too many browser tabs open, again.
"the grind" and "endless learning"
https://stackoverflow.blog/2022/12/08/how-to-make-time-for-learning-in-tech/ >SPONSORED BY PLURALSIGHT
https://old.reddit.com/r/WorkReform/comments/z0ynat/my_hustle_culture_friend_just_died_of_a_heart/
https://old.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/comments/ywve0u/how_to_manage_the_mental_exhaustion_that_comes/
https://qr.ae/prA4Ry yutori sedai
Then came the Yutori education. Yutori means spaced, berth, relax, basically opposite of tense, competitive, pressure. Aim was to put less emphasis on rote learning and focus on independent learning to foster creativity. Study hours and syllabus were cut. Japanese kids used to go to school half day on Saturday. That was abolished. The total teaching hours were cut 10%, and teaching hours for each subjects were cut 15%, then the difference of 5% were allocated to “Holistic study time”, which each school were free to decide what to do. The word “holistic”, might give you a clue that Yutori education had wide support from Teacher’s union (which are left leaning and also directly benefitted from cut in teaching hours) and many education academic (which were later accused of being left leaning ideologue).
The end result was drop in Japanese ranking for PISA and TIMSS both in relative and absolute term.
The result was highly regressive. Japanese education system may be not “creative” but it was seen as highly equalising, socially. Pretty much everyone could read and do fairly high level arithmetic like 78*25 off his/her head. That was ensured that every japanese were ready enough to become white collar (i.e. salaryman). Yutori education broke that social understanding.
What most epitomised Yutori education was π=3. One of main cram school franchise launched a big ad campaigns in 2002, “Did you know that the school nowaday teach the area of circle as 3r2. We aren’t joking!!!.” (i.e. if you care about your kid’s future, send them to us.) Previously, all students were taught to calculate pi approximate to be 3.14 and all math and physics calculation have to be done manually using that number. But elementary school under yutori regime could not finish teaching manual calculation of decimal numbers before kids start doing geometry. So they had to fudge it by telling kids to use π=3. (or alternatively introducing calculator, which weren’t previously allowed in primary or secondary education).
This created big furour. Coincidentally, an entrance exam for University of Tokyo in 2003 had a question. “Prove that Pi is larger than 3.05”, this was rumoured to be inserted by a math professor who didn’t like Yutori education.
Few examples for Yutori
Often has difficulty understanding prime factorization. This is because their grasp of multiplication like 8＝2×2×2＝2^3 or 81＝3×3×3×3＝3^4 are weak. Some can’t do fraction well either. They learned principle and concept but their learning stopped there and never progressed to the actual practice part.
No more calculation of “mass concentration” of Saline water at grade 5. So nurse school get student’s who can’t calculate it. 30ー4×5＝26×5=130 Nough said. 0.15 is 5 times bigger than 0.3. Proof. 15/3=5. Not taught inverse proportionality at all (so forget about inverse square law in physics).
the case of https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2095454/chinas-top-cram-school-saviour-poor-rejected-rich and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maotanchang_High_School