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Friday, January 5, 2007
The Other Kind of Discipline
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In Japan, students are placed in schools and career tracks based on their test performance.
I had a student several years ago who was from Japan. When his family found out they would be returning, he began a furious preparation for the tests to which he would be subjected as soon as he arrived. He did very well and ended up in a professional track as he hoped.
In the last several months, I have had an opportunity to see two high school bands from Japan perform. (And, subsequently bought a DVD of Japanese bands to show my students.) Those kids played with the technique and precision of many of our best university programs. Granted, these kids were from some of the top high schools in Japan; however, I think their abilities and talents are a direct result of the disciplined approach to Japanese lives, a discipline we are lacking in America.
I wonder how testing kids for schools would go over in our country? (I already know that answer).
For the last decade or so, vocational classes have been taken out of our middle and high schools, but I think they are beginning to come back. There is a real push to prepare all high school students for college, but not all students are college material. Perhaps, a variation of the Japanese approach to education — placing kids in vocational tracks that match their aptitudes — would be a good idea.
Today’s guest blogger — the first at Get Schooled — is a high school band director in Newton County, 30 miles east of Atlanta. He’s taught at the middle and high school levels for about 10 years. A relative newbie to Get Schooled, regulars might recognize him as the Band Director Who Wants Kids To Bedazzle. To be a guest blogger here, send a sample entry on an education topic of your choosing to bgutierrez@ajc.com.
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