Home > Policy > White Paper, Notice, Announcement > White Paper > EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS IN JAPAN 1971 > INTRODUCTION

This third edition of Educational Standards in Japan which follows the editions of 1959 and 1964, has been compiled to clarify contemporary educational standards in Japan in comparison with the past and at the same time in comparison with conditions in the U. S. A., U. K., France, the Federal Republic of Germany and the U. S. S. R. Educational expansion, educational methods and contents, conditions for teachers, facilities and other physical conditions and educational expenditures will be considered.

In providing an overview of these items, attention will be paid to maintaining continuity with the two. previously published editions and also to the various questions pointed out in the reports of the Central Council for Education on educational reform. This is based on the understanding that consideration should be given to both the reaction of education to the rapid social changes of the l960's,and to the central problems of education likely to occur in the future. The following aspects were particularly taken into account.

One was the concept of life-long education. Various questions have been considered in fields outside school education with the belief that education should be continued not only within schools but also throughout life.

Second, we considered education able to meet the needs of individual development and individual aptitudes. The quantitative expansion of education has to a considerable degree already been achieved, and now emphasis on quality must be considered. Therefore, an attempt was made to review the contents and methods of education from the viewpoint of developing individual abilities and taking account of individual aptitudes. We have also considered the extent to which educational? contents and methods are equipped to lead students to learn on their own initiative.

A third consideration was the cultivation of humanity. The technological innovations of today's world raise questions regarding the loss of humanity in the face of technological advances and information flow, and give rise to such problems as environmental disasters and centralization of population. creating population shortages in other areas. Therefore the problem of improving the educational environment has been positively considered.

The editor hopes that the book may be a useful source in discussing educational developments in Japan especially in relation to the movement and trends of educational developments in the major countries in the world.