Froebelians, "Made in Japan": A History of Kindergarten Teacher Training Courses in Nineteenth-century Japan

Abstract

Traditionally, the teaching profession for the provision of early childhood education has been acknowledged as having a low social and professional status. This is still the case in contemporary Japanese society, but why? To find an answer, the present study revisits the birth of kindergartens and teacher training courses in the nineteenth century in Japan. This paper asks the following questions: How the early childhood education profession was identified when the concept of kindergarten was transferred to Japan from the West in the nineteenth century? Who organised kindergarten teacher training courses? What kind of curriculum was taught in these courses? How long was the training required to qualify? Addressing such questions permits analysing the history of kindergarten teacher training courses with a view to identifying the nature of the values, views and descriptions of the social context of the early childhood teaching profession in Japan. Having examined the birth and history of kindergartens and the development of teacher training courses, it is hoped that this study will provide a better understanding of the identification of the early childhood teaching profession, which ties in with the current debate about the status of early childhood educators in Japan.