The Introduction of the Psychological View to the Kindergarten Education in the Taisho Period : The Case Study of Kobe Kindergarten

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the actual conditions of the kindergarten education in the Taisho period, focusing on the case of Kobe Kindergarten. In the early Taisho period, Kobe Kindergarten introduced psychology and started to research the physical and mental development of the Kindergarten children. On the basis of the psychological study, this kindergarten carried out the new educational methods such as Montessori method and the outing. In conclusion, the following three points are clarified. 1) The teachers of Kobe Kindergarten worked out the standard of the children's development and gave individual teaching to the children who were below the standard. In this process, they examined the effectiveness of their own teaching and intended to establish the teaching methods which suited the growth level of each child. 2) Their psychological study proved that children naturally had intellectual interests. As a result, the teachers recognized the importance of the intellectual activities, and adopted them together with physical and emotional education to encourage the well-balanced development of children. 3) The link between the kindergarten and the elementary school education was reviewed. The teachers thought that they shouldn't teach in advance what was going to be taught in the elementary school, and they pursued what the kindergarten could do to the children as a fundamental education. They objectively showed the actual effect of the kindergarten education to the elementary school teachers and asked for their understanding.