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May 05, 2024
 

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Walt Gardner
For Walt Gardner's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 13, 2016
Interaction benefits toddlers and elderly alike
Partnership between preschools and nursing homes have positive implications for rapidly aging countries like Japan and the U.S.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 8, 2016
Extracurricular activities deserve greater respect
Already busy school teachers should not be pressured into spending excessive hours supervising extracurricular activities without compensation.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 27, 2016
Time to get real about English instruction
Disappointing results from students undergoing total-immersion English education show it's time to rethink policy.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 16, 2016
The battle over control of public schools
Traditional or progressive — whatever path Japan and the U.S. take in overhauling their schools, it won't placate everyone.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 28, 2015
Pumping more money into schools is no panacea
Government preoccupation with spending on education is a distraction from more fundamental issue.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 14, 2015
Textbook publishers must be above reproach
Recent scandals highlight the fine line between legitimate business practices and shady dealings in the textbook industry.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 5, 2015
Exploiting student workers, interns is easy
Although times are slowly changing, companies still hold a decidedly upper hand when it comes to violating the basic rights of student workers.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 14, 2015
Taking a closer look at the child poverty rate
Finding relationships between poverty and academic performance requires a nuanced approach.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 3, 2015
'College for all' obsession is fueling truancy
The 'college for all' obsession of many high schools is alienating children who would benefit more from vocational education.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 24, 2015
Student participation in politics involves risk
Providing voter education to high school students is important, but it can't be a situation where the government is the speaker and teachers its mouthpieces.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 22, 2015
Finding the right approach to sex education
Sex education in both Japanese and U.S. schools can stand a great deal of improvement.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 6, 2015
Misunderstood male-female ratio in education
An analysis of data underscores the importance of avoiding generalizations about the gender gap in education.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 29, 2015
No guarantee of data literacy by statisticians
Just having a statistics department isn't enough for a university — it has to be effective.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 17, 2015
Law schools aren't immune from Campbell's Law
The use of bar passage rates as the basis for determining the amount of subsidies to be given to law schools can fuel unethical behavior.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 8, 2015
Don't blame schools for worker shortages
Both Japanese and U.S. companies blame the education system for their alleged shortage of workers, but the complaint fails to stand up to scrutiny.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 29, 2015
Caution on the new school curriculum
Students benefit best from a school curriculum that strikes a balance between discovery learning and explicit guidance.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 24, 2015
Steps to reduce the number of teen suicides
How teens handle parental and peer pressure can make the difference between life and death.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 18, 2015
Nursery schools in Japan face tough choices
Japan has to be careful that the growth in the number of nursery schools does not come at the cost of professional staffing.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 29, 2015
Learning English requires a different approach
If the most important goal is to teach Japanese students how to speak the kind of everyday English used in the corporate world, then it's imperative that teachers provide them with frequent practice doing precisely that.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 26, 2015
Reporter laws are needed to prevent 'bullycide'
The tragic suicide of an Iwate junior high school student demonstrates why Japan needs to enact reporter laws that compel teachers to report suspected cases of bullying to designated agencies.
Japan says Biden's description of nation as xenophobic is 'unfortunate'
The National Diet building in Tokyo
With eye on China, defense chiefs agree to bolster interoperability
From left: U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Australian defense chief Richard Marles, Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara and Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro hold a joint news conference in Honolulu on Thursday.
The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces
Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
Japan drops to 70th in press freedom rankings
A businessman reads a newspaper outside a train station in Tokyo.
Traders spooked by intervention risk trim record yen shorts
Traders edged back from record bets on yen weakness this past week, in a period that included a likely bout of intervention by Japan to prop up the currency.
'Monster' Inoue ready to tear down Luis Nery in title defense at Tokyo Dome
Naoya Inoue (left) and Luis Nery following a pre-fight news conference in Yokohama on Saturday, two days ahead of their super bantamweight title fight.
Debate on constitutional revision at a standstill despite Kishida's pledges
With less than two months left before the conclusion of the current session of parliament, any possibility that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida can deliver constitutional reform before the end of his term as Liberal Democratic Party president in late September, as he has promised, appears remote.
Sapporo court ruling on Ainu fishing rights presents tough questions
A traditional Ainu preserved food called <i>satchep</i> (dried fish) being made at the government-run National Ainu Museum and Park, nicknamed Upopoy, in the town of Shiraoi, Hokkaido, on Dec. 25. The Sapporo District Court ruled last month that the Raporo Ainu Nation's rights as an Indigenous people did not extend to having an inherent right to fish for commercial reasons.
With eye on China, defense chiefs agree to bolster interoperability
From left: U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Australian defense chief Richard Marles, Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara and Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro hold a joint news conference in Honolulu on Thursday.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.

Podcast

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Longform

Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces
By Stephen Mansfield

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