Learning to Go to School in Japan (eBook)

The Transition from Home to Preschool Life

Lois Peak (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2023
224 Seiten
University of California Press (Verlag)
978-0-520-91428-5 (ISBN)

Infos

Japanese two-year-olds are indulged, dependent, and undisciplined toddlers, but by the age of six they have become obedient, self-reliant, and cooperative students. When Lois Peak traveled to Japan in search of the "e;magical childrearing technique"e; behind this transformation, she discovered that the answer lies not in the family but in the preschool, where teachers gently train their pupils in proper group behavior. Using case studies drawn from two contrasting schools, Peak documents the important early stages of socialization in Japanese culture.Contrary to popular perceptions, Japanese preschools are play-centered environments that pay little attention to academic preparation. It is here that Japanese children learn their first lessons in group life. The primary goal of these cheerful--even boisterous--settings is not to teach academic facts of learning-readiness skills but to inculcate behavior and attitudes appropriate to life in public social situations.Peak compares the behavior considered permissible at home with that required of children at preschool, and argues that the teacher is expected to be the primary agent in the child's transition. Step by step, she brings the socialization process to life, through a skillful combination of classroom observations, interviews with mothers and teachers, transcripts of classroom events, and quotations from Japanese professional literature.Japanese two-year-olds are indulged, dependent, and undisciplined toddlers, but by the age of six they have become obedient, self-reliant, and cooperative students. When Lois Peak traveled to Japan in search of the "e;magical childrearing technique"e; behind </DIV

Inhalt

List of Tables and Figures
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction

PART ONE. FAMILY SOCIALIZATION OF SCHOOL-RELATED BEHAVIOR
1. The Different Worlds of Horne and School
2. Preparing the Child for Preschool
3. Behavior Expectations in the Family and in the Preschool

PART TWO. THE WORLD OF THE JAPANESE PRESCHOOL
4. The Physical Setting of the Preschool
5. The Roles of Teachers, Parents, and Students
6. The Goals of Preschool Education
7. Daily Activities and Routines

PART THREE. ENTERING PRESCHOOL
8. Pre-Entrance Events and Ceremonies
9. Opening Ceremony
10. The First Weeks of School

PART FOUR. ADJUSTMENT PROBLEMS
11. Problems at Home
12. Problems in Adjusting to Classroom Life

Conclusions
Appendix: Background on Preschools as Institutions
References
Index

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 15.11.2023
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Ethnologie
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Pädagogik ► Vorschulpädagogik
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie
• Schlagworte: adjustments • Case study • classroom events • Classroom Observation • cooperative • education institutions • group life • Japan • Japanese culture • Japanese education • japanese preschools • japanese professional literature • japanese schooling • japanese students • magical child rearing technique • mothers and teachers • Obedience • play centered environment • Preschool • preschool education • proper behavior • proper group behavior • public school settings • self reliance • Socialization • Social Sciences • Sociology • students • Teachers
• ISBN-10: 0-520-91428-7 / 0520914287
• ISBN-13: 978-0-520-91428-5 / 9780520914285