Tag - education

 
 

EDUCATION

Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Feb 9, 2014
Globally focused International Baccalaureate diploma needs local-level support
The education think tanks were busy in 2013. As the Year of the Snake slithered to a close, the education ministry made headlines by announcing bolstered English education plans — again — in an attempt to better prepare Japanese students for an increasingly connected world.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 7, 2014
‘Cove’ to become ‘aquatic nook’ as Abe takes aim at improper eigo
Some say that Shinzo Abe’s latest proposed tax increases, part of the ‘fourth arrow’ in his popular ‘Abenomics’ policy, are going a step too far. Dubbed the ‘language tax,’ the new levy is aimed at word usage.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 2, 2014
Parents of mixed kids look abroad for high schools
College preparation for bicultural young adults may include seeking out international as well as domestic opportunities. Some youngsters, however, are heading abroad much sooner — for high school or junior high school.
EDITORIALS
Jan 31, 2014
Reckless politicization of textbooks
A revised government guideline for textbook writing states that the Takeshima islets in the Sea of Japan and the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea are to be treated unequivovally as Japan’s territories.
COMMENTARY
Jan 21, 2014
The real cause of Japan’s renewed prosperity
Despite the apparent disconnect in recent years between the exemplary performance of Japanese students and the nation’s stock and currency market fluctuations, the knowledge and skills that students bring to the workplace in the form of human capital make the companies that hire them more competitive.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Jan 19, 2014
China, South Korea face familiar woes in English quest
Japan isn’t alone in its struggles with teaching English. China and South Korea have experienced similar frustrations, but their responses and results have been quite different.
COMMUNITY
Jan 19, 2014
Team-teaching rules can lead to confusing situations
At present, Japanese labor law restricts foreign native English-speaking teachers, referred to as ALTs (assistant language teachers) from team-teaching with Japanese classroom teachers. Students get the short end of the stick, as team teaching is considered a highly effective foreign-language teaching...
EDITORIALS
Jan 14, 2014
Leave those kids alone
The education ministry should rethink its attempt to introduce ‘morals’ as an official subject of instruction in elementary and junior high schools.
EDITORIALS
Jan 13, 2014
Keep power in boards of education
The Abe administration next year plans to submit a bill to the Diet that would give local government heads the final responsibility for local education administration, thus downgrading boards of education.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Jan 12, 2014
No lack of ideas on a course of action for English education
Last week’s Learning Curve column, “English fluency hopes rest on an education overhaul,” looked at the persistent mismatch between the education ministry’s stated goals and the actual outcomes of English language education in Japan.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jan 11, 2014
Children are blank slates for truth, or propaganda
Imagine you are a parent whose child is being taught propaganda. What do you do? Teach your children the truth and watch their grades slip as they lose interest in school? Or turn a blind eye, knowing their future careers will depend on their grades?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jan 10, 2014
Teachers must nurture critical thinking, confidence in English for a shot at 2020 goals
Until English teachers start developing critical thinking skills in the classroom and emphasizing confidence over competence, students will never be able to converse with native English speakers ‘at a viable level of proficiency.’
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jan 10, 2014
Educator with a mission sends out support from Hiroshima
Some people seem to have a knack for turning their hand to anything that comes along and, moreover, making a success of it. This is certainly the case with Hiroshima-based Adam Beck. Over the years, the American has been a children’s theater director, an English teacher, a newspaper columnist and the...
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Jan 5, 2014
English fluency hopes rest on an education overhaul
Ringing in 2014, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has a dream: One nation that will actively re-engage with the global marketplace.
EDITORIALS
Jan 3, 2014
Dubious cure for doctor shortage
The education ministry’s recent decision to approve creation of a new medical school at an existing university in Tohoku marks a new development in the government’s oscillating policy on the education of doctors.
JAPAN / GETTING SERIOUS ABOUT ENGLISH
Dec 31, 2013
English to get 2020 push but teachers not on same page
A reform plan released in mid-December by the education ministry looks to bolster English study from elementary to high school from the 2020 academic year to pursue globalization.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Dec 29, 2013
Education in 2013: an ‘A’ for ambition, but Japan will have to do better
Will 2014 be the year we start to see a genuinely forward-thinking, globalized outlook for education in Japan? The rapidly changing global economy, regional tensions and shrinking population suggest huge challenges await the country’s youth on their emergence into the job market in the coming years.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 28, 2013
Is teacher demoralization the next step?
Publicizing the names of teachers in newspapers when their students fail to measure up could be a prescription for demoralization in Japan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 27, 2013
Researcher sees digital maps as key to understanding, alleviating crises
‘Maps put into pictures what policymakers traditionally see in numbers,’ says Elise Montiel-Welti, a researcher at Doshisha University who produces digital maps to explain global crises. ‘They also put us in perspective: We can see how small we are in the face of huge disasters or conflicts.’
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Dec 27, 2013
Japan should take English lessons from Philippines
English is an official language of the Philippines but this does not mean that everyone understands or speaks English. However, it does mean that exposure to the language is so widespread that those who do speak it can communicate quite fluently.

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival