Baskadia

「旧帝・国立大学医学部」受験対策講座（１０）

It is the most dangerous pitfall to think safely.　　（Steven Paul Jobs）

　私はアメリカの中学校で教えている時に

「日本の学校とは真逆だ」

　と思った瞬間がたくさんありました。その一つが、日本では同調圧力という「みんな同じがよろしい」とう暗黙の了解。アメリカでは「みんな違うのがよろしい」と教える。

　変わったことをすると、当然失敗する。しかし、そこから新しいモノが生まれる。日本では失敗するとバカにして笑う。アメリカでは失敗するとチャレンジしてえらいと称賛される。まるで、逆の価値観なのだ。　

　受験勉強でも、多くの生徒が思考停止に陥り河合塾、駿台、東進などの大規模校に通う。みんなと同じがいいからだ。しかし、旧帝や国立大学医学部をめざす子は上位２％のため、多数派とは違う道を選ぶ。

　定員１００名の京大医学部の合格者のうち、私の塾から４名の合格者が出ている。私の塾は三重県の田舎にある無名の個人塾にもかかわらず全国から添削依頼がくる。これはどういうことか考えてほしい。

　I was teaching at a junior high school in the U.S.

I had many moments when I thought,

"This is the complete opposite of Japanese schools.”

　One of them is that in Japan, there is an unspoken understanding that "everyone should be the same," which is called "peer pressure. ” but in the U.S., "everyone should be different.”

　When you do something different, of course you will fail. However, new things are born from such failures. In Japan, when someone fails, they are ridiculed and laughed at. In the U.S., when you fail, you are praised for taking on the challenge. It is as if they have opposite values.　

　Many students stop thinking and go to large schools such as Kawaijuku, Sundai, and Tojin. This is because they want to be like everyone else. However, those who aim for the medical schools of the former imperial or national universities take a different path as the top 2% of the majority.

　Of the 100 students who have been accepted to Kyoto University's medical school, four have been accepted from my school. Although my cram school is an obscure private school in the countryside of Mie Prefecture, we receive requests for corrections from all over the country. I would like you to think about what this means.