Fusae Tsumori:

Her Viewpoints on Childcare and the Methodology of Case Interpretation

Abstract

  Fusae Tsumori explored humanistic childcare practice together with Makoto Tsumori. Through her essays on her daily life episodes with children, she explains her deep understanding of childcare.

  This paper is an attempt to show Fusae Tsumori's view of childcare and her methodology of case interpretation, implicit throughout her works but not properly recognized today. Her view of childcare was explicated in the following respects; the significance of the inner world, mutuality, spontaneous unfolding of life processes, humanistic childcare, and the reality of everyday life. Concerning interpretation, she based it on sympathy and respect for children, and then tested it against the process of mutual interaction. Five criteria of the interpretation she employed are extracted; integration of something previously unrecognized, multiple networks of supporting evidence, context of childcare, reflection, and reference to human nature. Her thoughts and methodology offer important insights into future childcare research.