Origami and Froebel Stars: Froebel's pedagogy in Japanese kindergartens
This study examines how Friedrich Froebel's (1782-1852) pedagogy was translated and transformed in Japan when the system and concept of Froebel's kindergarten arrived from the West. It examines the case of his play activity, 'papier-falten', which is known as 'origami' in Japan. Papier-falten is one of Froebel's Occupations (a series of hands-on play activities) in his kindergarten curriculum, which was designed for children's handiwork and play. Origami (paper-folding) has a long history in Japan; it originated in China and was imported to Japan in the seventh century. It has become a traditional Japanese art with cultural, religious and ceremonial significance. However, origami became a rigid pedagogical tool when Froebel's pedagogy in relation to kindergarten teaching was transferred from the West to Japan in the mid to late nineteenth century. The German concept of ear[y childhood education was integrated into the Japanese kindergarten curriculum, resulting in a dramatic transformation of Japanese origami culture. This study also explores the influence of Friedrich Froebel's pedagogy on the development of origami, not only in early childhood education but also on the current origami culture in Japan.
The Bloomsbury Handbook to Friedrich Froebel
Friedrich Froebel (1782 – 1852), the inventor of kindergarten, was one of the most influential educational thinkers of the 19th century. This book showcases the cutting-edge work being undertaken around the world inspired by this pioneer of early childhood education and shows the many ways in which Froebel's work has been applied and extended. It presents a wealth of Froebelian expertise on topics including pedagogy and curriculum, history, architecture, neuroscience, peace and religious education and links Froebel's theories to other thinkers including John Dewey, Michel Foucault, Paulo Freire, Aili Helenius and Chen Heqin. It highlights what Froebel means today in a variety of settings around the world and includes contributions from academics and practitioners based in North and South America, Europe, Australasia, Africa and Asia.
Froebelians, "Made in Japan": A History of Kindergarten Teacher Training Courses in Nineteenth-century Japan
Traditionally, the teaching profession for the provision of early childhood education has been acknowledged as having a low social and professional status. This is still the case in contemporary Japanese society, but why? To find an answer, the present study revisits the birth of kindergartens and teacher training courses in the nineteenth century in Japan. This paper asks the following questions: How the early childhood education profession was identified when the concept of kindergarten was transferred to Japan from the West in the nineteenth century? Who organised kindergarten teacher training courses? What kind of curriculum was taught in these courses? How long was the training required to qualify? Addressing such questions permits analysing the history of kindergarten teacher training courses with a view to identifying the nature of the values, views and descriptions of the social context of the early childhood teaching profession in Japan. Having examined the birth and history of kindergartens and the development of teacher training courses, it is hoped that this study will provide a better understanding of the identification of the early childhood teaching profession, which ties in with the current debate about the status of early childhood educators in Japan.
"Come, let us live with our children!": The Kindergarten's arrival in Japan
"Come, let us live with our children!" is the well-known motto of Friedrich Froebel. Froebel was the 'Father of the Kindergarten' and is still seen today as a heroic figure in early childhood education. Some may think that Froebel is old-fashioned; however, the current important ideas of early childhood education such as play, imagination, creativity, mathematics, music, aesthetics, science, socialisation, morality and culture, all are to be found in Froebel's theory and practice. Froebel's theory and the idea of the kindergarten travelled in the nineteenth century from Germany to the countries of Western Europe, England, and the USA before eventually arriving in Japan. Froebel's theory was adopted by many ambassadors, the so-called 'Froebelians', around the world and to a large extent laid the foundation for the current practice of early childhood education in many countries. Froebel's theory was translated and transformed by Froebelians to fit in with local ideas, culture, values and politics. Although authentic Froebel's Gifts (play materials - such as shaped wooden bricks and balls) and Occupations (a series of hands-on activities) are currently not often seen in early childhood settings, the spirit of "Come, let us live with our children!" is still alive in the hearts of early childhood educators around the world. Therefore, the everyday experience of Froebelians in the past may, in many ways, be similar to ours today. I would like to relate a Froebelian's experience of creating a kindergarten in Japan through the story of Annie L. Howe (1852-1943) and depict Howe's beliefs and values concerning the education of young children.
Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something Froebel? The development of origami in early childhood education in Japan
This study examines how origami has been implemented, practised, and developed in the early childhood education of Japan over the past 140 years. Historically speaking, paper-folding has been part of Japanese symbolic art, craft culture, and religious ceremonial artefacts since paper and paper-folding techniques were first imported from China during the seventh century. By the eighteenth century, paper-folding provided a form of mass entertainment in Japanese society. During the 1870s, paper-folding was dramatically transformed into a pedagogical tool within Japanese kindergartens after Friedrich Froebel’s (1782–1852) kindergarten system and its curriculum was transferred to Japan from the West. “Papier-Falten” (paper-folding) comprised an element of Froebel’s Occupations – which was a series of handiwork activities – in his kindergarten curriculum, whereby various folding techniques and models were derived from European traditional paper-folding and introduced into a Japanese kindergarten curriculum that was associated with the concept of Froebel’s kindergarten. Particularly seen in early childhood education in Japan, what we now call origami developed as a new form of paper-folding. This gradually emerged through the marriage of Western (German) and Eastern (Japanese) paper-folding cultures. The study highlights the benefits and uniqueness of cultural transmission and transformation when developing origami in early childhood education in Japan.
Review of 'The history of education in Japan (1600-2000)', edited by Masashi Tsujimoto and Yoko Yamasaki, London and New York, Routledge, 2017, xiii + 176 pp. £110.00 (hardback), ISBN 978-1-13-818191-5, £39.00 (ebook), ISBN 978-1-315-64668-8
I am Japanese. For half my life, I have lived in English-speaking countries and still live in one. How do I read and review The History of Education in Japan (1600-2000)? The book, in particular, encourages non-Japanese readers especially to participate in a dialogue and promote further discussion focusing on the comparative historiography of education in an international arena (pp. 159-63) - so what is my role as a Japanese reviewer?
The transfer, translation and transformation of Froebelian theory and practice: Annie L. Howe and her Glory Kindergarten and Teacher Training School in Kobe, Japan, 1889–1929
This chapter explores how Frederich Froebel's theory was transferred, translated and transformed on implementation by the Froebelian Annie L. Howe. Howe was an American missionary woman and was seconded to Japan by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions of the Congregational Church to establish a Christian kindergarten in Japan. The chapter highlights Froebelian theory and practice and the way in which these involve the interplay of social, political, educational and cultural conditions. In Japan, there are different types of Froebelian who transferred the ideas of the kindergarten into Japan. Japanese Froebelians were mostly men who held important posts in the Meiji government or in the Ministry of Education, and had their own views and values regarding kindergarten education. In 1889, the Glory Kindergarten and Teacher Training School were opened in Kobe by Howe. They were organised along Froebelian lines from practice developed in the USA and, importantly, were based on Christian worldviews.
Constructing Early Childhood Services as Culturally Credible Trauma Recovery Environments: An Exploration of Participatory Barriers and Enablers for Refugee Families
High quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) services, such as kindergarten/ preschool provide a safe, stabilising influence for all children, affording a powerful means of transcending vulnerability (Melhuish, 2011b; Oberklaid, Baird, Blair, Melhuish, & Hall, 2013). Quality ECEC enhances a child’s cognitive, behavioural, social and linguistic skills, thus laying strong foundations for successful home-to-school-transitions and future health, educational and employment outcomes (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2017). Unfortunately, children from refugee backgrounds remain significantly underrepresented in ECEC services across Australia (Hopkins, Lorains, Issaka, & Podbury, 2017; Krakouer, Mitchell, Trevitt, & Kochanoff, 2017), and participation is very low in Queensland (Allen Consulting Group, 2011; MDA, 2012; QCOSS, 2016b; Thorpe, Vromans, & Bell-Booth, 2011). Reasons for non-engagement have been difficult to ascertain (Baxter & Hand, 2013; Krakouer et al., 2017). Given contemporary neurobiological discoveries about peak brain development occurring between the ages of zero-to-five, non-participation by child refugees is an element of the wicked problem of ongoing disadvantage and social exclusion of refugees in Australian society. This holistic, qualitative, cross-sectoral study explored barriers and enablers to access and participation in ECEC services for refugee families living in Queensland. In this study, evidence about the traumatic nature of the refugee experience from a mental health perspective was fused with evidence about the importance of quality ECEC from an educational perspective. Constructivist Grounded Theory (CGT), rooted in pragmatism and relativism (Charmaz, 2014), was applied as a methodology. In CGT the researcher honours the lived experience by maintaining participants’ presence through their words and stories, with the understanding that theory is co-constructed between researcher and participant (Charmaz, 2017b). Data was obtained through semi-structured interviews and focus groups with 55 participants, 38 of whom were former refugees. Participants consisted of 29 parents and 26 early childhood practitioners (ECPs) who were educators, directors, managers, family and cultural support workers, sourced from seven community-based agencies affiliated with an early childhood initiative of the Queensland Department of Education. Results indicate that the majority of refugee families were denied access to ECEC, with key areas of exclusion being: poverty, language, trauma, culture, and racism. Families who were successful in enrolling children frequently experienced a limited sense of belonging, arising from lack of respect, racial tensions, negative perceptions about quality of care, fear of children being abused by educators, and fear of State intervention. These barriers resulted in withdrawal of children and signalled that some ECPs were ill prepared to work with young children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (CALD) whose families had experienced war-trauma. The few families who fully participated described cultural credible services that promoted language rights; fostered culturally safe and secure environments for both children and parents; implemented trauma-informed practice and anti-discriminatory, culturally sustaining pedagogies. In drawing upon participant narratives about the encounters of child refugees in early childhood settings, I used an ecological model focusing on indicators of wellbeing informed by McFarlane, Kaplan, and Lawrence (2011), to explore the complex interplay between behavioural presentations, parental refugee experience, societal and economic conditions impacting upon families in resettlement, and interactions between families and ECPs. Findings underscore the importance of responding to complex trauma in children through an ecological approach. This study highlights the need for state-wide investment in well-resourced, responsive strategies such as: poverty alleviation through fee waivers; language rights through mandating interpreter / translator usage and dual language maintenance; and professional development to foster cross-cultural competencies and the application of trauma-informed practice by all ECPs. ECEC services are well placed to become culturally credible trauma recovery environments for children from refugee backgrounds.
Changing worldviews: A comparative study of Australian and Japanese preservice teachers of early childhood education on study abroad programme
The chapter provides a comparative study of the impact of short-term study abroad programmes on pre-service teachers' learning in Australia and Japan. The Bachelor of Early Childhood and Primary Education degree students from Australia visited Japan and the Bachelor of Kindergarten and Primary Education degree students from Japan visited Australia. Mezirow's Transformative Learning Theory (TLT) is used as a theoretical framework to conceptualise students' learning. Data was collected via a photovoice methodology, essay writing, focus group and individual interviews. The study explores the disorienting dilemmas and challenges students faced and changes in their views through engagements of various educational and cultural activities, such as visiting early childhood settings, observing children's activity and/or participating in play activities with children, during the study abroad programmes. By demonstrating the impact of the short-term study abroad programmes on student learning and experience, the study provides suggestions regarding how short-term study abroad programmes could be further developed to enhance students' learning as a part of their degree programmes and how students may integrate their study abroad experience into their future practice.