Critical Study on Treatment of Cutting Tools in Elementary School Arts and Crafts: Focusing on the Relationship with National Textbooks Before and During the War

Abstract

　　 This study critically examines the treatment of cutting tools in elementary school Arts and Crafts education by analyzing textbooks and the course of study from pre-, during-, and post-war periods. The national textbook “Shōgakkō Kyōshiyō Shukō Kyōkasho” (Elementary School Teacher’s Manual for Handicrafts, 1904) largely established the foundation for Crafts education. Subsequently, the wartime national textbooks “Enohon” (Book of Pictures, 1941) and “Shotōka Kōsaku” (Elementary Crafts, 1942-3) significantly influenced post-war Crafts education. The current grade-specific introduction of cutting tools—scissors in first grade, knives and saws in middle grades, and coping saws in upper grades—was implemented approximately 80 years ago during wartime. This structure has persisted to the present day without sufficient consideration.