This study examines Nobuo Ishimori’s place in the history of Japanese language education, focusing on the process of establishing the Course of Study for teaching the Japanese Language in 1947 (“COS”). Conventional research indicates that Ishimori was unable to establish the “COS.” Thus, we analyzed a historical documents written by Ishimori regarding the curriculum of Japanese language education. This study elucidates Ishimori’s philosophy of Japanese language education.

This research established the following points. First, the historical document analyzed was written at the same time as the “COS.” Second, its content was somewhere between the pre-War and post-War trends in Japanese language education. Although the historical record was inadequate, it had novel aspects —for example, it emphasized children’s experiences and viewing language as a means of facilitating social life. Ishimori prepared a new Japanese language course based on this perspective of the Japanese language education and his experience in pre-War Japanese language education. Additionally, he followed the American trend in language education. It was the pre-history of the establishment of the “COS.”

“The Letter” from Frog and Toad Are Friends (1970), written and illustrated by Arnold Lobel, has been considered a standard study material since its first appearance in Japanese textbooks. There is a significant possibility that during the process of reading in the classroom and material development, unequal social structures are re-generated and expressed through discussions influenced by the reader’s social background and the “text” brought by other readers.

As the title suggests, their relationship is considered “friends,” both in Japanese educational research and in the classroom. This paper practices queer reading in this volume to shed light on how “the unnamed relationship” is depicted in this work. Mika Saito hints that their relationship has “a peculiar attachment” and the menace of miscommunication. Previous research has provided a sense of it, but not an adequate explanation, and thus, it has ended up assimilating into the existing relationship norms.

Lobel’s story is worth reading in the Japanese language classes because it challenges and questions gender norms, sexuality, and masculinity. Through the act of queer reading, readers can deconstruct the framework and examine the politics of relationship categories.

This study aimed to identify the issues involved in conducting assessment with communities of practice as units in learning to read. Additionally, it explored, the conditions for the formation of communities of practice in learning to read.

First, the educational significance of assessment with communities of practice as units was examined. The results revealed its significance, in that it supported the development of the sociocultural aspects of learning.

Second, two challenges in implementing this assessment in learning to read were identified. First, the sociocultural aspects of learning to read have to be embodied in the relationship between society and reading. Second, it is necessary to incorporate into the assessment the relationship between the development of the sociocultural aspects of learning to read and the ability formation of individual learners.

Finally, the specifics and evaluation methods of a community of practice in learning to read were examined using Hama Omura’s (1968) “reading group” practice as a case study. Additionally, the conditions for its formation in line with the basic elements of a community of practice were summarized.

This study aimed to clarify the learning process of team editing by focusing on the perspective of co-editors. Additionally, this research regards writing as cultural learning. First, I organized the abilities necessary for a co-editor based on research data about cognitive processes in writing and critical thinking. Thereafter, I considered five types of thinking activities for co-editors. Second, I conducted two surveys to analyze the thinking process of co-editors. The participants included 36 fifth-year students at a private elementary school in Tokyo, which the author oversees. Both the surveys mainly analyzed the voice recordings during team editing, and examined types of thinking processes of co-editors while comparing them based on pre-established classifications. The results revealed three processes by which co-editors become conscious about the “readers assumed by writers.” Additionally, the tendency of a specific learner’s critical thinking to influence other learners was confirmed.

This study aims to develop an effective instructional method to enable third-grade children to engage in discussions with an awareness of the purpose and process of discussion. For this purpose, a support tool called “process cards” was developed. It was repeatedly utilized to facilitate discussions, and thereafter, the participants reflected upon the discussions. An analysis showed an increase in the number of groups that cooperated to facilitate the discussions. Additionally, after the practice, many participants suggested modifications to the process. However, when support tools were present during discussions, it was rare for third-graders to change the process. The results of the study revealed that the use of support tools and reflection activities are effective in increasing children’s awareness of the purpose and process of discussion, which facilitates more cooperative discussions.

This paper focuses on “Urashima Taro”,which has been contained repeatedly in Japanese language textbooks for primary school education,from the second National Textbook in the Meiji era to the current editions of school textbooks. The authors analyzed the changes in containing forms in Japanese language textbooks and how they have been used in Japanese language classes in each period. The study focuses on the illustrations and the orthography in their materials,including their historical backgrounds,which have not been examined diachronically in previous studies.

The materials above have been transformed into various editions over time,depend on the education for modern writing,for unification of speech and writing,and for standardizing Japanese pronunciation since the Meiji period,the education for communication from the modern to contemporary periods,for grammar and reading in the postwar period,and for linguistic culture of Japanese in the Heisei period. The story has been passed down orally for a long time,and after being written down in Japanese language textbooks,only pictures have been included since the 1977 edition,conforming to the teaching guidelines in each period. The fact that only pictures are included in the textbooks makes it possible for students from various backgrounds to retell the story in their own words.