Conflict between Critical Thinking and Cultural Values: Difficulty Asking Questions and Expressing Opinions in Japan

Abstract

While the ability to think for oneself is essential in this rapidly changing world, it has not been encouraged in Japan's traditional social and therefore its educational culture. Although the government of Japan has issued policies to engage students in independent thinking for almost two decades, high school and university students' responses to surveys about asking questions and expressing opinions in class suggest that students do not think deeply in the classroom. However, careful analysis of the students' responses could indicate that (1) students in Japan have difficulties expressing questions and ideas verbally because these activities do not agree with the values with which they have been raised, (2) students are not fully taught the different values reflected in these activities at school, and (3) very few Japanese teachers are able to teach values of which they have little direct experience themselves, nor can they encourage students to practice those activities. Evidence suggests that classes in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) offer the best opportunity for students to overcome these barriers and gain experience in asking questions and expressing opinions.

Unravelling Vietnamese Students' Critical Thinking and Its Relationship with Argumentative Writing

“…For instance, a study from Pei and his colleagues [4] stresses that English-majored Chinese students show a syndrome of critical thinking absence in classroom practices such as overt questioning or debating ideas in class. Similar classroom behaviours are noticed from Japanese EFL students in Okada's [21] study. She argues that such difficulties are caused because these activities (e.g., asking questions, expressing opinion in class) are not suitable with their cultural values of harmony and confrontation avoidance.…”

“…They lack demonstrations of these skills such as direct questioning or debating ideas in class. Similarly, Okada surveyed 1,481 Japanese high school students and 277 Japanese freshmen and sophomores who studied information and telecommunications engineering in a private university in Japan [21]. Results from the survey show that Japanese students have difficulty in presenting their verbal opinions and ideas.…”

“Can East Asian Students Think?”: Orientalism, Critical Thinking, and the Decolonial Project

“…There are some valid concerns within this literature, which are not always fuelled by Orientalism, such as the questions which are asked about the way in which Western universities may prioritise profitmaking over high quality education. Where the literature becomes more concerning, including in recent publications, is the frequent pattern of questioning East Asian students' critical thinking abilities (e.g., [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]). This perception, which is persistent within academia beyond these publications, tends to suggest that East Asian students struggle to: grasp alternative perspectives; think beyond common sense; and challenge the status quo.…”

“…The celebration of Western education is often accompanied by a dismissal of East Asian education which fits a pattern whereby East Asian institutions are derided. For instance, Okada [27] argues that Japanese education stifles critical thinking and implies that this can only be rectified by a greater engagement with Western styles of education. Thus, while Western universities are often seen as spaces of enlightenment, East Asian education is usually imagined in derisory ways because, as we are told, "maintaining harmony and avoiding offence or confrontation appear to be of greater value in East Asian cultures than is the search for absolute truth" [49] (p. 17).…”

“…94-95). Here, it becomes clear that educators must be prepared to take more responsibility for the possibility that any shortcomings in critical thinking found amongst East Asian students may be less a reflection of those students' deficiencies, and more of a reflection of our own pedagogical weaknesses, and even discrimination [27,34,35,69,76]. That is to say that rather than believing that East Asian students struggle to arrive at critical thinking because of a limitation within themselves or their culture, it may be more apt to ask if East Asian students would realise their critical thinking potential if it were not for the Orientalist labelling that they encounter at the hands of educators.…”