For the majority of us, our teachers played a huge role in our lives. We spend 5-6 days a week at school with our teachers, who are not only there to educate us, but also to look out for us. In many ways, we look up to them as our second set of parents. They are also some of the people who can make our school days all the more brighter.
When I look back on my student life, I realise how lucky I am that I’m able to relive my school days again–albeit in another country. I was able to do it part-time when I was still working in Malaysia, but that often got overwhelming for me.
But even during all of that, I managed to pick up on a couple of interesting quirks from my Japanese teachers.
The thing that caught my attention was that Japanese classrooms have a markedly different air from that of a typical Malaysian classroom. It is a lot more fast-paced, and their relationship with the students, different.
I chose not to write about this at first because I wasn’t too sure if it was just those few Japanese teachers who are like that or otherwise. But now that I’m in Japan and have had about 20 Japanese teachers so far, I feel that I have enough material to work on. It was pretty easy to do it too because just about all of them seem to have similar teaching patterns. It’s such a contrast to Malaysian teachers who tend to be a lot more varied in this regard!
The way time is utilized
- Japanese teachers: Japan is famous for its obsession with time. What surprised me was that this applies to the way they teach as well. As in, Japanese teachers are always running on a schedule, and you’d notice they’d cover everything WITHIN the time given. Yes, there are cases where they’d sometimes teach like 3-4 minutes longer than they’re supposed to, but that’s not the norm. They usually finish right on the dot, and if they don’t, they’d apologise. Note: Whenever they teach a bit longer than they’re supposed to, it’s within their time slots as they would never take up another teacher’s time.
- Malaysian teachers: As opposed to the Japanese, we Malaysians like to take our time. So much so that we have our infamous Malaysian timing, which basically means things start 20 minutes after the agreed time. This lax approach with time extends to our classrooms as well. While Japanese teachers tend to stick to their teaching materials, Malaysian teachers are a bit more free with their teaching content. Malaysian teachers can get pretty passionate too, because whenever they really get into a lesson, they lose track of time. It’s funny, because it sometimes seems like they don’t want to leave, keen on cramming as much knowledge as they can into us. Of course, there are also lots of days where the teachers are like, “Okay, do whatever you want” because we’re ahead of the syllabus.
And in case you were wondering, with Japanese teachers, there’s no such thing as resting whenever class is in session. Every second is utilized to the fullest.
The way teachers respond whenever you give the wrong answer
- Japanese teachers: This is pretty interesting. Whenever a student gets a question wrong, Japanese teachers have a way of responding without making the student feel like dying from the burn of a thousand suns. For instance, should the teacher pick you to answer a question and you get it wrong, they would give typical answers like, “Hmm… that’s almost right… Just a biiit more…” or “Hmm… That’s a good answer, but I’m looking for something else”. Sometimes, they would subtly guide you to the right answer. No burning embarrassment here.
- Malaysian teachers: Answering a question posed by a Malaysian teacher was a nightmare in and of itself. I still remember the resounding “WRONG!!” that the teachers would screech whenever we made a mistake, causing us to wish a black hole would just open up beneath our feet and suck us in. Not all of them would yell it, but they are a lot more straightforward than Japanese teachers, bless.
The way teachers speak
- Japanese teachers: They tend to be a lot more soft-spoken. Or at the very least, they almost never raise their voices. To date, I’ve only ever heard a Japanese teacher yell once and it was a total scene.
- Malaysian teachers: Our teachers yell just about everyday. It’s normal. And honestly, I don’t blame them because I know how rambunctious our students can be.
How involved the teachers are
- Japanese teachers: It’s not the norm for teachers to have any sort of relationship with their students outside of class. I can’t say this with the utmost authority, but it seems that if it does happen, it would be kept on the down low. They are, however, willing to help if you ask. Just not to the extent that we’re used to.
- Malaysian teachers: Our teachers care a lot. Like really, they do. If they see that we’re struggling in class, it’s not uncommon for them to offer us some extra tutoring. It’s also not unheard of for students and teachers to add each other on Facebook and to stay in contact even after many years. Sometimes, they would even attend our weddings! I guess that isn’t too surprising, because to us, they’re like our second set of parents. 🙂
Penalties for misbehaviour
- Japanese teachers: What penalties? Whenever a student misbehaves, the teacher would usually lightly tell them to pipe down. ** If the student doesn’t, the teacher would proceed with class as usual. Aside from the aforementioned one loud scolding, the only other disciplinary action I’ve seen was when a teacher took away a student’s iPad. This was after weeks of gently telling them to stop playing with it during class. But after class, the iPad was returned with no issues.
- Malaysian teachers: Penalties galore. Whenever a student misbehaves, there is almost always some sort of penalty. Be it a loud scolding, corporal punishment or making you run around the field, the list is endless. Corporal punishment has been decreasing as of late, though, but it’s still pretty common.
** It is interesting to note that Japanese teachers are capable of showing their displeasure subtly. It is just that due to cultural differences, some foreign students don’t pick up on it.
And that’s about it. Do note that this is my experience as a foreign student studying under Japanese teachers who only teach foreigners. If you want a post about schooling in a truly authentic Japanese environment compared to a Malaysian one, this isn’t it.
I doubt it’ll ever happen in my lifetime either, but hey, never say never.
In any case, I’m grateful to the teachers I’ve had, both Japanese and Malaysian. They’ve taught me a lot in life, and I wouldn’t have gotten where I am without them. May they always be blessed with good lives.
