Chemical Education in Japan Version 2

Chapter 2 JAPANESE CHEMICAL EDUCATION- ITS CHARACTERISTICS


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2.1INTRODUCTION. A GENERAL SURVEY OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION

As mentioned in Chapter 1, the Meiji government was eager to acquire western technology and to develop modern industries. Keen to develop the education system for society as well, a universal 6-year compulsory system was introduced. At this time, the Faculty of Engineering at the Imperial University of Tokyo was established for higher education, intending to strengthen national power and develop military forces so that Japan could maintain her independence from Western nations then engaged in the colonization process.

Chemistry and chemical industries have long been recognized and supported by policies furthering those national goals. Japanese chemists have made many original discoveries, such as Shimose gunpowder by Masachika Shimose (1859-1911), Vitamin B1 by Umetaro Suzuki (1874-1943), and sodium glutamate extract from seaweed by Kikunae Ikeda (1864-1936). Despite renouncing military conquest following World War II, chemistry was still understood as critically necessary to help in the rebuilding process of cities devastated by firebombing. Since the objective of chemistry is to transform raw materials into useful items, which Japan desperately needed after the war, government policy has actively supported industry, and many young people were eager to become chemists as well. Chemistry was highly respected for its academic difficulty, chemists were in demand and paid well, and chemistry was a messiah to help lead the nation from total devastation.

During the 1970s and the energy crisis years, public opinion in Japan turned against chemistry. Increased awareness of the effects of air pollution, scandals such as the Sumon drug deaths, industrial pollution causing Minamata disease, and other highly publicized events cast an unfavorable light on chemistry. Some argue that to a certain extent this was inevitable, given the lean years following World War II when material goods were scarce, then rapid expansion of industrial growth and wealth, and then when people became satisfied they began reconsidering their way of life, and opposed further industrial expansion and environmental degradation. Once basic necessities were satisfied, other factors such as conserving nature became more important. Public opinion turned against chemistry as an obvious source of pollution.

This "anti-materialism" attitude carried into schools as well, with less students wanting to become chemists, and decreasing applications in the field of chemistry at the higher education level. At the same time as this crisis in chemistry and chemical education, it became apparent that other primary extraction labor fields suffered the same decrease in popularity, the so-called 3K's (Kitanai, Kitsui, Kiken) of students wishing to avoid dirty, difficult, and dangerous jobs in general. This indicates that people now prefer an "easy going" lifestyle, satisfied without working hard. They are enjoying their lives without making stoic efforts, thus indicating that the objectives of capitalism have been met, as well as satisfying socialists with the gradual development of society.

In Japanese history, many popular slogans (mottoes) have been based upon Confucian concepts such as :
  1. ) one should control one's self by avoiding desire,

  2. ) one should obey the advice of elders without criticism, and

  3. ) one should be ashamed if one's next door neighbours improve themselves while one fails to improve, and thus one should always watch one's neighbours.


These morals still exist in modern society, although the younger generation's attitudes are changing, gradually affected by social trends originating from watching Japan's neighbors, i.e. Europe and America.

These characteristics of the Japanese way of thinking are clearly reflected in the educational system as a whole. For example, students are asked to sit on a hard chair for a long time; air conditioning is not provided in schools; what teachers say is always correct and no objections or disruptions are allowed; one should make comparisons with neighbors in economics, cleanliness, and even in academic records. These factors are responsible for the severe competition in entrance examinations for higher education. Watching your neighbors leads to a feeling of being ashamed if you don't maintain or improve your status relative to them. "Never sink, always rise."

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2.2 THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF JAPAN



Figure 2.2.1 shows the educational system of Japan. The system has been reformed several times, and the figures indicated here have been effective despite minor changes since 1945, when the allied occupation forces introduced the basic system. There are some differences from the U. S. system, for example the compulsory portion ends at the 9th grade, and there is a "college of technology" schooling path from 9th grade up to the junior colleges.

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2.3 THE COURSE OF STUDY

The curriculum for pre-university levels is set forth in the "Course of Study(Shido Yoryo)" provided by the Ministry of Education(Monbusho). The Course of Study describes not only the course content but also the objectives of each item. Because all lower schools are ultimately subject to review by the Educational Boards of each prefecture, and each prefecture is responsible to the central government, all schools are both formally and informally required to follow the Course of Study. Monbusho's Course of Study is essentially universal law dictating the contents of the curriculum and teaching objectives for all pre-university schools in Japan.

The process of constructing the Course of Study in Monbusho involves several committees. The Central Educational Advisory Committee (Chuo Kyoiku Shingikai) determines the educational policy and priorities for the next five to ten year period. The Subject Course Committee (Kyoka Katei Shingikai) then determines the main outline for each course, including the numbers of class hours for each subject along with the teaching policy determined by the Central Educational Committee. After the overall amount of school hours has been determined, specialists on the Committee for the "Course of Study" (Gakushu Shido Yoryo Sakusei Senmon Iinkai) make more detailed course contents.

During discussion in these committees, reports published officially and/or informally by academic societies and even comments raised in newspapers are taken into consideration. Therefore, the Course of Study which has been under revision for almost seven years tends to reflect current social demands and public opinion, in addition to the personal opinions of the committee members. The revision history of the Course of Study following World War II is shown in
Figure 2.3.1, where enrollments in the senior middle schools and topical social issues addressed are also indicated.

As shown in Fig. 2.3.1, the decision to revise the Course of Study depends not only upon large changes in enrollments for upper secondary school, but also social trends. For example, revision took place when the enrollment of upper secondary schools increased dramatically in 1978, and again in 1985. Suppose the number of upper secondary school enrollments increased by several percent. The course contents should probably be revised, because the course contents required at that time were adjusted to match the abilities of all students at that stage, whereas if the number has grown, the increased diversity in abilities of students may not match the current Course of Study requirements.



The most recent revision was announced in 1991, where drastic reforms in science courses at the senior high school level were made. Details of those course contents will be covered in depth in Chapter 4.

The existence of the Course of Study affects school activities throughout Japan. Because the Course of Study is essentially the national curriculum, all schools proceed at about the same pace throughout the year, thus the effect of individual teachers is decreased to a certain extent. This central document tends to hold Japanese educational levels to a moderate statistical distribution, hence there are less illiterate students in general, yet no provisions are made for gifted students. Some teachers criticize the Course of Study because they feel it means teachers have little freedom or flexibility when teaching, and thus those students who have extraordinary learning skills are instead encouraged to wait for others in the group to catch up.

Another criticism aimed at the Course of Study is the length of time necessary to complete the revision process and respond to perceived social pressures. The "Chuo Kyoiku Shingikai" committee decides the main policy, followed by the report of the committee, the subcommittee then discusses details. This process takes almost five years. As will be shown in the next section, all text books must follow the course contents, and it takes at least two years to decide the specific contents and select appropriate books, so to finally use those textbooks in schools (from the primary school up to senior high schools) means it will take some ten years from the first discussion made at the "Chuo Kyoiku Shingikai" committee. When every student finally has the opportunity to use textbooks based on the revised version of the Course of Study, the social demands have completely changed from those perceived some ten years ago. Obviously, the central educational system has both its strengths and weaknesses. In order to avoid such time delays, the "Transient Process" was introduced, which allows textbooks to be used even before students complete the old curriculum of the preceding year.

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2.4APPROVAL OF TEXTBOOKS

Lower secondary compulsory course textbooks are provided by the central government without charge. The budget for this subsidy is 43,597,000,000 yen (ca. $ 436,000,000) per year, which is about 1 % of Monbusho's budget. Due to financial limitations, textbook publications are restricted in certain ways: e.g., size of the book, number of illustrations, number of color pages, number of total pages, etc.

Procedurally, certain publishers specializing in this field begin asking for manuscripts. Authors are selected from educational specialists including school teachers and university professors. These authors must first understand the contents described in the Course of Study, and write manuscripts in accordance with the current policies. First drafts are circulated among authors, and printed as a sample book. Monbusho examines samples in a special internal bureau.

The criteria for examination are:
  1. )Pages and size of the text,

  2. )Conformity of contents and expressions between the sample book and the Course of Study, misprints in the sample, or descriptions in the sample text far beyond that of the philosophy of the Course of Study. Monbusho may advise publishers to rewrite these points, and resubmit the sample book. (A recent case highlighting this procedure involved Monbusho and an individual author in the context of modern history. Monbusho recommended a rewrite on sections describing events during World War II to the publisher, however, the author refused to change his interpretation. The author initiated a court case, and the final judgment by the superior court was in Monbusho's favor).

Though this type of conflict has never occurred in the science field, sentiment exists to avoid undue restrictions by Monbusho on the examination of textbooks among scientists. For example, to provide the necessary fundamentals of science, more pages may be necessary than current budget exigencies may deem proper. Take upper secondary school chemistry textbooks currently used as an example. Average total pages allowed are approximately 200, with 12 colored pages. In the U.S., textbooks may have over 800 pages, many of them printed in color. Also, the use of secondary materials, i.e. encyclopedias. In science there are many definitions of special terms, and students are asked to memorize these descriptions, whereas text books used in the U.S. often include the lengthy but necessary way of thinking to derive conclusions ultimately presented as facts.
Experiments are strongly emphasized in upper secondary school chemistry, and textbooks often contain samples for each topic. Because of the limit in class hours, however, generally only 10 experiments are assigned in actual practice, although textbooks describe some 50 kinds of experiments on average.

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2.5THE LAW OF THE PROMOTION OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS

There is a law called "Promotion of Science and Technology Education in Schools", (Rigaku Shinko Ho), established in 1953. The Government decided that promoting science and technology education in schools was a national priority to assist Japan in recovering from the complete devastation caused by World War II. The purpose of the law was to support science education in schools through providing schools with laboratory apparatus. The law indicates in detail the number and type of apparatus to be available in pre-university schools. The specifications for equipment required in the teaching of science were determined by special committee in Monbusho. The selection was made based on course contents defined in the Course of Study, and the numbers of each apparatus were determined depending on the size of classes.

This law requires all school founder's (schools depending upon the types i.e. by local governments, by the Board of Directors of private schools, etc.) to accommodate budgets for this purpose. Revising this law, especially the revision of the Course of Study of 1993, as related to provisions for newly introduced environmental studies, was quite expensive.

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2.6ENTRANCE EXAMINATION TO HIGHER EDUCATION

2.6.1"Juken Senso"

As mentioned earlier, Japanese people compete for higher status in society. All Confucian precepts point towards ideally becoming leaders in local society. People believe that in order to gain such status, it is necessary to have a superior academic career and provide a good example for the community to follow. Therefore, those graduating from prestigious traditional universities receive higher status by society, and those failing to exemplify the outward qualities of higher status, i.e. by dress, manner, or professionalism tend to be deplored. Universities are ranked by reputation, and though no qualitative measures have been reported, there is, in fact, a limited number who are selected for the top universities, despite the efforts of many students to gain admittance. This causes severe competition in society, which is called "Juken Senso" (entrance examination war). The stakes for later success in life are so high that illegal acts to obtain advantage, while not common, have periodically been reported.

The entrance examination system in Japan differs from other developed countries. A short description of the entrance examination system for universities follows. Generally, the highest prestige universities are national universities, requiring excellent central examination system scores and a difficult university specific examination to select outstanding prospects. Prefectural universities vary, but fit in the middle ranks. Private universities tend to cost more, have somewhat less prestige, may not require the central all-inclusive examination, but the entrance examination for particular fields may be more focused towards particular student interests.

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2.6.2National and Prefectural Universities.

To apply to universities in these categories, students are required to take two different types of the examinations. The first is an examination provided by the "University Examination Center" (Daigaku Nyushi Senta Shiken)-- this is often referred to as the "Center Exam". The exam is held in early January every year, and the amount of test hours and time for certain subjects are conducted simultaneously throughout Japan. There are several thousand examination venues,
Fig. 2.6.1 shows the Time Table for 1994. The number of applicants for each requirement is indicated in Fig. 2.6.2.
   January 15 , 1994(Saturday)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Time Subject --------------------------------------------------------------------------
10:00 ~ 11:20 Foreign Language (English, German, or French)
12:50 ~ 13:50 Mathematics A
14:40 ~ 15:40 Mathematics B
16:30 ~ 17:30 Science A (Physics or Astro and Earth Science)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------


January 16 , 1994(Sunday)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Time Subject --------------------------------------------------------------------------
10:00 ~ 11:00 Science B (Chemistry or Science I)
12:30 ~ 13:50 Japanese Language
14:40 ~ 15:40 Sociology
16:30 ~ 17:30 Science C (Biology)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fig. 2.6.1 Time Table for the "Center Exam" in 1994


The answers are marked on specific sheets by black pencil, and are scored by computers at the Center. Correct answers are announced by the Center via newspapers on the next day of the examination so that each applicant can estimate his/her own scores.

Then, applicants must balance uncertainty of admission to prestigious schools versus relative certainty of admission to lesser schools. Typically, one usually chooses one or two specific schools, depending upon one's choice, geographical factors, and also the scores obtained from the Center Exam. This mechanism seems to be a kind of calculated risk, because no one knows the degree of difficulty or cutoff point for exam scores any particular university is seeking that year.

There are, however, many enterprises willing to report their prediction for the number of successful applicants, based on the student's statistical data. This system is called "Juken Sangyo" (entrance examination enterprise). Because the relative degree of difficulty from the Center Exam score is publicized by such companies through their own newsletter and also Radio/TV programs, every applicant is able to choose a likely university at this stage.

The ratio indicating the competition between students seeking admission to a particular school and the number actually admitted on average has traditionally been 2.5; however, the ratio for 1993 increased due to the economic recession. Tuition for the national/prefectural universities is much lower than that of private universities, encouraging risk-taking.

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2.6.3 Private Universities

Most private universities administer separate tests from the Center Examination(Center Exam). The number of private universities requiring the Center Exam has increased in recent years (an explanation will be given in
Chapter 7). Private universities tend to test less subjects in the major fields. For example, if a student applies to the chemistry department, the tested areas might only be mathematics, chemistry and English. This requirement is much less than that for national universities. Take an example from one of the national universities. The applicant must first take the "Center Exam" on national language (Kokugo ), sociology (Shakai), English, science, and mathematics. Then at the examination held by each university, mathematics and chemistry are required once more.

On the other hand, if the student decides during the upper secondary school years not to become a science major nor apply for a national university, instead wishing to attend a private university, the student will probably not take any further mathematics and/or science courses, because those subjects are not required for the entrance examination. The tendency to focus on entrance examination requirements has encouraged the current crisis in mathematics and science education in upper secondary school; many students show no further interest in mathematics or science because these subjects are unnecessary for entrance examination success.
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Chemical Education in Japan (1994)(Copy right 1994, The Chemical Society of Japan)