Teaching and Learning in Japan

by Edited by Thomas P. Rohlen , Gerald K. LeTendre

• ISBN13: 9780521495875
• ISBN10: 0521495873
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1996-02-23
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Major scholars on Japan explore the Japanese style of learning in this important volume, drawing upon ethnographic and experimental studies of learning throughout the lifespan. The reader will get an inside view of Japanese teaching methods, where the emphasis is on the process of learning, rather than the end product. Applications across contexts - from religion to music, to mathematics, to guidance - are very differently handled than in the West. Contributors analyze various models of learning within and without the Japanese school system. The examples considered here allow us to understand better the rich coherence and variety of educational experiences in the broader social context. A carefully articulated introduction and conclusion by the editors provide salient comparisons of East and West and caution, that we do not simplify our model of either one. Teaching and Learning in Japanwill be of interest to educators, Japan scholars, and to educational psychologists.

Table of Contents

List of contributors	viii
Introduction: Japanese theories of learning	1	(16)
Thomas P. Rohlen
Gerald K. LeTendre
Section I: Fundamental approaches	17	(58)
Teaching and learning in the Rinzai Zen monastery	20	(30)
G. Victor Sogen Hori
Building character	50	(25)
Thomas P. Rohlen
Section II: The emotional foundations of early learning	75	(79)
Fostering social and intellectual development: the roots of Japanese educational success	79	(19)
Catherine C. Lewis
``... And Tomoko wrote this song for us''	98	(21)
Lauren J. Kotloff
Honoring the individual	119	(35)
Nancy Sato
Section III: School and classroom models	154	(118)
Teachers and teaching: elementary schools in Japan and the United States	157	(33)
Shin-ying Lee
Theresa Graham
Harold W. Stevenson
Responsibility and learning: some preliminary hypotheses about Japanese elementary classrooms	190	(23)
Ineko Tsuchida
Catherine C. Lewis
Cultures of mathematics instruction in Japanese and American elementary classrooms	213	(35)
James W. Stigler
Clea Fernandez
Makoto Yoshida
The Kumon approach to teaching and learning	248	(24)
Nancy Ukai Russell
Section IV: Path and guidance	272	(49)
Shido: the concept of guidance	275	(20)
Gerald K. LeTendre
The path to adulthood according to Japanese middle schools	295	(26)
Rebecca Irwin Fukuzawa
Section V: Artistic pursuits -- old and new	321	(56)
Try, try again: training in noh drama	323	(22)
Tom Hare
The Suzuki Method of music instruction	345	(24)
Lois Peak
Conclusion: themes in the Japanese culture of learning	369	(8)
Thomas P. Rohlen
Gerald K. LeTendre
References	377	(12)
Index	389