Peter Cave. Schooling Selves - Autonomy, Interdependence, and Reform in Japanese Junior High Education. Chicago - University of Chicago Press, 2016. 287 pp. $35.00 (paper).

At a Glance

Metadata	Details
Publication Date	2017-03-01
Journal	Schools
Authors	Nozomi Inukai

Abstract

Previous articleNext article FreeBook ReviewPeter Cave. Schooling Selves: Autonomy, Interdependence, and Reform in Japanese Junior High Education. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2016. 287 pp. $35.00 (paper).Nozomi InukaiNozomi Inukai Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailQR Code SectionsMoreIt is no exaggeration to say that whether or not this country can construct a vibrant economy and society in the twenty-first century depends on raising creative people.—Keizai Doyukai, business executive’s association (Cave, 1)Reforming public education in order to raise people who can expand a nation’s economy in the twenty-first century: the rhetoric in the epigraph above echoes that of the 1983 report A Nation at Risk and the educational reform movement in the United States stemming from it. However, the reform movements in Japan and the United States over the past two decades have pursued contrary goals, at least in terms of policy. While schooling in the United States has moved toward more standardization of the curriculum and assessment that emphasizes acquisition of basic knowledge and skills measured by high-stakes standardized tests, the Japanese educational reform movement, beginning in the late 1980s, has placed emphasis on cultivating individuality and autonomy. By 1996, the Japanese reform agenda called for a well-balanced cultivation of traditionally valued qualities, such as “feeling for others, sociality, and cooperation,” and traditionally underemphasized qualities, such as “independence, thinking for oneself, and creativity” under the label of “power to live” (Cave, 20; any reference citation without an author given after this refers to Cave’s Schooling Selves, the book under review). Further reforms were pushed in 2002 when integrated studies were implemented, and the Japanese school week decreased from six days to five (Saturdays were removed).In Schooling Selves: Autonomy, Interdependence, and Reform in Japanese Junior High Education, Peter Cave, a lecturer in Japanese studies at the University of Manchester, examines the impact of the above-mentioned Japanese educational reform policies in junior high schools through a longitudinal, multi-site ethnographic study. Cave conducted an initial pilot study in October through December 1994, and then the first fieldwork from April 1996 to March 1997, covering one entire academic year. He returned during August through December 2007 in order to analyze the effects of curricular reform implemented from 2002. His fieldwork was concentrated in two public junior high schools in West-Central Japan, though he made short visits to many other public and private schools in the area. As a former teaching assistant in the school district and being fluent in spoken and written Japanese, Cave observed various classes and conducted interviews with teachers, students, and parents. Throughout the book, he retains the original Japanese words (sometimes whole sentences) along with his translation, which gives readers who understand Japanese a better understanding of the context.The organization of the book is as follows. Chapter 1 outlines the motivations for educational reform. Chapters 2-4 examine the impact of educational reform on the nonacademic aspects of school life, such as field trips, class groups, extracurricular clubs, and major school events. Chapters 5 and 6 examine the impact of the reform on academics: changes in the conventional subjects and the introduction of Integrated Studies and electives. Chapter 7 considers issues surrounding high school entrance examinations and discourses and practices at juku (cram schools). Throughout the book, Cave provides insight into how concepts such as individuality, autonomy, education (guidance), and equity are defined and understood in contemporary Japanese society and how they are enacted in the institution of junior high schools. Since these concepts are vital in understanding why Japanese teachers resisted or reinterpreted the government’s educational reform agenda, I begin with Cave’s treatment of them.First, it warrants noting that I was a junior high school student in Japan in 2002, living through many of the reforms examined by Cave. As a 13-year-old, I did not pay attention to the educational reform agenda or to the purported (changing) purposes of education in Japanese junior high schools. However, as I am now an educator in the United States, Cave’s book provides insight into my personal experiences, as well as a foundation for analyzing Japanese values in society at large and how these are institutionalized in junior high schools in particular. Thus, in this review, I weave personal narratives into my review of Cave’s important book.Individuality and Autonomy in the Japanese ContextIn today’s Japanese junior high schools and in the nation’s society at large, there seem to be multiple values and discourses surrounding individuality and autonomy. Historically, Japanese culture has placed great emphasis on what Cave calls the “seishin discourse” (28), referring to inner strength stemming from self-discipline and self-reliance. A greater cause than that of the individual, such as obligations and responsibilities to the family and neighborhood, is central to this seishin discourse. However, in the 1980s and 1990s, there was great social change that propelled the younger generation to “desire … more individually determined life, freed from the obligations imposed by family and social convention” (26). At the same time, many worried that the weakening of social ties among families and neighbors left the younger generation with a lack of support. Critics argued that increased emphasis on self-reliance coupled with individualization in this sense often did not lead to increased individual autonomy (39).The educational reform agenda that started in late 1980s sought to respond to both the need for more autonomy and the worries of individualization that led to weakening social ties. Thus, the reformers set out to develop “individuality, creativity, and autonomous thinking on the one hand, and social connectedness, empathy, and cooperation on the other” (38). What is important here is the distinction between individualization and autonomy. Cave introduces the idea of “relational autonomy,” which sees individuals as socially constituted and as deriving value commitments from interpersonal relations and mutual dependencies (35). Using this concept of relational autonomy, Cave argues that “the development of autonomy is likely to be encouraged in an environment where individuals feel accepted by others” (37-38) and therefore that “schools should be places for dialogue and mutual support” that “foster both personal autonomy and recognition of human interdependence” (38).Relational autonomy is different from individualization in that it places emphasis on a harmonious community life as a prerequisite to nurture autonomy, and this idea can be found in the literature from both the West and the East. Francis W. Parker claimed that education should strive for a (harmonious) community life as its goal (Goulah 2010). A Japanese educator, Tsunesaburo Makiguchi (1981-88; see vol. 5, “Soka Kyoikugaku Taikei [1] [The system of value-creation pedagogy, vol. 1], 184-85), echoed Parker, stating that, in today’s interdependent society, genuine happiness can only be realized by each person becoming a contributive member of the community, which can lead to the growth and prosperity of the society as a whole. It seems that it was this idea of relational autonomy in a harmonious community life that the Japanese educational reform envisioned. However, there seemed to be confusion among teachers and the public about what “emphasis on individuality and autonomy” meant. Some critics saw this emphasis on individuality as a de-emphasis on discipline and academic abilities, and some warned that it could be used to justify academic tracking. Yet, some welcomed it as an opportunity to promote interest- and inquiry-based learning. This debate on individuality and autonomy is central to the success and failure of educational reform in junior high schools, as it comes up in different aspects of junior high school life either explicitly or implicitly.The Purpose of Junior High Schools in Japan: Emphasis on Human DevelopmentAnother dimension important to the success or failure of the reform movement is the purpose of junior high school as perceived by teachers. According to Cave’s study, the central purpose of junior high school is understood to be human development, or what might also be called character development. Cave states, “Teachers strongly believed in the school’s role in supporting students’ personal and social development, which they tended to interpret as helping students to learn to get along well with others and learn socially approved behavior” (223). This idea that the purpose of junior high schools is “human development” was echoed by students in Cave’s study. For example, one student said, “School makes you bigger as a person. I’d hate it if school didn’t have the humanity it does” (203).This emphasis on human development is reflected in how teachers and students perceive the role of teachers. In Japanese junior high schools, according to Cave, the role of teacher is divided into gakushu shido (academic guidance; mostly teaching) and seikatsu shido (literally, “living guidance”; 60). Cave asserts that both teacher roles are given equal importance, if not more given to the latter. Students also seem to appreciate this emphasis on the living aspect over the academic. In one of Cave’s interviews, a student explained: “There are more times when you get anxious and uncertain inside, at our age. Teachers who’ll help you in earnest at those times are what I’m most glad about. Study you can do yourself, any amount, but things you’re worried about, you can’t solve those problems by yourself” (204).Although Cave does not discuss the meaning of the word shido itself, it is important to note here that the two characters that comprise the word shido mean “to point” and “to guide.” Therefore, the word shido gives an impression that teachers are there to guide students through the path toward a goal, which provides a different impression from the word “instruct” or “instructor” in English.The emphasis on seikatsu shido can also be seen in the structure of Japanese junior high schools. They have a “homeroom class,” in which a group of students stay together all day not only for classes but also eating together and cleaning together. These activities create an atmosphere of community, a group of people living together, not just studying together. There are also many nonacademic school events, such as sports days, culture festivals, chorus contests, field trips, and overnight school trips. All of these fall under the category of seikatsu shido because they teach students how to collaboratively work with others and build community.Seikatsu shido also encompasses behavioral guidance in terms of discipline, which can be viewed differently in the East and the West. Unlike many schools in the United States, many Japanese schools do not employ punishments such as detention, suspension, or expulsion; instead, they work on preventive discipline, which includes creating and enforcing rules on appropriate appearance and behavior. These appropriate behaviors are reinforced in club activities, which most students join. However, such behavior control is coupled with teachers focusing on getting to know the students and gaining trust through homeroom classes and home visits and working on creating a supporting community.Although some may argue that this type of discipline in Japanese schools creates excessive behavioral control, others may view such an approach as leading to the type of “relational autonomy” discussed above. Speaking from personal experience, when I was in elementary school and junior high school in Japan, I remember never being supervised during recess. At my junior high school, sometimes the homeroom teacher ate lunch with the students but not always. In those instances, students were left unsupervised. We also had a lot of preparation time for school events or some independent study periods, during which we were also left without adult supervision. However, occurrences of problems seemed to be very rare. We were not fearful of punishment, nor were we consciously supervising each other. By sharing so many activities together as a community, I think we had a sense that if one acted selfishly, that behavior not only caused problems for the group but ultimately was not good for that individual either. I think this sense of community mutually created by teachers and students led to increased student autonomy in many nonacademic aspects of school life.Success in the Living Domain: Redefining the Role of GroupOne matter that Cave gives special attention to in his book is how educational reform has affected the nonacademic areas of the junior high school curriculum. Prior to the 1998 reform, Cave writes, central to Japanese junior high schools was the idea of shudan seikatsu, which can be translated as “group life.” This emphasis on group life “idealized discipline and submission to common rules” (40). A field trip was regularly organized at the beginning of each school year to address behavior issues by inculcating this “group life” mentality based on discipline and control. In 2007, this beginning-of-the-year field trip still continued at the junior high school, but with a shift in focus. Teachers still tried to address behavior issues, but instead of focusing on discipline and control, they focused on developing human relationships between teachers and students, as well as among students. The words teachers used also shifted from shudan (group) to nakama, which can be translated as “supportive group,” or even “friends” or “comrades.” Cave argues that although both of these words mean “group,” nakama carries a sense of warmth and refers to the people you belong with, whereas shudan is comparatively cold and refers to a public, nonfamilial group. During the field trip, students were given increased autonomy in activities such as organization of recreation and orienteering, as well as increased opportunities for problem solving through daily life activities such as cooking. Although Cave uses this example to argue that schools reshaped the reform policy to fit their own agendas (58), when viewed exclusively in the living domain of school life, I consider this as a success of the reform movement to value and encourage the development of autonomous thinking.Again, speaking from personal experience in light of Cave’s theme, one such field trip was particularly memorable for me. We took a train to Kyoto for sightseeing and learning the history of the ancient capital city. We were put into groups of four to six, given a map of Kyoto, and given about three hours to explore wherever we wanted as long as it was one of the historical sites. Teachers were stationed at those historical sites and gave students stamps when they reached the location. All the groups completed the task and came back to the station on time, while also enjoying the freedom and the adventure. Not a single student out of the class of over 200 got lost, hurt, or into any trouble. Safety and societal values in Japan probably facilitated these opportunities. As a teacher in the United States, I unfortunately cannot imagine doing an activity like this, and I am amazed at the autonomy that was given to us at that time.Reinterpretation in the Integrated Studies: Deemphasis on the Development of IntellectAnother area Cave engages is the introduction of Integrated Studies, which were supposed to be one of the most important aspects of the reform agenda. Integrated Studies aimed at creating interdisciplinary units grounded in the local community. One is reminded of the Japanese educator Tsunesaburo Makiguchi’s (1981-88) early work in community studies as the integrating focus of instruction. (Coincidentally, Schools: Studies in Education has carried a number of Makiguchi’s essays and articles on Makiguchi’s influence in education both in Japan and around the world, e.g., Makiguchi [1897] 2010; Makiguchi [1936] 2015; see also Gebert 2009). However, contrary to the intended reform agenda’s focus on student autonomy in the academic domain (and quite different from Makiguchi’s work), Integrated Studies was often used as a convenient vehicle for worthwhile but nonacademic activities teachers had difficulty finding time for, such as preparation for school trips, workplace experiences, and experiential studies of welfare facilities (164). Although Cave observed moments in these activities to potentially develop student autonomy in the academic domain, he concluded that teachers failed to intellectually stimulate students for autonomous thinking; instead, they focused solely on developing students’ social and emotional skills (156). Through his interviews, Cave discovered that many teachers that the of Integrated Studies was and that many students were not for such autonomous study the teachers did not the values by the reform agenda, they the to teach the which and to these the reform agenda as in the Integrated Studies was often reinterpreted to promote human development in the social and emotional without autonomous thinking and learning in the Cave’s one that Cave have Makiguchi’s (1981-88) work in the area of community which for both academic learning and a type of contributive living he own of the type of Integrated Studies Cave those discussed in Schooling According to a conducted by Cave, for school and workplace are among the three Integrated Studies time was used in and these are what I remember from my Integrated Studies During preparation for our school trip to we the that there toward the of as was the only in Japan where What I still remember is the of the group called Japanese in the and their in the For workplace experience, I remember a local was a at this so I also a times after this workplace experience, not this a opportunities were important for to develop as a human and these are of Japanese junior high schools that can develop emotional and sense of social that should not be However, I with Cave that these were not the intended interdisciplinary units and did not the purpose of developing autonomous thinking in the academic domain, with which Makiguchi likely in the of and then how the curricular reform in the areas such as and with from teachers in many One of the major of the curricular reform was to encourage individual autonomy and through and speaking However, Cave observed any change in classes to and after the reform policy was put into teachers the activities that were by the to the lack of in teaching and the lack of time to this into an curriculum. There were some where teachers tried to individual of students’ but they after many students being or not being to learning This seemed to be to the lack of guidance the Although not explicitly it seemed to that these teachers as students doing and activities by without any guidance from the which many teachers found it to with Cave’s as I did not a single junior high and high school I took the to to the United the educational policy sought to encourage and build on individual strength was through instruction. However, this also with from many teachers. As the of many teachers viewed the role of junior high school education to be the of basic skills What in many was that instead of teachers gave the same and to all students, of their or learning During my junior high school days, I some where teachers after school to help students. However, these were mostly of class without any or I also do not any of the class area in Cave’s book is the of the idea of and which could have affected of instruction. In a country like Japan, one could argue that the idea of is than This that teaching might have viewed as and the other hand, the idea of equity can be more in the United States, and important in equity As an educator in the United States, I that the emphasis on is one of the of from which Japanese teachers can We what does Cave’s book particularly those of us who are teaching of the Japanese decades of reform movements in Japan, both and for can three for educational The first two are based on the and the is based on my own of this a approach without from teachers and likely in and sometimes when the seems Therefore, even when the reform was it in by schools and teachers, in a without what the reform was supposed to even when teachers to the set out by the reform, these do not get implemented when teachers are not or given time to This the of development for a reform The is the of integrating the reform agenda Japanese teachers in Cave’s book resisted curricular reforms because the teachers these reforms their time and from what they believed to be more human development of all students and helping the students The success of the reform agenda in the surrounding nonacademic areas was because teachers did not see the as the values of human development. Therefore, if teachers realized that Integrated Studies, and teaching could be implemented in that the human development of all students and the students, they might have more in the curricular Schooling many to educational reform, one matter Cave did not address are the of Japanese which some important for in the United States, particularly as the United States with its own reform One of the most important is that schools are a for human development of character as well as the to get along with just a to develop development and social relationships are not only by teachers but also by students. This purpose of education to important concept about the role of teachers and the Japanese junior high schools great emphasis on Cave’s interviews that students teachers helping during and teachers also in students’ through seikatsu shido shido supervising club activities, and home Japanese of the role of schooling and the role of teachers seem to the of home and Japanese educator, also asserts that education is a of human development through also and that, just as a can only be by the of education in the that out students’ and it so that students can lead and create a society in which out each teachers also as human and strive to develop students’ and the as what we think of as academic such as and However, the important is that he gives equal to the development of the aspect of inner and and inner as of education This of schools as a of human development through relationships can lead schools, teachers, and to their to concept that can be from Cave’s treatment of Japanese schools is the idea of and autonomy. Although individual freedom and autonomy are in the United States, they are often to leading to the Japanese culture seems to that and mutual in for autonomous thinking and At the same time, the around juku and high school entrance examinations in Japan that individualization and emphasis on self-reliance are not with the cultivation of autonomy. this, the educational reform movement in Japan was intended to develop “power to which includes “individuality, creativity, and autonomous thinking on the one hand, and social connectedness, empathy, and cooperation on the other” (38). and other not as mutually concepts but as mutually concepts can be in how we structure schools and curriculum in the United Cave and Japanese culture and the often in how Japanese people and This book is appropriate for readers who to know about the educational reform movement in as educational reforms are toward goals, Cave’s Schooling unfortunately the most reform, a educational policy in and put into in This policy has sought to the between two the reform agenda of the and that focused on individual and autonomy and the to agenda in order to high academic on of this change in educational readers of Cave’s book may be left with an understanding of education Role of Studies in the Studies citation in as the of A between Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and Francis W. Schools: Studies in Education 7 citation in and of through and in the citation in The Human vol. citation in the of that Parker into the Schools: Studies in Education 7 in early on vol. 7 of Makiguchi Tsunesaburo [The of Makiguchi citation in toward The toward and the toward Schools: Studies in Education in Japanese in vol. of citation in Makiguchi [The of Tsunesaburo citation in Previous articleNext article by Schools in association with the Francis W. Parker Chicago For to no articles this

Tech Support

Original Source

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/691253

References

**** - The New Human Revolution
**** - Makiguchi Tsunesaubro Zenshu [The complete works of Tsunesaburo Makiguchi]. 10 vols