Educating Hearts and Minds: Reflections on Japanese Preschool and Elementary Education [Hardcover]

Catherine C. Lewis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 27, 1995

The question of how children become eager, motivated learners and caring, responsible citizens has perplexed educators around the world. Educating Hearts and Minds, a portrait of Japanese preschool and early elementary education, offers a fresh perspective on these questions. Its thesis--which will surprise many Americans--is that Japanese schools are successful because they meet children's needs for friendship, belonging, and contribution. This book brings to life what actually happens inside Japanese classrooms. In a sharp departure from most previous accounts, this book suggests that Japanese education succeeds because all children--not just the brightest or best-behaved--somehow come to feel like valued members of the school community. Ironically, Japanese teachers credit John Dewey and other progressive Western educators for many of the techniques that make Japanese schools both caring and challenging, but that never caught on in this country. This book brings to Americans the voices of Japanese classroom teachers--voices that are at once deeply consonant with American aspirations and deeply provocative.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...a major contribution to the study of early childhood education. This book is useful in a wide variety of instructional settings: from basic courses on Japanese culture to introductory education classes. I would especially recommend it for use in preservice teacher development courses, as the book not only demolishes many pernicious myths about Japan, but also raises fundamental questions about American assumptions regarding early childhood education." Education About Asia

"With this remarkable book, Lewis joins the top rank of Americans writing about Japanese education. Her book is accessible and engaging, written in a personal, clear, and jargon-free style, and is filled with lively examples. It overturns many assumptions and cliches....Libraries that hold only a few books on contemporary Japanese education should have this one alongside seminal works of Thomas Rohlen, Merry White, Joy Hendry, Lois Peak, and Joseph Tobin." Choice

"Lewis has made a real contribution to our understanding of early school education in Japan, and by implication, how children become Japanese." Kyoko Inoue, Curriculum Studies

"Lewis brings forth these themes and conveys them through the use of indigenous paradigms and metaphors. She offers the average student some simple yet powerful ways to make sense of modern Japanese culture." Gerald LeTendre, Resources

Book Description

In a sharp departure from most previous accounts, this portrait of Japanese preschool and early elementary education offers a fresh perspective by suggesting that Japanese education succeeds because all children somehow come to feel like valued members of the school community.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 261 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (January 27, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521451973
• ISBN-13: 978-0521451970
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,516,815 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars excellent study of how Japanese schools work, November 11, 1998

By 

T. R. Reid "trr" (denver) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Educating Hearts and Minds: Reflections on Japanese Preschool and Elementary Education (Paperback)

the author is an American anthropologist, and a Mom. She sent two kids to a Japanese public school, and sat back to watch what happened. I admired the book, and learned from it, because the author seems to have no axe to grind. She also demonstrates that a lot of stereotypes about Japanese schools are wrong. For example, she finds disciplinary rules considerably looser than in American schools, with kids given much more responsibility at earlier ages than in the U.S. Her experience tracks closely with what happened to 2 of my kids in a Japanese public school.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Eye opening, January 6, 2002

By 

Brett Reynolds - See all my reviews

This review is from: Educating Hearts and Minds: Reflections on Japanese Preschool and Elementary Education (Paperback)

I'm a non-Japanese jr. & sr. high school teacher in Tokyo. As such, I have a reasonable idea of what goes on in secondary schools here but little knowledge of pre- and elementary schooling. Educating Hearts and Minds gave me a lot of the background knowledge that the Japanese teachers and students take for granted, but it also gave me a new way of looking at discipline and understanding where students and teachers are coming from.

While I found myself feeling skeptical about some of Lewis' observations, in general I found her evidence compelling. Other books dealing with Japanese education (and what it means for America) focus mostly on subject matter teaching, but this books deals more with how teachers order the classroom and maintain discipline. It goes more into teachers' thinking about how to build strong relationships with and between students; mainly by giving much of the responsibility to students and by regularly engaging in group reflection on the day's activities.

Lewis focuses on preschool and early elementary (grades 1 and 2) education. Though little of what she describes will be directly transferable to older students, much of the thinking behind it may.

For anyone teaching in Japan who has not gone through the elementary system this book is a must read.

1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars informative, November 4, 2001

By 

Alice Fielding "kangarunitarian" (Norman, OK USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Educating Hearts and Minds: Reflections on Japanese Preschool and Elementary Education (Paperback)

In response to the other review: Actually, the author is an American social psychologist, and she didn't just "sit back and watch" her kids in Japanese public schools. She did in-depth research of the school systems, which involved multiple trips to Japan (her kids were not primarily schooled in Japanese) and a huge amount of observation, study, and interviewing. I would have given this book 5 stars except that I didn't want to appear to be biased in my aunt's favor!