|
I was
very happy when I returned to Japan to see the responses to my website
postings. Thank you so much for your comments. I especially found interesting
what you said about students not asking questions because they don’t want
to be seen as “show-offs” or as superior to other students. I hadn’t really
thought of this before, I guess because it didn’t really occur to me that
students would think of asking a question as showing off or that students
would be so concerned about standing out in front of their peers.
I think in America, while this concern exists among some people, it is
not as big of a concern as it seems to be in Japan. If someone asks a
question and it seems like they’re asking it just to show how intelligent
they are instead of because they actually want an answer, then that person
may be seen by others as a show-off, but I think most people ask questions
because they’re curious about something the teacher said or didn’t say,
because they want to make a suggestion or they have an idea that they
want to hear someone else’s opinion on, or because they missed something
or didn’t understand something and want the teacher to explain or clarify
it. Of course students in America also don’t like making mistakes in front
of others, but I think maybe they are in general not as worried about
it as most Japanese students seem to be. Also, because asking a question
does not automatically mean you didn’t understand something, but may mean
you are curious about something or that you’re going to bring up an interesting
point, maybe that is one reason American students are more willing to
ask questions.
After reading your comments, I think I can understand better why Japanese
students may not want to ask questions that show lack of understanding
or that may seem to be “show-off” questions, but I am still surprised
by how few “curiosity” questions (questions asked just because someone
is curious about something and wants to know more) are asked. Do you think
it’s because, as some of you mentioned, students want to be “the same”
as others and don’t want to stand out (or perhaps they think that to bring
up ideas they are curious about would show a superior imagination or something
and they don’t want to be seen as superior)?
Natsuko asked me about the situation in the US, and (this is just my opinion)
while I think that most American students want to “fit in” with other
students (or at least with a group of other students that they identify
with or want to be part of or accepted by), this doesn’t necessarily mean
they want to be the “same” as the other students to the degree that Japanese
students seem to. I think they want to fit in and be accepted, and many
students want to conform to some degree to whatever the standard of “cool”
is (and unfortunately those who don’t may be bullied), but they still
want to feel like they are special and I think most students take pride
in the things they are good at and what they feel is special about themselves.
This doesn’t necessarily mean they are show-offs or conceited, although
some students are.
Also, while generally no one wants to “stand out” in a negative or unpopular
way (such as by having a personality or clothes or something that are
deemed “uncool” by other students, although I think the definition of
what’s cool has become more diverse in recent years), I think most American
students don’t mind standing out in a good or positive way. For instance,
I think few American students would mind being known as an exceptionally
good sports player or known for being beautiful;in fact, the students
who are deemed best at these things are often the most popular. I think
it is seen as natural in America that people will take advantage of their
talents and abilities and try to develop and use these gifts. Whether
one is seen to be showing off or not is more dependent on his or her attitude
(if the person acts as though he/she thinks he/she is better than everyone
else because of his/her abilities then the person may be thought of as
conceited or arrogant) but simply using or demonstrating the abilities
is not usually thought of as showing off. I’ve always felt personally
that everyone is blessed with different talents and abilities and it’s
natural and even a responsibility sometimes to develop these gifts and
use them to live a better life and to contribute to the world. What is
the feeling in Japan?
One more point is that in America being good at academics unfortunately
is usually not thought of among students as being as “cool” as being good
at sports or dancing or art or something, and so some students may not
want to be known for being good at math or science, etc. even if they
are. But I think that really what is seen as “uncool” by young students
is not so much too great an ability in math or science but too great an
interest in math or science;students who like math or science or academics
a lot instead of sports or music or something more “cool” may be seen
as “uncool” or a “nerd” or something. This is unfortunate because of course
no one should be ridiculed for what he or she is interested in, but it
happens. But I think people are not usually ridiculed for their abilities,
they are more likely praised and admired for their abilities. I’m not
sure if I explained this well or not. It is kind of difficult for me to
explain because I’m trying to think back to my elementary, junior high,
and high school days, and also because I think I was a rather unusual
child (and still am:)), so please ask me more questions about anything
I wrote if there’s something that I could explain better. I hope that
you will continue to share your comments and opinions.
*A note from me as an English teacher:) : I realized that above I often
used the word “they” to mean “he or she”, which is not grammatically correct
in English but is very commonly used among native speakers. I often use
“they” and “their” in this way when I speak or write informally and since
this is a diary I hope you will excuse me if I do this, but now that I
am an English teacher I feel a responsibility to use proper grammar in
Japan so I wanted to point that out. :)
|
