[MMM]

Originally Posted by xyzone

No, I never said that. I don't know where you got that. And I don't have any Japanese neighbors.

My mistake...that was Tsuwabuki. But I agree with him. Many if the students I taught didn't even know who the prime minister was at the time.

Originally Posted by xyzone

This quote confuses me -but I assume you meant American/Japanese? If so, then change the subject from government to whatever is common knowledge to adults in Japan. Maybe the cause of tsunamis, or something like that. I don't know, you tell me. And is it a fact they teach nothing of the government structure in schools? Again, you tell me. The only reason I brought up government knowledge in the case of American students is because knowing the names of the 3 branches of government are ridiculously common teachings but that evidently nobody pays attention.

Again, I meant American, not Japanese. My mistake, but I appreciate you seeing through my error.

Again with the black and whites. People pay attention.

This is a bit of a cop-out of a response, because you are saying the fact a certain percentage of American students don't know who Thomas Jefferson is an indicator of the failure of the American public education system, but then turn around and say it is OK for Japanese to not have that same sort of knowledge in Japan.

Yes, students in Japan learn about hurricanes and tsunamis...and students in the Midwest learn about cattle and agriculture.

Do I wish all students of American (and Japanese, for that matter) understood the government they live under? Absolutely...but that is partially a bias on my part, as it is important to me. Would I rather they learn that then how to, say grow food without E.Coli? Well, not if it is the food I am going to eat. There are different priorities for different areas.

Originally Posted by xyzone

So maybe Japanese/American could learn something from each other. This is something I already considered long ago and which I generally consider true. Either way my focus here was the broken public schools here. It needs to be said because it's the first step in fixing it, although I am just about finished caring because there doesn't seem to be any hope of that happening.

I do agree with you. The system that worked 50 years ago in the US doesn't work now. I think a lot of that is simple finances. The best investment in a tax dollar is toward education, but cuts lead to being forced to invest more into heathcare, welfare, courts and prisons, etc...but that is an argument for another day.

Originally Posted by xyzone

No, it isn't. I'm only vouching for what I know is the trend. I know for a fact there is no surplus of competent and dedicated teachers in this country. They are not paid enough and the contractors are indifferent. I also said many times in the mess of posts above that I am aware dedicated and even skilled teachers here exist, but they are not going to lift a broken system on their backs. Unless they are unlucky, they leave bad schools and go somewhere better. Sad -- but true.

I think there is some truth to this, and I appreciate you clarifying your point. No teacher goes into teaching for the money, and it is one of the few career paths that require a high level of education for the pay of a full time fast food employee. I would also agree that getting good teachers to stay in "bad schools" is one of the great difficulties of the education system as it is. I know Chicago is looking at putting really good principals into "bad schools" as a way to keep good teachers there. As different school districts experiment with different systems, let's hope there are some positive results.