thumb|upright|[[Japanese high school students wearing the sailor ]]

Secondary education in Japan is split into , which cover the seventh through ninth grade, and , abbreviated to , which mostly cover grades ten through twelve.

Junior high school

alt=Picture of a typical Japanese classroom|thumb|A typical Japanese classroom

Lower-secondary schools cover grades seven, eight, and nine. Ages are 12/13 through 14/15 years old with increased focus on academic studies. Although it is possible to leave the formal education system after completing lower secondary school and find employment, fewer than 4% did so by the late 1980s.

Most junior high schools in the 1980s were government-funded public schools; 5% were private schools. At per pupil, private schools had a per-student cost that was four times as high as public schools.

Instruction

thumb|A teachers' room at a junior high school

Instruction tends to rely on the lecture method. Teachers also use other media, such as television and radio, and laboratory work is often involved. By 1989, about 45% of all public lower-secondary schools had computers, including schools that used them only for administrative purposes. Classroom organization is still based on small work groups, although no longer for reasons of discipline. Students are expected to have mastered daily routines and acceptable behavior.

Teachers usually major in the subjects they teach. Each class is assigned a homeroom teacher who doubles as counselor. Unlike elementary students, junior high school students have different teachers for different subjects. The subject teachers usually move to a new room for each 50-minute period. Usually, students' lunch is provided by the school itself.

Curriculum

All course contents are specified in the Course of Study for Lower-Secondary Schools curriculum. Some subjects, such as Japanese language and mathematics, are coordinated with the elementary curriculum. The curriculum covers Japanese language, English, social studies, mathematics, science, music, fine arts, industrial arts, homemaking, health, and physical education. Moral education and special activities continue to receive attention.

The minimum number of school days in a year is 210 in Japan, compared to 180 in the United States. A significant part of the school calendar is taken up by non-academic events such as sports days and school trips.

Extracurricular activities

Many students participate in after-school clubs. Sports clubs, such as baseball, are especially popular among boys, while wind bands are one of the most popular clubs for girls. and over 95% of students graduated successfully from them.

To enter, students typically take an entrance examination in Japanese, mathematics, science, social studies, and English, whether it is standardized for all public high schools in the prefecture or a test created by a private high school for that school alone.

Daily life

High schools typically begin at 8:30 AM, when teachers meet for a five-minute meeting, followed by homeroom. Students assemble in their homerooms of an average of around 40 students each, Homeroom teachers are in charge of morning or afternoon homeroom times, about five minutes each, as well as a weekly long homeroom period.

Many students are assigned to specific task committees in their homeroom class.

Some schools do not have their own cafeteria, so students generally eat in their homerooms instead. The revised law left the structure of schooling basically the same but included new emphases on respect for Japanese culture (Article 2.5), school discipline (Article 6.2), and parental responsibility (Article 10).

Foreign languages

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) recognizes a need to improve the teaching of all foreign languages, especially English. To improve instruction in spoken English, the government invites many young native speakers of English to Japan to serve as assistants to school boards and prefectures under its Japan Exchange and Teaching Program. By 2005 participants numbered over 6,000. In the last few years, several school boards in Japan have relied on ALTs (Assistant Language Teacher) from private dispatch companies.

Junior high issues

Two problems of great concern to educators and citizens began to appear at the lower-secondary level in the 1980s: bullying, which remains a major problem, and the school-refusal syndrome (; manifested by excessive absenteeism), which was on the rise. In 2008, there were 42,754 incidents of problematic behavior in junior high schools, according to a government survey.

Experts disagreed over the specific causes of these phenomena, but there is general agreement that the system offers little individualized or specialized assistance, thus contributing to disaffection among those who can not conform to its demands or who are otherwise experiencing difficulties. Another problem concerns Japanese children returning from abroad. These students, particularly if they have been overseas for extended periods, often need help in reading and writing — and in adjusting to rigid classroom demands. Even making the adjustment does not guarantee acceptance. Besides having acquired a foreign language, many of these students have also acquired foreign customs of speech, dress, and behavior that mark them as different.

Senior high issues

The upper-secondary curriculum underwent thorough revision in 1989. That year a new Course of Study for Upper-Secondary Schools was announced that was to be phased in beginning with the tenth grade in 1994, followed by the eleventh grade in 1995 and the twelfth grade in 1996. Among noteworthy changes was the requirement that male and female students take a course in home economics. The government was concerned with instilling in all students an awareness of the importance of family life, the roles and responsibilities of family members, the concept of cooperation within the family, and the role of the family in society. Another change of note was the division of the old social studies course into history-and-geography and civics courses.

See also

  • Education in Japan
  • Educational reform in occupied Japan
  • Higher education in Japan

References

  • Reed, Steven R. Japanese Prefectures and Policymaking. University of Pittsburgh Press, July 15, 1986. , 9780822976417.

Further reading

  • Benjamin, Gail. Japanese Lessons: A Year in a Japanese School through the Eyes of an American Anthropologist and Her Children. New York: New York University Press, 1998.
  • DeCoker, Gary, editor. National Standards and School Reform in Japan and the United States. New York: Teachers College Press, 2002.
  • Ellington, Lucien. "Beyond the Rhetoric: Essential Questions about Japanese Education." Footnotes, December 2003. Foreign Policy Research Institute's website: https://www.fpri.org
  • Eades, J.S. et al., editors. The 'Big Bang' in Japanese Higher Education: The 2004 Reforms and the Dynamics of Change. Melbourne: Trans Pacific Press, 2005.
  • Fukuzawa, Rebecca Erwin and Gerald K. Letendre. Intense Years: How Japanese Adolescents Balance School, Family, and Friends. New York: Routledge Falmer, 2000.
  • Goodman, Roger and David Phillips, editors. Can the Japanese Change Their Education System? Oxford: Symposium Books, 2003.
  • Guo, Yugui. Asia's Educational Edge: Current Achievements in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, and India. New York: Lexington Books, 2005.
  • Letendre, Gerald K. Learning to Be Adolescent: Growing Up in U.S. and Japanese Middle Schools. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000.*
  • Masalski, Kathleen. (2001). "Examining the Japanese History Textbook Controversies." A Japan Digest produced by the National Clearinghouse for U.S.-Japan Studies. Full text at https://www.indiana.edu/~japan/Digests/textbook.html.
  • Rohlen, Thomas P. JAPAN'S HIGH SCHOOLS. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983. ED 237 343.
  • Seo, Kanehide. THE LIFE OF A SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT. Tokyo: International Society for Educational Information, 1986.
  • Tomlinson, Tommy. "Hard Work and High Expectations: Motivating Students to Learn." Issues in Education. Office of Educational Research and Improvement, Washington, D.C. Report. April 1992. ED 345 871
  • White, Merry. THE MATERIAL CHILD: COMING OF AGE IN JAPAN AND AMERICA. New York: The Free Press, 1993.
  • Wray, Harry. Japanese and American Education: Attitudes and Practices. Westport, Conn.: Bergin and Garvey, 1999.
  • Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)
  • List of Elementary and Middle Schools in Japan