Images of a shift from progressivism to militarism: A Japanese school anthology between the First and Second World Wars
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Tatsuya Sakai [1]
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[1] Mukogawa Women's University
Mukogawa Women's University
Japón
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- Localización: History of education researcher, ISSN 1740-2433, Nº. 98, 2016, págs. 87-98
- Idioma: inglés
- Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
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Resumen
Furuichi Jingo Higher Elementary School (FJHES) is located in Japan. FJHES was influenced by Heiji Oikawa, known as the Japanese Dewey' in llze 1920s and educated students based on their own lives and interests. In this study, I highlight the school's anthologies ef students' writings, published under the title 'Mebae', during the period of political change from 1925 to 1941. The manner in which the school taught writing skills was based on a broadly child-centred approach to education. The content of the children's compositions changed drastically in terms of supporting war, even though they struggled to stand up against government and civil oppression. A companion piece to the present article studies in depth the children's writing. Here my focus is on the striking front cover designs as graphic testimony to this significant cultural shift. The New Education movement was originally based on Western ideas, but also attempled to develop a distinctively Japanese notion of academic instruction. Unfortunately, on a practical level, the new movement was overwhelmed by Japan's political and social situation, which became more nationalistic over this period. In this context, I suggest that the worldwide ' New Education' movement became less widely accepted in Japan. The anthologies' covers and their high quality designs are vivid illustrations, a visual source that enhances the written evidence of this changing currículum context.
