GTO: A Brilliant Critique of the Japanese Education System
My Experience With the Education System
As anyone who knows me remotely well can observe, I loathe the American education system. My passion for the subject has even convinced me to write a book about how to reform it. I will, no joke, burst into lengthy rants about how much I hate school whenever the thought appears. Although there are countless flaws in the education system, the issues I feel most vehemently about stem from my personal experiences. After passing an admissions exam, I entered a private preschool for gifted children. During the lessons, I couldn’t pay attention to the teacher’s explanations and cried at the end of each class because the practice problems were inscrutable. I couldn’t learn to read and struggled whenever the teacher pulled me aside weekly to practice reading a book aloud. I despised almost every moment of the emotional hell that was preschool because I felt incompetent.Yet, when I entered elementary school, I was immediately placed into the Gifted and Talented program and blazed through the coursework like it was nothing. Reading now made sense to me and comprehending books in the classroom became trivial. Admittedly, the biggest reason for this change was a shift in rigor, but also a shift in teaching style. Instead of lecturing the material, my kindergarten teachers sang songs and engaged us in immersive activities. For the first time in my life, I could pay attention in the classroom, felt more confident in myself, and learned effectively. Since then, even after my teachers switched back to boring teaching methods, school has been a piece of cake for me–it still is, and I’m now in college.
The takeaway isn’t that I awakened some “latent talent.” I couldn’t develop fundamental math and language arts skills under traditional methods, which induced a cycle of self-deprecation that haunted me for years. I hate school because it forces students to conform to deeply flawed systems that emotionally break students. Onizuka is one of the few teachers to understand this. Each of his students is a victim of the broken Japanese education system.
Onizuka Challenges Traditional Beliefs
One way education fails worldwide is by prioritizing superficial aspects of education, like grades, test scores, “good” colleges, and “good” jobs. As someone who fooled around in school and barely scraped by with a degree from a fifth-rate college, Onizuka understands that there is more to happiness than these superficial priorities. He wisely posits that youth is the most significant part of life and that children should enjoy it. In fact, an overemphasis on the academic side of education can doom apathetic students and burden higher-achieving students. Onizuka’s job, first and foremost, is to make school fun. A boring school is a deplorable learning environment, a slippery slope to a deplorable society.The Japanese education system expects students to respect teachers, who command great authority over them. In GTO, Onizuka’s students misbehave because selfish teachers have betrayed them. He understands the harm that ensues when a divide exists between students and teachers. He bonds with his students as another human being before acting on his powers as a teacher. When push comes to shove, Onizuka doesn’t compromise on his students–he is willing to risk his life for every one of them. Many teachers may reject the notion of risking their jobs for their students. I don’t blame them, but the willingness to espouse these convictions is what makes a great teacher.
These convictions allow Onizuka to tackle the root of every problem. For example, when he sees his student Noboru Yoshikawa attempt suicide, he discovers that Noboru has been bullied by a group of girls in his class for years. Instead of lecturing the class about bullying and reporting the girls to the school administration, he takes matters into his own hands. He finds them in a karaoke room, ties them to the wall, and takes a video of himself spanking them. He scolds them that their pain is only a fraction of Noboru’s before handing the camera over to him. Had Onizuka taken a traditional approach, the school likely would have faced complaints from the girls’ parents. Skeptical that a group of girls could bully a boy, the school may have neglected to punish the bullies. The girls would have continued to torment Noboru even if the school punished them. Onizuka risked his job and edified Noboru and the bullies in the process. Yes, it may be inappropriate for a teacher to break the rules, but if that is necessary for a student’s well-being, the correct decision should be clear.
Another flaw of the Japanese education system is that teachers discriminate against students based on personal impressions. As a student, Onizuka was called trash by his teachers for being a low-performing delinquent. Tragically, this abhorrent line of thinking has scarred numerous students in GTO as well. Therefore, Onizuka endeavors to believe in all of his students and help them find their own form of success in life. For instance, his student Tomoko Nomura is ostracized by her class for being so unintelligent that she fails at everything. After failing to abet an attempt to frame Onizuka, her only friend, Miyabi Aizawa, abandons her. After discovering her talent for acting, Onizuka enters her in a beauty contest, where she is ecstatically scouted by several agencies. Onizuka’s unyielding belief in his students helped Tomoko find lasting fulfillment during the lowest point in her life.
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