Quirks of Japanese Society
It's been a while since I have posted, and there are some events I will get around to posting about, don't worry! But for now I just wanted to write about a couple things I have been wondering and thinking about regarding Japanese society, as seen through the lens of Japanese high schools.
School portraits
I came to Japan a few months into the Japanese school year, so I don't know much about this tradition yet. However, from visiting a couple Japanese families' homes, I have noticed that there isn't as much glorification of the individual through school portraits as there is in America.
Many American children get their photos taken at school at the start of the school year, partly for yearbook purposes but also partly so they can be displayed proudly at home. Some families will have walls full of their children's evolutions in pictures, which is always a fun talking point at parties. However, I noticed in the few homes I have visited in Japan that school portraits aren't as prominent on the walls there. Perhaps this is simply because yearbooks aren't as popular in Japan as they are in America (although they certainly exist). I also think that this might be because individuals are not treated as all-important the way they are in America.
Doing things in order
I went to a Japanese language class with a few friends the other weekend, to try to learn something. Of course, little did we know it was actually a class for mothers and their children struggling to adapt to Japanese life! So my friends and I weren't exactly the target audience... But while diligently working on the worksheets I was given, I realized that I have a habit of skipping around in my work when I don't know how to do certain problems. I save the harder ones for later, when I can ask someone for help or take more time to figure them out. This is what I did on my Japanese worksheet.
However, my high school students do their worksheets in order almost without exception. I have learned to put the easier questions first so that they can get through them instead of getting stuck on a difficult question I've unthinkingly put at number two. Whenever students get stuck, they insist on sticking with the problem, even if it is truly beyond their level. Plus, they don't often ask for help. I can't decide if this is stubbornness or simple following of the rules and order of things.
---
I hope I can learn more about these two quirks of Japanese society, and I will let you know what I find out! Hopefully there will also be more observations as I come across them in the wild world of teaching English in Japan.
School portraits
I came to Japan a few months into the Japanese school year, so I don't know much about this tradition yet. However, from visiting a couple Japanese families' homes, I have noticed that there isn't as much glorification of the individual through school portraits as there is in America.
 |
| Japanese yearbooks exist but aren't common. From here |
Doing things in order
I went to a Japanese language class with a few friends the other weekend, to try to learn something. Of course, little did we know it was actually a class for mothers and their children struggling to adapt to Japanese life! So my friends and I weren't exactly the target audience... But while diligently working on the worksheets I was given, I realized that I have a habit of skipping around in my work when I don't know how to do certain problems. I save the harder ones for later, when I can ask someone for help or take more time to figure them out. This is what I did on my Japanese worksheet.
However, my high school students do their worksheets in order almost without exception. I have learned to put the easier questions first so that they can get through them instead of getting stuck on a difficult question I've unthinkingly put at number two. Whenever students get stuck, they insist on sticking with the problem, even if it is truly beyond their level. Plus, they don't often ask for help. I can't decide if this is stubbornness or simple following of the rules and order of things.
---
I hope I can learn more about these two quirks of Japanese society, and I will let you know what I find out! Hopefully there will also be more observations as I come across them in the wild world of teaching English in Japan.
Comments
Post a Comment