Author: Alfred Birnbaum
Translator: Alfred Birnbaum
Alfred Birnbaum
Publisher: National Book Trust
Year: 2018
Language: English
Pages: 260
ISBN/UPC (if available): 9788123736501
Description
Tsuneaburo Makiguchi, a brilliant educator and outspoken critic of Japanese education, was barred from formal teaching by his government and died in prison in 1944. This book is a translation of his position papers and notes written over a thirty-year period.
Tsuneaburo Makiguchi, a brilliant educator and outspoken critic of Japanese education, was barred from formal teaching by his government and died in prison in 1944. This book is a translation of his position papers and notes written over a thirty-year period and published in early 1930s. He believed that Japanese education, far from creating a democratic society of responsible, clear-thinking citizens, turned most youths into morally and socially irresponsible automations.
This book, however, does not dwell on what is wrong with education but rather outlines Makiguchi’s inspiring philosophy and revolutionary proposals for reforms. Above all, Makiguchi professed that students must experience happiness in school and that school must be directly relevant to their lives. He suggested that family, school and society share the responsibility for education; that the force-feeding of information to students be replaced by an emphasis on the development of reason and economic, moral and aesthetic values; that from elementary grades through college, school be held for only half a day to allow students to be introduced to work and that the whole education system, including teacher education and curriculum development, be overhauled to incorporate his “value-creating pedagogy”
TRANSLATOR:
Dayle M Bethel is dean and professor of education and anthropology at the International University Learning Centre in Osaka, Japan. A graduate of Graceland College, Lamoni, Iowa, and Dr Bethel earned an M A in cultural anthropology at the University of Iowa and a Ph D in comparative and international education at Michigan State University. He has spent more than thirty years in teaching and educational administration and for twenty years has researched the life and educational philosophy of Tsunesaburo Makiguchi.
Contents
Preface to the Original Japanese Edition
Foreword: Historical and Contemporary significance
Introduction
Basic Themes in Makiguchi’s Writings
Criticism and Evaluation
CHAPTER 1
REFLECTIONS ON PURPOSE IN EDUCATION
Formulating Purpose in Education
Happiness as the Purpose of Education
Educational Purpose and Society
Modes of Human Living
Educational Purpose and Creativity
The Evolution of Purpose in Education
CHPATER 2
THE FUNDAMENTS OF VALUE
Value and Education
Cognition and Evaluation
Cognition
Value
The Varieties of Value
The Relationship between Science, Religion, Value Creation, and Education
Personality Integration and Value Creation
CHAPTER 3
THE REVITALIZATION OF EDUCATION
A New Direction in Educational Policy
The Organization of Educational Systems
The Teacher as Educational Technician
An Examination System for Elementary School Principals
Proposed Reforms in Teacher Employment Conditions
Proposed Reforms in Teacher Education
Proposal for a National Educational Research Centre
Proposed Reforms in Educational Administration
Proposed Reforms in the School System
The Half-Day School System
CHAPTER 4
EDUCATIONAL METHODOLOGY
Principal Issues Underlying Educational Methodology
Studies in Educational Methodology
CHAPTER 5
TEACHING MATERIALS
The Selection of Teaching Materials
Structuring the Curriculum
Afterward: A Philosophical Appraisal
Notes