Abstract
Because of rapid globalization, there have been increasing numbers of attempts in school education system to tackle with difficulties in upholding and inheriting local traditions and culture. In this study, we aim to explore the ways of learning local culture through the existing educational theories and by developing an educational program for motivating school children to learn the local culture. Based on Saeki’s theory, which regards learning as participating in authentic cultural practices, we figure out that such a learning can be considered as a performative act through which the culture is socially endowed with authenticity. Additionally, we developed a walk-around program based on Shiki Masaoka’s “Sansakusyu,” a cultural heritage of Matsuyama City in Ehime Prefecture, and explored how children learned through this program. As a result, we found that the children had a tendency to understand the townscape from a new viewpoint of experience of behaving “as if” they were Shiki. We also found that they had an increased tendency to feel the attachment to and pride in Shiki as well as in the town that fostered his haiku culture. In addition, we found that the children continued this kind of cultural practice independently even after the program ended. Finally, on the basis of these results, we discuss a basic structure of learning the local culture.
