Education and The Four-Way Test of Rotary
Koichi Hatada Professor Emeritus, Osaka University

When I was teaching at Osaka university in 1975, I began, prompted by chance, to extend my lecturingservice to senior high schools to teach high polymer chemistry, and as time went on, those schools came tocover elementary schools and junior high schools. Since I became a member of the Rotary Club in 1996, I
also found it part of my social service as a Rotarian to offer my lecture to various schools. Since 2007, when
I ceased to engage in teaching and research by profession, I have devoted myself to offer my lecturingservice as part of social service as a Rotarian. These days, I have extended the topic of my lecture beyond
my specialized field of polymer science to include such subjects as “My thoughts during and after theWorld War Ⅱ”, “Ingenious ideas in ancient Japanese wooden houses,” “Thoughts about moral,” and“How to make the aging society thrive with fewer children.” On such occasions, I have come to realize that
the Rotary’s Four-Way Test in a question-and-answer form serves as a good teaching material and offer
various hints from educational and learning standpoints when I tell children about science and moral. So I
would like to discuss several related subjects here.

Moral Capacity and the Four-Way Test (Ref. 1)
I have a strong impression that recently there are increasing opportunities than ever before when we seeor hear news about affairs which are not explainable other than due to the lack of private moral capacity or
professional ethics. The Article 2, paragraph (1), of the Basic Act on Education of Japan, says “education
shall aim at cultivating a rich sensitivity and a sense of morality,” while paragraph (3) of the same Article
provides that mutual respect and cooperation shall be valued. Japanese elementary and junior high schools
provide one lesson once a week, 35 lessons a year altogether, to teach moral to pupils and students. I waswondering what attitude those school children would take in learning a lesson on moral. So I myself wanted
to talk with these children about moral, and this prompted me to add the subject of moral to my school
delivery lessons. By the way, if I am asked “what is moral?.“ I would find it unexpectedly hard to answer
such a question aside from the explanation described in the dictionary. So I make it a rule to talk about
moral as a moral capacity.
With the progress of science and technology, various systems of the society have become diverse andcomplex, forcing members of the society to change their moral capability little by little. In my view, there isno question that the fundamental of moral capability required for human to live is still nothing but theability to judge, based on one’s knowledge acquired thus far up to that point in time, how he or she should
behave toward the natural environment including other people, plants and animals. In order to exercise
one’s moral capability, it would be difficult to do so unless he or she is capable of communicating withplants and animals other than humans so that he or she is able to make a judgment as to what kind of
attitude he or she should take toward them, and to judge whether such a judgment was appropriate or not.
Since plants and animals plus those things other than humans do not speak human language, there is no
choice but to depend on imagination in order to communicate with them. Also for humans to live a1legitimate life as the members of the society, it would be necessary for them to learn from the past and toforecast future. For this purpose, ability would be required to communicate, by using imagination, with thepeople who have already passed away as well as with those people who would be born to this world in the
future. There may be cases when imagination is needed to understand each other among the people who arecapable to talk among themselves. Besides, you would of course have to consider not only your homecountry but also other countries when it comes to the natural environment including humans other thanyourself, plants and animals. Given in such a way, I hope you will understand well that the fundamental
power to exercise moral capability is imagination based on knowledge. Thus it may well be said that thefundamental power to live is imagination.
Imagination is also the root of creativity. When something new or a new concept is created, imagination isnecessary. First, think of a new thing or concept and imagine a route leading to it based on the knowledge
acquired till then. You should try to create a new thing or concept by experimenting along such a route or
discussing with others. If it doesn’t work, try some other route by using your imagination. An excellent idea
or instinct born during this process must be the result of imagination. When you put imagination topractice and verify its result, and repeat the same process to achieve your objective and have created a newthing or concept, the accumulated result of your imagination will be evaluated by others as creativity. If you
think along such a way, a person with a rich imagination should not only be able to display creativity but
will be considered as the person with high moral capability only if his or her criterion of judgment on rightand wrong is secure.
In the field of science, things or concepts newly created as the results of creativity of scientists andengineers should primarily be used only to realize happiness and peace for the people of the world.
However, there is such a thing as the nuclear weapon which is used only for the benefit of a certain country,with the possibility of plunging many people into an unhappy situation. In order to prevent such a thingfrom happening, it is essential to keep up strenuous efforts to develop the nation who have a secure
criterion of right and wrong with high moral capability. This is the reason why “moral” is one of important
subjects in compulsory education.
In the meantime, when one says this and that or when one takes such actions, the criterion of judgmentused to refer to in doing such things is not the external criterion already determined like the law, but is theinternal criterion held by each individual in his or her mind, in other words, the criterion of judgment
shown by, so to speak, another person inside himself or herself. Therefore, such a criterion is unique toeach individual and varies slightly with each person, but such a difference, if too large, would cause various
inconveniences in many ways. To avoid such a circumstance, it is necessary to keep each person’s criterionof judgment uniform to a certain extent. The class of “moral” should aim, instead of focusing on one
criterion to teach it to students, at helping each student develop his or her ability to build his or her own
criterion unique to each student but with a certain uniformity. I will show you below “The Four-Way Testof Rotary” (Ref. 2) which is recommended for all Rotarians to use in evaluating their daily conduct. In myview, this Four-Way Test is made up of questions and answers which are put together in a concise andappropriate manner so that not only Rotarians but also ordinary citizens will be able to understand thecriterion of judgment on right and wrong to help humans lead a social life.
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＜The Four-Way Test＞
Of the things we think, say or do.
1) Is it the TRUTH ?
2) Is it FAIR to all concerned ?
3) Will it build GOOD WILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIP ?
4) Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned ?
First, instead of simply taking the words “Is it the TRUTH?” to mean whether there is or isn’t any lie ordeceit in my conduct, I think it better to consider a little more deeply and interpret these words as meaning“Is my conduct in compliance with the ground rule or basic principle of things?.”
The second question, “Is it FAIR to all concerned?” means that one should deal with things in an
unbiased manner without letting any private feeling interpose so much. In other words, is he or she an
existence like the sun? The Truth at times includes, as will be described later, elements of belief. It may besaid that those words are hinting that extra consideration is needed not to embarrass the other party.
The question “Will it build GOOD WILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIP ?” shows how to keep company withothers in a very natural and basic manner when dealing with people other than yourself and with things like plants
and animals., but it may be unavoidable here to mix a private feeling to some extent. It is important to rememberthat such a feeling should not be such that excludes others.
The moral criterion provides a norm as to what kind of attitude one should take toward others when heor she wishes to take some action. Such a norm must naturally have a consideration for enabling the otherparty to respond and take some action. This kind of consideration is considered to represent “Will it be
BENEFICIAL to all concerned ?” This question may be interpreted as admonishing him or her for having
private feeling too deeply when he or she judges the problem through the question of “Will it build GOOD
WILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIP”
I would like to take a few moments here to think about the “TRUTH” described in the first question, “Is
it the TRUTH?,” the starting point of the Four-Way Test. As mentioned above, the Truth composes thefundamental principle of things, that is, the thinking that lies at the base of various facts related to eachother and explains their relations well. As many accurate facts are accumulated with the passing of time,
the fundamental principle governing them also deepens little by little. In other words, the Truth further
deepens with the times. The Truth may also vary with individuals. Even if one person should happen to
know the same fact, his or her fundamental principle or the Truth extracted by him or her could depend on
his or her personal experience or acumen. In that sense, the Truth may at times involve the belief of that
person or have the character of his or her conviction. The fact may also show some bias depending on theplace. Therefore, it follows that the Truth based on the fact may somewhat differ depending on that place.
It may be said that the Truth gradually deepens and converges into absolute one thing over a long, longtime while showing some kind of fluctuation with the people, times and places surrounding it. Hence, itfollows that the norm of action in the society is not absolute one thing but shows some kind of fluctuations
with the people, times and places surrounding it.
The fundamental of the Four-Way Test is the first question, “Is it the TRUTH ?” So that such a test will
not sound like a narrow-minded obtrusion as may be noticed in one’s own belief, the moral norm, which3may seem square-toed depending on how you take it, is extremely well-described in a gentle and calmmanner by putting together short words and making them redeem each other. The Four-Way Test iscomposed of the four questions but it is important to evaluate one’s own conduct by regarding theFour–Way Test as one fused test as a whole without thinking of each of the question separately as anindependent test. .
When I once gave my lecture on moral to about 100 ninth-grade students of some junior high school up
to this point, they listened to me intensely although they seemed somewhat surprised and puzzled at my talkthat was different from the content of the normal lesson they had received. Later I read those students’
written impression about my lecture, and learnt that nearly 20% of them wrote their impressions
responding that “The Four-Way Test was understandable or can be accepted as the criterion of right andwrong.” One of the students says “The talk on ‘What is moral?’ touched upon the fundamental of thinking
and was found very useful. Especially, the Four-Way Test is very understandable as a criterion to evaluate
right and wrong, and can be applied to our daily life. The Four-Way Test helps to offer answers to eachquestion on “For what purpose do I do this?” Judging from this opinion, it is clear that the Four-Way Test
has a power to appeal even to junior high school students. Another student says“I thought it difficult tojudge on right and wrong and distinguish them. Although the Test says, ‘Is it beneficial to all concerned?’ ifand when my conduct is found helpful for a majority of people but is not helpful for a handful of people, I
found myself at a loss to judge which is right or wrong. Which do you think, Sensei?” I do hope to see thisstudent again and talk with him.

Let Education Help Learn the Basic Principle
In the meantime, in my view, the traditional education in Japan has mainly focused on having students
acquire knowledge, and has neglected to let students and teachers think together over the basic principle ofthings as hard as they can. Therefore, I am sometimes tempted even to say that they have forgotten to let
the students learn the basic principle, that is, the truth lying at the very base of the Four-Way Test. In theschool lesson on science, density is normally taught at the junior high school level. First, teach the definitionof density which is the result of the mass divided by the volume. After that, let students calculate the volume
of a certain substance provided that the density of the substance weighing 1 gram is 2. However, until thosestudents were taught about the density, they had not learnt about the concept of molecule, which is thebasic principle of chemistry. All substances are composed of molecule which is a very tiny particle invisible
to the eye. So, when the student is asked why the wooden central pillar far heavier than a 10-yen copper
coin floats in the water while the 10-yen copper coin sinks, he or she would be able to answer that it isbecause the density of the 10-yen copper coin is larger than the density of water, (=1), while the density of
the wooden central pillar is smaller than 1, but he or she cannot answer what has caused the difference indensity between the two substances. However, when I asked a question to students at some junior highschool what they thought determined the size of density after I told them the concept of molecule, one of thestudents immediately answered “the mass of molecule.” So I asked again, “Is that all?” Then anotherstudent said in reply, “It depends on how the molecule is packed. If the molecule is packed in tight, its
density could become larger even when the mass of each molecule is not large enough.” I was extremely
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glad to hear that, and at the same time felt strongly that we had to make more and more efforts to pushforward the education of the basic principle even if it may take time.
Also during the lesson of chemical reaction, it must certainly be interesting to see that the squeeze of ablue morning glory flower changes its color from blue to red when a small amount of vinegar is added. But
such an experiment will only serve to give the students a lesson to learn the chemical phenomenon by rote.
Instead of such an experiment, however, the children’s thinking will become larger and wider if they aretaught that the chemical reaction is a change in molecular state where a molecule and another molecule
collide with each other, breaking the bond between the atoms and creating a new molecule by forming a
new bond between the atoms A-B + C-D → A-D + C-B). It would produce a more effective result in
learning to teach about chemical reaction in concrete form by using a molecular model. I do hope thatelementary school and junior high school teachers would try to think of ways and means to teach such athing as the basic principle without saying that it is too difficult for them to teach. When the fundamental
principle in a certain field seems too difficult for the teacher to teach, I hope, he or she would turn to an
outside expert for providing a special lesson by delivery to his or her school. The true expert in the real
sense of the word should always be capable of talking about such a difficult thing in the words
understandable by laymen.
In general, it would take time more or less to have students learn about the basic principle. When I wasof elementary school age, I went to see my teacher after school when he or she stayed at the school on night
duty. I asked the teacher to take time in teaching me about a difficult thing or two. Otherwise, I talked withmy teacher together with my parents when the teacher came to my house for a home visit. I felt that thepersonal feeling of friendliness and trust between the teacher and his or her students became stronger little
by little not only at schoolrooms but also on such occasions. Teachers were also trying to make a friendly
atmosphere and become familiar with their students, for example, by playing baseball or dodge ball withthem after school. Students tend to like their teachers with their personal feelings for sure. When somestudents like a certain teacher, the teacher in turn comes to like the students naturally because of his or her
personal feeling as a matter of course. It is a heart-to-heart interaction, but at the same time other children
may think the teacher likes that student because of favoritism. There have been many talks of this kindsince a long time ago. Many of those children who were said to be favored by their teachers were mostly
aspiring and got good grades. The question is whether or not consideration was given from the educational
viewpoint so as not to leave such a personal feeling merely as it is. If the children’s eagerness and level oflearning could be further raised up by responding to their expectations for their favoritism toward theirteachers, that is truly the action that meets the truth of education which is in other words the basic
principle of education whose aim is to develop the children’s ability to the maximum extent possible, I think.
However, care must be taken so that the teachers’ affection toward the other children will not be weakened.
The basics of the Rotary Four-Way Test is that the conduct based on the truth must be impartial and fair
all the way through like the bright sun shining on a sunny day. At the same time, it is important to see
whether or not the children, who have been able to develop their ability to the maximum extent possible
with the help of such a teacher, would be able to exert such an impact to the other children in some way orother. The deepening effect of friendliness and fellowship between the particular teacher and the student
5should develop in such a way as to benefit as many students as possible. This fits the spirit of the Four-Way
Test.
However, it would be very difficult to make the Four-Way Test spirit effective as described here if theabilities of the students and their level of proficiency in one class are spread too far and wide. In Finland
which topped the PISA test compiled by OECD, we hear, poor performers in their junior high schools wereassigned to special classes or given supplementary lessons. In this way not only poor-performing students
were able to raise their level of proficiency but also successfully-performing students were given special
education corresponding to their level, resulting in the overall improvement of the students’ level ofproficiency. Because poor-performing students are not forced to receive higher-level lessons, both teachersand students should be able to study at ease (Ref. 3).

Truth about the Grade Retention (Grade Repetition) (Ref. 4)
At this point, I would like to mention briefly about the Grade Retention or Grade Repetition which isposing one of the key issues surrounding the fundamental of education. There are two ways of thinking
about the compulsory education. One is based on age, and the other on curriculum. The former systemmoves up students to a upper class and graduate them as they get older regardless of the level of theirproficiency. The latter system let students stay over beyond the regular academic year until they are able tofinish the normally required course. In the latter case, an upper limit is set on the length of study to qualify
them for graduation. In Japan, as age takes priority in principle, the Grade Retention is rarely practiced
not only in the compulsory education as a matter of course but also in senior high schools.
In Finland, whether he or she can move up to enter a senior high school depends on the academic
performance of the student concerned at the time of graduation from his or her junior high school. If he or
she thinks the level of his or her academic record is not high enough, he or she can repeat the course at thesame level in the same junior high school for one more academic year. In such a case, he or she will not becalled a “dropout,” but on the contrary, will be even considered that the student concerned studied for alonger period of time than usual (Ref. 3). In France, the compulsory education is applied to children from 6
years of age up to 15 years of age. The elementary school provides 5 academic years while the junior highschool allows 4 academic years for education. When a student has to take a long leave of absence due toillness, he or she will be allowed to repeat the same educational course if his or her parents so wish. To thecontrary, poorly-performing children are moved up to the next academic year at the discretion of school
authorities. The grade retention in the same academic year is done only when it is clear that such a step willproduce a better result for the student than otherwise. Any form of ineffective grade retention is consideredmeaningless. In this sense, the grade retention considered in Japan has a little different meaning from thatin France. The data surveyed in Japanese high schools denote that schools with higher repetition rates tend
to show higher rates of dropouts. These data appear to verify the French way of thinking that the grade
retention should be practiced only when it is clear that such a step is effective for the sake of the student
concerned.
Sometime ago when I (the writer of this essay) lived with my family in the United States, I was asked by
the teacher of my eldest son to consult with him about my son because he had to repeat the same6

educational course of the 6th grade for one more year due to his insufficient knowledge of the English
language. This situation was a little different from France. But on second thought, I felt that the teacher’sdecision was in favor of my son as it would be more effective for my son to study a little more about English
than moving up to a junior high school in despite of his insufficient knowledge about English. Thiselementary school was attached to the School of Education of the University of Massachusetts. Thus two
post-graduate course students were assigned to each class as assistant teachers to pay sufficient and proper
attention also to repeaters. I thought it really was a comfortable environment for education. The truth
about the Grade Retention is that its fundamental principle is to motivate students at the low level to learn
well and improve their level of proficiency. It is not a punishment to poorly-performing students. I thinkthat there must be many options to administration systems for achieving its fundamental goal. But it isclear that it would be meaningless if the student is just let to repeat the same educational course for anotheracademic year. In my view, those of us involved in the Japanese educational system must pay a little more
attention to this point, and consider ways and means to make more effective use of this system in a morepositive atmosphere.

Let Us Create a Relaxed Society through the Four-Way Test
Finland, which topped the results of the international PISA surveyed by OECD as previously mentioned,
is implementing a five-day-week system with much less time assigned for class lessons than Japan. In themeantime, more time is spent than Japan for what is called Integrated Learning＊and the contents ofeducation are very much like the Yutori Education (relaxed education or education free from pressure)in Japan (Ref. 3). As the PISA results of Japan did not favorably compare with those of other countries,
Japan, simply concerned with the ups and downs of the PISA results, is now trying to pack knowledge into
its students by increasing school hours, departing from the Integrated Leaning and Yutori Education. But I
cannot help having the impression that this present trend in Japan is taking self-study hours away fromstudents, heading for a wrong direction. We think that even if still more hours are put into the coursework
centered around the acquisition of knowledge, children’s scholastic ability will not improve unless wedevelop them to study by themselves even outside school. And what is more, the nation’s strength will only
wane. School hours allotted for integrated learning lesson were commenced first with the aim of developing
and enabling students to build the habit of addressing their study at their own initiative in collaboration
with other students. This is important for inspiring the students to study by themselves. A relaxed time is
not only important but also essential for children to study by themselves. A relaxed time is needed not only
for children and students but also teachers alike. If teachers are placed in such a situation as they cannot
afford time to talk with their students after school, how can they be expected to perform decent education?
Here at this point again, the truth of education is being questioned.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Integrated learning aims at developing students’ ability to function effectively in today’s knowledge-based society＊

through the promotion of skills such as independent learning, subjective judgment, problem solving, and self –motivation.

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A little aside from the captioned subject, professors of Japanese national universities were not allowed totake a leave of absence when they visited foreign counties on official business before all of Japan's national
universities became independent corporations by law. Unless they took advantage of such a chance, theywould not be able to have another opportunity otherwise to visit even nearby places of interest, such as
famous art museums or other museums, or scenic spots or other places of historical interest. As a result,they had to give up the hope of enhancing their cultural literacy and return to Japan. Is this rule consistent
with the truth of the educational world? The author considers that this is a case where a fair tolerance, nota simple tolerance, should be applied. Suppose that the professor on an overseas trip for official businesswishes to visit art museums or other museums to enhance his or her cultural literacy and use such aknowledge for his or her educational activity in the future. Such a conduct, even if it has nothing to do
directly with the purpose of his or her trip, is an act which meets the purpose of education in Japan inaccordance with the provision of Article 1 (Aims of Education) of the Basic Act on Education (Act No. 120
of 2006) in Japan, which reads, “Education shall aim for the full development of personality and strive tonurture the citizens, sound in mind and body, who are imbued with the qualities necessary for those whoform a peaceful and democratic state and society.” Mere application of law according to rule can be donewith the use of computers. The author considers that fair tolerance must be applied even to such an act asapplication of laws. Although it may seem to sound contradictory to say that there must be tolerance in theapplication of laws, it is not so. Without mentioning the Four-Way Test, all conducts in this society must be
done fairly according to the truth, in other words the fundamental principle. However, what is meant by
truth or fairness usually differs somewhat depending on various circumstances, such as the existing societyor surroundings or people or the times. Such a meaning is never the only one nor is the same in all cases
throughout all societies. Therefore, conducts consistent with the truth cannot be done without tolerance. We
do not find many places in Japan where we can discuss such complex and varied problems. Especially, inorder to offer these things for public discussion, most of those people who participate in such a discussion
must be capable of judging precisely whether or not such a discussion was done fairly according to thefundamental principle of things and whether or not the result of such a discussion will benefit all parties
concerned by deepening the goodwill and friendship of as many people as possible. Unless such an arena
exercises its function properly, the society will tend to lack tolerance and comfort, concentrated on laws,
and knows nothing but to give a prim and stiff response like “You must not do it for whatever reason you
may have” in such a situation as visits to museums or art museums as mentioned before. Lastly, I would
like to conclude my remarks by stating again that the Four-Way Test should be extremely useful when
considering how the wisdom of living should function in order to build an affluent and comfortable society.

References:(1) Koichi Hatada, Yoshihisa Hayashi and Wataru Shibuya, Moral Ability and Imagination,(Published in Japanese on February 5, 2009)http://culture-h.jp/hatadake-katsuyo/dohtoku-sohzoh.pdf(2) 2010 Manual of Procedure-A Reference Manual for Rotary® Leaders,102page
http://www.rotary.org/RIdocuments/en_pdf/035en_full.pdf
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(3) YutoriEducation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yutori_education(4) Report of Educational Forum sponsored by the Conservation Association of Hatada House, titled“Education for the Coming Years – Things to be Changed and Things Never to be Changed,” under the
auspices of Habikino City and the Habikino Education Council and co-sponsored by the Museum of Osaka
University. (Held on November 14, 2010) http://culture-h.jp/hatadake-katsuyo/education-forum2011.pdf
The English translation has been prepared from the Japanese text (http://culture-h.jp/hatadake-katsuyo/E3.html) by
Susumu KUWABARA under the supervision of Koichi HATADA, Professor Emeritus of Osaka University.

(Copyright 2012 held by Koichi HATADA)

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