Hyogo Pref. fossils ‘Triceratops ancestor’ (Nov.27 Daily Yomiuri)

Three pieces of very well preserved fossil bones, believed to be parts of the head of a young ceratops dinosaur measuring 50 to 60 centimeters long that walked on two legs, have been excavated from the Sasayama Strata, Sasayama, Hyogo Prefecture. The strata dates back 120 million to 140 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period. This is the first time ceratops fossils have been found in Japan, and since the horned dinosaur is believed to have originated in East Asia, the fossils are expected to be a vital resource in figuring out the evolution of the horned dinosaur in East Asia. The ceratops is a horned herbivore dinosaur. The triceratops, a well-known dinosaur of the species, is nearly 10 meters long and has a frilled neck. The discovered fossils were a 29-millimeter-long, 26-millimeter-tall and 8-millimeter-thick upper front jawbone; a 42-millimeter-long, 18-millimeter-tall and 13-millimeter-thick upper jawbone; and a 14-millimeter-long, 15.5-millimeter-tall, 12-millimeter-thick tooth of the lower jaw. Most of the ceratops fossils have previously been found in areas without volcanic layers, making it difficult to accurately determine the age of stratum. Consequently, the discovery in Sasayama is expected to provide clues to the age of the stratum in China in which the fossils were found.

See Education budget screening surprises all (Nov.27 Daily Yomiuri)

Commentary – The screening team of the Gov. Revitalization Unit, did not demand cuts in the initial budget request for fiscal 2010 and appears to be actually looking to increase the central government’s share of the financial burden. The coordinator of the screening team pointed out the guiding principles were the DPJ’s manifesto stating that the number of schoolteachers would be increased to clear the way for them to concentrate on teaching as well as the PM’s directive to ensure a high standard of education by improving the number and quality of teachers.

The screening team also examined whether the central government’s share of the responsibility for teachers’ salaries should be raised. According to the DY article,  ”There are about 700,000 teachers and administrative workers in public primary and middle schools across the nation. One-third of their salaries is financed by the central government and the remaining two-thirds paid by prefectural governments. Thus, the contribution from the state coffers is fundamental to finance mandatory education.”  This was a harkback to the consequence that as a result of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s three-stage fiscal and taxation reforms, local governments’ financial burdens increased, and the differences in fiscal strength among local governments have caused differences in teachers’ salaries. The screening team insisted that to eliminate the gaps among prefectures, the central government’s share of the burdens should be raised. They also concluded that teachers’ workloads should be reduced and role-sharing between the central and local governments should be reviewed.

The screening unit also scrutinized the role of government grants for the management of state-run universities that are used to pay lecturers and other employees’ salaries and to operate facilities. The government grants, lifelines for state-run universities, accounting for more than half their income, have been cut by about 1 percent every fiscal year since April 2004, when state-run universities were converted into independent administrative corporations. The screening team concluded that state-run universities need to further streamline their operations and decided to cut part of the grants for special education and research projects despite protests that the cuts in grants would hamper the maintenance and advancement of university research.

According to the DY article, the education budget screening’ conclusions surprised everyone.  What motivated the increased emphasis on education, specifically the move to increase govt spending on teachers’ salaries? Was it due to a reliance on the reasoned argument … which was the case of the debate in the US … that high education standards are brought about/maintained by having quality teachers? Sadly this did not appear to here … the DY article hinted that the reason for the move was a purely political consideration - ’if the obligatory education budget was largely cut, it was possible that there could have been a backlash from the Japan Teachers Union, which is one of main supporters of the DPJ, which could adversely affect the House of Councillors election next summer’.  While most people feel that raising the educational budget is a priority need, the linking of budget appropriation matters to a political interest group is troubling.

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Other interesting links on education…but you dont have to believe everything you read…

Success of Asian students – culture or genes?

Boys with warrior gene more likely to join gangs

How we become what we are

By A.K.

Locally on education:

School integrates English curriculums is a Daily Yomiuri article that explores how the integrated school system and three-way team teaching approach works at Tawara Primary and Middle School and how such an approach is affecting English education in local public schools. The Tawara Primary School was created in 2005 when the primary and middle schools–which are located next to each other–were chosen to participate in a pilot program exploring the integration of primary and middle school education, following the government’s designation of Nara as a special structural reform zone.

Technology gives kids a window on world (Nov 29, 2009 Daily Yomiuri) This article takes a look at how computers and IT are used to help students at Mikanodai Primary School (Osaka Pref.) obtain a window to the world outside Japan, to communicate directly with their foreign counterparts and thereby improve their English skills.

Totsuya Yacht School case illuminates the problem of reform schools: “Lord of the Flies” institutionalized?  (Reform school deaths highlight line between humility and violence)

A history of returnee education A useful summary on the gov. policy and the standing of returnees in the Japanese educational system since the 1970s.  (The DY link will expire, permanent link here). Read also the related article: The hidden costs of working abroad (Nov.26 Daily Yomiuri) on the problems that returnees face in catching up in school academics and how parents have tried to cope.

International school faces spending scrutiny (Asahi Nov 25, 2009) An international school in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, which has just seven pupils and students but receives tens of millions of yen in state funding a year, faces scrutiny under the second round of budget request reviews that starts today. The school’s operating expenses are funded by grants from the central government for local governments that host nuclear-related facilities…The prefectural government pays about 100 million yen a year to Kyoto International School, a private organization commissioned to run the school, which does not charge tuition. The school opened in September last year to provide education for children of foreign researchers at the International Fusion Energy Research Center, which will be completed in the village by March. The main criticism of the government’s backing of the school from prefectural assembly members appears to be that the gov. is spending money related to nuclear power … although the expenditure is clearly related to the building and operation of the international school for foreign researchers working at the International Fusion Energy Research Center. Rokkasho is home to a facility to recycle spent nuclear fuel.

IELTS aiming to become Japan’s ‘new’ English test (Nov.24 Daily Yomiuri) STEP and British Council seek to boost profile of IELTS test

Nature alert! Redback spider bites on rise Called the “Seakakugo-gumo” in Japanese, the spider which has been sighted in 16 prefectures since its appearance in Okinawa, the Environmental Hygiene Department reported that they are low on antivenom and the number of victims bitten by the redback spider have increased. 

Student in failed suicide pact charged with attempted murder A fourth year university student from Fukuoka’s Higashi Ward, who allegedly tried to kill a suicidal man he met on an Internet site by burning charcoal briquettes to produce carbon monoxide inside a car  as part of a group suicide pact has been charged with attempted murder.

Elsewhere in the world on education:

Cambridge faces stiff competition: PM Read about the Singapore PM’s take on where Cambridge U and other global top universities are today, and where the best students are headed. Excerpt: “‘Cambridge remains a great university, but it now shares top placing not with one or two others, but perhaps half a dozen, mainly in North America,’ he said.//He added: ‘The best United States universities – Harvard, Stanford, Yale, MIT – have become outstanding centres of teaching and research. Top Ivy League universities are at least on a par with Cambridge.’//Such universities are more integrated into the economy and society, more closely linked with alumni networks, and more independent of the government in terms of funding and governance. They also have endowments larger than those enjoyed by the wealthiest colleges in Cambridge.”//Furthermore, Asian universities are starting to make a name for themselves. Competition for places in the top universities in India and China is often far more fierce than for those in Britain or the US.”

[archives]

Teenager who died had swine flu (Japan TimesMonday, November 23, 2009)

Japan Today reported that the OECD has “recommended that Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama’s government channel more taxpayers’ money into preschool education and childcare, rather than giving a monthly allowance of 13,000 yen in fiscal 2010 and 26,000 yen from fiscal 2011 for each child of junior high school age or younger”.  The OECD secretary general is of the view that a shift ‘‘[s]hifting resources to children aged five and below, ‘the quality of education is likely to improve if the government concentrates more on preschool programs as many studies have shown that ‘‘the rate of return on public investment in early childhood education is greater than for later years.’’ He note that ‘‘The Japanese government spends a relatively large amount on children who are 10 years old,’’ but  that ‘‘ it spends one of the lowest amounts on five-year old.’  He also urged a reconsideration of the payout of the monthly allowance saying that shifting taxpayers money to provide more childcare and early education, offers a number of benefits, including possible increases in Japan’s female labor participation and the fertility rate. [end of summary and excerpts]

Notwithstanding the good OECD secretary-general’s reasoned statements, the statements overlook Japanese society’s unique pressures … the harshest squeeze in finances for families emerges sometime beginning in the fifth to sixth grades of elementary school, escalating through middle and high schools because of the need for what is known as the shadow school system of cramschool, tutoring support or the expenses of private school fees. Thus there should not be a channelling away of resources for the proposed allowance payout to families with middle to high school-going students … however, there should be a consideration of sepate and additional govt. support to families with preschoolers who qualify for poverty support such as single parents with preschoolers (see Most single-parent families in poverty: Asahi 2009/11/16)  and Poverty rate in Japan ”one in six citizens in Japan living in poverty”: Asahi)  as well as for direct govt. funding for the building of more early child care facilities.  

See also Japanese govt to reconsider key child allowance pledge: Kyodo News (Retrieved from: Breitbart.com) The government will review its plan to offer allowances to families with children starting in fiscal 2010 given the call (which comes from the DPJ’s junior coalition partners — the Social Democratic Party and the People’s New Party) for an income cap to be applied to the program, which would require 2.7 trillion yen for fiscal 2010 if monthly cash payments of 13,000 yen are given to all families with children of junior high school age or younger.

See also related news: Gov’t may scale back tax breaks for families with high-school kids (AP) : Japan’s new government may scale back tax breaks for families with children between the ages of 16 and 22, starting as early as in fiscal 2010, a ruling party lawmaker said Tuesday. Under the current system, the amount to be deducted from income is up to 630,000 yen annually for families with children in that age bracket in consideration of increasing burden from education costs.

Road home rough for some returnees (Nov. 19, 2009 Daily Yomiuri) An eye-opening article on the difficulties and  the issues faced by returnee students who have lived overseas from the returnee’s point of view. Returnees interviewed in the article share of their difficulties fitting in, being misunderstood by students and even teachers for their different habits and outspoken or questioning behaviours in class and general tension and anxiety with each move made.

Teachers gearing up for English (Nov.19 Daily Yomiuri) This article examines the difficulties and lack of confidence that teachers in Japanese public primary schools face in having to teach English and what they are picking up from various teaching workshop programs.

FLASH NEWS FROM DY!! Partial or full school closures rose by more than 2,000 to 17,210 for the week to Saturday mostly prompted by the spread of the new flu… and the Health Ministry has announced that …

New-flu vaccinations of kids to be brought forward (Nov.19) (Nov. 19, 2009 Yomiuri Shimbun)

Vaccination of fourth- to sixth-year primary and all middle school students against  H1N1 Type A flu will take place two to three weeks earlier than initially scheduled, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry announced Tuesday.

Under the new plan, fourth- to sixth-year primary school students will start receiving new-flu vaccinations in late December, and middle school students in late January.

As a result of the ministry’s planned change, inoculations for children aged from fourth-grade primary school to third-grade middle school as well as parents with a child under 1 year old will start in late December, while vaccinations for middle school students are planned to start in early January. Vaccinations for high school students will start in late January.

See also:
Tamiflu for kids in short supply (Nov. 19, 2009 Daily Yomiuri) The sweetened granular type of the antiflu drug Tamiflu that is specially designed to be palatable for children is in short supply, due to demand surpassing the maker’s production capacity. The health ministry has therefore issued a notice telling medical professionals that Tamiflu designed for adults also can be used to inoculate children if the dosage is altered appropriately.

Record student suicides in 2008 (Asahi 2009/11/18) A whitepaper says a record 972 students, from elementary school age through university level, took their lives in 2008, the highest number since the government began compiling data in 1978. The figure was an increase of 99 over the previous year and an 11.3% rise from 2007.

Weekly Report/ Education: Urban children find chance to study in rural areas less attractive(10/17) The target goal of rural schools hosting homestay study programs (and other similar programs) as a means of revitalizing under-populated districts and their local communities is failing. Although the programs were popular and peaked around the year 2000, and 302 schools across the nation had adopted the program by fiscal 2008 but since then 127 schools have either discontinued the program or closed…according to figures released by the Zenkoku Sanson-ryugaku Kyokai, an association focusing on the homestay study program.

Role of school libraries (Asahi Nov 4 2009)

Starting pay for new graduates rises in 2009 (AP) The economic downturn only had a limited impact on starting salaries because many companies set the terms of employment before the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (in September last year) according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

Infants getting fingers stuck in strollers (Nov. 19, 2009 Daily Yomiuri) Over the past 10 years, more than 20 children have got fingers trapped in the hinges of folding baby strollers while adults have been folding them. A particular problem has been with strollers made by British company Maclaren … as of Monday, four domestic reports of accidents involving Maclaren strollers had been made to the Consumer Affairs Agency, although strollers made by other companies also have caused injuries, with 21 reports of accidents made to consumer affairs centers over the past 10 years. In one case, a 3-year-old girl from Chiba Prefecture lost a fingernail.

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Info from our EIJ community:

Maclaren Japan is providing the hinge covers for free – here is the web site to order them from. There is a freedial phone number too. http://www.maclaren.jp/topics/freecover_news.html
The recall is very recent (November 9th 2009) and involves alot of models and
years (1999-present).

Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QokpCvVyyz8

Maclaren website recall info (US) here: http://recall.maclaren.us/

Other useful links:

Let’s Kensaku-searching the Web in Japanese

Experts warn antibiotic-proof bacteria threaten global health

Trove of A-bomb photos unearthed (Asahi 11/18)

ACE Academy: new Texas school for gifted children grows from 8 to 85 in four years
It was infectious. The enthusiasm flowed out of the phone line like a torrent of water from a May mountain stream. Donna Hulsey, co-founder of ACE Academy in Austin, Texas

The Pros and Cons of Standardized Testing (NBC video clip)
11.17.09 – Talking about tests with Bill Evers, research fellow at the Hoover Institution and former assistant secretary of education for policy, and Sean Reardon, associate professor at Stanford’s School of Education.

Who needs mathematicians for Math anyway? This article takes a look at why US students are near the bottom of the rung in international math achievement tests (American eighth-graders ranked 25th out of 30 countries in the 2006 PISA international mathematics achievement test). It examines the relationship between so-called “student-centered math” and the declining standards of math in US education, and how the social objectives underlying the NCTM’S math standards of making math engaging and “accessible” to low-achieving students, had led to the employment of trendy, though empirically unsupported, pedagogical and organizational methods that essentially dumbed down math content. It also looks at the differences between traditional math curriculum teaching practices and the current “progressive pedagogical practices”: 

High-math-achievement countries teach arithmetic in the elementary grades in a coherent curriculum leading, step by step, to formal algebra and geometry in middle school. The progressive educators, by contrast, support “integrated” approaches to teaching math-that is, teaching topics from all areas of mathematics every year, regardless of logical sequence and student mastery of each step-and they downplay basic arithmetic skills and practice, encouraging kids to use calculators from kindergarten on.

The educators also neglect the teaching of standard algorithms (mathematical procedures commonly taught everywhere, with only minor variations, because of their general applicability), insisting instead on the value of student-developed algorithms-this despite research by cognitive psychologists strongly supporting a curriculum that simultaneously develops conceptual understanding, computational fluency with standard algorithms, and problem-solving skills as the best way to prepare students for algebra. The heart of the problem is identified thus: without students ”acquiring a foundation in arithmetic and other aspects of mathematics in the early grades that prepares them for authentic algebra coursework in grades 7, 8, and 9″…”they then cannot successfully complete the advanced math courses in high school that will prepare them adequately for freshman college courses using mathematics”. Read more here.

– By Aileen Kawagoe

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 Check out more articles and news blogs at our archives below:

Study: Paternal instincts keep babies safe (Daily Yomiuri Nov.16) “Babies have fewer serious accidents if their male parent is seriously committed to fatherhood, according to an analysis of a survey done on 42,000 people by a specialist of the National Institute of Public Health. … 21 percent lower in families with fathers who were actively involved in child-rearing, compared to families with fathers who made a “negative” contribution. Incidents of drowning were lower by 20 percent, and 9 percent lower for accidents in general. The ratio was considerably lower in families with fathers who took their babies along when going out for a walk, with 34 percent fewer incidents of accidental ingestion and 24 percent fewer accidents in general”.

Today’s Daily Yomiuri, features an article “A trip back in time to hometown of famous children’s storybook writer” that takes you to the setting of Gon, the Little Fox, a children’s fairytale. Considered the masterpiece of Mr. Nankichi Niimi, the tale has been a staple in Japanese textbooks for the past 3 decades. The moral of the fairytale is often interpreted as being that one cannot escape one’s fate.  The tale known to all Japanese schoolchildren because the tale has been in their textbooks for the past 3 decades. You can obtain a translated version in (First Steps in Reading) ”Gon, the Fox”.

 See larger image here

Alternatively, the Kodansha version. Nankichi Niimi: Gon, the Little Fox, Kodansha English Library ISBN 4-7700-2277-8

Transparent universities (Mon, Nov 16, 2009 Japan Times) is an editorial that examines the impact of the new proposal to require universities to disclose to students key statistics about their employment and dropout rates and other quantifiable facts. The editorial suggests that the reason for this move is that, “Universities have long been highly secretive. In recent years, with the establishment of well-funded publicity offices in every university, their self-claims are promoted through ad campaigns that are sophisticated and expensive. Providing data helps students and parents make decisions about a very expensive undertaking.”It says that the requirement is insufficient and that long-term investments are necessary to improve the learning or educational environment.

Highly recommended! A fieldtrip to see the Nara period Shosoin treasures at the Tokyo National Museum, Ueno This will add zest to your kids’ social studies. Understanding the Nara Period or Silk Route times is impossible without a look at these historical treasures. 

 Osaka starts new-flu jabs for healthy kids (Daily Yomiuri Nov.15)

Survey: Primary school children reading record number of books (Nov.13) The average number of library books checked out by primary school students in the 2007 academic year hit a record high of 35.9 according to MEXT. The average user in this category checked out 35.9 books, up 2.9 books compared with the previous survey. Based on the latest figure, the registered primary school students are estimated to have read a book every 10 days.

Senior teachers feeling strain / Health issues, heavy workloads spur record number to seek demotion (Daily Yomiuri Nov.13 – link will expire) Read more here (permanent link) …for insights on the teaching loads and responsibilities of Japanese school teachers.

Teens get funny (Mon, Nov 16, 2009 Japan Times) … thoughts on teens like the first-year high school student of Hyogo Prefecture, Yugo Sagawa, who won the first-ever comedy contest for high school students.

Over the weekend, NHK featured a documentary that scrutinized the key problem to the education ministry’s push to beef up science education in schools nationwide – the competency of schoolteachers to teach science. The program highlighted the lack of confidence of school teachers, particularly elementary school teachers, in their own abilities to understand the subject, in their teaching skills and ability to teach students in a way that would make them interested in science. The program also showed how teaching workshops were helping teachers overcome their deficiencies and that were lighting a fire for science in teachers themselves. 

FRESH PERSPECTIVE / Baby brains benefit from talk and play (Daily Yomiuri Nov.13)

EDUCATIONAL RENAISSANCE / Primary school stresses planning lessons (Daily Yomiuri Nov.12)

More on education in the news and articles online, check these out:

We’ve uploaded our WALDORF SCHOOLS IN JAPAN DIRECTORY an updated listing of schools and kindergartens (both English and Japanese speaking) that feature Rudolf Steiner’s philosophy on education. 

On education in Japan:

The Daily Yomiuri features scrutinizes the nationwide’s push for English language instruction in public schools, in Primary schools start move towards English  (Daily Yomiuri, (Nov. 12, 2009) and at  EDUCATIONAL RENAISSANCE / Primary school stresses planning lessons (DY Nov 12 this link will expire – see permanent link at Narita Primary School (pioneering public primary school English language program))

This news is important for those hitting the Japanese history textbooks … Newly discovered possible palace ruins advances theory that Makimuku structure may have been Queen Himiko’s palace and the centre of Yamataikoku.

Elsewhere in the world on education:

Community colleges are a good deal in hard economic times

Why tough love is best: Parental warmth AND discipline produces best adults, admits Left-wing think-tank 

Free Webinar: Understanding the Dark Side of Learning
11.9.09 – Children can innocently, intelligently, and unconsciously learn in ways that retard, diminish, or disable their capacities for ongoing learning. Learning can be unhealthy to learning.  Our populations’ most widespread learning disability, “mind-shame”, is but one example of this dark side of learning.