American and Japanese Education Continuing the Talk about American Education: A Memo to My Friend

It was nice to meet with you the other day at the gathering and dis-cuss the general issues of the American education system. In thisnote, let me continue to address ideas on American schooling com-pared with that of Japan, which I have broken down into three cate-gories. First, I will briefly examine cultural differences between Japan and America as a lens through which to look at these two countries. Second, I am going to compare Japanese and American schooling in terms of the four suggestions you proposed to me last time. Finally, among various options we can consider, I will share a classroom model from a large-scale project and two simple yet effective ideas that all offer promise for American students ’ academic, social, and ethical growth. I would like to inject a note of caution here. As in every country across the world, Japanese educators are working hard to improve their education system through a series of reforms. Although we see exem-plary academic achievement in Japan and other Asian countries, includ