The Domains of Curriculum Studies

Individual Assignment and Chart

Curriculum history is important to educators just as the general history of a country is important to historians and politicians . Much can be learned from the successes and the failures of the past . Traditional education in Japan follows societal norms in stressing respect for and for group goals . The schools stress self-evaluation , hard work , and organization

Schools actively teach morals and values in to develop individuals of character that will function in society as educated and moral Japanese formal education in began with adherence to Buddhism and

br Confucianism . Later , studies in sciences were added , and Japan slowly began to adopt more western styles of education . Briefly , the schools were used as military and nationalistic training grounds during WWI and WWII (Hood , 2001

Over the last fifty years , schools in Japan have been evolving further After WWII , a call to return to leadership and societal welfare in education was initiated . Schools were strictly centered around community goals and common curriculums . In the 1980s , unfortunately , an increase in youth violence began to worry Japanese citizens about their future . Focus turned to the morals based education of centuries before .In the late 1990s , the cold war era was over . The Ministry felt as if they could relax the six day long weeks and long days (Japan , 2006 Part of this change in philosophy could be due to changes in competition for universities . Previously , competition for admission into Japanese universities was cutthroat , but now , with a reduction in the number of children being born , schools are competing for students (Hood , 2001 In a way , this has given students more power to seek the types of education they most need

In addition , Japan is also loosening its governmental hold on curriculum and allowing from more flexibility in curriculum through site-based decision-making (Komatsu , 2002 . Schools are now able to select textbooks from a group of sources . Recently , controversy has arisen as to which history textbooks to choose . In 1997 , a group was formed to create and market a revision of Japanese history for incorporation into school history textbooks . This group was primarily interested in revising the presentation of Japan 's execution of militaristic procedures . Unfortunately , even with its widespread promotion efforts the revised textbook failed to gain a foothold in Japanese schools Only a few private schools in one small area of Tokyo was willing to give the book a chance (Masalksi , 2002 . Not all things in Japan 's educational system are open to change

Before , Japanese teachers had very little autonomy in determining what they would teach even though they held positions of high respect in the community . Now , individual schools and teachers will be able to decide on curriculum issues that best meet the needs of their students . The general principle of curriculum organisation is changing from the idea of providing a common education for all children to one of providing different education for various children (Komatsu , 2002 ,

.53 . The 2002 Rainbow Plan mirrors the change in...