Chapter 89 Why Re-examine "Quality Education"

There are various opinions on the problem of low learning ability of adolescents, and this lively debate continues. In 2008, someone suggested that we should re-examine our "quality education" because "the learning ability of children has been declining in the past 10 years."Therefore, all problems are pointed at the "quality education" we have been pursuing, and changing this education system is the top priority. But can changing "quality education" curb the decline in children's learning ability?Can it improve the knowledge level of students?Can it improve the learning ability of young Japanese?

In my opinion, if the change of "quality education" is only to restore the previous teaching content and increase the class hours, it will not solve any problems. Why do you say that?Let's review the previous lessons. Low academic ability became a widely discussed topic, sparked by several books, "College Students Who Failed", published in 1999, and "University of Tokyo Students Become Stupid?" published in 2001. ".These books all point out that the entrance examination system for a small number of subjects implemented in "quality education" has caused a significant decline in the learning ability of college students.

The so-called "quality education" simply means "an education model that does not carry out cramming education".Japan has taken such measures in this regard: In 1999, a new teaching guideline was formulated in primary schools, junior high schools, and high schools. It was officially implemented, while high school was officially implemented in 2003.So far, the teaching time of elementary and middle schools, which have been implementing the five-day system, has been greatly reduced. It can be said that cramming education has become history. More importantly, the "rote memorization" and "score supremacy" that students used to pursue in order to get good grades in exams have now at least turned from above ground to underground.

In the end, children's ability to learn does indeed decline. But the "learning ability" mentioned here does not refer to the "questioning ability" and "thinking ability" that are needed in this era, but simply "the ability to write complex Japanese" and "the ability to calculate". Of course, it would be unacceptable if even the highest schools were full of idiot students. "I can't understand the courses of the university, so I can only start tutoring at the middle school level", "If I can't write a paper, I go to Wikipedia to copy and paste", "I told the professor that I can't find it online, so I can't figure it out", "Being After being dismissed from the company, I still need my mother to continue to take care of me”—these are the somewhat exaggerated reports of the current college students in the media.It can be seen from this that the criticism of "quality education" among the people is increasing day by day.

Finally, in the 2004 report of the "Student Learning Efficiency Survey" (PISA2003), which was participated by OECD member countries, all countries agreed that "quality education is not feasible." The survey report shows that Japanese children's learning ability shows a clear downward trend compared with children from other countries.For example, our children's listening and speaking ability in mathematics applications has dropped from the first place in the past to the sixth place; the reading comprehension ability has dropped from the eighth place in the past to the 14th place now (by the way, in PISA2006 In the report, the learning ability of Japanese children is already the last one).

Therefore, "quality education" should be reformed. But if the reform measures only restore the teaching content to the way it was before, or extend the teaching time of public schools by 10%, then in my opinion, this kind of reform is just a return policy. What makes me wonder is, why are people not making practical suggestions about education now?Why are you so eager for quick success, but don't seriously think about what kind of talents the world needs in the future? If that kind of reform is carried out, it seems that the decline in children's learning ability can be curbed, but in this way, wouldn't it be back to the past "cramming education"?College students only pay attention to their test scores, and even only care about how much Japanese they have learned. This is far from the level of knowledge required in the 21st century, because these abilities are adapted to the industrial age of the 20th century that has long passed.