Education in Japan Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Education in Japan - Research Paper Example In some cases, reformers have explicitly pointed to education system to have an important link to the creation of more efficient and effective learning environments. However, some of these studies also point towards an increase in psychological problems and many societal issues among Japanese children today. Numbers of studies have proved strong relation between extraordinary high standard of education system and activities of private schools and psychological problems in students of elementary schools in Japan. (Fullan, 35) As long as a child is in Junior High School in Japan, he can only attend the school which is located near their home. (Stevenson, Azuma and Hakuta, 210) Though, senior high schools can be attended anywhere within a city: this leads to a competition between schools, every student becomes willing to go to the best school and every school looks to get the best students of the city. More than 25% of senior high schools in Japanese cities are owned privately, that shows the degree of the competition at higher levels schooling in Japan. This is the time, when Japanese parents are ready to pay substantial amounts of money to make their children get admission in the best school. According to a survey, 1,073 students of private schools of Japan were observed. Out of them about 67% studied visual and arts subjects such as music, painting, abacus and calligraphy. About 25% of these students attended 3-4 times/ week, and rest of the students about 18% attended these classes 5 or more times in a week. Results showed that increasing attendance of these classes produced dizziness, alteration in sleep pattern and several other psycho physiological problems. Such results warn educationalists and parents both of adverse effects of these extracurricular activities. (Matsumoto, K. Kaku, R. Nakagawa, K and Kaneko,

The Life of Pi book review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Life of Pi book review - Essay Example The story is basically about a boy who is on a boat that is sinking, and escapes to a lifeboat with several zoo animals, who eventually all get eaten by a tiger. I think that one of the main reasons that I liked this book so much is that for a long time I identified with the main character, and felt that I was like him. I think the fact that I enjoyed this book so much, and read it several times in a few month span tells me several things about myself. First I think it tells me that I felt lonely, because I could identify with the main character, and that main character spends most of the book alone on a raft with only a vicious tiger for company, and possibly because the book is also a story about immigration, about leaving a home you know to go to a home that you do not, and that is something that I enjoy thinking about. But I think that this book also indicates that I am thinking too much on the past, and am feeling sorry for myself, and should move on to something else. I do not think that I have fully put this book in the past, but I hope to soon. I hope to put the part of me that it represents in the past as well. One of the most important ideas to this book is probably the idea of loneliness, and of feeling alone when you are not in a place that you are used to. When I first came to this country, I felt very alone because I did not know very many people, and my move to this country had put a large amount of strain on my relationship with my family. There are a few lines from The Life of Pi that I have underlined more than the rest as I read them. On page 163, the main character is starting to think about what he must do to survive, and says these words: â€Å"There was so much I had to do. I looked out at the empty Horizon. There was so much water. And I was all alone. All alone. I burst into hot tears. I buried my face in my crossed arms and sobbed. My situation was patently hopeless† (Martel, 163). I believe that these lines are probably the mos t important of the book in some ways, and are probably the reason that I enjoyed the book so much and why I have read it so many different times. There are many ideas in this lines that I can understand and identify with, and that make me see now that I was probably not doing the things that were best for me when I first came to this country from my homeland, away from my friends and family. I think that, when I first was arriving at this country, there were many things that I felt that I had to do all at the same time. I had to start preparing for school, had to find place to live, had to find friends, had to meet new people, had to start learning where everything is, where to get groceries, where to have dinner, where to have fun. But I also think that I could not do these things. I always had some excuse, and I was so tired, and everything was so hard, so much harder than it probably actually was. And now, reading these lines, I think everything was hard because I felt alone, str anded away from everything I knew. In The Life of Pi, the main character is not actually hopeless here, he can survive for a very long time afterwards, and does survive for such a long time, â€Å"227 days† at sea, and then decades and decades more once he gets back to land (205). But he feels hopeless, because there is no one to share his burden, no one to distract him, no one to help