Lesson 5 - "go" - School Assemblies

Just like in the U.S, Japanese schools sometimes have assemblies. They all gather in the gym but the way they sit and behave is a bit different. Each student has an assigned seat in neat rows. This is the high school assembly. This is the middle school assembly. Check out this short video of the entire elementary school bowing then sitting. You are looking at 730 students. The teacher says one word and the kids are silent and still. No whispering. They sit on their knees with their hands on their laps. No quiet goofing around.

How do they learn this? The teaching begins very early. I visited a kindergarten. This is what their assembly looked like. When a child was wandering a teacher brought him back. When a child wasn't sitting in a straight line the teacher picked her up and moved her.
At the elementary school, we were treated to a musical performance featuring the entire sixth grade. Since there was no formal music teacher at this school a classroom teacher was asked to do the job. When they were on stage I surveyed the quiet crowd and saw what the kids on stage left behind - shoes and recorder cases. I enjoyed the respectful assembly groups in Japan. Read this article about a common way to sit in Japan. Could you sit like that?