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The Influence of Philosophy for Children on Japanese Secondary

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The Influence of Philosophy for Children on Japanese Secondary THE INFLUENCE OF PHILOSOPHY FOR CHILDREN ON JAPANESE SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ SOCIOEMOTIONAL LEARNING A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAIʻI AT MĀNOA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY DECEMBER 2019 By Yoko Kitami Dissertation Committee: Lois Yamauchi, Chairperson Katherine Ratliffe Marie Iding Linda Oshita Thomas Jackson Amber Makaiau Keywords: Philosophy for Children HaWaiʻi, Social & Emotional Learning ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to first express my deepest gratitude to my dissertation committee members, Dr. Katherine Ratliffe, Dr. Marie Iding, Dr. Linda Oshita, Dr. Thomas Jackson and Dr. Amber Makaiau and especially Dr. Lois Yamauchi, my great dissertation chair and advisor Who helped me formulate plans for this research and gave me valuable suggestions. I would like to also thank DaWn Baughn, for painstakingly going through the rough drafts of my dissertation and offering valuable advice on how to be a better writer. I Would like to thank all of the school teachers at the Japanese middle school who let me conduct research in their classes, and to the students who participated in this study. It was a pleasure to watch you share in the joy of p4c Hawai‘i. Last of all, I would like to thank my father, Tatsuo Kitami who worked hard and raised me, my mother, Miyoko Kitami who taught me the importance of education in my life, and my husband, Jayson who supported my long journey to get an education in the US. ii ABSTRACT This study focused on the influence of philosophy for children (p4c) on the socioemotional learning of Japanese middle school students. p4c is a student-centered learning approach that helps learners explore inquiry and encourage them to think and reason with peers and a teacher in a classroom setting. Previous research indicated that Japanese children rarely interacted with people other than their parents on a daily basis, and only Within small cliques. As a result, they may be losing the ability to develop and maintain relationships. Most English-language literature on p4c has focused almost exclusively on western educational systems. This study provides a literature revieW of Japanese-language research on this topic and examines the socioemotional needs of middle school students in a Japanese context. The in-depth case study investigated the influence of p4c on a middle school class of 35 Japanese 13- and 14-year-old students. Multiple forms of data were analyzed, including video recordings of p4c sessions, a survey, intervieWs with the teacher, a focus group intervieW with students, and student self- reflections. The findings indicated that p4c afforded opportunities for students to improve their social emotional skills, such as self-aWareness, aWareness of others, development of relationships and responsible decision-making. Students learned that they could cooperate with others, even if they had different ideas. Hearing others’ perspectives influenced the quality of students’ relationships, Which may have promoted friendships. p4c may promote the socioemotional learning that is needed in Japanese society. iii Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................................ii ABSTRACT...............................................................................................................................iii LIST OF TABLES……………………………………………………………………………… iv CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION..................................................................................1 ibasho (Physical and Psychological Space) in School.....................................................3 The Limits of Reform in a Top-Down Educational System…………………………….4 Neoliberal Education in Japan.........................................................................................6 Social Emotional Learning..............................................................................................s8 Social Emotional Learning in Japan................................................................................11. Philosophy for Children (P4C).........................................................................................181.8 Community of Inquiry ................................................................................................19 ...... Philosophy for Children HaWai‘i (p4c)............................................................................220 0 Four Pillars of p4c HaWai‘i.........................................................................................2 2 Uehiro Academy for Philosophy……………………………………………………..28 Philosophy for Children in Japan...............................................................................2 8 Other Philosophy for Children Groups in Japan………………………………………….30 p4c Miyagi........................................................................................................................3 0 University of Tokyo Center for Philosophy (UTCP)......................................................... 30 p4c Japan...........................................................................................................................311 Ardacoda............................................................................................................................. 31 Osaka University Clinical Philosophy Laboratory............................................................31 iv Café Philo.............................................................................................................................32 Ochanomizu University Elementary School (Ochasho)......................................................334 p4c in Secondary Education....................................................................................................34 Theoretical FrameWorks.........................................................................................................3.6 DeWey. ...................................................................................................................... 37 Vygotsky................................................................................................................... 38 The Purpose of the Study........................................................................................................39 CHAPTER TWO: METHOD ...............................................................................................4........0 Design…………………………………………………………………………………. 40 Participants....................................................................................................................4 0 Students.....................................................................................................................4 0 Teacher......................................................................................................................4 0 Data Sources......................................................................................................................4 1 Videos, audio records and memos of classdiscussions..................................................41 Memos........................................................................................................................ 41 IntervieWs................................................................................................................... 42 Focus group intervieW....................................................................................................42 Teacher intervieW……………………………………………………………………..4 2 Student self-reflection sheet........................................................................................ 4 2 SEL survey...................................................................................................................4 ..3 Data Analysis......................................................................................................................4 3 Qualitative data............................................................................................................ 4 3 Quantitative data.......................................................................................................... 45 v Role of the Researcher........................................................................................................ 45 CHAPTER 3: RESULTS........................................................................................................4........8 The School..................................................................................................................... 48 p4c Approach Sessions.......................................................................................................49.... p4c HaWai‘i Approach and the School Curriculum........................................................ 5 1 Social and Emotional Learning Through p4c..................................................................5 2 Self-AWareness.............................................................................................................. 52 AWareness of others. ..................................................................................................... 55 Building classroom relationships. ................................................................................…….59 Responsible decision making………………………………………………………... 60 The Teacher’s Multiple Roles..........................................................................................6 3 Facilitating
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