North Wind Bows to the Rising Sun
Japan is transforming its famously rigorous education system and, in a switch, taking notes on the U.S. along the way.
The North Wind and the Sun disputed as to which was the most powerful, and agreed that he should be declared the victor who could first strip a wayfaring man of his clothes. The North Wind first tried his power and blew with all his might, but the keener his blasts, the closer the traveler wrapped his cloak around him, until at last, resigning all hope of victory, the Wind called upon the Sun to see what he could do.The Sun suddenly shone out with all his warmth. The traveler no sooner felt his genial rays than he took off one garment after another and at last, fairly overcome with heat, undressed and bathed in a stream that lay in his path.
—Aesop's Fables
It has been with the resolve of the North Wind that Japan has educated its children for generations. Steady and fierce pressure, it was believed, would push children to learn what was necessary to survive in a world filled with struggles. The philosophy served the island nation well. It helped prepare a diligent and capable workforce for the industrial boom that eventually, albeit briefly, propelled Japan to economic dominance. Japanese children have been among the leaders in the world in mathematics and science achievement, making the nation's schools the envy of larger and more powerful nations, particularly the United States. Schools here have earned an international reputation for efficiency and success by managing to educate the majority of students to high levels, and avoiding large gaps in achievement between the highest and lowest performers.
But parents and policymakers here have grown weary of the gale and increasingly are concerned that the system's high expectations are taking their toll on children. The North Wind, in the view of some government officials, has blown the Japanese education system off course, as far as to the brink of a crisis. Rising reports of teenage suicide and violence, dramatic increases in the number of students dropping out or refusing to attend school, a decided disconnect between the country's fact-based curriculum and the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in an era of innovation—while exaggerated in the view of some experts—are grounds for significant change, government officials say. So, after more than a decade of debate on how to alter the system and several years spent preparing for the changes, schools will now look toward the Sun...
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