Honors Thesis Archive

Author	Kaoru Hoshino
Title	The Overnight Education Reform in Postwar Japan: Controversies Behind the Adoption of a New Educational Ladder System and Social Studies
Department	East Asian Studies
Advisors	Jennifer Oldstone-Moore and Jim Huffman
Year	2007
Honors	University Honors
Full Text	View Thesis (246 KB)
Abstract	This paper examines the process through which the reform of the Japanese education system was carried out by the Occupation and the Japanese between 1945 and 1947. The paper focuses on two of the educational reforms: the implementation of a new educational ladder system, known as the 6-3-3-4 system, or the single-track system, and the adoption of a new social studies curriculum. Overall this paper will demonstrate two major points. First, there were struggles and controversies during and after the development of the new education system, such as the 6-3-3-4 system and a social studies curriculum, involving both the cultural and socio-economic issues. Second, educational reform was not merely an American process; there were interactions between the Americans and the Japanese, both of whom were willing to transform Japan into a new democratic nation in one way or the other.