So how many students do you have in each class? Our colleagues in Japan regularly teach 40 students per class. Learning that bit of information was certainly the biggest surprise at our visit to the Oshukan Secondary Education School this morning. Oshukan School, which has a little more than 1,000 students, was all I thought it would be and more. The students all seemed very involved, on task and genuinely serious about learning. The teachers, all true professionals, were kind enough to let nine Americans and one Canadian into their classrooms in the middle of everything.The money quote of the day (and the trip so far) came from one 8th grader who said to her teacher, "Can we talk about this with the foreigners in the room?" Classic.
The educational objective of the Oshukan School is "The Quest for Truth" by developing students with high intelligence, world views and strong wills. From what I saw they are doing a great job in meeting this objective. Does it pass the "Would I send my kids to this school" test? With flying colors.
