees. The committees are recorded voluntarily, choosing an occupation to their liking. There is a committee in charge of feeding animals in a living corner, a committee for radio broadcasting, a sanitary and hygienic committee, a library committee, a menu committee, etc.

Group membership is emphasized in the school in many ways. In elementary school (grades 7-9) and senior high school (grades 10-12), students are required to wear a uniform. From the first to the sixth grade, schoolchildren can dress freely, but elements of group membership are still present. Thus, all first graders are given bright yellow caps that are visible from afar (for safe street crossing). Starting from the second grade, they already receive two standard hats of different colors: one for the summer, the other for the winter, and the school informs the parents in writing when they need to be changed. During school running competitions, all participants are divided into two teams. The time of several best representatives (three or five) goes to the overall standings, according to which the winning side is determined. There are no school champions and individual winners.

Since an adult, by the standards of Japanese pedagogy, is a being of a different order than a child, the teacher in no case has the right to be authoritarian in our understanding. Therefore, calming the noisy class after the break, he most likely will not demand silence in an intimidating voice, but will say that the students do not allow the neighboring class to work, and this will be a manifestation of the same method - to teach the child to obey more than one specific person, even if an authoritative teacher, but a group, even of the same students as himself. The norms of Japanese group behavior, especially in children's groups, are still not well known abroad. They dictate actions and distribution of roles that are completely incomprehensible to uninitiated foreigners. As an example, one can cite a purely Japanese model of behavior of a group leader. It is known that in any children's group the leader usually distinguished by physical strength and neglect of danger, courage. The leader of the Japanese group, in addition to these qualities, must also be a responsible organizer, protect his wards and take care of them. Sometimes care can take on an almost paternal character and border on service. If someone from wards» found, for example, the loss of something valuable, the leader is usually the first to rush in search. True, this does not at all prevent him from demonstrating his superiority over the same ward in any form, including with the use of violence. However, the guardianship of the older member of the group over the younger ones fits into the traditional Japanese paternalistic image of a wise Confucian ruler.

In elementary school, children study for six years, and all this time they are practically not given grades, or rather, they are given, but purely formally - only so that there is a basis for transferring to the next class. The main condition for the transfer is not the level of knowledge of the student, but his age. An unbreakable principle of Japanese education: all children who have reached the age of six must enter elementary school and graduate in six years. All types of external study or accelerated learning for capable children, as well as repeating the second year, are not recognized in principle. In elementary schools, the formation of classes from stronger or weaker students is not allowed, and early specialization is also negative in Japan: only in private elementary schools, which can be counted on one hand, there are classes with in-depth study of mathematics and English. Universal unification is the most important distinguishing feature of compulsory nine-year education, which covers almost 100% of children. This segment of the educational system is completely controlled by the state - 97% of all schoolchildren study in public schools. Without much fear of making a mistake, it can be argued that in any part of the country at the same time, students of the same age study the same material taught by the same methods . A student who moves from a metropolitan elementary school to a small provincial town will not always recognize the difference in the school landscape.

According to the content of education, the Japanese elementary school- the most unified among the developed countries of the world. In this regard, it is second only to South Korean. In passing, it can be noted that its antipode is the French elementary school, in which about 10% of all students annually remain for re-education. Only half of French schoolchildren make it through five primary grades without having to repeat a single year. In the late 80s, about 2% of students remained in the Soviet elementary school for the second year.

In the basic secondary school, an annual rotation of schoolchildren is carried out - every year the composition of the classes changes. At the end of the year, the student can submit a written application to the educational unit, in which he indicates the names of three friends with whom he would like to study together further, as well as three students with whom he would like to leave. When forming classes, the management tries to take into account these wishes, but warns that this is not always possible, and claims, of course, are not accepted.

In Japan, studies in two shifts have never been practiced. The first lesson in different schools starts between 8 and 9 am, the last one ends between 2 and 3 pm. After that, all students go out to clean the classrooms, corridors and other school premises, which is done daily, five days a week. Elementary, middle school and high school are always housed in different buildings, so the number of students in one school is not very large, which makes it more manageable.

Japanese society has a rigid hierarchical structure, and children from school age begin to adapt to it. The system of seniority pervades all relationships between senior and junior students and is cultivated by special events from the first year of study. In many schools, prospective first graders are introduced to their personal tutors from the fifth grade before entering. Thus, when entering the school, each first-grader already has a sixth-grader who takes care of him. Relations between them should be built on the Confucian principle of "respect - patronage." External, formal signs of hierarchy are especially strictly observed. Boys of the same age can call each other by name, surname or even nickname, but in the presence of a teacher - only by surname, with the addition of a simplified polite suffix kun. And any student who is at least a year older should be addressed only by their last name with the addition of the polite suffix san. And no one dares to break this rule, even the most powerful and authoritative class leaders. In many schools, the appointment of one-year class teachers is practiced. These are the official leaders. If the teacher is late for the beginning of the lesson, they must occupy the class with something useful and keep order, during discussions they act as coordinators, and all violations or cases of disobedience must be reported to the teacher.

The teacher occupies the top rung in the school hierarchy, respect for him is also directly related to age, even by name: the respectful address sensei means “ pre-born ". Its role is much higher than in the European or American school, which sees its main goal in teaching subject knowledge. According to Japanese notions, the teacher is more responsible for the pupil than his own mother. The latter plays an auxiliary role in the school educational process, which most often comes down to the preparation and maintenance of general events with the participation of her child. At schools, joint parent-teacher committees are formed without fail, in which the family is represented almost exclusively by women. Participation in the committees is voluntary, and to encourage parents, the school organizes various activities, for example, recreational gymnastics courses in the school gym under the guidance of a physical education teacher. In turn, members of the committee take turns looking after the children on Saturdays, when there are no lessons at school, and the children want to play together. According to Japanese ideas, independent games of children on the street are an undesirable phenomenon, so the school willingly provides them with school areas and facilities, but under the control of one or more mothers from the parent committee. Because adults must continuously and purposefully control the educational process. Parents do not have the right to choose a school for their child, and if there are no special circumstances, they are obliged to send it to the nearest one to their home. As already mentioned, all schools are extremely unified, and each performs the role of an organizational and methodological center in its area, where all current operational information is received. If one of the adults sees something on the street that goes beyond the daily routine and is related to children, he first of all reports this to the school. If a one-day trip was planned at the school on Sunday, then at 6 o'clock in the morning a white flag is raised above the school building, meaning collection, or a red one - the trip is canceled due to weather conditions. Families of students often receive written notifications from the school that such and such an intersection has recently become more dangerous, traffic has increased sharply on such and such a section of the road, etc. Before the start of the summer holidays, the school sends out leaflets to parents about the dangers of summer swimming, overheating in the sun, etc. And during the holidays, the school continues to educate students, warning, for example, that they should not gather for joint games before 10 in the morning. In addition, for the summer time they are given a long list of tasks that must be completed by the beginning of the next school year (collecting herbariums, weather reports, reading compulsory school literature, etc.). ).

The Japanese school is open 240 days a year - more than in the US, UK or France. Taking into account the fact that the majority of students almost daily stay at school after lessons for classes, its role in education is extremely large. The school has the main responsibility for the education and safety of students, and not only during school hours, so it has been given great powers. The directorate itself determines the safest route and mode of transport for traveling to school. In most urban schools, students are not allowed to come on bicycles, which are very common in Japan. Main reason: Narrow roads and heavy traffic during the morning rush hour make the trip dangerous. In rural areas, bicycles are allowed, but even here most schools require students to wear the helmets used by motorcyclists.

There are enough rules, regulations and prohibitions for Japanese schoolchildren. Girls are forbidden to use cosmetics and jewelry, even the types of hairpins allowed are stipulated. Parents are warned that children should not bring original, especially fashionable or expensive items to school - one should not stand out and create temptations for theft. Until the end of the ninth grade, students on the way to school and home are prohibited from entering unaccompanied convenience stores without an adult, not to mention making purchases in them. Schoolchildren are dressed in a standard uniform that is known to everyone in the district, so the violation usually does not go unnoticed. Sellers in stores (most often, these are part-time students) are officially notified of the rules of trade, which are observed everywhere. Through various channels, the school receives information about violations committed by its students. True to themselves, the Japanese are also following the path of group education. During a big lunch break, the local transpition announces to the whole school that students of such and such a class have been repeatedly seen in nearby stores. The names of the violators are never named. The punishments are different. For example, the entire class for a certain time (a week, two, a month) may be deprived of the right to use the gym during a long lunch break. If this prohibition is violated, a more severe punishment follows. Decisions on punishments are made by the school board and are monitored by the students themselves.

Unification of the Japanese school manifests itself in a wide variety of forms. Starting from school uniforms and ending with a set of products and the order in which they are placed in the school lunch box that students bring from home. The loosest element of the uniform is socks. Requirements determine only their shade (" light tone"). And although the color of underwear is not regulated in any way, schoolchildren who are accustomed to the sameness in everything will immediately mark a comrade in the locker room whose T-shirt, for example, is not white, like all colors, but another. As a rule, he immediately becomes the object of ridicule and, if he does not “correct” immediately, then exposes himself to the threat of becoming a victim ijime- group ostracism. In Japan, there is no more terrible misfortune for a schoolchild. It is well known that victims of ijime often commit suicide, unable to withstand psychological pressure. This phenomenon is common in basic high school, less often in high school. Usually, the objects of bullying and humiliation are students who for some reason do not fit into relationships within the group or do not meet standard requirements. Often they are children who have lived with their parents for several years abroad and have not had time to learn the norms of behavior that are beginning to be cultivated already in kindergarten.

The fear of standing out in some way, of not meeting the standard, in itself becomes a powerful psychological stimulus and regulator of group behavior. In Japanese schools, as part of the "health" program, all parameters of the physical development and condition of students are carefully noted. Usually, two cards are issued for each student. In one, data on his height, weight, etc. are entered annually, and in the other - the results of regular medical examinations during the school year. Data on height and weight are calculated using a special formula and grouped into five categories - "excessive pop note" "fullness", "norm", "thinness", "extreme thinness". Many students are attentive to the results of a medical examination and, at the first alarming signs, begin to monitor their diet more. The reason is not in the persuasion of the parents, but in the threat of the same ijime from peers.

Japan University

By the time they enter the university, students have fully mastered the program of group behavior and group responsibility. This leads to interesting results. In the university classroom, there is absolutely no what Russian teachers usually call the "spirit" of the study group. Students choose a subject for study individually, based solely on their own interests and ideas. Those gathered in the same audience most often do not know each other at all. Moreover, second- and fourth-year students, often from different faculties, can sit side by side in class. The general level of knowledge, preparation in this subject and much more, everything is completely different. In the Russian audience, it takes some time to establish the minimum necessary emotional contact for joint work, and in the Japanese audience, contact is not needed at all, everything is done at the command of the teacher, in accordance with the requirements of the discipline.

Japan students practically do not write off and do not peep answers from each other. There are not even words denoting such actions in the language - there is one common expression " dishonest actions"(fusei koi). Moreover, “dishonest actions” include not only cheating, but also a pencil taken in hand after the announcement “the exam is over, put the pencils to everyone” was heard in the audience. Japanese teachers do not prepare any exam options, all students receive the same questions. Honesty in exams is a special case of a more general rule, which is also instilled from school years and is usually observed: you can leave something out or refuse to answer at all, but you can’t cheat directly. Therefore, when asked about the reason for being late, the Japanese student does not invent anything, but quite calmly answers the teacher that he overslept. It is believed that a mistake or weakness can be apologized and forgiven, but this does not apply to deliberate deceit.

The laws of Japanese group psychology make a number of techniques used by teachers in Russian universities ineffective. For example, these laws forbid any, even the most insignificant, public demonstration not only of one's own knowledge or skills, but even of individual preferences. Therefore, the teacher cannot expect any response other than general silence if he asks Japanese students questions like “Who completed the task?”, “Who can translate this?”, “Who is ready to answer today?” and so on. Any reaction of any of the students to these questions implies his separation from the group, and this is not welcome. You can publicly demonstrate only your ignorance or other relevant weakness. Therefore, with questions of the opposite direction - for example, “Who hasn’t finished the exercise?”, “Who else needs to think about the answer?” a forest of hands usually goes up in the audience.

There are no special requirements for the completeness and understandability of the teacher's explanations in the university audience. If the teacher conducts the lesson methodically competently, this is good, if not very competently - it's okay. It is believed that everything that is misunderstood or unexplained must be blocked many times over by the individual efforts of those who follow the thorny path of science. Much more stringent requirements are imposed on the teacher's behavior model in general, especially outside the classroom. Informal communication between professors and students outside the university (including joint dinners, banquets with alcoholic drinks, etc.) is strongly welcomed and encouraged. The situation when a tipsy teacher does not speak very coherently in front of students is quite common and does not cause either surprise or censure in anyone. It should be noted that Japanese students in such situations behave naturally and very correctly. It can be difficult for a foreigner to get into the right tone of such communication - there are unwritten laws here that are strictly observed.

Over the past half century, the Japanese education system has achieved universally recognized success. However, this does not mean at all that there are no problems left in it. Moreover, there is growing criticism and concern from both foreign and Japanese experts, especially in terms of higher education. Of particular concern is the lack of motivation and intensity of study, its general focus on following the precedent and the lag in the formation of students' ability to search for new solutions. The reasons for this lie in the specifics of Japanese society itself. The fact is that Japanese firms and institutions, when hiring a graduate, according to a long tradition, give preference not to his individual merits, but to the reputation of the university from which he graduated. This is well illustrated by the results of a study conducted in 1982. It showed that 60% of all those who successfully passed the exams for high positions in the state apparatus came from two former imperial universities in and. From 1877, when the first Tokyo Imperial University was opened, until the end of the Second World War, only seven universities in Japan and two abroad received imperial status. They were considered elite and always had a monopoly on the priority distribution of their graduates.

If in Europe and the United States for a successful career you need to pass the final exams at the university well, then in Japan for this you need to pass the entrance exams to the university with a good reputation. Closely related to this is the widespread belief that a Japanese student at a university has the right to have a good rest after intense preparation for entrance exams and gain strength before starting work. After all, the firm in which he gets a place will, in any case, begin his own beginner education, And here he will have to study, regardless of time or fatigue. Awareness of this fact forms the appropriate frame of mind among Japanese students and has a dominant impact on all their behavior and attitude to study for four years. expenses or overseas travel. It is not customary to assign homework in a Japanese university. A teacher who requires self-preparation for a lesson is a rarity. A student response "sorry, I forgot to do the assignment"- The most common.

The reason for this attitude to learning is not only that " at 18, a student must enter a university, and at 22 - graduate”, but also in the fact that in Japan, for a long time, training in the course of practical activities has been treated with great reverence. It was considered more important and fruitful than the acquisition of purely theoretical knowledge. As a result, a two-stage system of higher education has developed: four years of theoretical study at a university and from two months to two years of practical study at the workplace, according to a specially designed schedule and under the supervision of experienced personnel officers.

The American specialist Ezra Vogel, who has studied Japanese higher education for many years, summarizes his problems in this way: “The most important function of Japanese universities is the certification of students. However, the efforts of the teaching staff to improve the technology of education and the degree of attention to students are insufficient, the efforts of the students themselves in their studies cannot be compared with the preparation for entrance exams. The level of analytical work in the classroom is low, attendance is low. Financial costs at universities in terms of one student are insignificant... In their work, Japanese students most often follow established patterns and norms, not striving to form their own approach to the problem.” Even harsher is the criticism of Edwin Reischauer (1910-1990), one of the leading Japanese scholars in the United States, who served as ambassador to Japan for many years. He writes: "Four years of wasted time at the university, with poor teaching and completely insufficient student effort, is an incredible waste of time for a nation so devoted to the idea of ​​\u200b\u200befficiency in everything." The leaders of Japanese education are, of course, aware of the problems of higher education. One of the hopes for improvement is associated with the demographic situation in the country. Over the past eight years, the share of the age group of eighteen in the demographic structure of the population has been steadily falling, and in 2009 the number of applicants in the country is equal to the number of places in the first courses of all universities. In other words, in a few years, every high school graduate will find a place at the university without exams. It is expected that this will not only intensify the competition between universities for well-prepared applicants that has already begun, but will also further advance Japanese higher education on the path of becoming into the general. So far, no constructive ideas have been put forward in Japan on how to raise the level of higher education and at the same time maintain its mass character.

Throughout their history, the Japanese willingly learned from foreigners, but never acted as teachers, even if they were successful in something. The Japanese education system was also distinguished by an emigration rather than an immigration orientation. In 1984, there were 10,700 foreign students in Japanese universities, or 0.5% of the total student body in Japan. At the same time, in the United States, the number of foreign students was 339,000 people, or 3% (with the largest student body in the world), and in European countries this figure varied from 5% to 10%. There were 13,000 Japanese students in the United States of America alone, 2,000 more than all foreigners in Japan combined. Among the reasons for this situation is not only the specifics of Japanese education, but also the objective difficulty of the Japanese language, which is taught, and the possibilities of using it in the world are not so great compared to English. It should also be noted that among all foreign students in Japan, 80% are from Asian countries, which is oriented to a significant sector of the Japanese economy, the Japanese government has made great efforts to change the situation over the past 20 years. In the 1980s, it approved an ambitious program - to bring the number of foreign students to 100,000 people, and allocated huge funds for this. In 1992, more than 48,000 foreigners came to Japan to study. However, about 120,000 Japanese students chose to study abroad that same year. The gap in numbers between student "exports" and "imports" in percentage terms has narrowed somewhat, but the general trend remains.

Which Japanese students are the first to go abroad to study? They can be conditionally divided into two categories. The first are those who, in principle, do not want to receive Japanese higher education for various reasons. The second are those who expect to benefit from a non-standard educational track record. Its difference from the list of the majority, on the one hand, narrows the scope of application of the forces of a specialist in Japan, and on the other hand, significantly reduces competition in the labor market. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that in the Japanese public consciousness, which is fully shared by employers, life abroad for the Japanese is seen as a test, and not as a blessing. And when moving up the career ladder, such experience receives an appropriate positive assessment. As far as I know, the absolute majority of Japanese trainees in Russia belong to this second category.

Summing up, it should be noted that most of the ethno-cultural and psychological features of Japanese education and upbringing are rooted in the psychology of the Japanese peasant community, the main occupation of which was rice cultivation, requiring maximum cooperation of its members. For the main part of the Japanese, little familiar with the dangers and unpredictability of hunting, amiability and hard work were more important than personal strength, dexterity and courage. These qualities were recognized in the era of the dominance of the military class, but even then they did not apply to common people (that is, to the vast majority of the population). spread. The centuries-old code of group behavior in the community was primarily intended to ensure its collective survival. And although it has changed somewhat over time, its main features remain dominant in Japan today.