Japanese politics and the history textbook controversy, 1982–2001

In recent years, there has been a good deal of media and academic interest in the ways in which Japanese history textbooks represent Japan's wartime past. However, the discussion has tended to revolve primarily around a number of symbolic textbook issues, such as government censorship of the term ‘aggression,’ without much consideration of divisions and conflict within the state and the ruling bloc itself. Consequently, no real analysis has emerged concerning the ways in which right-wing nationalist elements have exploited the textbook issue with the aim of reinforcing their political and cultural dominance over contemporary Japan.This article presents the Japanese history textbook controversy as an ongoing cultural and political struggle. It attempts to understand the process of the textbook struggle historically, and the relations between political parties and actors, the state bureaucracy, and right-wing nationalists. In particular, the study examines the ways in which the power of right-wing nationalism has been appropriated and negotiated by the leaders and members of the Liberal Democratic Party and bureaucrats in the Ministry of Education. It also looks at the ways in which such power has been resisted by textbook authors, educators, and certain segments of public opinion.     

Appropriating professionalism: restructuring the official knowledge base of England’s ‘modernised’ teaching profession

The present paper examines efforts by government and government agencies in England to prescribe and control the knowledge base of a teaching profession that has, under successive New Labour administrations since 1997, been subjected to ‘modernisation’. A theoretical framework drawn from aspects of the work of Basil Bernstein, and of Rob Moore and Lynn Jones, is drawn upon to examine in some detail one key aspect of this ongoing process of governmental appropriation of professionalism: the specification by the Training and Development Agency for Schools of new ‘standards’ for both initial teacher training and teachers’ subsequent career progression. It is argued that although this enterprise represents itself as a species of purely common‐sense reform, it is in fact a mode of competency training that is rooted in selective appropriation of elements of post‐fordist management theory and a loose form of behaviourist psychology. The capacity of this training discourse to suppress awareness of its own presuppositions and of alternative or competing conceptions of professions and professionalism is explored.     

‘No escape from the hard things of the world’: learning the lessons of empire

Educating older adults (in the so‐called third age) is becoming an increasingly important activity for the elderly, above all because it empowers them, while at the same time reducing their social exclusion. The aim of this paper is to closely examine the actual state of affairs and the education possibilities for older adults in Slovenia. The article deals with a secondary analysis of data that was collected in three Slovene researches dealing with the participation of adults in the education process in 1987, 1998 and 2004. The purpose of the analysis is to examine te changes in the participation of the older adults, their motivation for education and barriers that have dissuaded them from education. Special attention is devoted to the development of the offer of educational programmes for older adults in Slovenia. The authors state that the offer of education for older adults has improved between 1987 and 2004, while the participation has declined. The older adults mentioned a number of various barriers that represent the reasons for the decline in their participation, however the major obstacle is the low educational level of older adults.     

‘Becoming our own experts’: lessons from the past

This article reports on a local curriculum development project from the 1970s that shared many of the features of action research, though it was not thought of as such. Teacher control, the bridging of the theory–practice divide, the centrality of practitioner classroom research, and the quality of pupils' learning were all features of the project. The article also discusses the problematics of outsider involvement, of contributions to knowledge, and of authenticity.     

A comparativist’s predicaments of writing about ‘other’ education: a self-reflective,critical review of studies of Japanese education

This self-reflexive essay teases out the predicaments that I have encountered through my past publishing experience, while situating them in a critical review of the existing English-language studies of Japanese education. Drawing on postcolonial theoretical insights and recent critical sociology of academic knowledge production, I use my personal experience as a starting point to identify the particular discursive structure of comparative education that constrains the articulation of ‘other’ education in the field. My critical review of comparative studies of Japanese education demonstrates that many of them, including my own, unreflexively accept the subject positions offered by this discursive condition and thus further constrain space for those who write in English about ‘other’ education and Japanese education in particular. In conclusion, I discuss recent studies of Japanese education that partially address the dilemmas raised in this paper and the wider implications of this study for the field of comparative education.     

‘Training by Papua New Guinea women,for Papua New Guinea women’: lessons from the development of a co-constructed course for women smallholder farmers

This article examines the lessons from a collaborative project that worked with women agricultural leaders in Papua New Guinea. The project sought to build the capacity of these leaders as trainers in a way that would enable the development of a sustainable community of practice and worked within a critical and place-based pedagogy underpinned by asset-based community development principles. Whilst the process of our collaborative work has a number of salutary lessons, the co-construction of the training course with PNG women farmer leaders did illustrate a particular knowledge design continuum: that is, surfacing knowledge, distilling knowledge, clarifying knowledge and then consolidating knowledge. From this consolidated knowledge, together we were able to design locally valid and locally relevant modules. As the trainers went out to trial their training, they were then engaging in sharing knowledge and reviewing that knowledge which then lead to our collective ability to improve knowledge that will enhance future training in this area.     

Japan’s new lifelong learning policy: exploring lessons from the European knowledge economy

The concept of ‘lifelong learning’ or shōgai gakushū has rapidly become one of the topmost priorities in Japan’s education policy agenda. This was considerably evident in December 2006 when the term ‘lifelong learning’ was added to Japan’s educational charter, the Fundamental Law of Education. This paper explores, as a means to develop Japan’s new lifelong learning policy, the lessons that can be learnt through an examination of the European countries’ efforts to build a knowledge economy, where lifelong learning is regarded as the key solution in overcoming several important social and economic concerns. In this paper, I first examine the current situation of lifelong learning in Japan, employing the ethnographic data that I have collected since 2001. Second, I provide a brief review of the European lifelong learning policy, which is one of the priority guidelines in the European Union. Under the Lisbon Strategy, for example, the argument on European lifelong learning theoretically centres on developing human capital in order to survive in the global knowledge economy. Lastly, referring to the European experience over the past decade, I propose to directly connect Japan’s latest policy development regarding lifelong learning with the trend of building human capital through lifelong learning in order to enhance its competitiveness in the era of globalisation.     

Hands-on history: towards a critique of the ‘everyday’

The modern Turkish state and society have been greatly influenced by reforms of the education system. Second Constitutional Period reforms can be viewed as the preparatory stage of Republican reforms and a time when many of the later reforms were planned and given limited application. In this way both periods contributed to the foundation of modern Turkey. The innovations pioneered by Late Ottoman intellectuals stemmed from various origins, mostly European positivists and materialist philosophers. American pragmatism was added as an ideological source during the foundation of the Republic. It can be observed that ideological trends took root from Ottoman times according to the degree that intellectuals were affected by them. In this paper, the ideological origins of educational reforms during the Second Constitution Period have been studied in relation to the influence of European philosophers on Ottoman intellectuals of the time and their ideological environments. Late Ottoman intellectuals were found to have been largely affected by France’s positivism, German’s materialism and Comte, Durkheim, Büchner and Spencer. The paper reveals how modern Turkey’s educational philosophy parameters have been shaped by these intellectuals’ ideas.     

Curriculum decisions – the challenges of teacher autonomy over knowledge selection for history

This paper explores the challenges for teachers in positioning them as independent curriculum makers. History teachers in New Zealand have recently entered uncharted territory with the abandonment of prescribed topics for history and a new-found authority to determine the selection of historical knowledge taught to their senior secondary students. This paper examines the complex nature of the teacher’s new role and responsibilities and argues that curriculum achievement objectives and national assessment places significant constraints upon teachers’ selections of historical knowledge. There is the potential for substantive historical knowledge to be downplayed in favour of procedural knowledge and the potential for assessment drivers to dominate or distort selection of knowledge for history. Local curriculum making places a heavy burden of responsibility upon teachers with implications for students’ access to powerful historical knowledge.     

Learning through culture: seeking “critical case studies of possibilities” in the history of education

Abstract

In Radical Education and the Common School (2011), Michael Field and Peter Moss argue for a radical alternative to the failed and dysfunctional contemporary discourse about education and the school with its focus on markets, competition, instrumentality, standardisation, and managerialism. They argue that it is necessary, if we are to progress “social alternatives” in education, to construct micro-histories of schools that have developed as “real utopias” through radically revising their practice. They call these micro-histories “critical case studies of possibilities”. In To Hell with Culture (1963), the art educator and anarchist Herbert Read returned to a theme he had been exploring since the early 1930s – the purpose of education. For him, “education” implied many things, but he saw modern practice as “socially disintegrating”. Instead, Read offered an alternative to the dominant discourse about education under capitalism in the 1960s which would create “that collective consciousness which is the spiritual energy of a people and the only source of its art and culture”. To what extent was Read’s conception of education an ideal, a dream unfulfilled? Following Fielding and Moss this paper will seek to trace “critical case studies of possibilities” drawn from the past which reflect the fundamental connection identified by Read between school learning, “collective consciousness”, art, and culture.     

School principals’ views of teacher evaluation policy: lessons learned from two empirical studies

Teacher evaluation accountability policies are emerging worldwide. This study examines principals’ perceptions of teacher evaluation in terms of commonalities and differences arising from two research projects conducted in Portugal and in the US. Perceptions of school principals in regard to a new policy on teacher evaluation as well as its perceived effects at school and conditions for its implementation will be analysed. Findings point to the challenges and successes of coping with mandated accountability measures in two different contexts. Principals balanced perceived conflicting goals, sought maintenance of positive teacher relationships and school culture and managed the tensions of policy implementation and the making sense of its effects at school. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

History educators and the challenge of immersive pasts: a critical review of virtual reality ‘tools’ and history pedagogy

This paper will undertake a critical review of the impact of virtual reality tools on the teaching of history. Virtual reality is useful in several different ways. History educators, elementary and secondary school teachers and professors, can all profit from the digital environment. Challenges arise quickly however. Virtual reality technologies show great pedagogical promise in the presentation of research. It is also asserted that these technologies provide real‐world immersion in the ‘historical past’ in a way that was previously not possible. Can these systems truly take the place of classrooms, elementary and secondary, and the research projects of graduate studies? Ultimately, technological optimists argue that these technologies create an ‘alternate reality’. Can history educators agree to such an ‘alternate reality’? The principle conclusions drawn in this paper include a need for further development of virtual simulations, both in terms of their realism and the immediacy of the classroom experience. Further practical experimentation by history educators in the research environment is also key.     

Bourdieu’s lessons for internationalising Anglophone education: declassifying Sino-Anglo divisions over critical theorising

To ratify possibilities for worldly linguistic connectivities and critical theorising there is a need to forgo the exclusionary preoccupation with English and Western critical theories. The debates informing the international circulation of Bourdieu’s (1977, 1993, 1999, 2004) ideas provide methodological lessons for moving from critical sociology of education to educational research for critique. This study reports on the use of Chinese metaphors to critically theorise evidence of Australian education. It provides an analysis of the translation of Chinese metaphors, their use as theoretical tools and the preempting of the antagonistic reception of Chinese metaphors by Western Anglophone educators. A worldly education of linguistic connectivities and critical theorising is shown to engage in the reflexivity necessary for making Chinese research students’ bi- or multilingual competence a presence in Australian teacher-researcher education. At the, same time they are articulating claims for reconfiguring its internationalisation.     

Political partisanship,bureaucratic pragmatism and Acadian nationalism: New Brunswick,Canada’s 1920 history textbook controversy

During a time of post-war sensitivity to Canadian nationalism and patriotism, public feeling was aroused in 1920 New Brunswick regarding a world history textbook with a new chapter about the First World War. The American author made no reference to Canada’s war efforts. The subsequent public discussion focused on issues of patriotism, citizenship, history education and schooling, but it eventually dissolved into longstanding conflicts over language and religion. This case study investigates how questions about history education were interpreted through the lens of the political partisanship of the newspaper editor, the bureaucratic rationality of the educational administrator, and the Acadian nationalism of the Roman Catholic Bishop. The controversy depicts a loosening but not breaking of postcolonial ties, and uncovers the political nature of public memory, along with the complex intertwining of religion and language rights within schooling, history education and citizenship in post-war Canada and New Brunswick.