1. Introduction
Moral education represents an important dimension of education in the Japanese
context. It permeates practice in supervision and all subjects, forms an explicit
topic of professional practice and finds structure and time in the curriculum. This
report shares observations and research on practice in moral education in
Japanese formal education to encourage deeper thinking on the possibilities for
primary education in the UK. The report focuses on elementary education in
consideration of progression on to junior high school.
This should not suggest that moral education is absent in the UK. SEAL/PSHE,
Citizenship Education, religious education, additional provision and general
supervision are areas of focus, amongst others, that contribute toward tacit
education in values. However, UK practice is often implicit, unstructured and
certainly not considered a coherent body of practice. Equally, the contours and
purposes of moral education may differ.
Education practice occurs within a specific culture, a specific environment and
often in response to policies seen to run counter to the wider aims of educating.
Nonetheless, teachers, NGOs and special interest groups in primary education
do, to an extent, have power to influence practice and policy, which will only
grow as the movement to establish teaching as unambiguously professional work
gains momentum in the UK. To this end, the findings and connections made
during this Fellowship not only aim to inspire deeper thinking, but to also
advance discussion and innovation. Since this aim relies on the interaction and
action of educators, some possibilities for the organisation of teaching practice
and joint professional development are also presented in the final section, with
reference to moral education, but not exclusively relevant to moral education.
A journey in Japanese education.
The data are collected from 60 observations of teaching and over 100
informants, comprised of principals, vice-principals, teachers, members of
Boards of Education and other educators, located in and around 18 elementary
schools (ES) and junior high schools (JH) in 6 locations in Japan. Other activities
and observations within the school provided further insight.