The issue of individuality in education has constantly been discussed, along with the technology to understand and measure it. The individually optimized learning discussed in today's discourse is a new development of this concept, of which the development of new technologies to measure individuality is a crucial element. Today's individuality discourse closely links the need to measure individuality and its technological feasibility, just as new technologies are considered to make individually optimized learning possible. In this situation, or the so-called age of measurement (Gert Biesta), the question of what individuality is must be considered with regard to measuring technology.

 Based on the concern above, this paper takes as its starting point John Dewey's (1859-1952) insights into measurement technologies and examines how individuality is understood within his discussions, focusing on Dewey's writings on individuality and individualism during the 1920s and 1930s to trace their ideological evolution.

 In his essays of the early 1920s, Dewey develops a critique of intelligence tests in which he considers individuality to be pluralistic. Dewey criticizes IQ tests for misusing and truncating individuality into a deviation of standardized, uniform ability. At the same time, however, his argument raises the possibility that such new measurement technologies may extend educators' understanding of the pluralistic nature of individuality (Section 2).

 The problem of individuality in Dewey is addressed in the early 1930s to critically examine individualism in industrial society. He suggests that while technologies and sciences support industrialization, they also contain new ways of looking at the individual and individuality that make possible a "new individualism" (Section 3).

 In the late 1930s, Dewey redefines the concept of individuality using the findings of physics concerning probability and the Uncertainty Principle. His concept of individuality is stated as "the source of whatever is unpredictable," which involves indeterminacy (section 4).

 Through the examination of these three points, this paper shows the development of Dewey's concept of individuality from plurality to the source of unpredictability. His critique of intelligence testing in the early 1920s argues that measurement technologies do not provide norms. The paper finds that this critique of measurement technologies is grounded in the concept of individuality as the source of the unpredictable.

 The purpose of this paper is to identify the difficulties teachers have in listening to student voices in the context of pedagogy in multicultural education through a review of the descriptions of the educational practice of Gregory Michie, an American middle school teacher, and his subsequent research.

 Two difficulties are identified in this study. The first is the difficulty surrounding the assumption of needs. While Michie and other white teachers found it difficult to assume the needs of children of color when involved in these children's education because of their limited knowledge of cultural differences, there were also occasions when they were able to listen to “student voices” in pedagogy in a more honest way. In contrast, it was found that teachers of color had an advantage in being able to assume children's expectations and needs, but that this sometimes made it difficult to listen to children's expressed needs and to ensure their intellectual freedom.

 The second is the difficulty of listening to “student voices” while balancing academic achievement in pedagogy. Many of the educational practices that attempt to express “student voices” tend to be time-consuming, and multicultural educators of color, who are more concerned with academic achievement, can be caught in the time constraints of covering educational content. In addition to the pressures of neoliberal educational policies, the past experiences of teachers themselves suggest that academic achievement, such as standardized testing, cannot be taken lightly, and that despite their own intentions, they are often met with resistance from their students.

 The relationship between these two difficulties can then be organized as follows. Due to cultural differences, traditional studies of multicultural education have considered it difficult for white teachers to hear the “voices” of students of color. Also, the difficulties of listening to students as others with obviously heterogeneous backgrounds have been often considered, as in the subaltern theory of postcolonialism. In this study, through analysis of Michie's descriptions of educational practice and subsequent research, it became clear that teachers of color are able to assume the needs of students in close proximity to them, which in turn makes it difficult for them to grasp the issue of the limits possible in assuming the needs of others. In other words, this study showed that even teachers whose backgrounds overlap with those of their students may have difficulty hearing the voices of their students because of this overlap.

 At the same time, the study also revealed that, because of cultural differences, white teachers may be more able to listen to the voices of children of color more openly. However, the study also found that this context is limited in that it shelves the difficult issue of balancing academic achievement, which teachers of color face and value in the pedagogy of multicultural education.

 There is a serious conflict between proponents and opponents of the promotion of evidence-based policy (EBP) and practice. The biggest point of contention there is the relationship between evidence and the expertise of teachers. In an article in the 2015 special edition of the Japanese Educational Research Association's journal, the four authors (Imai, Ishii, Matsushita, and Sugita) were all critical of EBP, addressing this point as an issue. However, all of them couch their critique in terms of clarifying the flaws of EBP from the viewpoint of the originality of education, a line of reasoning which seems unlikely to convince EBP supporters. This paper presents the limitations and emerging challenges of EBP through a critical examination of the premises "within" EBP.

 The diversity of positions surrounding EBP can be roughly captured on a continuum. At one extreme are the "tough-minded" advocates for EBP. However, there are also softer positions within this camp. At the other extreme are the "tender-minded" advocates, who are skeptical of EBP.

 A tough-minded position can be seen in national policies, such as the adoption of EBP in the US and UK. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are hailed as the gold standard for proving causal effects, as they can lead to strong evidence that "X caused Y" when certain conditions are met.

 The tender-minded position does not see education as a causal process and therefore rejects EBP. In this position, RCTs are supposed to be able to procure the knowledge of “what worked” about the past, which is considered to play a marginal role at best.

 Finally, the softer position in the middle gives a new perspective to EBP while borrowing knowledge from recent scientific philosophy. First, the concept of causality is transformed into the concept of the INUS condition. This allows us to theoretically consider the singular causal prediction of "it will work here." While RCTs certainly lead to "it worked there," the conditions that allow the leap from "it worked there" to "it will work here" must be explored. It is the context that matters. In the INUS approach, an argument procedure is taken to first clarify what kind of causal structure and support factors existed when "it worked there," and to try to apply it "here" while making local adjustments.

 But according to Cartwright and others, uncertainties will always remain no matter what strategy is taken. At this point, the argument approach has its limitations and inevitably requires local value judgments. In other words, in EBP, from the standpoint of people who live "here," faced with the uncertainties created by local and dynamic contexts, it is necessary to address the questions of what kind of research knowledge and what kind of dialogue should be conducted, and how to grasp the objectivity of the inevitable value judgments.

 Exploring a softer approach to EBP, drawing on insights from the philosophy of science, results in a return to the need for professional judgment. This is not, however, because of education, but because EBP itself inevitably comes with value judgments.

 Here is a question: how did Japanese teachers realize the meaning of evaluation and acquire evaluation skills in the eras when the term and theory of educational evaluation did not exist? The clarification of this process will contribute to identifying the factors that form teachers' educational evaluation capacity.

 From this perspective, this paper addresses Chiba Meikichi, a remarkable practitioner in the Taisho New Education era, to see how his theory of assessment reform in schools enfolded. Previous studies on Chiba mention the characteristics of his thought structure and point out the logical incompleteness of his Creative Education Theory. This paper focuses on Chiba's educational research activities as a practitioner and investigates the reality of his research activities before he came to work at Nara Women's Higher Normal School. The following findings have been made clear.

 First, Chiba became interested in assessment reform through his skepticism toward the moral education of that time, and amongst the groundswell of arguments on assessment in educational journalism, his interest turned to foreign research on assessment. He came to be impressed by Wilhelm Lay's experimental pedagogy and finally designed a practical reform plan based on Lay's “consideration of muscle sense, will, and action.” Chiba's assessment reform was combined with the reform of curriculum and teaching, with assessment positioned as indispensable activities for continuous day-to-day educational practice.

 Second, Chiba introduced new Western psychological theories and educational measurement methods to identify children's status. He understood that the results of education could be grasped scientifically, and that experimentation is critical to set criteria for assessment. He made efforts to develop indicators for measuring children's growth through their “expressions,” while also becoming aware of the vast existence of non-measurable aspects, such as the children's internal development. Chiba insisted on the necessity of launching studies based on experimental measurements for teachers to understand the children in front of them and define their educational insight, positioning these studies as “training tools” to see and judge the children.

 As seen above, assessment was an integral activity in Chiba's dynamic curriculum practice intended to support children's growth. Therefore, this paper concludes that his view on assessment occupied a key position in his own practical theory, and points out that in the case of Chiba's theory of assessment reform in schools, it was thought that teachers were to realize the meaning of evaluation combined with their intention to improve their teaching practice and to take a scientific attitude to the acquisition of evaluation skills through the educational facts before them, in order to develop their educational insight.

 The aim of this paper is to critically examine the “disparity correction” which has been implemented in the field of education, based on the Dowa Policy Council Recommendation and the Law on Special Measures for Dowa Projects, in order to clarify the conflicts created and the historical reasons.

 First of all, the paper confirms that the Dowa Policy Council Recommendation made it a central issue to reduce “disparity correction,” and that it reflected the intentions of Kitahara Taisaku and Asada Zennosuke.

 Secondly, it shows that three propositions have affinity with the Dowa Policy Council Recommendation. These three propositions were intended to support the route of “disparity correction” from the standpoint of the Buraku Liberation League. The paper then shows that “disparity correction” had become a tactical goal for those who aimed for Buraku liberation. 

 Thirdly, the paper finds that the Dowa Policy Council Recommendation had planned to intensively distribute educational resources to Dowa districts (redistribution of resources) for the purpose of reducing disparity. Along with this, it also indicates two issues that would lead to the "correction of disparities" (the emergence of overcoming "low academic achievement" and special countermeasures in education in the Dowa districts).

 Fourth, the paper points out that these two issues have resulted in reduced engagement with the formation of “subjects of liberation.”

 In association with “disparity correction” becoming a tactical goal for Buraku liberation, overcoming "low academic achievement" was adopted, and Dowa education shifted to focus on special countermeasures in education in the Dowa districts. The paper clarifies that these two events demonstrate a new issue which created and reinforced reduced engagement with the formation of “subjects of liberation” in regard to Dowa education.

 The purpose of this study is to understand the educational practices that aim for the inclusion of cultural diversity by focusing on the teacher–parent dialogue surrounding “naming practice” at a preschool in Japan.

 One of the educational practices aimed at promoting cultural diversity in Japan is the “practice of using real names,” which was initially part of the education of Zainichi Koreans, with the aim of making the minority visible and changing the majority's attitudes. Because the backgrounds of children and their choice of names have become more diverse, some studies suggest that we are at a turning point in strategies for diversity inclusion. It was also revealed that practitioners are missing opportunities to transform their practices.

 Therefore, this study considered this pedagogical practice through the theory of dialogue, which encourages individuals to deepen their understanding of others and transform through interaction. Dialogue is expected to facilitate practitioners' reflection and thus lead to the reconstruction of their practice, as proposed in critical pedagogy and multicultural education.

 While this preschool is known for its “ethnic education” for Zainichi Koreans in Japan, the practice has recently shifted toward “multicultural education” for children from culturally diverse families, one of which is naming practice. The analyzed data were collected by a qualitative study that included participant observation at the preschool and interviews with the preschool teachers and parents.

 The main purpose of naming practice was to promote dialogue with parents by actively using the ethnic origin names referred to as “root names” at this preschool, which reflect the cultural and linguistic backgrounds of the children and their families while respecting minority cultures. While the parents appreciated the practice as supporting the positive recognition of their children's identity and the cultural inheritance of their family origins, they also voiced concerns and conflicts about discrimination and prejudice. The practice also became an opportunity for parents and teachers to construct a dialogue through their children's names and reconstruct the purpose and the method of the practice. Specifically, each dialogue was grounded in the teachers' listening to the life histories of the minority families, rendering the practitioners and parents more collaborative.

 This study examines the framework within which the entire structure of the fundamental postwar educational philosophy, centering on the Fundamental Law of Education (the Law), was conceived and understood. In particular, by analyzing the discussions on this philosophy before and after the enactment of the former Fundamental Law of Education, focusing on the triadic structure theory of thought based on the intermediary relationship among the three terms—individual, nation (people/ethnic group), and humanity (the world)—the paper examines the problems faced by postwar education that are centered on the people of the nation. The purpose of this study is to clarify the issues that postwar education has faced in terms of its own nation-centeredness.

 Therefore, the paper demonstrates that the concept and understanding of the overall structure of the fundamental educational philosophy in the former Law can be explained by the triadic structure theory, premised on its intermediary relationships. In the process of illustrating this, it becomes evident that this theory is characterized by multiple points of emphasis coexisting in the relationship within the triad, namely among the individual, the nation (people) as an ethnic community, and humanity (the world). In addition, the notion of conceiving a fundamental postwar educational philosophy based on the triadic structure theory can be regarded as a framework of thought that is not limited to the Kyoto School. This study also reveals that in the former Law, the understanding of this philosophy based on the triadic structure theory was incorporated into the content of the word "culture.”

 The investigation carried out in this study has resulted in a deeper insight into the fundamental educational philosophy in question by reexamining the discussion of its overall structure within the former Law in light of the triadic structure theory, premised on intermediary relationships; it has also forced a reappraisal of the characteristics and expansion of the theory.

 In other words, when the fundamental postwar educational philosophy is understood without the triadic structure theory, which is based on the criticism of totalitarianism, individuals can easily become world citizens directly connected to the world, while attempts arise simultaneously to universalize a nation-state unmediated by the world. In this regard, as long as the Fundamental Law of Education continues to exist as an educational philosophy, understanding the philosophy of the revised Law based on the triadic structure theory has a certain significance in that both the above-mentioned directions can be viewed critically.

 This study aims to re-evaluate the 19^th-century French writer and critic Théophile Gautier from an educational aspect by clarifying the educational significance of art appreciation in his “art for art's sake” thought. To achieve this purpose, it explores the process in which Gautier arrived at this stance by dividing it into embryo, birth, and development, and clarifies the structure of thought on “art for art's sake.”

 In the embryonic period, although Gautier felt that the role of critics was to lead people to the beauty of art as guides promoting art appreciation, the effects of the beauty of the art being appreciated were not clearly indicated.

 In the birth period, the preface to Mademoiselle de Maupin presented a manifesto of this idea, indicating a structure of beauty useless in the practical aspect but useful in the spiritual aspect. Also, critics were criticized for twisting the attraction of artworks before people could appreciate them, thus damaging tastes.

 In the development period, the recognition of beauty's usefulness in its spiritual aspect evolved into a recognition and clear demonstration of its usefulness in terms of enhancement of human nature. In addition, Gautier perceived beauty as absolute: he emphasized art education to evoke and cultivate tastes in art with this absolute beauty by having people learn to appreciate and admire artworks. The role of the critic also evolved from explaining beauty to people and guiding them to art to the educational activity of helping people learn to admire beauty.

 Therefore, the educational significance of art appreciation can be recognized in the fact that the effect of art in enhancing human nature is demonstrated through the cyclical effect of having people encounter art, thereby evoking and cultivating their tastes, and then come closer to art through these cultivated tastes. This approach to art appreciation education encourages children to genuinely enjoy looking at artworks, and by taking the approach of teaching about beauty, it can also encourage a love of art in children who are not comfortable with methods of art appreciation that require them to express in words what they feel after viewing an artwork. The first step in art appreciation education is to enable students to love and experience the arts. Gautier's thought on art education reminds us that the mere act of experiencing beauty, without thinking about the intent behind artworks, enhances our human nature, which should be at the core of art education.

 This study enables the reevaluation of Gautier as a person who insisted on the educational significance of autonomous art, and also as a pioneer who presented the idea that art has educational significance within the lineage of thought on "art for art's sake.”