The Education of Material Use in Core Curriculum Movement in 1945-1953

Abstract

During the occupation period of WWII (World War II) in Japan, a reform of school education was conducted by the General Headquarters of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (GHQ/SCAP) and the Ministry of Education in Japan. In the process of the reformation, "the new education movement after WWII" emerged from school teachers. "Core Curriculum Movement" is one of the education movements by some of the teachers. This study examined how the practice of the movement took up the education of material use in 1945-1953, for exploring the needs of school library at that time in Japan. Especially, this study focused on "the plan of Akashi elementary school attached to Hyogo normal school for woman". The study found two points of the the material use for learning. First, The method of the plan was based on the Virginia elementary school program using large varieties of material. Second, in the process of learning activities of the plan, the teachers of the school conducted the student getting the material use skill and using library. Therefore, the teachers brought in the American education of material use to the plan, and was partly assumed the education using school library. Furthermore, this study suggested that the material use education was assumed on the other plans in the movement.