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America Versus Japan

Should America adopt some of the educational standards of Japan? In comparisons of

educational testing in different countries , the outcome has always remained constant. Japanese

scoring the highest , mainly in math and science , and Americans scoring the lowest. If America

takes pride in thinking "we're the best" then why aren't we turning out as many successful

graduates as the Japanese? Let's explore the different teaching and learning methods of both

countries to see if we can get a better understanding of what the Japanese are doing that is so

much different and see if it wouldn't make a difference in American schools.

Starting with the mind set of the Japanese society. According to them it is the mothers

sole responsibility to make sure her children strive to do well in school. If the child is doing

poorly they blame the mother for lack of parenting skills. The better her child does in school the

higher up in society and her social class she becomes.

In America we believe not only is it both parents responsibility to see his or her child

does well in school in school but there are many other factors contributing to the child's learning

process in school system as well. Such as : the teachers , schools , curriculum , neighborhoods ,

etc.

In Japan the government establishes the curriculum then distributes it to every school ,

teacher , and child. Which means every student gets the same opportunity to learn on the same

level. Arguments suggest with everyone learning the same thing it creates students with no

individual personalities and too much competition between the students with the Japanese

striving to be the best.

In America we are not presented with the same material for every school nationwide.

This means the students do not have the same opportunities as others in their grade level.

That's why when children switch schools , especially school districts ,...