In recent years, the Japanese education system has been undergoing a reevaluation. Up until now, it has been a passive, one-sided style where the teacher lectures the students. However, there are more and more classes that emphasize students’ autonomy, such as discussions and research studies. I would like to point out two things that can improve education in Japan.

First of all, it is important to shift from “rote” learning to “thinking” learning. In most Japanese schools, tests are given in such a way that they can be solved by memorization. Even university entrance exams tend to be passed by those who have memorized a lot of knowledge. I myself had to memorize a lot of knowledge when I took the university entrance exam. Now, most of that knowledge has slipped my mind. This type of memorization does not improve the student’s learning ability, but only puts knowledge into the brain temporarily, which does not make sense in the long run. Therefore, I believe that we should promote a type of ” thought-based” education. Instead of forcibly cramming education, we should tackle problems that cannot be easily answered and foster the ability to think “why” and “how”.

Secondly, I believe that problem-based learning should be promoted more. This learning method emphasizes the process rather than the result. In other words, more important than “did we actually solve the problem?” or “is the solution good or bad?” is “what did we learn in the process of solving the problem? The reason why the process is more important is that the result only produces one effect, the solution of the problem, while the process helps students acquire problem-solving skills that can be applied to other problems.

Thus, I believe that Japan should improve its education by changing to a “thinking” type of education, and by making problem-solving learning more common in Japan.