<SS> Classroom Revolution: Giving Students Confidence

Chapter 1: The Shadow of Standardized Testing Education

Yuma and Ruri are teachers in their 20s working at the same junior high school. They are the same age and get along very well. One day after school, they were talking in the staff room with serious expressions.

"Ruri, you've noticed it too, right? Isn't there something wrong with the way schools teach today?" Yuma said.

Ruri narrowed her eyes and thought. "Yeah, I feel it too. I feel like students are so chased by standardized scores and competition that they're losing sight of what's truly important."

"Exactly. Standardized testing and competitive education put so much pressure on them. Students think their grades are everything," Yuma said.

Ruri nodded. "Really. And that pressure affects them even after they become adults. They get into the habit of demanding immediate results, and when they fail, they lose their confidence right away."

"Right, growth takes time, but because they rush for results, they end up discouraged," Yuma added.

"And they only choose things that seem like they'll yield quick results, don't they?" Ruri said.

Yuma nodded deeply. "For example, even if they find something they want to do, they quit as soon as they don't see results. I think that's the fault of our current education system."

Chapter 2: The Role of a Teacher

"I want the students to understand that school grades aren't everything. As teachers, what do you think we should do?" Ruri asked.

After thinking for a while, Yuma said, "For example, telling a student who isn't good at studying but is good at sports, 'You're good at sports, so you'll be fine,' is actually a problem. Doing that gives the student a complex about not being good at studying."

"That's true. It assumes that being good at studying is the baseline, doesn't it? That just gives the students a complex," Ruri said.

"I think there are many students who lose their confidence because of things like that piling up."

"If they can't have confidence, they'll have a hard time once they enter society, won't they?"

Chapter 3: A New Path

"It's our job to provide an education that helps students gain confidence," Yuma said with a serious expression.

Ruri began to speak as if she had just remembered something. "A friend of mine from college is the advisor for the baseball team at a certain junior high school. He told me before that when he first became the advisor, if a team member made a mistake, the other members would blame them severely. But it changed under his guidance. For example, even if a member made a mistake, he had them find the good points in that play and praise each other. Of course, if there was a great play, they would praise that honestly too. As a result, the atmosphere of the entire baseball team became brighter, and mistakes decreased."

Yuma listened to Ruri's story with great interest. "That's amazing. Instead of blaming a single mistake, you find the good points and praise them. That improves the whole team, doesn't it?"

"Exactly. I think we can apply that to our education as well," Ruri said, her eyes sparkling. "For example, if a student gets a low score on a test, we could focus on the questions they got right and praise them by saying, 'You solved this problem really well.'"

Yuma nodded. "That's a great idea. With that, the students can gain confidence and move forward. They might even find the courage to try new things without fearing failure."

Ruri replied with a smile. "Yes, they say failure is the stepping stone to success, don't they? If we can teach our students that value, I'm sure a wonderful future awaits."

From that day on, Yuma and Ruri began testing their new educational policy. And the results appeared quickly. The students began to gain confidence, and more of them started taking on new challenges without fearing failure.

Chapter 4: Flexible Approaches

Yuma and Ruri began to strive for a more flexible approach to education focused on deviation scores. They started looking for ways to focus on and nurture each student's individual personality and talents, rather than just their test scores.

"Just because your deviation score is high doesn't mean that's everything. Each of you has wonderful talents," Yuma began telling his students.

Ruri taught them the same, saying, "Test scores are just one indicator, but they aren't the only measure of your worth. What's important is how much you can grow yourself, and enjoying that process."

This new way of thinking spread throughout the school, and a fresh breeze began to blow through education for both students and teachers. Beyond just deviation scores, diverse talents and personalities were recognized, and the space for each student to grow with confidence began to expand.

And this did not stop at just one middle school; it gradually began to influence other schools as well. A new breeze had begun to blow into the future of education.