 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Humanities
- ISSN: 2155-7993
- Journal of Modern Education Review
How Can We Contribute to Moral Education in the
Japanese Tertiary Sector?
Osamu Nakayama
(Reitaku University, Japan)
Abstract: We find ourselves at a major turning point in the fortunes of moral education in Japan. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology decided in 2016 that moral education is to be a “special subject” in the next national curriculum. Moral education classes will start in elementary schools in the 2018-2019 school year, and in junior high schools in the 2019–2020 school year. Yet we face serious problems here, including the paucity of provision for moral education in teacher training programs and the fact that Japanese teachers are largely unprepared for this change. I will describe some initiatives that we are now taking at Reitaku University to address these deficiencies; then, moving beyond the narrow, if important, problem of teacher training; I will offer some thoughts on how we should rethink the place of moral education in Japan’s entire tertiary sector.
Key words: moral education, Japan’s tertiary sector, special subject, teacher training program, Reitaku’s challenges