c. Methods and Curriculum in Elementary Schools

In May, 1881, the Department of Education issued its Guidelines for the Course of Study for Elementary Schools. The prefectures could develop their own guidelines to conform to the framework of these Guidelines. As a result, the elementary school curriculums throughout the nation were considerably standardized.

Table 2-6. Elementary School Figures (1880-1885)

Table 2-7. Attendance Rate of School-Age Children (1880-1885)

The Guidelines recognized a three-level system of elementary education. The first two courses lasted for three years each and the higher course for two. The subjects for these courses were as follows:

Primary course - morals, reading, calligraphy, arithmetic, singing and physical education.

Intermediate course - morals, reading, calligraphy, arithmetic, singing, physical education, geography, history, drawing, natural history, physics and sewing (for girls).

Higher course - morals, reading, calligraphy, arithmetic, geography, drawing, natural history, singing, physical education, sewing (for girls), chemistry, physiology, geometry, economics (for boys) and home economics (for girls).

Singing and physical education were among the subjects added to the Guidelines, and to assure their success the Department of Education made special preparations. For example, in order to introduce Western music, the Department of Education had set up the Music Research Section in 1879 and invited Luther W. Mason (1828-1896), an American music teacher, to give advice on music instruction. And in 1878, George A. Leland (1850-1924), an American instructor of physical education, was invited by the government to introduce Western-style physical education and an Institute of Physical Education was founded in October of that year under the direct control of the Department of Education.

While Guidelines for the Course of Study for Elementary Schools gave explicit instructions on the nature of each subject, it made no mention of textbooks. However, in conjunction with the change of educational policy from 1880, the investigation and supervision of textbooks for elementary schools became severe, and in May, 1881, immediately after the Guidelines were issued, a reporting (kaishin) system was initiated. According to this system the prefectural government was to submit in advance a report in due form to the Department of Education about such textbooks as would be selected by the prefectural government for the use of elementary schools under its jurisdiction. Later, in July, 1883, a system for approving textbooks was established, under which prefectural selection of elementary, middle and normal school textbooks was to be conditioned by the approval of the Department of Education, and the Department began to investigate more strictly the textbooks being used in elementary schools; the censors paid special attention to the text's material on morals. However, in this new system, considerable time was required from the time a book was first submitted for selection to the prefectural government by a town or village to the time it was approved by the Department of Education and put into use in the classrooms. As this was a very inconvenient system, some towns and villages demanded that a system of authorization be operated by the central government and later, during the era of Education Minister Mori Arinori, a national system of textbook authorization was brought to realization, as stated in Chapter3.

Remarkable progress was made in teaching methods during the period of the Education Orders. The Pestalozzian method of instruction had been introduced during the period of the Education System Order, but few educators really understood it. However, Takamine Hideo (1854-1910), during a study tour of the United States, obtained an unusually rich grasp of this method through using it in practice teaching at Oswego Normal School. Upon his return to Japan Takamine served on the staff of Tokyo Normal School and then in 1881 became its Director. He was able to teach the method to large numbers of teachers, and thus it was increasingly adopted for normal and elementary school education. Based on his experience with the Pestalozzian method the Developmentalism in Teaching Methods was set up, and many publications on pedagogy showed the strong influence of Takamine's ideas.