Konan University, Japan Studies, Fall Semester 2009-2010
Culture and Education (Syllabus)
Koji Nakamura, Professor of English and International Education
Konan University, Kobe, Japan: koji@konan-u.ac.jp (E-mail), Office #6612
http://www.kilc.konan-u.ac.jp/~koji/
(Koji Nakamura's Online Desk)
“A classroom is not diminished if students and professors regard one another as“whole”human beings,
striving not just for knowledge in books, but knowledge about how to live in the world.” ( hooks: 1994)
The purpose of this class is to discuss the kernel of Japanese culture and education by
examining the ideal of the Japanese sense of beauty and the habits of hearts of this
paradoxical nation as well as the issues and prospects of public and higher education in a
comparative and interdisciplinary context.
First, we will explore the heart of Japanese culture through 俳句 (Haiku, Japanese
traditional short poems). Japan is a country of both harmony and tension, a mixture of the
old and the new, tradition and change, the conservative and the innovative, the polite and
the aggressive, the disposable and the sustainable. Japan’s explicit culture is quite obvious,
but Japan’s implicit culture is pregnant and subtle. Japan’s cultural and educational
backbone can be symbolized by “和(wa) 魂 (kon) 洋 (yo) 才(sai),” the Japanese spirit
combined with Western knowledge, which has been an energizing power to modernize an
encapsulated and conformist society.
Second, we will examine issues and prospects of public education in Japan in terms of
comparative education involved in educational challenges in Finland, the UK, France,
Germany, Canada, and the USA. As globalization has brought about a transnational and
transcultural orientation in education, it is worth discussing the insight and hindsight of
education in the 21st century.
For a field trip, we will visit a Japanese public high school (Fukiai High School in
Kobe, which has innovative English and international programs) and Konan CUBE
campus in Nishinomiya, where professors and students are working on projects studies
based on liberal education.
Finally we will explore the possibility of education in Japanese corporations, public
schools and universities in comparison with their western counterparts.
This course will be taught in a lecture/discussion/presentation/fieldwork format. You
will be expected to do mini-research on issues related to your presentation in order to
participate in discussions which will follow short lectures on specific topics. You will be
expected to give an oral presentation on some aspects of culture and education in
comparative perspectives. This should be developed further into a 5 page research paper
with at least 5 sources. Class participation in the readings and discussion are of course
expected. Grading will be: Presentation 40%, Research Paper 30% and Participation 30%.
1
Texts
The Japanese Mind: Understanding Contemporary Japanese Culture Edited
by Roger J. Davies and Osamu Ikeno. Tuttle Publishing: Boston. (2000).
Benedict Ruth (1946).The Chrysanthemum and the Sward: Patterns of Japanese Culture.
Houghton Mifflin Company, 1946. Vermont: Tuttle, 1972 (Chapter1-2, p.1-p.43)
Nakamura Koji (1997). “Benedict’s Transcultural View Beyond Orientalism: An
Inter/Cross-Cultural Lessons to the 21st Century.” The Journal of the Institute for
Language and Culture, Konan University. Vol.1.(pp.1-20).1997.
Available
Texts (available from Koji Nakamura’s Online Desk)
http://www.kilc.konan-u.ac.jp/~koji/
Nakamura Koji (2005). “Creating a Learner-centered Communicative Classroom for
Student Teachers.” The Journal of the Institute for Language and Culture, Konan
University (2005）Vol. 9. pp. 1-20.
Available
Nakamura Koji (2002). “Cultivating Global Literacy Through English as an International
Language (EIL) Education in Japan: A New Paradigm for Global Education”
International Education Journal WCCES Commission 6: Special 2001 Congress
Issue pp.64-74, 2002 Available
Nakamura Koji (2004). “Fostering Global Literacy among Japanese University Students
through Global Citizenship Education.” The Journal of the Institute for Language
and Culture, Konan University (2004). Vol. 8. pp. 1-30 Available
Recommended Books and Papers
Rohlen. Thomas (1983). Japan’s High Schools. 1983. Berkeley, University of California.
Said Edward (1978). Orientalism-Western Conceptions of the Orient (1978). Penguin
Higginson William (1999). The Hiku Seasons. Kodansha International
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Nakamura Koji (2008). “International Education for Integrated Studies Course as a New
Curriculum for Teaching Profession in a Japanese University.” The Journal of the
Institute for Language and Culture, Konan University Vol.12. pp. 1-21, 2008.
Available
Nakamura Koji (2007). “Compatibility of National and European Identities among British
and German University Students─A Lesson for Japanese Identities within Asia” The
Journal of the Institute for Language and Culture, Konan University. Vol.11,
(pp.1-28). 2007. Available
(Handouts in class)
*Nakamura Koji & David Willis (1999). “Answering the Drop-Out Problem in Japan: A
challenge for teachers” The Annual Academic Report of Soai University Vol15. 1.
pp.27-72
*Nakamura Koji & David Willis (1998). “School Chaos and Teacher's Voices: Learning
from Educational Crisis management” The ASPEP Journal (American Society of
Professional Emergency Planning (1998 ) 110-117
*Willis David & Koji Nakamura and et al. “Answering Chaos: Educators and Crisis
Management in the Great Kobe Earthquake of 1995.” The Annual Academic Report
of Soai University (1999 ) Vol15. 2. pp.41-66
*Nakamura Koji & David Willis (1996). “The Gakunen Family Active K-12 Citizenship
education in Japanese Schools” The Annual Academic Report of Soai University
( 1996 ) Vol.12. 2. pp.39-65
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Class Schedule - Japanese Culture and Education– Fall 2009
Week
Monday--3rd Period
No class
01
September 7, 11
Friday – 3rd Period
*Self-introduction with
your cultural shocks
02
The Heart of Japanese
September 14, 18 Culture ② 俳句
*Presentation of Your
Haiku
Basho and Issa
*Simplicity and
elegance as Japanese
Ideals of beauty
(text: p.223-232) 侘び、 寂
The Heart of Japanese
Culture ① 俳句
The Haiku Moment
*The Japanese Sense of
the Season (p.153-158)
The Heart of Japanese
Culture ③ 美意識
*The Japanese Sense of
Beauty (text: p.35-40)
The Pillow Book of
Sei Shonagon
Transience and life’s
mutability and
mortality
もののあはれ、無常観
No class
03
September 21, 25
*The Heart of Japanese
Culture ④ 禅
*Zen and Japanese
Culture; Prajna 般若
(Transcendental Wisdom)
Karuna 大悲 (Love)
04
September 28,
October 2
*The Heart of Japanese
Culture ⑤Bushido 武
士道
“Way of the Warrior”
text:(p.41-50)
道(p71-82)
Japanese Group
consciousness text:(
p195-199)
4
The Heart of Japanese
Culture ⑥ 菊と刀
*The Chrysanthemum
and Sward: Pattern of
Japanese Culture by
Ruth Benedict ( p.1-19)
*Benedict’s
Transcultural View
beyond Orientalism
by Koji Nakamura
(p.1-20)
05
October 5, 9
Comparative Education Comparative Education
①
②
What is education?
Field Work
Educational issues in
Visiting Public High
public schools
School (Fukiai High
VTR (High school life in School, a college-bound
Fukiai High School in
high school in Kobe)
Kobe, Japan)
Class Observation,
Preparation for Field
Participation and Joint
Work
Discussion with High
School Students
06
October 12, 16
Comparative Education
③
Discussion on Public
high school in Japan in
comparison with your
high school education
*The Result of PISA
*Educational challenge
in USA, Finland, UK
Comparative Education
④
Education in Elementary
schools and Junior High
Schools: Educational
challenge and issues
School life (VTR)
extra-curricular
activities and Juku
07
October19, 23
Comparative Education
⑤
Crisis Management
Public schools
functioned as a nerve
center in communities
A Chronicle of
Parents, Children and
Teachers in the Great
Hanshin・Awaji
Earthquake
Comparative Education
⑥
*Professionals/Leadershi
p as teachers of juvenile
delinquency and broken
families (Japan and UK)
Osamu Mizutani
in Japan
Sharon Hollows in UK
A School Choir (BBC)
5
08
October 26, 30
09
November 2, 6
Comparative Education
⑦ EFL Education in
Japan (Methodology
and Teachers Roles)
JET Program in Japan
CEF in Europe
ESL in North America
Comparative Education
⑨
Your Demonstration
Lesson in your
academic fields
(A Learner-centered
Communicative Approach)
10
November 9,
13
Educational Challenge
in Corporations ②
Innovation
*TOYOTA Culture
*TOYOTA: Kaizen
The secret of Toyota’s
educational challenges
Comparative Education
⑧
Your Demonstration
Lesson in your
academic fields
(A Learner-centered
Communicative Approach)
Educational Challenge
in Corporations ①
Leadership
Maria Eitel, President of
the Nike Foundation.
Mr. Sakamoto,
(Professionals) NHK
*decision-making
Transparency
Accountability
Educational Challenge
in Corporations③
The Spirit of Engineer
*UK SONY:
Teamwork
*Digital Camera;
ものづくり
現地・現物
11
November 16,
20
The Power of Education
①
Japan’s Modernization
since1868 and
Revitalization since
1945
和魂洋才 Japanese spirits
combined with
knowledge
European
Adopting Elements of
Foreign Culture
Text (p.127-134)
6
No class
12
November 23, 27
No class
The Power of Education
②
A Challenge in a
Japanese High School
(Partnership: Autistic
students and School
Truants)
Desegregation Program
VTR (Brown Eyes and
Blue Eyes)
13
November 30
December 4
14
December 7, 11
15
December
14, 18
The Power of Education University Education ①
③
Mission of University
Education can end the Yesterday, Today and
Cycle of Poverty
Tomorrow
Education can bring
The Ideal of University
about peace
Education
Issues and Prospects
University Education③
What is Liberal
Education in
University?
Issues and Prospects
*Preparation for each
presentation at CUBE
campus, Nishinomiya
Presentation1
University Education④
Field Work ②
CUBE Campus:
Liberal Education
Presentation and
Discussion
Presentation 2
Research Papers
Research papers
Discussion & Evaluation Discussion & Evaluation
16
December 21
Presentation 3
Discussion
Research papers
Discussion & Evaluation
Reflection/Consolidation
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Course Description
The purpose of this class is to discuss the kernel of Japanese culture and education by
examining the ideal of the Japanese sense of beauty and the habits of hearts of this
paradoxical nation and the issues and prospects of public and higher education in a
comparative and interdisciplinary context.
First, we will explore the heart of Japanese culture by making 俳句(Haiku, Japanese
traditional short poems). We will step into Japanese implicit cultures which represent the
Japanese way of thinking, working styles, value systems and observation of nature in
comparison with those of Western cultures. We will explore the world of “Transience and
life’s mutability” and the “Haiku Moment” based on Zen (禅).
Japan is a country of both harmony and tension, a mixture of the old and the new,
tradition and change, the conservative and the innovative, the rigid and the flexible, the
polite and the aggressive, the disposable and the sustainable. Japan’s explicit culture is
quite obvious, but Japan’s implicit culture is pregnant and subtle. Japan’s cultural and
educational backbone can be symbolized by “和(wa) 魂 (kon) 洋 (yo) 才(sai),” the
Japanese spirit combined with Western knowledge, which has been an energizing power to
modernize an encapsulated and conformity society.
Second, we will examine issues and prospects of public education in Japan in terms of
comparative education involved in educational challenges in Finland, the UK, France,
Germany, Canada, and the USA. As globalization has brought about transnational and
transcultural orientation in education, it is worth discussing the insight and hindsight of
education in the21st century.
For a field trip, we will visit a Japanese public high school (Fukiai High School in
Kobe, which has innovative English and international programs) and Konan CUBE
campus in Nishinomiya, where professors and students are working on projects studies
based on liberal education.
Finally we will explore the possibility of education in Japanese corporations, public
schools and universities in comparison with their western counterparts.
The course will be taught in a lecture/presentation/demonstration lesson/fieldwork
format. You will be expected to do the assigned readings and oral presentations in order to
participate in discussions which will follow short lectures on specific topics. We will also
view provocative and impressive documentaries, films and power-point slides on Japanese
culture, education, history and society, especially as they relate to citizens in this global
village. Some of this will be done in class and some will be assigned as homework.
Questions and opinions are very much welcomed in this class.
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Course Evaluation and Course Credit
You will be expected to give a 10 minute presentation on some aspect of Japanese
education, culture, society and history every other week (PP and/or speech). This should be
developed further into a 5-page research paper with at least three sources. The paper may
be longer if you like, but I expect it to be clear and direct. It will be due electronically or
paper-based by May 13. You will also be expected to make a final power-point
presentation based on your research. Class participation in the readings and discussion are
of course expected.
Grading will be: Oral Presentation (including power-point presentation) 40%, Research
Paper 30% and Class Participation 30%
Attendance Policy
The Year-in-Japan program has adopted a uniform attendance policy for the afternoon
Japan Studies courses. You are allowed only two unexcused absences during the semester
without penalty. A third unexcused absence will reduce your grade in the course by 10
points (equivalent to one letter grade in the American system). A fourth unexcused absence
will reduce your grade by another 10 points. More than four unexcused absences will result
automatically in a failing grade for the course. Legitimate excuses for absence are normally
limited to illnesses or accidents that require medical attention. Please consult with KIEC
staff in advance if you believe that you have some other legitimate reason for absence.
Students must document all legitimate excuses.
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