art international || artistic achievement in japanese junior high schools

National Art Education Association

Artistic Achievement in Japanese Junior High SchoolsAuthor(s): Rachel MasonSource: Art Education, Vol. 47, No. 1, Art International (Jan., 1994), pp. 8-19Published by: National Art Education AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3193438 .

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S P E CnIAL

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IL)uring the autumn of 19901 was visiting professor atJoetsu University, in Japan. The university, one of three national education institutes founded in the late 1970s to promote graduate work and research, is located in Joetsu- shi (city) Niigata-ken (prefecture) which is in the centre of the Japanese Archipelago on the west coast of Japan. My central concern was to describe and explain the meanings and systems of organized behavior making up a specifically Japanese I

culture of teaching and learning in art I anticipated engaging in disciplined

study of art education in school settings and making cultural inferences about what art teaching and learning is like for Japanese art teachers and pupils, from how they acted, what they said, and the artifacts they responded to and made. I knew that the Japanese education system was highly

3Y RACHEL MASON

centralized and had a national curriculum that included art; also that the high level of general education provided for almost all Japanese pupils till the age of 18 is currently the envy of the Western developed world (Howarth, 1989; White, 1987; Rohlen, 1983). I understood systematic observation of Japanese schooling as having the potential to generate useful

comparative data about core curriculum content and standards of attainment in art. I was aware,

ART EDUCATION / JANUARY 1994



also, that modem Japan provided a singular example of an Eastern culture which had adopted Western aesthetic concepts, methods, and ideals but, to a remarkable degree, had retained a unique artistic identity (Sparke, 1987).

It is worth commenting on the selection process and methods of gaining access to a school since the details are instructive as regards Japanese social etiquette and dependency on stable reference groups. Shortly after my arrival at Joetsu, I communicated to a university colleague my desire to undertake detailed observation of art education practice in at least one local school. Consultations immediately took place with executive members of the local art teachers' association (Joetsu Bijutsu Kyoiku Renmei) to whom I had been formally introduced one year previously. It became their responsibility to provide me with a suitable location. Gaining approval of a principal and teacher took some time, and a considerable amount of effort was expended on negotiations to ensure the project's success. Koboyashi-San, the principal of the lower secondary school eventually selected, turned out to be art trained and an association member. Horikawa-San, the art teacher, was a trusted member also. Furuta-San, (the president of the association), my university colleague, and Horikawa-San finally clinched the deal at what I suspect was a deceptively informal meeting in the park. The reasons for the choice given me afterwards were Horikawa-San's willingness to co- operate, together with his working knowledge of English and his school's

convenient location near my home. Fieldwork was conducted over a

period of three months during which four weeks were set aside exclusively for visits to Johoku school. I observed all Horikawa-San's classes in action and was able to follow art projects in progress from start to finish since they were organized in 6 week blocks. Events were documented by note taking and through photographs. On three occasions, I tailed him for an entire school day. I was present at a school assembly, participated in two school outings, and attended an art competition at a local primary school for which Johoku pupils' paintings were entered. In addition I was invited to Horikawa-San's home and interviewed him formally on two occasions with the assistance of an interpreter.

gAIntl 'II PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT AND RESOURCES

Johoku is one of 10 lower secondary schools in Joetsu-shi. It is located on the outskirts of Takada old town, next to a modem highway linking it to the port of Naoetsu. The school has 39 full time staff and a roll of 784 pupils aged between 12 and 15. The majority of the pupils' fathers are office workers, merchants, or farmers.

White's description (1987, pp. 66-8) of the physical appearance of a typical Japanese school fits Johoku well. It is a spare, grey, L-shaped, concrete building 30 years old. There is a large ungrassed school yard on the side furthest from the main road where recess games, sports classes, and sometimes, demonstrations are held; and a bicycle parking area at one end

next to a small patch of shrubbery facing the main entrance.

On entering the school, visitors must exchange their shoes for brown plastic slippers selected from rows of identical pairs neatly arranged on racks. The school's medals and trophies are situated strategically on a table just inside the door. Behind them there is a reception area, furnished with regulation white upholstered settee and chairs adjacent to the principal's office and a new teachers' room. When the ritualized greetings that are an essential part of interpersonal interaction in Japan have been completed to the principal and senior teachers' satisfaction, the visitor proceeds within.

The interior of the three-story building consists of long corridors with classrooms along one side and windows on the other. All the floors are highly polished, and the atmosphere is clean and bright. Decoration is sparse, and the walls need plaster and paint. Furniture is old with few concessions to physical comfort. Classes in each of the three-year groups are organized into "homerooms" functioning as a base for all academic lessons with the exception of science, music, and art. Every homeroom is filled to capacity with uniform rows of small wooden desks arranged in pairs. Pupils sit on square wooden stools without backs, regulation school bags hanging from hooks on one side of each desk.

The atmosphere in homerooms is lively. On average there are 40 pupils to one teacher in a class. The teacher's main concern is that pupils are seen to be engaged in their work. Not that they are disciplined or docile (White, 1987,

JANUARY 1994 / ART EDUCATION I



p. 68); many Western teachers would find the noise level distressing.

SPECIALIST ART FACILITIES Art facilities are situated on the

second story. They consist of two standard classrooms fitted with long tables and stone sinks, and a store room between. A description in my field notes reads Horikawa-San's art room is almost as spartan as the home rooms but not quite. Specialist equipment is limited to drying racks, storage chestsfor two-dimensional work and an open shelffor three-dimensional work. There do not appear to be any specialistfacilitiesfordisplay. Some cards pinned over the blackboard inscribed in brush with Japanese characters exhort pupils to 'feel, talk, express beauty; the important thing is to be creative". Visual stimuli in the form of adult artworks are limited to reproductions of two Durer drawings, a landscape painting and a contemporary American print. In addition, there are 5 plaster casts ofJapanese "national treasures" (masks ofBuddhist deities from temples in Nara and Kyoto) and some paintings by pupils on the walls.

The store-room functions as art office also. Three desks with a makeshift bookshelf, telephone and coffee making equipment are squeezed underneath the window. A video recorder and screen are stored on a trolley at the opposite end. The remaining walls house cupboards and shelves; one side beinggiven over entirely to storing pupils' work and text books, the other to media and materials - including ready-made kits. Some folded and cut-paper designs are pegged to a line ofstring overhead.

In the corridor, there are dusty storage racks, cupboards and glass cases holding art magazines, more text books; an assortment ofstill-life objects (wine bottles, plaster casts of hands, animals

and classical Greek heads) - all looking as if they have not been usedforyears. Also, power-driven wood-working machinery I was surprised to see pupils use unsupervised.

ANNUAL BUDGET FOR ART Horikawa-San told me that the total

school budget for consumable items in Heisei 2 (1990) was 1,200,000 yen, (1 $ US =106 yen). Of this, the sum allocated for art courses was approximately 150.000 yen. He sends his art requisition form to the City Board of Education each May and receives goods in August. He always uses good quality drawing paper costing 50 yen a piece. In addition, parents purchase a great many art materials including prepared handicraft kits. A standard item purchased by all parents is a regulation portable painting kit with good quality water color paints and brushes costing approximately 1,500 yen.

ART TEACHER'S PROFESSIONAL ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Horikawa-San is the only one of the three art specialists in the school to devote his attention to teaching the subject full time. One colleague was recently promoted to senior teacher, and another had been newly appointed on a part time basis.

Horikawa-San's working day is crowded. His hours of art instruction per week are relatively short (14 in total); but because order and organizing take on an aesthetic quality in Japanese life and because Japanese schools see themselves as fully engaged in a pupil's social and moral conduct as well as academic progress (Rohlen, 1983, p. 172), he has many

other duties. School responsibilities of one kind or another keep him busy from 7:45 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Mondays through Fridays (and on Saturday mornings, also).

On Mondays at 8:30 a.m. staff and pupils attend a 45 minute school assembly before lessons start. Every other working day begins at 8:15 with a teacher's meeting with the principal. Horikawa-San is homeroom teacher for class 5 in Year 3. This necessitates meeting them before lessons every morning and at the end of each afternoon and lunching with them in the classroom. He conducts a one hour homeroom meeting once a week to teach moral education and to discuss personal problems; he must prepare them for special days organized around projects such as science fairs or sports and assist in the production of a class magazine. In addition he is expected to take part in routine administration, assessment and sqpervision tasks and organize and participate in school parents' days and trips. He makes himself available for art club members and joins in the table tennis club after school.

It is hard to know how he finds time, but Horikawa-San is a practicing artist with a string of exhibitions, including one man shows. His work is resolutely modernist and was, until very recently, conceptual. At dinner one evening at his home I was treated to the story of President Nixon being sent a Japanese stone. Horikawa-San claims to have picked it up at exactly the same time as a stone was pickec up by the first American on the moon. His personal scrap book contains a laconic reply from an attache in Washington, D.C. thanking him for his "unusual gift". Press cuttings and photographs document numerous other happenings and "performances". In addition he




regularly participates in tsukiai (after hours socializing) with art association colleagues and is studying for examinations to qualify for a post as vice-principal.

SCHOOL CURRICULUM The timetabling and organization of

Johoku school curriculum is subject to a considerable degree of standardization, like everything else in Japanese schools. The school year begins in April. There are three terms and a total of ten weeks vacation (two weeks at New Year, two in late March and six in the summer). A total of two school weeks is missed because of national holidays, making at least 35 weeks of actual teaching each year.

Subjects and hours spent studying them are the same as in any junior high school. All pupils study Japanese, social studies, maths, science, English language, music, art, physical

education, industrial arts and homemaking for a specified number of hours. Pupils in the three grade levels have a compulsory 150 minute art lesson once a week.

FINE ART GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The Ministry of Education (Monbusho) publishes a National Curriculum in the form of Courses of Study for each grade level which is revised almost every ten years. Section 6 of the course for Lower Secondary Schools being implemented atJohoku was devoted to Fine Art I was supplied with an English version published in 1983. The stated aims for Fine Art were to: (i) have students develop ability in aesthetic expression and appreciation; (ii) enjoy the pleasure of creative activities; (iii) cultivate an appreciation of art and (iv) foster an enriched sensibility in the fine arts (p. 69). Objectives for each grade (pp. 69-76)

were to (i) foster Art class at Johoku lower children's aesthetic secondary schools, intuition through Joetsu-shi, Japan expressive painting and modelling; (ii) cultivate ideas and activities related to systematic production of design and crafts and (iii) cultivate abilities to appreciate beauty in art and nature. Content was listed under (i) expression and (ii) response. Painting, drawing and sculpture received copious attention, while mention was made of (i) methods of production of crafts and (ii) the need to become interested in the role of design and crafts in daily life. Graphic design was the only other art form referred to by name. Composition in painting and understanding formal elements of design (e.g. shape, colour and form) were stressed throughout, as was observation of nature and proper use of tools.

Since there is a district education

JANUARY 1994 / ART EDUCATION



officer charged with ensuring that the national curriculum is being implemented, it is not surprising that Horikawa-San's curriculum bears some resemblance to the contents of this document. The objective of "assisting pupils to grasp the beauty and harmony of nature" identified in the National Curriculum Guidelines, together with "cultivating an interest in composition in painting" (p. 69), was embedded in a landscape painting project. Likewise the underlying aim of "cultivating ideas and activities relating to systematic production of design and crafts" was evident in two craft projects I observed in which children worked with wood and clay.

ART CURRICULUM CONTENT

Horikawa-San's J curriculum was fully worked out for the academic year and involved all his classes working with similar media and materials for six week periods. Autumn is "the season of beautiful colours", so my visit coincided with the landscape painting project. Since this was the project I saw most of, I will describe it in detail.

It began with plans for 'Whole School Sketching Day" in Takada Park. The art teachers prepared every single pupil for this event for two hours. Discussion took place about what and how to paint, using photographs of the park Horikawa-San had taken in advance. One gloriously sunny day the entire student population of Johoku school, dressed in regulation red and white tracksuits and carrying identical- size pieces of white paper clipped to drawing boards, walked to the park and embarked on the serious business of

drawing and painting from nature. Seated on benches or squatting on the grass, they used viewfinders to select a vista of cherry trees and walkways; or, of the castle moat with lotus plants in bloom. Next, they methodically plotted out linear compositions in pencil. Towards the end of the afternoon, some pupils made use of portable painting kits to apply thin washes of color to their drawings. Three or four

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lessons were spent completing this work. At the beginning of each one, Horikawa-San selected a few examples and placed them on view as a focus for discussion. For the most part I failed to comprehend what was being said. But on one occasion I guessed he was using paintings from another class to instruct pupils to incbrporate a foreground,

middle, and background in their work. Progress was painfully slow, and pupils scrutinized each other's efforts closely, particularly with regard to means for achieving a wide variety of water colour effects. Several pupils spent an entire 50 minute lesson mixing a range of greens for foliage, for example, and dabbing small dots of color on a single tree image. The final results were remarkably able technically, and uniform. Very few depicted human figures.

The other project I observed from start to finish was craft-oriented; pupils

produced small musical pipes, or "okarinas", from clay. Horikawa-

San distributed hand-outs in advance which incorporated step-by-step instructions for making four different pipe forms; and pupils worked on boards on top of the tables

| X using prepared clay. Some pipes took on bird and fish forms. A considerable degree

of manual skill and accuracy was called for to achieve musical

results. The forms had to be hollowed out, then pierced with 11

holes. When they were put back together again, a mouth-piece had to be fashioned carefully at a precise angle at one end. Some pupils needed quite a lot of help. The lesson in which they finally arrived at some musical outcomes was ear-splitting.

Any discussion of art lesson content in Japan is incomplete without reference to Ministry approved textbooks. Johoku students are issued with art textbooks for each grade as in all other subjects. Such is the zeal for their use that they purchase supplementary texts also.

The art textbook for grade 1 contained about 40 pages of illustrations and written text and was

- ART EDUCATION / JANUARY 1994



printed in color on good quality paper. Each double page was devoted to one art/craft medium and outlined a possible lesson topic or theme (e.g. portraits in painting, poster design and lettering, wood block printing or ceramic animals). Good quality color reproductions of work by Western and Japanese artists and designers and exemplars by school children of an appropriate age predominated, interspersed with guidelines and instructions for carrying out related projects. For example, instructions for making relief portraits from clay translated as follows:

Let's express afeeling in depth and volume with curves. A relief is

Japanese secondary. not just a flat school students drawing projction ofa from observation of painting surface. It nature. Johoku school. could be as thin as

the raised design on a coin or almost like a sculpture. Think about the thicknesses ofthe various elements in your design in relation toyour expressive purposes. You should also consider the way sunlight can change light effects on your relief

By far the largest number of reproductions were of 20th century Western paintings identical to those that are a popular stimulus for pupils' work in our own schools: especially, French Impressionist and Post- Impressionist paintings. Design exemplars appeared to be more folk arts-and handicraft-related than British or North American equivalents.

The supplementary text, which covered all three grades, included detailed how-to-do-it technical instructions. For example, it provided pupils with step-by-step methods of producing a still-life water color painting of flowers, carving a rabbit

from a rectangle of wood, and creating a cut-out stencil in black paper from a landscape drawing. Included, also, were illustrations of relevant equipment and tools.

Horikawa-San was extremely critical of the influence of the National Curriculum and art textbooks on Japanese art education, complaining that they result in rigid, unimaginative teaching and stereotyped outcomes. I never saw him use a text book in class, but pupils referred to them frequently, both before and during art lessons. As a consequence of observing him teaching I detected some conflict between his stated beliefs and actions in class. Although he claimed that textbooks played no part in his curriculum planning, some wooden puzzles produced as the outcome of a craft project appeared identical to textbook examples.




Given the emphasis on art appreciation in the National Fine Art Curriculum, I was surprised that only one lesson I observed focused on discussion of art and this was limited to discussion of pupils' work. Horikawa- San told me that an encounter with Discipline Based Art Education (DBAE) on a recent trip to America organized by the Joetsu Art Teachers' Association had alerted him to the need to work harder at the goal of "developing pupils' ability to respond to and appreciate artworks". Whilst I did not witness any classes in which pupils were actively encouraged to discuss adult works of art, I accompanied the entire third year on an excursion to the Civic Hall and City Art Gallery to view two exhibitions; the first a national exhibition featuring contemporary Japanese painting, the second a local competition and display of amateur art. Horikawa-San explained that art appreciation was timetabled in the Spring term "during the snow season". He showed me extensive teaching resources in the form of textbooks and videos of Japanese and Western art.

TEACHER-PUPIL INTERACTION Horikawa-San's teaching style

appeared very relaxed. He laughed and joked easily with pupils, and the majority of his instructions about, for example, cleaning up or safety, were delivered low key. Projects tended to be introduced through worksheets with line illustrations prepared in advance. They were distributed to pupils individually as and when they completed a previous project. Prior to each lesson, Horikawa-San wrote key terms and single word instructions on the blackboard (e.g. in one instance, "colour" and "layer it"; in another,

"aesthetic sensitivity" and "concentrate A general obser- on the form of the object"). He referred to these and to examples of pupils' work throughout lessons.

He used visual aids, some of which were home-made, in a number of lessons I observed. On one occasion, he projected black and white photographs onto a wall to illustrate a point about positive and negative space in pictorial composition. On another, he brought in a log and exhorted pupils to look at the texture on the bark before painting.

Painting by a junior vation is that his high student from teaching was group Johoku school, rather than individually oriented, yet I never saw him demonstrate a technique in front of the whole class. He rarely sat down; instead, he paced up and down talking to the class as a whole, commenting on individual work from a distance without stopping for a

m ART EDUCATION / JANUARY 1994



response or checking to find out whether the pupils concerned were listening or not. On one occasion, I observed him spend quite some time assisting a boy experiencing difficulty obtaining musical notes from the clay pipe he was making. On another, when a girl got an electric drill stuck in a piece of wood, he went over and plucked it out without comment.

Given the formality that characterizes Japanese interpersonal relations in general, I was surprised to find his lessons so informal. Beginnings and ends were not sharply defined. Horikawa-San insisted on formal farewells to his class but performed them quite perfunctorily at times before they cleared up. I only saw him bow to a class once. Because they were so self-motivated and responsible, he was able to leave them to prepare materials unaided and begin work whether or not he was present in the room.

Although he treated his pupils more like children than young adults, it was obvious he cared for them and that they respected him in turn. He had a quiet way of disciplining them. I never heard him raise his voice or sound angry. "Hora hora", said half jokingly, was sufficient to call a class to order if they became too noisy. In the homeroom one day he went up to a boy who was demonstrating resistance to schooling by sleeping at his desk during a test, and knelt on the floor remonstrating with him softly, almost lovingly.

In Japanese schools pupils and teachers share responsibility for keeping the building clean and tidy. No cleaners are employed. Pupils in the last art class of the day put up the chairs on tables, scour the sink, dust surfaces, and polish and sweep the floor. Horikawa-San assists. At the end of one woodwork class, I watched him fetch

the vacuum cleaner from the corridor and clean the floor. He showed himself to be extremely conscientious. At 6:00 p.m., having participated in club activities, he returned to both the art room and homeroom to check that lights were turned off and windows closed.

PUPILS' RESPONSES No systematic attempt was made to

elicit pupils' understanding of art teaching and learning through methods such as interviews or questionnaires. Joetsu inhabitants in general appeared unused to foreigners and Johoku pupils were no exception. For the most part my presence at the back of the art room was "invisible", and any attempts I made to communicate informally were studiously ignored. Later, as I became less of a novelty, some of the boys' reactions, when they thought no-one was looking, became disconcertingly sexist and rude.

Pupils in every art class were seated alphabetically- alternate rows of boys and girls. Some classes were noisier than others (boys were noticeably noisier and more extrovert than girls). I did not gain the impression that many pupils really extended themselves, and sensed that art might be a relief from the rigors of the other academic subjects that are compulsory for all lower secondary pupils, whatever their ability. It was clear they took the subject seriously, however. Sketch books were brought to class, into which instructions for projects were copied carefully. Supplementary textbooks were consulted frequently and outcomes discussed and compared:

even those who were obviously less able artistically appeared concerned to perform the tasks set by Horikawa-San correctly and well.

ASSESSMENT IN ART It was difficult to pin Horikawa-San

down on the topic of assessment but it seems he issued a one-page evaluation sheet at the close of each project which both he and pupils completed. I saw evidence of the use of tests of art ability - one a test of ability to draw a portrait, another in which pupils were tested on artists' names - and was told he was expected to supply a grade of 1-15 for art on report cards distributed to parents - but no written comments.

The first evaluation questions on a self-assessment form for a second grade project I scrutinized translated as follows; "Was your idea a good one? Did you use the intrinsic quality of the materials? Were you well prepared? Did you work hard? "Next pupils were asked to choose work by five friends and comment on it. Their responses included the following: "Fantastic! I like the mouth", "He cheated"; "Interesting" and "Very good". Finally, Horikawa-San asked for a general comment about the project as a whole. Translations of some responses by pupils read "I wasn't interested at first but gradually I became motivated" and, "I couldn't paint because I didn't have any materials". Horikawa-San graded each project from 1-5, but said he did not inform pupils of their marks.

LACK OF SIGNIFICANCE AFFORDED VISUAL DISPLAYS

In common with most British or North American observer I looked for visible evidence of artwork around the school as an indicator of general




educational concern for developing pupils' aesthetic sensibilities (Stake, 1975). From my British perspective the paucity of children's artwork on Johoku school walls signalled neglect of this dimension. Lack of such evidence could not be said to correlate with poor art provision, however. It may be that using this criterion for judging the quality of art programs is culturally biased.

Three explanations for Japanese teachers' reluctance to display children's art were supplied by local informants. First, they reveal an art teacher's instructional inadequacies. Second, there is no incentive. Third, process is more important than product. Comparative education literature discusses the "unadorned pragmatism" of Japanese schools with reference to a Japanese philosophy of education incorporating a tradition of asceticism going back to Confucian times (Rohlen, 1983, p. 199; White, 1987, p. 17). Displays of children's art work and other visual arrangements are not afforded priority because of a non-Western belief in the child's innate motivation to learn; and the high value attached to character development through self-discipline and hardship (gambaru). Competition is avoided because the Japanese-Confucian educational tradition emphasizes making a child "human like" in the sense of being able to have harmonious relationships with others.

A CULTURE OF DILIGENCE Japanese teachers and pupils work

longer hours per day for more days per year than their British or North American counterparts (Howarth 1990,

p. 41). All class time is strictly academic, and the curriculum is the same for all pupils. Notwithstanding these pressures, atJohoku school 100% effort and involvement from teachers and pupils appeared to be the norm.

Horikawa-San earned a relatively good living in comparison with British or North American colleagues. But in most East Asian countries teaching is (and always has been) a much respected profession involving lifelong commitment and learning; moreover, academic credentials are the most valued pursuits in Japanese contemporary life (White, 1987, p. 82). Japanese art teachers like Horikawa- San are fortunate indeed that teachers in general enjoy socio-cultural consensus that schooling really matters. The culture of diligence this engenders appears to extend to all aspects of Japanese schooling, including non-examined subjects such as art.

UNIFORMITY OF INSTRUCTION Horikawa-San's stated beliefs about

the importance of developing children's creativity and self-expression through art appeared curiously at odds with the uniform methods of instruction. The training in "groupishness" that comparative educationalists claim is at the core of the Japanese educational enterprise adds another dimension.

The Japanese concept of self is said to differ from that in the West in that it is a self supported by group membership (White, 1987, p. 6). First, participation in groups is understood to be natural and healthy in Japan, whereas non-participation, it is assumed, is accompanied by loss of identity, self-confidence, and self-worth (Rohlen 1983, p. 203). Second, the distinction between personal and social

morality made in the West is rarely made in Japan. A moral dilemma is a personal one, and there are powerful disincentives to being different. Third, the Japanese concept of democracy does not aim to produce individual independence of mind. Consequently, Japanese schools differ from schools in the West in that they do not surround pupils with a regular flow of choices with a view to their "finding themselves".

Japanese high schools are not training groundsfor democracy, Japanese traditional values, or a new egalitarian order. Rather, they are best understood as shapinggenerations of disciplined workers for a meritocratic system that requires highly socialized individuals capable ofperforming reliably in a rigorous, hierarchical andfinely tuned organizational environment (Rohlen, 1983, p. 209).

The uniformity of instructional content and methods in the Japanese school system (standardized national curriculum, emphasis on examinations and testing, reliance on rote learning and memorization etc.), were identified as problems by the Japanese Council of Educational Reform in 1984. The eight basic reform concepts they devised for addressing the need for internationalization included increased attention to individuality and creativity, together with expansion of curriculum choice. While some Western observers are extremely critical of existing methods of education in Japan, others point out that Japanese educators who believe that American or British schools provide opportunities for creative talent and individualism to bloom are misguided (White, 1987, p. 173). They cite laissez- faire attitudes




to pedagogy and con- Painting by a sec- fusion and tension sur- ondary school stu- rounding educational dentfrom Johoku values such as creativi-

school, Japan. ty, self-expression, and freedom of choice as a Western norm; and question whether or not the educational goal of producing individuals capable of social independence and critical thought is, or ever could be, realistic. For Rohlen (1983), for example, the individualism and freedom that characterize American educational values are illusions without the basic articles of faith that "life rests on social interdependence and that achievement of human potential is a fundamental human good" (p. 326).

EXCELLENCE IN ART Pupils' artwork atJohoku school

exhibited the high order skills in manipulating materials and tools and the sophisticated application of artistic techniques that foreign art educators have come to expect as being characteristically Japanese. Since Horikawa-San was extremely critical of "technique teachers", and I never once saw him give a practical demonstration in class, how was this achieved? One obvious answer is the art textbooks which pupils consulted avidly both before and during class. More significant, in my view, is the tradition of excellence in the nation's applied arts and crafts. Continuity with this tradition implies an old-style view of the source and meaning of creativity (White, 1987, p. 80), one in which priority is afforded to process over product and the goal is precise imitation of the master. An explanation

was supplied by one Japanese art educator (Ohashi, 1988), that the way something is done is afforded an aesthetic quality in Japanese life; doing something very carefully and paying exquisite attention to detail are attributes of a good person.

Hendry (1971) has described

Japanese childhood patterns of learning and social interaction as characterized by ritual which emphasizes training in habits, not just rules. Young children are taught things in steps, each one of which is




considered very important and / eminently desirable. A good ( 41( example is seiza - the formal way of sitting on tatami. The (I | way something is done is considered a measure of charac- S 0 ter and an attitude integral to performance is "whole-heart- \ ); edness".

LOVE-CENTRED PUPIL- TEACHER INTERACTION

On the one hand Horikawa- San's teaching manner appeared extremely relaxed; on the other I witnessed no incidents of antisocial or dis- ruptive pupil behavior. Johoku staff appeared perplexed and embarrassed by my insistent questioning about matters of "discipline".

Comparative Education literature explains the lack of discipline problems in Japanese schools as an outcome of the traditional patterns of child rearing (shitsuke) mentioned previously. These are said to be characterized by a highly nurturant, indulgent mother- child relationship, an avoidance of confrontation and violence, which results in a fundamental and uniquely Japanese urge for love and dependency on others known as "amae" (Doi, 1971). Qualities mothers admire and encourage in their children include obedience, gentleness, helpfulness to parents and others (Hendry, 1971, p. 176). Japanese cultural patterns of early child-rearing are so rigorous that, by the time a Japanese child enters high school, attention to personal diligence is reported to be almost exclusively dedicated to the greater good of the group.

Japanese people go to considerable lengths to avoid open confrontation and violence in human interaction (Yasuda, 1987, pp.103-6). The love-centred

... tIhe wav sonlt'tlill is P % I . .. . . * \ high degree of imitativeness and

I1( I1 S , ll1-1( (l I a Ill t c Sltl( i' \ eclecticism (Storry, 1960) and, 61, .I)dil(IIM

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i 'i . ,Ii *i~ i~ ~ factor of contemporary Illl ll l v C II( 't'll l I and Japanese art and life.

The heavy weighting I il \(II|i,,h' l tf' ll iOInl to towards Western fine art in

school art textbooks that ICdtail IaIC al lrill i cS seemed curious to me is taken

for granted in a nation that has 0l a nmd1(oti4 1|)Crs(on. 1 1 always borrowed art and culture

from abroad. Evidence of cultural invasions of Japan over the centuries

is highly visible in Japanese domestic ;,-I, I ,for -....1,M,,.

patterns of etiquette and communication that are said to characterize Japanese teaching style (White 1987, p. 65) were evident in Horikawa-San's classroom in the following ways. He appeared less directive than many British or North American art teachers; delegated more authority to pupils (e.g. for starting lessons and clearing up); intervened less in arguments; and his expectations for the control of noise appeared relatively low. I witnessed very little one-to-one teaching; instructions to pupils were almost always delivered to the group as a whole.

JAPANESE/WESTERN DUALISM Horikawa-San is what Western art

educators would call an artist-teacher. But being an artist-teacher is different in Japan: in part, because Japanese art has always been characterized by a

IILUUI IU1 , 1U i Cadlli:pC,

Near the Shinto "God shelf" a small shrine on the wall above the sleeping figures ofMr. and Mrs. Saito, there is a miniature Buddhist temple, a reminder of thefirst cultural invasion to Japan in historical times, that ofBuddhism from China in the sixth centuryAD. In the cramped little kitchen there are remains of a sponge cake, a gift from one ofMr. Saito's business friends. This type of cake known as kasutera, was introduced to Japan by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century together with Christianity. The latter the Japanese were to rejectfor more than two centuries but they kept the cake. The second cultural invasion from the Dutch which included some rudimentary but useful scientific knowledge acquired mainly from the Dutch was not substantial compared with thefirst but produced its own important reactions.

The third invasion also from the West began in the middle of the nineteenth century soon afterJapan was opened at the point of a gun to foreign commerce ... Its manifestations in the Saito household are too numerous to be listed. They




include, it might be said, every article of western use in the home from the strip lighting to the shoes andgumboots standing in the front porch, from the coathangers in the cupboard to the boy's bicycle pump near the kitchen door (Storry, p. 19).

Storry reported that the Japanese aptitude for imitativeness has alternatively amused and irritated the West. In his view, the aptitude for choosing, borrowing, adapting and "Japanizing" foreign ideas and techniques is an expression of a "positive outlook" (p. 31). It is a major strength of the Japanese people that, when brought face to face with a culture other than their own, they have repeatedly demonstrated an indefatigable curiosity and passion to learn.

MULTICULTURALISM Multicultural education is an

unfamiliar concept in Japan (Iwano, 1992). The implications of Japanese- Western dualism that is a feature of the art curriculum and of Japanese moder life are that pupils grow up with a pluralist conception of the subject. But it is a simplistic view of cultural pluralism, in that it is bi-cultural only; cultures other than Japanese and Western are ignored.

Bi-culturalism implies that Japanese nationals have clarified and positive Japanese ethnic identifications, skills and commitment (Banks, 1988). My findings were that in spite of a history of cultural borrowing, the Japanese people subscribe to a belief in a unique national artistic heritage and identity. This was evident, for example, in the continuity of the folk art tradition and the persistence of uniquely Japanese

aesthetic concepts (such as "shibumi", an austere elegance and astringency which designates a subtle, unobtrusive and deeply moving pattern of beauty cultivated by artists since the Muromachi period; 'yugen", elegant simplicity) both in professional art theory and practice (Sparke, 1987, Kawakita, 1974) and in aesthetics in everyday life. If what I witnessed at Johoku was typical, national identification and related citizenship competencies in art are not afforded much significance in formal art education in schools. But they were, or could have been, a central focus of the moral curriculum, which included mandatory school excursions (Shugaku-ryoko) to places of historical and cultural interest, such as Nara and Kyoto, at strategic times in pupils' school careers. The art teachers at Johoku played a key role in organizing such excursions, which clearly provided opportunities for learning focusing exclusively on Japanese artistic identity and heritage.

Rachel Mason is Head, Centrefor Postgraduate Research in Teacher Education, De Montfort University, Leicester, England

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am greatly indebted to the

Japanese Ministry of Education and the British Council for funding the visit to Japan that made this study possible. I wish to thank, also, Professor Ohashi, Head of Art Education atJoetsu University, together with the Joetsu Art Teachers' Association for providing the necessary information and assistance to set the case study up and the Principal, staff and students atJohoku

Junior High school for allowing me to carry it out. Particular thanks are due to Horikawa-San, the long suffering art teacher who volunteered for what must have seemed an extraordinary invasion of both his working and domestic life. And to Professor Nakase, interpreter, key informant, and friend, without whom nothing whatsoever would have been achieved.

REFERENCES Banks, J. (1988). Multiethnic education: Theory

and practice. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Doi, T. (1971). The anatomy of dependence.

Tokyo: Kodansha. Hendry, J. (1971). Becoming Japanese.

Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Howarth, H. (1990). Britain's educational reform: A comparison with Japan. London: Routledge.

Kawakita, M. (1974). Moder currents in Japanese art. Tokyo: Weatherhill/Heibonsha.

Ministry of Education, Science and Culture. (1983). Courses of studyfor elementary, lower secondary and secondary schools. Government of Japan.

Ohashi, K (1988). The history of origami: Its cultural significance. Unpublished paper, Department of Art Education, Joetsu University.

Rohlen, T. (1983).Japan's high schools. Berkeley: University of California.

Sparke, P. (1987).Japanese design. London: MichaelJoseph.

Stake, R. (1975). Evaluating the arts in education. Columbus, Ohio: Merrill.

Storry, R (1960). A modern history ofJapan. London: Penguin.

The Japan Foundation. (1980). Japan style. Tokyo.

White, M. (1987). The educational challenge: A commitment to children. Tokyo: Kodansha.

Yasuda, T. (1987). Communication in modem Japan. In Nippon Steel Corporation (Eds.). Essays on Japan fromJapan. Tokyo: Maruzen.




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