education

CBS News is all gaga over how awesome Japanese education is given how it stresses the importance of respect and how much they accomplish with so little is spent on it.

How do they do so much with so little? By investing in top-notch teachers.

"Teachers are given a good deal of respect; they're expected to devote their life," said Catherine Lewis, distinguished research scholar at Mills College. "The whole system is set up to emphasize the development of teachers."

At this time last year, with Nova gone, LJers in the forums were talking about how Skype and lessons online would be the future of eikaiwa. A year to the day that thread was started, J-cast News ran a story on the rapid growth of eikaiwa lessons online. The article reads more like an advertisement than a piece of journalism as it only focuses on three very new online schools, so it's difficult to gauge the popularity or success of online eikaiwa.

In Japan, that test is supposed to be TOEIC, the Test of English for International Communication, which turns 30 this year. The Japan Times has a two-part series on the test, starting with a brief history.

Terrie Lloyd's column in Japan Today is supposed to be a look at the state of eikaiwa in Japan, but it's a poor effort stuffed with meaningless business-speak. Teaching English has been on a downward slide ever since Japan's asset bubble burst. The collapse of NOVA only served to make things worse. Let's take a look at the column.

In the forums, Inflames provides a link to a G.communication PDF. It seems that they have decided to rent out space at its Yaesu school. There's nothing unusual about this as businesses look for ways to generate revenue during the economic collapse. I've heard about parts manufacturers making confectioneries to help make ends meet. Still, it suggests that business isn't very good at the Yaesu school.

From Japan Today, a pretty standard interview with the president and CEO of an English school, but this bit caught my eye:

Do shady operators in the English school business tar everyone with the same brush?

The blog Tofugu has an interview with a current neo-NOVA employee. There's not a lot you haven't heard before, but it's still worth a read for its summary of the aftermath of NOVA's collapse and the perspective on what it's like working for NOVA now.

If you're thinking about working in Japan, the word on NOVA is simple: Don't bother working for them.

Teaching private lessons for a pittance? What if I told you you could double your rates while working less using a proven method that can transform your life? Interested?