Exam time again

The summer holidays are fast approaching here in Japan, so that means the end of term exams (期末考査, きまつこうさ, kimatsu kousa) are upon us. Our school's exam block begins tomorrow and goes over 4 days.

Why does it begin on a Thursday? I have no idea. I am sure there is some reason for it (I hope) but I have not come across it yet. So, it is pretty self-explanatory that the staff room is a little chaotic with staff members preparing exams in the method I explained in the May 22 post (Mid-term exams). Well, yes and no.

Today, Wednesday, is a special day called katei gakushuu (家庭学習, かていがくしゅう), which translates to "studying at home". So, there are no students at school today and only around half the usual number of teachers. The rest are taking one of their personal days to relax before the marking onslaught. Our schedule for the next four days (Thurs, Fri, Mon, Tues) is as follows:

- high school students come to school for a maximum of 3 exams on each day and then return home around lunch time.

- junior high students, the poor buggers, have a maximum of 3 exams in the morning each day and then... regular lessons in the afternoon. This seems to be consistent with their whole year actually - JHS seems to be be a pretty stressful time for the students the WHOLE year.

There is a reprieve though. Next Wednesday, after all exams are finished, the students have the day off. We can look at it from one of two perspectives (since I don't know the real reason again); one, the students get a well-earned rest from all of their studying and stress; or two, the teachers have a little free time to get through the marking. I personally will be viewing it from the second perspective. I have only 50-60 junior high papers to mark, but 210 high school exams.

I have battled many philosophical challenges with the style and format of exams in my school, but in the end I ought to do as is required by my institution. One challenge that I can share is to do with the content. It seems to me that exams are testing their comprehension of the course's material, instead of their understanding and application. So, many exams have questions that are "very similar" to what they may have encountered in class during the term. This may seem to be an advantageous situation for the students, but I question the reliability of this style in perparing the students for life outside school. Hmm... I wonder whether this is only our school or many schools? I also wonder whether this is something encountered frequently in other countries as well? It is wrong to jump to conclusions and assume this is widespread throughout Japan without having ample evidence to prove it is so. Hence (I just wanted to use that word), I have tried not to generalize.