Japanese Educational Policy and the Curriculum of Holistic Development

Ryoko Tsuneyoshi

doi:10.1007/978-981-13-8343-4_8

Abstract

AbstractJapanese primary and secondary education, alongside their counterparts in other East Asian societies, is often cited as high-achieving (OECD 2010). It has continued to show strong results in international tests such as IEA’s Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD’s) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in strategic areas, and Japan-originated educational models have been emulated abroad, the most famous being the Japanese model of “lesson study” (jyugyo kenkyu). Lesson study is seen as a bottom-up method of teacher learning in which teachers open up their lessons to others, and teacher discussion is held on how to understand and improve the learning of students. Lesson study now has its worldwide organization and is practiced in various forms in many countries.

Highlights

Japanese primary and secondary education, alongside their counterparts in other East Asian societies, is often cited as high-achieving (OECD 2010)
The specific contents of tokkatsu have shifted depending on the time period
The situating of particular activities within the national curriculum standards in Japan means that it is the object of lesson study

Summary

Introduction

Japanese primary and secondary education, alongside their counterparts in other East Asian societies, is often cited as high-achieving (OECD 2010). Some foreign scholars have pointed to the holistic nature of Japanese education (Lewis 1995) Such analyses, have mostly been on the cultural aspects of holistic education, not the structural (e.g., curriculum) and policy aspects of it—the focus of this chapter. Since noncognitive education is part of the national curriculum standards, this means that any consideration of educational reform inevitably brings in discussions of how to instruct noncognitive learning in Japan. It is necessary to understand the noncognitive part of the curriculum, in order to understand even the cognitive aspect of Japanese education, which has attracted international attention. With a long history of combining noncognitive and cognitive learning in the curriculum, Japanese education displays a case in which one can observe a form of how this is done, including the benefits and challenges, and how it enters into the discussion of educational reform policy

Reform for Balanced Growth

A Holistic Curriculum

An Example of Content

Development of Characteristic Activities

Use of Monitors and Small Groups (Han)

Role of Teachers

Learning by Doing Together

Findings

Ending Remarks