2020 Volume 4 Issue 1 Pages 19-29
This paper attempts to clarify the meaning of “looking at” a child in SAEKI Yutaka’s thoughts. SAEKI says that “looking at” a child is different from the observation of a child’s behavior or the interpretation of a child’s mind. When we “look at” a child, we can see his/her pursuit of “goodness.” We hope that he/she will become a “good” person as we are “looking at” him/her. The “development” of a child is a phenomenon that emerges in the relationship between “looking at” a child and his/her pursuit of “goodness.” SAEKI shows the “development” of a child, this phenomenon, has a “doughnut structure.” In the “doughnut structure of a child’s development,” a child gradually participates in the real world of cultural practices and is given the help of a caretaker. According to SAEKI, the “culture” is something good in this context because the “culture” is conjointly made by people who pursue “goodness.” “Looking at” a child means “looking at” the child’s pursuit of “goodness,” and it is hoping that the child will become a “good” person while thinking of “goodness” as their “culture.”
