Abstract
The purpose of this study is to reexamine Dewey's methods of early childhood education in order to clarify what elements of these methods can be applied to early childhood education in today's Japan. The structure of Dewey's methods of early childhood education can be viewed as follows. They are aimed at enabling children to independently organize knowledge around central subject matters established by the teacher. Moreover, in order to foster the development of children who voluntarily continue to pursue realistic and cooperative inquiries, the means of childhood study is developed into a cooperative inquiring process that depends on qualitative changes in children's ends, the qualitative development of children's inquiries and the development of cooperative activities among children. While we acknowledge the validity of certain basic criticisms of Dewey's methods of early childhood education, we consider that the following elements of the theory can be constructively applied to early childhood education in today's Japan. 1) The approach that teachers establish central subject matters for children's activities and stress the continuity of children's activity because of importance attached to the independent organization of knowledge by children. 2) The approach that teachers foster the development of children who voluntarily continue to pursue realistic inquiries. 3) The approach that teachers organize cooperative activities among children by making positive use of communication. The application of these elememts to early childhood education in Japan has an effect on our accomplishment of the basic educational tasks of encouraging children to acquire knowledge, fostering the development of children who voluntarily continue to pursue their study, making use of child's individuality, and realizing a cooperative relationship among children.
