The Development Process of the School Library in Okinawa

A Focus on the Curriculum in Ryu-kyu: 1954-1960

Abstract

This study analyzed Japanese language and social studies in the curricula adopted in Okinawa between 1954 and 1960. This was termed the “Standard Curriculum,” and it reflected a consideration of how programs using related materials were positioned in the curriculum. The plan to promote reading and the use of libraries was incorporated into the curriculum as a tentative plan for the subject of Japanese language, while problem-solving using a variety of reference materials, including encyclopedias, statistics, newspapers, and maps was established as a tentative plan for social studies. Although the “Standard Curriculum” was developed based on the Courses of Study issued by the Ministry of Education, learning credits under problem-solving and the use of reference materials were still included and the use of libraries for the purpose of voluntary learning was clearly specified when revisions were made to the social studies curriculum in 1957. This indicates that Okinawa took a path that differed from the 1955 revised Course of Study for social studies in Japan. While the school library law was not yet in place, the purchase of library books was recorded as “capital” in the 1955 school education expenditures. Contrastingly, the Ryukyuan-American Cultural Center was always categorized as “Other” in the “Libraries” list within the guidelines specified by the Ministry of Education in 1957, indicating that the libraries’ educational curricula were structurally entangled with the occupation cultural policy. It was also confirmed during the course of this research that the subjects adopted in the “Standard Curriculum” still exist today.