This, is how Japan is doing it, from the Front Page Sections, translated…
Schools had started for over a month now, and, there were, the lack of teachers, from the distant regions in Taiwan, caused, primarily by the unbalanced ratio of teacher and students, and the instructors always need to handle multiple duties, not just teaching. Compared to how Taiwan is chasing away those teachers who teach at the distant regions, the Japanese government is taking a “Carrot Approach”, with the wages and the number of teachers signing up both on the increase.
The More Distant the Region, the More Teachers Signing Up to Go
The retired teacher from Osaka Elementary School, Nagai told the papers about the various teaching materials and aids that the distant schools in Japan has, the more distant the region, the more teachers work there, and, they more the instructors get paid. For instance, there would be a class of thirty-five children to a teacher in the cities, but, in the countries, there would only be a little over twenty students to a teacher. And, on top of that, there would be a number of teacher adding to the staff, if it’s the academic subjects. “There are other executive functions outside of teaching for the teachers”, Nagai analyzed, and, if they couldn’t reduce the paperwork, they’d sent more teachers to the distant regions, that way, the paperwork would be spread out more evening among the instructors.
Three-Year Rotations for the Teachers Sent to the Distant Districts
Not only is the government increasing the number of instructors, they’d also, upped the wages of the teachers who teach at the distant districts. The Japanese government set up a program, tailoring to the education of children in distant regions, and, they’d measured the point systems based off of how far off the towns are from the cities, the distances to the nearest hospital, or post offices.
The higher the points, the more distant the region is, and, the more the teachers get paid. At the lowest, the government pays the instructors in the distant areas four percent more than the teachers in the regular school districts, and at most, the pay is hiked up to twenty-five percent. And, most of the instructors in the distant regions are between thirty to forty-five years of age, every three years, they’d rotate. The biggest lake in Japan, the Biwa Lake—the elementary over the lake, there are only twelve students, and, there are, seven instructors. The principal, Morimoto said, “All the teacher who came here had been through a number of schools, they don’t send rookie instructors to teach in the distant areas.”
And, it’s because of this stable pay rate, and the rotating method, all of the teachers cherished their time with the students, instead of counting down the days, when their teaching terms are finally up.
The Government Breaks the District Rules
In order to resolve the problem of the lack of instructors, at the end of last century, the Japanese started discovering the problems brought on by less children being born. The government realized, that they must, break the sturdy rules of districting, allowing the students to choose the schools they wanted to attend, so they can bring the school systems back to life again.
An elementary school that was combined on the rural area of Osaka, because of the no-district specifications, they’d recruited students from outside, and that, was how they were able to, bring the school back to function.
And, the distant schools are closer to nature in location, there are only limited number of students per class, which means, that each student would get the teacher’s undivided attention, “All the students are willing to wake up bright and early, and take the hour-long bus ride alone to class”, the manager of student affairs for the Coigeta Elementary School said, “All of these kids are willing to wake up early, to catch the bus to come to school to learn.”
A Class of Mixed Grades of Students, No Longer Just, Teaching for Progress, But for Understanding
The individualized course plans is why the Japanese parents are signing their kids up at these distant schools. There’s a serious problem with bullying in Japanese schools, and, more and more students are, refusing to come to school, and the parents who started to see this as a problem are now, setting their sights on the schools outside the urban areas.
And because of how small these schools are, the schools had to mix the grade levels up, for instance, the first and second grades are combined into one class, or, the fifth, sixth graders in the same class together. And, because of the limited number of students, the teachers can give the students individual attention as needed.
Someone from the scholastic education forum in Japan analyzed, that when the class size is so small, then, the students would be more apt to raise their hands to, and, this way of education became more student-oriented. And, through the mixed grades, the students would learn to stop singling each other out, and to work together with each other more, and, there were instances when the older kids took care of the younger students too.
The Districts Work Together, Sharing the Experiences
Actually, the schools in the distant areas can’t fight alone, and, working alongside the structures, even the global conditions of less and less children being born to a family. Other than setting up conferences to discuss the matter of education in the distant regions, the various counties in Japan would also band together, and set up their own district discussion forums on education on their own. They would get together, and share the methods of education that they’re using at their separate schools, the materials they used, so the kids in the distant districts don’t fall behind on learning compared to the students living in the cities.
And, it’s because of how well-rounded the system of education in Japan’s distant regions is set up, that, is why it’s working very well there, and, it’s something that Taiwan can take from.
Life, the Obstacle Course 