“After School Activity Culture” Appeared Prominently In Japan
Be professional? Or just enjoy?
This is quite sudden, but I have a question to ask you.
Did you do any after school activities in your childhood?
I suppose that many of you have done some activities. In my case, of course, I experienced a lot, such as piano, violin, ballet, calligraphy, swimming, etc. I’ve kept on doing some of them even now for more than 10 years. So, What do you think is the purpose of after school activities?
I assume there are two distinct purpose. To be professional and to just enjoy. Every parent around the world would hope to develop the ability of children maximumly through after school activities. We can develop the ability through doing both some different activities and one specific activity. But in any case, it is not too much to say that only few do activities to become professional; most people just enjoy to do them.
You may feel something wrong with the question in itself. That’s because if you focus on the arts (and sports), you can go to schools of music, ballet schools and the like which aim at educating the students to grow up to be professional. However, in Japan, there is no school and such-like. Besides almost everyone simply enjoy after school activities as their hobbies. We have no way to learn on a full-scale in Japan because the so-called western music and ballet were started out of Japan; for example, it is quite often said that those who want to be ballerinas have no choice but to study abroad in order to succeed in. Out of Japan, you can figure out what is your specialty and if you want, you can take professional education to study in earnest.
Now, why do we Japanese have such consciousness of after school activities? Let’s think about it, focusing on the arts education.
The difficulty in educating in the arts originated in a foreign country
Let me give an example of ballet school.
As you know, there is no ballet school in japan that only instructors who have qualification can teach in the specific method. For Japanese, ballet studios(schools) that instructors can teach who are not always qualified are the authentic ballet schools. They don’t know the fact that ballet schools mostly mean vocational schools that the students make their best efforts through everyday lessons as well as schoolwork with too high their relatives’ expectations. In after school activities, you’d never be forced to do; you go to school in the daytime and take lessons after school. That’s all. Every each student doesn’t always have the same aspiration. Then each instructor teaches in different methods (the way they want) and it is possible that instructors who never have had educational guidance teach what ballet is. It doesn’t make sense at all, does it? Oh Yes, ballet has different ballet methods; for example, Vaganova method, Cecchetti method, the Royal Academy of Dance(RAD) and etc.(if you want to know about these more deeply, google them!) Every method has designed the specific way to dance. Generally, each ballet school chooses and sets a ballet method of the school. In addition, instructors must have the qualification of methods and take heavy responsibility for the students’ future. But, in Japan, almost no teacher has the qualification. Nevertheless they sometimes say “we teach based on Vaganova method” to catch the attention. They teach “the so-called beautiful ballet” which mixes some methods. The true ballet is based on the methods on the condition; some Japanese students take great pains to acquire a method in a short period after leaving Japan to study abroad.
In short, they just pretend to do genuinely, though it is completely different from genuine one.
In other words, it can be said about Japanese traditional thing. It is conceivable that doing something originated in a foreign country tends to draw a back lash in the birthplace. I’ve watched a TV show that pointed out the false way that people do Kendo in foreign countries. Things can happen that they may do the correct way but actually they are wrong.
What is the most important is to pay attention to as it is in the birthplace. To study the arts, we have to learn the tradition first of all, and then develop it, I think. As a matter of course, the certain way to do so is to go to the birthplace to study. However, some can’t afford to do it and need to be make up their minds with the assumption as well. We need to be aware of the fact that we take over the tradition of the arts.
Competition Culture
These days, we’re likely to regard the result of competition and contest as the most important, especially in Japan. People emphasize achievements like no achievement, nothing. For the arts, we should take good care of what we feel through the performance. Yes, no audience, no arts. We shouldn’t take care of the profile of artists. Each has a specific evaluation criterion makes the value of the arts improve with equal basis between artists and audience.
Actually, the age of achievement doesn’t matter. Though the youngest prize winner is worth admiration, for the arts, it can happen definitely that the older artists are, the more deeply they express. If you are one of artists, you don’t have to hung up on the achievement at competitions and contests. I would like you to understand that we can’t judge good or bad and what is significant is what you feel.
Passiveness To Be Taught
There is a growing trend to be negative about just being taught by someone: it’s like “everyone does, therefore I do.”
We lack the self-disciplined consciousness of learning; we should realize that to be taught is exactly the first step and what matters is to improve forかか ourselves. I can understand the reason parents have children do after school activities. And yet after school activity under compulsion is just introduction; they should leave it to children to judge whether it suits or not, what they want to do and continue or give up: children should have their own views. Just taking lessons every week doesn’t make sense for children’s learning. Some would think ”it was good for me, though I’d been forced to keep owing to my parents at first.” There is nothing to say that “to continue is one of the most beautiful virtues in the world.”
I’ve talked about the “tradition” and the “consciousness” at great length, but I want to tell you is you need understand the purpose of your after school activities on your own.
Strictly speaking, parents should let children do what children want to do. In my own case, I’ve kept on doing only what I like to do for such a long time; I believe that why I can continue doing is I LOVE them. In some cases, of course, children would never want to do something voluntarily. Hence I would love parents to have children do what children will probably like. It is not after school activity, maybe. Children might not need to be taught and be able to learn for themselves.
