“Educative Instruction” in Japanese Writing Education: Enosuke Ashida’s Composition Pedagogy

Abstract

Enosuke Ashida is one of Japan’s most outstanding educational practitioners. He made a remarkable contribution to Japanese writing education by proposing a novel composition pedagogy called Zuiisendai—a free composition in which children select their own essay topics. This method influenced the “Zuiisendai debate” and the “sakubun-suzurikata debate” is interest, however, was not in writing itself, but in the emancipation of students from the pictures that had held them captive. This paper reconsiders Ashida’s “critique on modern education,” focusing on his pedagogy of “educative instruction.”

This paper begins with an exploration of the theoretical characteristics of Ashida’s composition pedagogy. Second, it presents the educational history of his work. Third, it confirms Ashida’s vision of writing education as a means to overcome modern education through the incorporation of educational aspects of Zen thought. It then presents the significance and limitations of the study.

The paper concludes that “educative instruction” in Japanese writing education should be guided by the following teaching objectives: perceiving writing education as a continuous renewal of world recognition, being organized to ensure transfer of ability, and considering whether the method of recognition is not inclined toward “edification.”