Montessori schools offer an alternative style of education in Western countries. They are designed primarily for the youngest (ages 3-5) but many go into elementary years and some even in high school. Actually, students are not allowed to enter the Montessori system, if they were not in it from an early age.
I was in the Montessori system when I was young and, even though I did not continue into elementary, it had a great impact on me. I'm sad that it appears to be rare in the world. Moreover, this style of education seems to be extremely "non-Japanese." So, I am very interested in the opinions any native Japanese members of this forum have on Montessori and its acceptance in Japan.
Here is a link to The Montessori School of Tokyo.
http://www.montessorijapan.com/index.html
It's in English, but Japanese is part of the curriculum. The school is very small and it appears to be the only one in Japan. There are around 5,000 Montessori schools in the U.S. and 8,000 around the world, according to this recent WaPo article. They are growing at a rate of 7% annually. However, in Japan the growth rate appears to be zero.
I can't help but be reminded of how Japan missed the Industrial Revolution because its government feared cultural change. Will Japan miss the educational revolution as well?
