＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, many schools have closed en masse for extended periods of time, with efforts being made to introduce online classes and Osaka Governor Yoshimura Hirofumi and others even suggesting a September enrollment. Shortening the summer and winter holidays and holding some classes on Saturdays are also being considered.
All of this talk is based on the premise that “if schools are closed and there are no classes, students will fall behind in their studies” and “if teachers are not teaching, students cannot study.”
However, I have doubts about this way of thinking.
1. Will students really fall behind in their studies if there are no classes due to school closures?
Due to concerns that school closures will cause delays in classes, Tokyo, Nara, and Saitama have decided to narrow the scope of questions in high school entrance exams, and many other prefectures are currently considering doing the same.
However, I believe this is unnecessary.
If we insist on conducting classes according to the original annual lesson plan, it may be impossible to do so even if we shorten the summer and winter holidays, offer classes on Saturdays, or extend class times on certain weekdays.
In classes like those taught by teachers in Osaka City, where students have been unable to escape a long slump in academic achievement test scores, is it impossible to expect students to acquire knowledge, let alone achieve PISA-style academic ability or active learning?
I think schools need to increase the pace while also considering the overall pace, shortening where possible and omitting where possible.
But does the lack of classes due to school closures really mean that students will fall behind in their studies? Is it true that students cannot study unless their teachers teach them?
2. Studying is possible if you have textbooks
In a previous article on “Spartan Education and Athenian Education,” I introduced the story of a student teaching at Hibiya High School. As long as they have the textbooks, students can study on their own, even without a teacher teaching.
I’ve heard of people who read all the textbooks for all subjects they’ll study in a year in just a week at the beginning of the school year. They can understand the general content by just skimming through them.
Excellent students have the habit of “active study,” so they dig into textbooks quickly. Students who love math might read difficult math textbooks like those studied at university. It’s important to follow your intellectual curiosity and question and explore various things. There are examples like a high school student who went on fieldwork to question the common knowledge about the lifespan of cicadas, or high school student entrepreneur Kanato Yamauchi, who has started a business by approaching payment systems from an internet perspective. If they’re interested, they’ll eagerly absorb knowledge in specialized fields.
3. A Golden Opportunity to Develop Active Study Habits
However, since most students are accustomed to passive study habits, believing they can’t study unless a teacher teaches them or that they’ve studied just by listening to a teacher’s lecture, this may be difficult in reality.
However, isn’t it time for a “reverse mindset” that turns the crisis of school closures into an opportunity?
The majority of students, teachers, and parents should view this as a golden opportunity for students to develop active study habits. I believe this is a golden opportunity to promote “active learning.”