The nursery school teacher theory of Sozo Kurahashi as seen in the novel Natsuko :

focusing on the process in search of identity

Abstract

The nursery school teacher theory of Kurahashi Sozo has been studied mainly in the conceptual realm. But since a teacher's quality is not something to be emulated mechanistically, but rather to be realized through each teacher herself, we should appreciate Kurahashi's theory not only conceptually but through the concrete processes and experiences. I examined Kurahashi's novel Natsuko, whose theme centers around a teacher's search for identity, and derived essential elements of his theory from it. In the teacher's search for identity, active and holistic commitment, the process of unconscious incubation, and learning from encounters with children are shown to be important momenta, though rarely explicated in previous studies. Teachers' reflections were discussed as an issue for further research.