2021 Volume 88 Issue 4 Pages 622-633
The purpose of this paper is to examine the concept of “horizontal develoment” in Oumi-Gakuen (a prefectural facility for orphans and children with intellectual disabilities) from 1946 to 1970, focusing on group formation in practice.
The paper consists of the following sections.
1. The practice of vocational education at Oumi-Gakuen in its early days
2. The practice focusing on the developmental stage at the early 1960s Oumi-Gakuen
3. The practice of “mixed formation” in living groups at the late 1960s Oumi-Gakuen
The first section of this paper examines cooperation between children with and without intellectual disabilities within vocational education, in particular the practice of the Department of Ceramics. Through this practice, staff perceived cases similar to “horizontal development” even in the early days of Oumi-Gakuen. In addition, they found “horizontal development” within group activities.
The second section considers group instruction for the children with severe disabilities, showing that staff began to grasp “horizontal development” through this practice. Furthermore, it is shown that “horizontal development” could be seen in ordinary friendships among the children. Conversely, researchers made the point that guaranteeing several heterogenous group activities for children is essential for “horizontal development”.
Third section analyzes the introduction of “mixed formation” focusing on the relation to “horizontal development”. The practice of “mixed formation” is different from previous practices because it is clearly focused on “horizontal development”. Through this practice, staff estimated that friendships between children were more significant for “horizontal development” of children with disabilities than guaranteeing several heterogenous group activities. In addition, “horizontal development” is shown to contain another meaning: that of coming to confront the discrimination against children with disabilities cooperatively with others in the practice of “mixed formation”.
