The balance between individual independence and social interdependence is a perennial debate in Japan. This book, based on an extended, detailed study of two primary schools in the Kinki district of Japan, discusses these debates.

This comprehensive study of the Japanese education system follows the Japanese child from the kindergarten, through the progressively more arduous and competitive environments of the elementary, middle and high schools, to the relative relaxation, even hedonism, of university life. Drawing on numerous surveys and on the author's personal experience, it provides a wealth of information on teaching methodologies, discipline, class sizes, the school day, assessment and the national curriculum. It also examines the role of the central Ministry of Education and the local boards in administering education throughout the country, and outlines and assesses the government's recent programs of educational reform. The behavior, attitudes and expectations of pupils and parents are discussed in detail, and placed within their political, social and historical context, revealing the complex cultural assumptions determining learning and socialization in Japan. This study thus contributes to the efforts of educators and sociologists to understand and evaluate different approaches to education in diverse cultures, increasingly important in the global information age. It shows how the American and Japanese education systems are based on fundamentally different concepts of society: democratic individualism and hierarchic collectivism respectively. While discussing the positive and negative effects of each extreme, it suggests that American educators might learn from a system in which truancy, insolence, violence and drug abuse are comparatively rare. However, the study shows how the traditional ideals of Japanese education - unquestioning acceptance, self-sacrifice, and respect for superiors - face serious challenges in a time of globalization, and moral, social and cultural change.

The balance between individual independence and social interdependence is a perennial debate in Japan. A series of educational reforms since 1990, including the implementation of a new curriculum in 2002, has been a source of fierce controversy. This book, based on an extended, detailed study of two primary schools in the Kinki district of Japan, discusses these debates, shows how reforms have been implemented at the school level, and explores how the balance between individuality and social interdependence is managed in practice. It discusses these complex issues in relation to personal identity within the class and within the school, in relation to gender issues, and in relation to the teaching of specific subjects, including language, literature and mathematics. The book concludes that, although recent reforms have tended to stress individuality and independence, teachers in primary schools continue to balance the encouragement of individuality and self-direction with the development of interdependence and empathy.

The Center for US-Japan Comparative Social Studies (www.usjp.org) is an Internet-based nonprofit organization. Since its inception in 2000, the Center has provided information about education, culture and society in the United States and Japan. The author of this book, Miki Y. Ishikida, is Director and a principal researcher at the Center.Japanese Education in the 21st Century is an introduction to contemporary Japanese education and provides the latest information and resources for educators and anyone with an interest in the Japanese school system.Author Miki Y. Ishikida describes The rapid changes in today's Japanese schools and communities that came about from the implementation of the 1987 recommendation of the National Council on Educational Reform that relaxed rigid school regulations Compensatory education and ethnic education for minority and disadvantaged children-Buraku children, Ainu children, Korean children, Nikkei children and disabled children-that are designed to improve their academic achievements and to give them a sense of pride in their heritage Human rights education aimed to instill respect, acceptance, and tolerance for all people by teaching the history and culture of minority population. Ishikida discusses the current state of the Japanese educational system, and the issues of minority education, special education, and lifelong education based upon her examination of administrative documents, school journals, and secondary literature. She also presents the results of case studies from her classroom observations and interviews with teachers and administrators from a cross-section of Japanese schools.

A revised edition of a popular resource builds on the authors' findings that key problems in teaching methods are causing America to lag behind international academic standards, outlining a program for administrators, instructors, and parents that incorporates solutions based on current research. Reprint.

On the basis of direct personal observation in the classroom, systematically gathered data, and extensive reading in primary sources, the author provides a rich description of how a society can be gradually transformed by the educational process in its schools. He then relates this process to the problems of the advanced industrial world. Originally published in 1980. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.