From "Postwar Pedagogy" to "Post-Cold War Pedagogy" : An Overview of the History of Educational Theory in Japan 1945-2007

Abstract

This paper examines the development of educational theory in Japan from 1945 to the present in five time divisions: (1) postwar "new education" and its critics (1945-52); (2) revisionist educational policy versus the people's education movement (1952-61); (3) the formation of "postwar pedagogy" as a self-reflection of the educational system (1961-79); (4) the exposure of the structural limitations of postwar pedagogy (1979-92); and (5) "post-Cold War pedagogy" (1992-). The aims of the paper are: (1) to redefine "postwar pedagogy" as a concept with substantive rather than simply temporal boundaries; and (2) to situate contemporary educational theory in historical perspective by describing "post-Cold War pedagogy." An analysis of "postwar pedagogy" and "post-Cold War pedagogy" reveals that educational theory has continually played the role of self-reflection upon the educational system. In this sense, while educational theory is dependent upon on the educational system, it has also, through reflection, participated in the shaping of the system.