Test Mentality in Japan

One of the most common complaints I hear among JETs, particularly those teaching in Junior or High Schools, is that they aren't given any freedom in terms of what they are allowed to teach. It tends to be a do-as-you're-asked sort of affair with us just reading the flashcards and dialogues from the text books ad nauseam. The reason for this, however, is rarely malicious or even negative intent on the part of the Japanese teachers. It is almost exclusively due to the fact that the sole goal of these classes is to get the students ready to pass the entrance exams to the next level of schooling. The textbooks are created using the test guidelines, so anything not covered in them does not warrant covering in class.

This phenomenon of studying for sole purpose of passing a single exam permeates Japanese society. I stumbled onto this realization while cramming for the test to convert my US driver's license into a Japanese one (which I proceeded to fail within the first 45 seconds of the actual exam). The test had almost no bearing on actual driving ability, rather it tested the takers memory (you must memorize the driving course first) and whether or not they properly make the prescribed number of mirror checks during a straight away. Aside from the driver's exam, it can be seen at every level of the education system (junior high, high school, college entrance exams) and even in adult life afterwards. To gain admittance to certain companies one must pass written tests covering subjects like grammar and even economic history of the company in question.

This system, while promoting the positive values of studying for an exam, learning the materials, and in turn reaping the benefits has one fatal flaw: lack of comprehensiveness. By providing an exact set of standards and details of what will be on the test, it enables test-takers to study only what will be on the test and nothing else. The only case in which a system like this is effective is if the subject itself is so specific or so defined that the test can actually cover the entirety of the subject, forcing the student to study and learn not just bits and pieces but the whole breadth of the topic. Otherwise you end up with an incomplete skill set that serves no real purpose other than having enabled you to pass the test.

Take for example Japanese college students who are studying to pass the TOEIC English Exam. As far as my personal experience goes, students who attained high scores have done so by strictly following the regimen put forth by the testing committee, as opposed to going out and actually communicating with native English speakers. I find that I have more fluid and rewarding conversations with people who have never even thought of studying for an English exam like this. The same goes for us Foreigners taking the Japanese Proficiency Exam. At the higher levels the Japanese grammar and Kanji we have to know are practically useless in daily life (unless your daily life was consisted of translating turn of the century law texts). As it is I separate personal Japanese studying into two categories: test oriented almost mathematical memorization of grammar points obtained from study guides, and Japanese I will actually be able to use in conversation that very day learned from comic books and Harry Potter. Does that seem messed up to anyone else?