Hi. Recently, I had the opportunity to learn about education in other countries, and I learned that even in compulsory education, students learn things like "arguing with evidence" and "writing essays."
However, the school education I received felt closer to "memorizing historical facts." For example, even if an exam asked questions like, "Who built the Great Buddha in Nara?" or "Why was the Great Buddha built?", the format was often to simply write down what we had learned, such as "Emperor Shomu" or "Because there were conflicts and epidemics, and people were becoming increasingly anxious, so he tried to calm them." (I didn't think of the reasons myself; I was just memorizing the textbook descriptions and what the teacher said in class.)
As someone who received that kind of education, I'm curious about what history education is like in other countries.
However, not everyone in English-speaking countries is a genius, and I don't think a 10-year-old child can suddenly write a sophisticated essay.
For example, I graduated from a high school with a low academic standard.
Therefore, of course, I didn't go to university, and I don't have the academic ability to take the standardized university entrance exam in the first place.
What interests me is how people like that, who must exist in English-speaking countries, manage to pass exams. (I'm not talking about so-called geniuses or people with average academic ability, but rather people who score below average.)
For example, in a Japanese regular test that relies on rote memorization, a 12-year-old can score reasonably well if they've memorized historical facts.
So, even without critical thinking skills or intelligence, simply memorizing can prevent them from getting terrible scores.
However, if the learning involves "presenting evidence and arguing," "writing essays," and "thinking based on historical sources," then I find that in itself to be very meaningful and truly fascinating. But for a child who struggles with studying, it would be quite difficult, and if the exam were like that, wouldn't they end up with no points at all?
From my perspective, that kind of education overseas seems very appealing, and if I could experience it, I would love to. If there were workbooks for children, I would definitely want to try them!
But at the same time, I feel that if I had been born in an English-speaking country, I would have despaired at exams.
For example, when I was a child, I had the perception that "subjects like math, science, and English are subjects that only smart people can get good grades in (the image is that test scores are directly linked to a high level of intelligence), but kanji and history only require memorization, so there's still a chance for less intelligent people (it seems like you can manage with effort and rote memorization)." They were my "salvation" subjects. (Of course, if we're talking about university entrance exams, subjects like Japanese language and history are incredibly difficult.)
So, if the Force isn't available, I'm curious: what do people overseas who struggle with studying use to get through exams?
Submitted 2026-08-31T10:40:20Z by Suspicious-Toe-8193 https://ift.tt/WxpKRz1
