Abstract
This essay explores how the Akita-based prewar pedagogy movement, the Northern Education movement (Hoppo Kyoiku, hereafter, NEM) could have relevance to the educational mission of Akita International University (hereafter, AIU). Specifically, this study will compare and contrast NEM’s “life guidance” with the similarly holistic, communication-centered “international liberal arts” of the University. NEM’s emphasis on communal engagement, grass-roots practitioner collaboration and reflective practice, and students’ critical thinking and self-mastery all could serve as useful touchstones for how AIU might reshape its education program moving forward. This essay is not necessarily suggesting that AIU abandon the original “global human resource” vision of its founding president. However, it is suggesting that through a more active engagement with the pedagogical tradition of NEM, AIU might further enhance and legitimize recent trends towards a more multi-dimensional, Akita-based educational model.
