Journal of Japanese Educatinal Research Associaon for the Social Studies

[title in Japanese]

Article type: Cover
2014 Volume 81 Pages Cover1-
Published: November 30, 2014
Released on J-STAGE: July 01, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20799/jerasskenkyu.81.0_Cover1

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[title in Japanese]

Article type: Cover
2014 Volume 81 Pages Cover2-
Published: November 30, 2014
Released on J-STAGE: July 01, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20799/jerasskenkyu.81.0_Cover2

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Curriculum Thinking, 'Capabilities' and the Place of Geographical Knowledge in Schools(Special Contribution)

David Lambert

Article type: Article
2014 Volume 81 Pages 1-11
Published: November 30, 2014
Released on J-STAGE: July 01, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20799/jerasskenkyu.81.0_1

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This paper argues that curriculum thinking in education has been enormously influential on selecting what is taught and learned in geography classrooms. Although this may appear to be self-evident, we are reminded that in the UK at least the idea of curriculum only really emerged in geography educational thought in the last quarter of the twentieth century. During this time curriculum thinking in schools has managed to cement the importance of 'aims'. This paper argues that although beneficial in many ways, aims-led curriculum planning and development has arguably been somewhat careless with knowledge, and has even undermined the place of knowledge in the classroom. The paper argues for a re-emphasis on knowledge-led curriculum making, as one of the cornerstones of genuine progressive educational practice. It introduces the possibility of a capabilities approach as a heuristic to connect and reconcile aims-led and knowledge-led curriculum thought and action.

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Implications of Prof. Lambert's Paper for Educational Research in Japan : Curriculum Thinking based upon Powerful Knowledge and 'Capabilities Approach'(Special Contribution)

Naoyuki Ito

Article type: Article
2014 Volume 81 Pages 12-14
Published: November 30, 2014
Released on J-STAGE: July 01, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20799/jerasskenkyu.81.0_12

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The Development of Academic Assessments in History Education during the Prewar Period of Showa : Based on the Analysis of History Testing by Ryoji Maruyama and Yohei Utsuki

Yoshihiko Fukuda

Article type: Article
2014 Volume 81 Pages 15-26
Published: November 30, 2014
Released on J-STAGE: July 01, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20799/jerasskenkyu.81.0_15

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The purpose of this paper is to clarify the development of the measurements of academic ability and educational assessments in history education during the prewar period of Showa, based on the analysis of prior methods of testing history knowledge conducted by Ryoji Maruyama and Yohei Utsuki. The educational measurement campaign introduced from America to Japan by Kanichi Tanaka and others in the 1920s and 1930s criticized conventional test methods, emphasizing the need for scientific rather than subjective means of measuring the effect of instruction. This approach sought to implement the quantitative measurements that would provide rational grounds for evaluating educational programs and improving classroom instruction. The paper highlights three points. First, the debate over the measurement of academic ability and educational assessment in history education in Japan being highly influenced by the educational measurement movement in the United States, resulting in improved methods of testing student progress. Second, the assessment process was standardized by incorporating the research results of educational psychology and indexing the standard deviation. Third, the assessment process provided detailed information on how to improve the teaching of history. Maruyama and Utsuki performed their standardized testing at elementary schools, junior high schools, and girls' high schools in Gunma. Their analysis of test results revealed the gaps between the history materials that instructors were supposed to teach and what the children understood.

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Perspectives on History Education among Geography and History Teachers in Japan : Interpreted from Their Life Stories

Daisuke Murai

Article type: Article
2014 Volume 81 Pages 27-38
Published: November 30, 2014
Released on J-STAGE: July 01, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20799/jerasskenkyu.81.0_27

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This study clarifies the perspectives on history education held by geography and history teachers as well as the factors contributing to the formation of these perspectives. It relies on the analysis of the life stories of five teachers, clarifying items emerging from those stories that could serve as reference points for other teachers. First, the study highlights three points regarding the foundation from which differences in the views of history education arise: (1) whether the teacher emphasizes the relationship between history education and social studies education; (2) how the teacher expresses his or her perspective on history education in the classroom; and (3) how strongly the teacher is aware of the applicability of history to real life. Second, the study clarifies the following five decisions as important factors in the formation of history education perspectives: (1) whether the teacher attempts to develop a perspective in such a way as to adapt to the conditions of the students he or she is teaching; (2) whether the teacher attempts to develop a perspective that demonstrates the awareness of current social phenomena; (3) whether the teacher attempts to develop a perspective that utilizes his or her academic knowledge; (4) whether the teacher autonomously participates in research groups to expand his or her knowledge; and (5) how the teacher understands the revisions in the government curriculum guidelines.

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The Leaps and Stumbles of Children in a Social Studies Class Focused on Decision Making : Analyzing the Development Process of Social Recognition in Diverse Children Using a Constructivist Evaluation Model

Ryosuke Okada

Article type: Article
2014 Volume 81 Pages 39-50
Published: November 30, 2014
Released on J-STAGE: July 01, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20799/jerasskenkyu.81.0_39

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The objective of this paper is to offer a theoretical explanation of the development process of social recognition in a diverse sample of children. In this paper, the "process of social recognition" implies the process of thinking for decision making in the society. The participants were observed during a typical social studies class that focused on decision making; a constructivist evaluation model was used to understand how it allows us to compare the process of learning adopted by children taking social studies classes. As a result, I observed that all of the children make decisions in the class, at the same time there are three types of social recognition: a) multiple perspectives, b) single perspective, and c) sympathetic perspective. The goal of the class was to "enable students to acquire the ability to make rational decisions based on multiple perspectives." Therefore, the children who demonstrated the use of multiple perspectives (referred to as "leaping") achieved the goal, and those who displayed perspectives b) or c) did not (referred to as "stumbling"). To explore the development of social recognition in this diverse sample of children, I extracted data of one child from each group, traced how these children developed social recognition based on their statements and descriptions by using the model that I have previously mentioned, and then performed a comparative examination to identify differences in each of the processes. The results revealed that the dividing line between leaping and stumbling was whether the children could pull away from sympathetic decision making through value conflicts associated with the analysis of social structures. Bearing in mind this finding, I provide the solution to improve teacher's instruction for the students who fall into type b) or c). Finally, I point out two particular aspects of the model's meaning: it allows us to compare the way of learning and it can be adapted to any social studies classes.

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The Possibility of Learning about Society as a Relation in the Early Elementary Grades : An Analysis of "Getting Started in Philosophy"

Suguru Fukui

Article type: Article
2014 Volume 81 Pages 51-62
Published: November 30, 2014
Released on J-STAGE: July 01, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20799/jerasskenkyu.81.0_51

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What Learning about the society should be provided in the lower elementary grades? In this study, the author explores the possibility of young students learning about how we can create society as a relation through collaborative effort. To do so, the author analyzes an activity book used with kindergarten and first-grade students in Hawaii. The activity book, "Getting Started in Philosophy: A Start-Up Kit for K-1," includes 35 student activities organized around the typical ways of doing philosophy and according to the two stages of developing relationship among a group of children. In the first stage, activities are structured so that children are encouraged to reflect on their uses of language by listening to the voice of others, and then children generate questions related to their own understanding. In the second stage, these activities direct children to ask various questions to each other in order to connect to each question with their process of inquiry, and then generate questions together. Through these processes, children discover the complexities of "our" world and generate "our" questions as a group. In other words, they learn the meaning to form a network of each inquiry. The most important parts of "getting started in philosophy" are that it enables children to see questioning as a collaborative process and feel that "I and you" can change each other. This is a departure from the approaches toward learning about the society as an object. In this study, at least theoretically, the possibility of a new way of learning about the nature of democratic society is demonstrated, as members of the society co-operate with each other voluntarily. Understanding the society as a relation can help children increase their concern and ownership for the society in which they live.

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[title in Japanese]

[in Japanese]

Article type: Article
2014 Volume 81 Pages 63-64
Published: November 30, 2014
Released on J-STAGE: July 01, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20799/jerasskenkyu.81.0_63

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[title in Japanese]

[in Japanese]

Article type: Article
2014 Volume 81 Pages 65-66
Published: November 30, 2014
Released on J-STAGE: July 01, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20799/jerasskenkyu.81.0_65

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[title in Japanese]

Article type: Appendix
2014 Volume 81 Pages App1-
Published: November 30, 2014
Released on J-STAGE: July 01, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20799/jerasskenkyu.81.0_App1

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[title in Japanese]

Article type: Appendix
2014 Volume 81 Pages App2-
Published: November 30, 2014
Released on J-STAGE: July 01, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20799/jerasskenkyu.81.0_App2

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[title in Japanese]

Article type: Appendix
2014 Volume 81 Pages App3-
Published: November 30, 2014
Released on J-STAGE: July 01, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20799/jerasskenkyu.81.0_App3

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[title in Japanese]

Article type: Appendix
2014 Volume 81 Pages App4-
Published: November 30, 2014
Released on J-STAGE: July 01, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20799/jerasskenkyu.81.0_App4

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[title in Japanese]

Article type: Cover
2014 Volume 81 Pages Cover3-
Published: November 30, 2014
Released on J-STAGE: July 01, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20799/jerasskenkyu.81.0_Cover3

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[title in Japanese]

Article type: Cover
2014 Volume 81 Pages Cover4-
Published: November 30, 2014
Released on J-STAGE: July 01, 2017

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.20799/jerasskenkyu.81.0_Cover4

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