International Development Center of Japan

Principals of Hiroshima Public Schools

Co-Editors
Masafumi Nagao“Principals of Hiroshima” Editorial Committee

Co-Editors
Masafumi Nagao“Principals of Hiroshima” Editorial Committee
IDCJ

Principals of
Hiroshima Public Schools

Co-Editors
Masafumi Nagao“Principals of Hiroshima” Editorial Committee

International Development Center of Japan

IDCJ

Principals of Hiroshima Public Schools

Co-edited by
Masafumi Nagao
and“Principals of Hiroshima” Editorial Committee

Translated by
Ms. Naomi Nakagoshi
Dr. Amelia C. Fajardo
Dr. Robin SakamotoWe would like to dedicate this book to all the educators in Hiroshima, educators indeveloping countries, and students who aspire to become teachers.

Co-Editors
Masafumi Nagao
Professor, Center for the Study of International Cooperation in Education
Hiroshima University
and“Principals of Hiroshima” Editorial Committee
Chair:
Yuka Akagi
Members: Natsuko Inoue
Anna Okada
Yukiko Nishizumi
Yuri Matsuzawa
Design: Kazuki Sakai
Translators
Ms. Naomi Nakagoshi
Dr. Amelia C. Fajardo
Dr. Robin Sakamoto

This volume is an English translation of a book originally published in Japanesefrom the Center for the Study of International Cooperation in Education (CICE),
Hiroshima University, in 2007 as an output of its “Principals of Hiroshima”
Project. The copyright for the original Japanese book is now with the International
Development Center of Japan (IDCJ), which has decided to publish the English
version, as well as the original Japanese version, on line as an open source reading.
The position and organizational affiliation of the individuals whose names appear
in the book, including the co-editors, refer to those at the time of the original bookpublication.
Publication of the original book was made possible with a grant of Dream
Challenge Award from the Hiroshima University Alumni Association. The coeditors of the book would like to acknowledge it and express their deepest
appreciation to the Alumni Association and Hiroshima University for this support.

Foreword
This book is the result of a unique attempt by some students in our Departmentof Education, Faculty of Education, Hiroshima University. The contents werecompiled through a project conducted by them, in which they interviewed wellknown and competent principals in Hiroshima Prefecture and listened to theirphilosophy of education and outlook in life. Some of these students are now
writing master’s thesis in the postgraduate course, while others are already working
as school teachers. I am convinced that the big challenge they hurdled to realize
this project would be unforgettable and deeply influence them now and in the
future. I would like to express my deep gratitude to Prof. Masafumi NAGAO who
guided them in the course of the project implementation to reach the goal of project
accomplishment in the form of this book publication. This type of project is what
university education should aim for, and from which faculty like us should also
learn.
University students nowadays are said to be apathetic and lacking in basic
competencies, and their scholastic achievement is below the quality standards
expected of them. Such criticisms are increasingly and openly voiced against
university students, and Hiroshima University is not an exception. However, when
you look at an outcome of a project like this book, you would understand that thosecriticisms may not necessarily be justified. The students who have participatedin the above-mentioned project have gone through a competency raising project
involving planning and conducting a survey-based research, analyzing andreporting the results. After identifying a problem, you conceptualize a projectand execute it. Power of consistency, intellect and enthusiasm – aren’t these thequalities and competencies that university education should aim to foster amongst
students? It is no exaggeration to say that what they have accomplished fullyreflects their proficiency in Japanese and English languages, independent thinking
and strong volition for execution, as well as incorporation of the knowledge andskills of pedagogy studied in the university. This is indeed quite a feat, and I dare
say they are exemplary students.
I should emphasize also that this book provides instructive materials foreducators and personnel in educational administration, especially those comingfrom developing nations like Africa, to learn about Japan’s experiences in publicschool education. The book’s inclusion of a series of dialogues between Japaneseprincipals and African educators about these experiences is considered a usefuladdition to research in comparative and international education. For African
educational personnel, what would be the most intriguing aspects? What were theaspects they questioned? What did they want to know more, or what weren’t theyinterested in? What kind of meaning was implied in their questions? All thesequestions would give us deep and interesting insights as we take our time andcarefully read through the book. At the same time, we should also pay attention
to the principals’ responses to their questions, through which we can comprehend
the underlying characteristics and tendencies of Japanese school education. For allthese learning possibilities, the book constitutes a truly instructive document.
Principals who contributed their life stories here in this book have disclosed
their real names and backgrounds even with photos. I learned that they had beenasked for an extensive interview by the students first and then was asked tocontribute an essay. Above all, I would like to pay tribute to them for their sincere
attitude of sharing responsible statements. Besides learning unlimitedly from thearticles written by principals, the attachments in some chapters are our students’comments on what they felt and learned. I deeply appreciate the cooperation of all
the principals including some who are friends of mine. Knowing their educational
philosophy, I am convinced that school education in Hiroshima Prefecture willagain take a firm step forward. We must learn sincerely from their courageousstatements.
Lastly, I would like to pay my respect to the students who made tremendous
efforts to publish this book. With their strong will, they fulfilled their task withutmost perseverance.
January, 2007.
Akira NINOMIYA
Vice President in Charge of International Affairs, Hiroshima University
Director, Center for the Study of International Cooperation in Education (CICE)
Professor, Study on Comparative and International Education

Acknowledgements
Publication of this book would not have been possible without the cooperationand support of many people and organizations. We, the members of the Editorial
team, would like to express our sincere gratitude especially to those listed below.
◆ Principals who contributed their stories.
Mr. Kazuto IKUTA
Mr. Toshio IHIDA
Mr. Nobumasa UCHIDA
Ms. Yukiko ODA
Mr. Nobutoshi SEZAKIMr. Koji TANABE
Ms. Noriko HANASAKIMr. Tamotsu HAYASHI
Mr. Masakazu BANMOTO
Mr. Masayuki HIRAGA
Mr. Toshio MAEHARA
Mr. Yuzuru YASUMORIMr. Takashi RYOAN◆ Prof. Jonathan D. JANSEN, Dean, Faculty of Education, University of
Pretoria (South Africa), who contributed an essay.
◆ Mr. Eishin TAMAGAWA, former principal of Kake Upper Secondary
School, who served as Advisor to the team.
◆ Faculty and staff of the Center for the Study of International Cooperationin Education, Hiroshima University

Table of Contents
Foreword
Akira Ninomiya
Acknowledgements“Principals of Hiroshima” Project
Masafumi Nagao ････････････････････････････････････････････

1

Elementary school

Pursuing education which can be done only now, only here
Kazuto Ikuta ････････････････････････････････････････････････
Dialogue : Between Mr. Ikuta and JICA training participants from theRepublic of South Africa ･････････････････････････････

22

Teaching : Forever Alive in My Memories -realizing my dreams inremote area educationYukiko Oda ･････････････････････････････････････････････････
Comment : Good Points about Remote School Education ････････････

27
43

Going the road as an elementary school teacher all through my life
Noriko Hanasaki ････････････････････････････････････････････
Comment : Ms. Blooming-Flower (Hana-saki) whom I encountered in
my studying of the teaching profession ･･･････････････････

7

45
56

Middle school

Seeking the impossible dream with an adventurous spirit
Tamotsu Hayashi ････････････････････････････････････････････
Comment : Teachers are ultimate shapers of education ･･･････････････
School Organization and Human Development
Masayuki Hiraga ････････････････････････････････････････････
Comment : Reflections on My Meeting with Principal Hiraga
Jonathan D. Jansen ･･････････････････････････････････････････
Comment : Double encounter with Mr. Hiraga and Prof. Jansen of South
Africa ････････････････････････････････････････････

59
72

75
92

94

As time passes by
Toshio Maehara ･････････････････････････････････････････････
Comment : Things which shake pupils’ hearts ･･････････････････････

97
117

Five years as a Principal who came from the private sector
Takashi Ryoan ･･･････････････････････････････････････････････
Comment : Glory of working in educational institutions ･･････････････

121
138

High school

The Chemistry Teacher who became a principal
Toshio Ishida ･･･････････････････････････････････････････････
Dialogue : Between Mr. Ishida and JICA training participants from theRepublic of South Africa ･････････････････････････････
Living life through turbulent educational conditions : Supported by thephrase ‘Isshokenmei’
Nobumasa Uchida ･･･････････････････････････････････････････
Dialogue : Between Mr. Uchida and JICA training participants from theRepublic of South Africa ･････････････････････････････
The meaning of life that I found in my teaching career
Nobutoshi Sezaki ････････････････････････････････････････････
Dialogue : Between Mr. Sezaki and JICA training participants from theRepublic of South Africa ･････････････････････････････
Going through the dark with just a flicker of light
Koji Tanabe ････････････････････････････････････････････････
Comment : The core behind his strength ･･････････････････････････
My basic stance towards education - My steps taken as a managerial
staff
Masakazu Banmoto ･･････････････････････････････････････････
Dialogue : Between Mr. Banmoto and JICA training participants fromthe Republic of South Africa ･･････････････････････････

141
154

159
172

177
191

195
211

215
229

To foster the treasure of our society and the school management vision
Yuzuru Yasumori ････････････････････････････････････････････
Comment : Children are treasures of our society ････････････････････

233
252

Courage to take a leap
“ Principals of Hiroshima” Editorial Committee ････････････････････

255

“Principals of Hiroshima” Project“Principals of Hiroshima” Project
Masafumi NAGAO
Professor, CICE
“Principals of Hiroshima” Project is a project for compiling in book form thelife story of 13 educators who serve or have served as a principal in a public schoolin Hiroshima Prefecture of Japan. It is an attempt to capture, in their own words,
the personal outlook in life, professional principles and educational philosophy ofthese educators. The project has been carried out by a team consisting of 5 undergraduate students majoring in education at Hiroshima University and myself. The
project had two goals. The first was to develop a reference material on Japan’s
educational experience for teachers, educators and educational administrators fromdeveloping countries who visited Japan for education training courses. The second
was to prepare a reading material for Japanese university students aspiring tobecome a teacher. Let me explain how these two different goals were combined toform a single project.
The Center for the Study of International Cooperation in Education (CICE)
of Hiroshima University (hereinafter referred to as CICE), where I work as a
research professor, is a research institute focused on providing assistance to theeducational development in developing countries through research and training.
Annually, CICE accepts and provides short-term training courses to around20-30 educators, including school teachers, teacher advisors and educational
administrators, from developing nations. CICE conducts these courses mostly
on behalf of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the technicalcooperation arm of the Japanese government’s aid machinery. JICA provides
technical assistance to developing nations facing challenges of human resource
development for promoting socio-economic development and improving living
conditions of people. As part of its educational cooperation program, JICA invites
teachers and administrators from these countries to come to Japan in order to takepart in training courses, such as those commissioned to CICE. In these courses, theparticipants learn about the Japanese educational policy, educational system, school
management, in-service teacher training, and so forth, through lectures, visits toschools and boards of education, experiential learning at teacher training centersand other learning activities. The participants are also exposed to social andcultural life in Japan, interacting with people and taking part in specially organizedprograms and events.
1

In 2001, as part of a JICA-commissioned training course on local educational
management and administration, CICE organized for ten educators from theRepublic of South Africa a visit to a remote, mountainous school in Hiroshima
Prefecture, called Geihoku Elementary School – a multi-grade school with 36
children and 6 teachers. The visit involved observation of classes, school lunchwith the learners and joint meeting with the principal, Ms. Yukiko ODA, and her
staff. I could see that the South African educators were deeply impressed with theschool’s educational practices, strategies and programs specially designed for theschool located in a remote, mountain village. In the following year, when another
South African group came for the same JICA training course to Hiroshima, I
asked Ms. ODA, who had just retired from service, to come to our university togive a talk to this group about her life-long experience as a teacher and share her
educational ideas and beliefs as an educator. She started with the reasons why
she chose to become a teacher and went on to present her educational philosophy
which she said was formed during the four decades of her teaching career. For 90
minutes, she delivered her lecture in a quiet, soft-spoken manner, as if sharing herlife story with fellow teachers with much shorter working experiences. Excluding
the time for the interpretation, the actual lecture was only for 45 minutes, but thetime for asking questions by South Africans exceeded an hour. She left a very
favorable impression among the South African participants. Among their comments
were “I was touched by the passion to education by a Japanese educator.” “I havediscovered the secrets of educational excellence in Japan.” “I wish she could visit
South Africa and talk to our fellow teachers.”
Having witnessed this very fruitful exchange, I realized that besides lectures
on system, policy and organization and occasions to visit schools and educational
institutions, it was important to provide trainees with opportunities to learn about
the educational philosophy, professional insights and outlook on life of Japanese
educators who were the real actors shaping and moving the system to provide
education. Through these opportunities, the developing country educators would
have a clearer understanding of the educational development of Japan. Basedon this recognition, a project to compile into a book the experiences of Japanese
educators revealing their educational philosophy, professional insights and outlook
in life was born. Since the book were to help educators from abroad understandbetter Japan’s educational development, it would have to be translated into English.
At the initial stage, however, we faced a more fundamental task. We were notcertain as to how to select the educators, how to ask their cooperation, and how to2

“Principals of Hiroshima” Projecttransform all the collected information into a book. Editing of the book would also
require a lot of time-consuming work, which might not be warranted given alreadya heavy workload of the CICE staff.
As a solution to these problems, CICE decided that students’ potentials should
be tapped. This was not only for expediency of gaining additional manpower
but more importantly for providing an opportunity for students seeking primaryand secondary teaching career to interact with experienced and widely respectedteachers. This latter consideration was important because the decreasing numberof new teacher recruits by public schools as a consequence of the sharp decline
in school-age population was having a dampening impact on teaching career
aspiration of undergraduates majoring in education, and the education faculty wasin need of creating practical engagement possibilities for helping those students toregain confidence in teaching profession.
I conceived a study project to be carried out by undergraduate students forlocating ‘good’ or ‘exemplary’ school teachers in Hiroshima public schools,
interviewing them and compiling their views and experiences into a book of‘stories’. My proposition was that they should conduct this research as an
extracurricular activity under my guidance and financial support of CICE. I theninvited the students taking an undergraduate course on ‘International Cooperationin Education’ at the Faculty of Education, Hiroshima University, to volunteer toform a study project team on school principals in Hiroshima. Fortunately, somestudents agreed to the aim of the project and volunteered to join the project
team.1 CICE asked Mr. Eishin TAMAGAWA, a former principal of Kake Upper
Secondary School, to serve as project adviser to the project team members.
Considering the extent of the work involved in the project, the team determined
the overall procedures or phases of the project as follows:
1. Project implementation should be entrusted as much as possible to thestudent members of the project team, with the faculty member playing only
an advisory role except for the final publication phase.

1
Seven students participated in the research phase of this project; they were Ms. Yuka
AKAGI, Ms. Anna OKADA, Ms. Yukiko NISHIZUMI, Mr. Masahiko HIRAKI, Ms. Yuri
MATSUZAWA, Ms. Yumi MURAKAMI and Ms. Fumiko KAMEYAMA. For compilingand editing this book an Editorial Committee was formed with the same members except Mr.
HIRAKI, Ms. MURAKAMI and Ms. KAMEYAMA. Ms. Natsuko INOUE later joined the
Editorial Committee, making five the total number of members to work for the preparationof this publication.

3

2. Target Contributors for teacher stories in this project shall be limited
to principals, excluding ordinary teachers. This is because in Japan theprincipals are generally those who are at the final stage of their teachingcareer and usually endowed with rich, wide and deep educational
experiences to share. In addition, the role and function of a ‘principal’ as anadministrative head of a school is more or less universally shared, facilitatingtranspiration of smooth dialogue with foreign educators coming from diverse
historical, cultural and educational backgrounds.
3. Selection of principals shall be limited to within Hiroshima Prefecture.
The reason is that the name of “Hiroshima” is globally known as A-bombstricken place. The selection should be made as follows(1) Identify possible
candidates and establish a list; (2) interview each candidate; and (3) based on
the interviews, make a recommended list.
4. Publication in Japanese and English: At first, a book entitled “Principalsof Hiroshima Public Schools” will be published in the Japanese language,
followed by publication in English to disseminate the contents to educational
personnel overseas.
5. The final goal of the entire project will be “to make it known that there are
principals who are making constant efforts to overcome difficult educationalsituations and to improve human relationships in schools, and that they
always treat children as their top priority concern”.
In actuality, the selection of the principals was the most difficult step for the
student members of the project team. They surveyed education literature anddocuments and asked opinions of university professors and others regarding
what makes a good teacher and an exemplary principal. However, what helped
them most was their direct encounters with the principals. Usually two or more
students made a visit with a principal; they recorded the conversation, which theytranscribed afterwards; they also prepared a write-up on each visit in order toshare the interview contents; and they had repeated discussions to reflect on their‘findings’. The principals made them realize that there were many different typesof educators as well as many different ways of educating children and eventually
helped them form a composite image of a ‘good school principal’ who kneels down
to listen to children, who can fascinate children with their story-telling, who canstimulate their thinking with simple questions, who are committed to their teaching
vocation and who believe that teachers themselves can change education. The teamthen used this image in selecting the thirteen principals who are featured in this4

“Principals of Hiroshima” Projectbook.
All thirteen educators have experiences as principals at the public schools
in Hiroshima Prefecture. However their actual practice in teaching, specialized
subject areas, educational philosophy and professional insights are different. Their
traits are reflections of their beliefs as an educator and so are the guidelines andpolicies they set as principals, and this makes every principal different. Among thethirteen principals, some are already retired and others are still working in schools.
Three are elementary school principals; four from the lower secondary schools
and six belong to the upper secondary schools. Two are female principals, and one
coming from the private business sector. Some have served in the municipal boardsof education for many years, while others have never worked in the administration
office.
As broadcasted in the newspaper, T.V. and radio, public education in Hiroshima
had been in chaos for a long period due to the conflict between the Educational
Ministry, the Board of Education and the Teachers Union. Inevitably, school
principals had to stand right at the middle of disputes having to withstand theintense pressure of the conflicting views and forces. The principals found in
this book had experienced such pressure. Some principals had actually realizedthat their career as an educator was given attention only during the course of the
disputes. However, it is not the intention of this book to deal with any politicalissues or the individual problems encountered by the principals.
Each and every principal featured here is a unique educator. The book is notpresenting them as representative or typical of all the principals in Hiroshima, nor
to imply that there are no other excellent principals in Hiroshima. It is perhaps
meaningless to classify them into a group as ‘school principals of Hiroshima
public schools’ and to discuss commonalities or trends surrounding them. What iscertain, however, is that common to all the thirteen principals is their steadfastness
throughout their teaching career in giving top priority to educating their pupils
and students and putting this principle consistently into regular practice. What ispresented in the succeeding 13 chapters is thirteen different expressions of this.

5

6Elementary school

Pursuing education which can be done only now, only here

Pursuing education which can be done only now, only here
IKUTA Kazuto
IKUTA Kazuto was born in 1951 in Takehara City,
Hiroshima Prefecture
After graduating from university, he became anelementary school teacher in Hiroshima Prefecture. While
teaching at the Hiroshima University affiliated Mihara
Elementary School, he completed his postgraduate study
in the School Education Course, Hiroshima University andmajored in Science Education. In 1994, he was promoted
to vice-principal at Higashi-hiroshima City Higashi
Saijo Elementary School. In 2000, he was appointed as
the principal of Kurose Town-run Nominoo Elementary
School. At the time of his appointment, the school wasunder the Kamo County administration district, but the area has now merged
into Higashi-hiroshima City. Since 2005, he has been working as the principal of
Higashi-hiroshima City Nishi-shiwa Elementary School.

1. The reason I decided to be a teacher
I cannot identify concrete reasons why I became a teacher. Not one of myfamily members were educators during my childhood. I don’t recall having any
teachers who could have inspired me to pursue this career. If I had to say a reason,
I would admit it could have been my parent’s desire. I recall that when I wasyounger, my parents used to tell me all the time that being an educator is good, so I
had better become a teacher.
Once, when my mother and I were having a consultation with my homeroom
teacher, my mother suddenly asked my teacher: “Being a teacher will be goodfor our son. What do you think, sensei?” My homeroom teacher replied. “That’s
great. I do believe that becoming a teacher would be wonderful for him.” Besides
my parents’ prodding, her comment encouraged me at that moment. My parents
believed that an educator was a sincere and stable profession. Parents naturally
want the best for their children. Being young at that time, I was not sure what I
wanted to do, and such circumstances enabled me to make the choices I needed tomake.
Under the career education program of Nominoo Elementary School where I
work now, grade six pupils attended a gathering entitled “Extracurricular Session:
7

Let’s welcome our alumnus as a teacher”, in which the school welcomed analumnus to speak about their career. The speaker for the day was a baseball teammanager. He talked about how he struggled as he pursued an athletic career, andhow he succeeded in helping send his baseball team to Koshien Stadium. This is
the most famous ballpark and the scene of the spring and summer upper secondary
school baseball tournaments which are televised live throughout Japan. Thus, toplay at Koshien is the dream of all young Japanese baseball players. He was aman who had so much devotion to his profession. I noticed that our pupils were
getting a clear message which was “where there is a will, there is a way to go
ahead.”The manager told us why he started to play baseball. “I first wanted to join
the track and field club. A classmate who at that time was seated next to me
coincidentally told me that he would like to join the baseball club. Then we started
to converse about baseball. That was it!” shared the alumnus.
What interested me very much was that such a simple incident could lead a
person to a lifelong career and passion. As his baseball career started with an
innocent decision to join a different sports club, so too can someone else’s. With
what I heard from him, I realized that there is probably no need to be pressured
to have a very serious or clear reason for choosing a career in the initial stages of
pursuing it. Trifle matters or unexpected encounters may prove to be just as usefulin guiding a person as one who makes the decision to choose a particular career
path. What really matters is that the person has a passion to do something good,
and that he or she tries to maintain this passion, which will eventually lead them todeveloping a strong will to make their dreams come true.

2. Pre-service training is the base where my teaching career was born
During those six weeks of my pre-service teaching training, I met two
wonderful teachers who have made a significant difference in my life. Still now I
appreciate them. Teaching practice indeed yielded a great harvest that boosted mymorale and I finally found the will to enter the educational world.
(1) Wishing to create lessons like Teacher U
One of the greatest influences for me was the former vice-principal of akindergarten. This educator was absolutely good at teaching. In my estimation,s/he was one of the best lesson makers at the University-affiliated Mihara
Elementary School. I saw how Ms./Mr. U worked, and I had nothing but praise8

Pursuing education which can be done only now, only here
for her/his teaching skills. So I started to dream of being able to deliver lessons
well, however to this day, I never reached that point. I think I have to thank Ms./
Mr. U for inspiring me to pursue educational research since I took it up in myearnest desire to make lessons like hers/his.
(2) Leading myself to the field of science education research
I am also grateful to Teacher O, whom I met when I was practice teaching at
the University-affiliated Mihara lower secondary school. During the reviewing
session right after my very first lesson in science, Teacher O who was my mentor
gave me highly motivating comments. “You are good at teaching!” he said. I felt
somewhat embarrassed yet ecstatic about the remark. Being praised by no lessthan the vice principal surely gave me a lot of confidence in my work as a practiceteacher.
Then later on, I discovered that Teacher O actually had the habit of praisingpeople, and s/he had given similar comments to other teacher trainees too. Without
a doubt, the assurance and confidence I gained from his/her comments fueled myinterest for science education research.
Eventually, I became a member of the Science Education Research Groupat the University-affiliated Mihara School. At that time, I started presenting theresults of my research, and also began joining the research trips organized by theSociety of Japan Science Teaching; thus, I acquired the fundamental knowledge asa science teacher as well as a socially responsible adult.

3. Gem words useful in making lessons and conducting educational
research
Five years after my pre-service teacher training, I was assigned to teach at
the University-affiliated Mihara Elementary School. While I was there, I met
teachers with expertise in each subject area, and their attitudes toward subject
instruction were quite individualistic, so too was the way how they lead their daily
life. They say meeting with good senior and fellow teachers will influence us todo something to further improve ourselves. It was through these encounters that I
was able to reflect on my own educational views and lessons.
Advice given to me by those senior and fellow teachers has impacted mylessons and the way of leading my life.
Briefly, here are the things I want to share with you:
① It is only at the University-affiliated school that we can do certain things. In
9other schools, this is just not possible. Therefore, we should do what we canthere.
Specialized
can be generalized but generalizations can not be applied to a②
specialized environment.
③ Research targets should be placed higher than the possible target. One must
aim for the latest frontiers of research.
④ Without summarization, there is no progress.
⑤ Never reject the offer of writing articles, no matter how busy you are. In fact,
the busier you are, the more work you can do.
⑥ Good lessons are determined by the first five and last five minutes. Begin andend with a clear subject matter.
⑦ No matter how hard you have prepared, do not try to exhibit all that you have
prepared. Teachers tend to show off as much as they can.
⑧ Avoid monotonous lessons. Design lessons that provide opportunities forchildren to engage in constructive conflicts.
⑨ Do not perform your lesson. Do not be too conscious in front of observers likeparents.
⑩ Avoid unimproved lesson plans. Always be prepared with a new andcharacteristic lesson plan.
⑪ Spend 10% of your salary for purchasing books. Books should deal withsubjects that are not within your field of specialization. Read books from otherdisciplines as well.
(1) Conducting educational research at the University-affiliated Mihara
Elementary School–School-based lesson study, the most challenging teacher training
At the affiliated school, lesson study was frequently conducted. School-based
lesson study, research meetings, teaching practices, observations, and all sortsof open lessons were held all the time. After the lesson study, peer review-typediscussion sessions followed. I do believe that participating in such reviewing
sessions helped me to develop more teaching skills. As beneficial as this lesson
study was, it was also stressful and challenging, as all of my fellow teachers cameto observe and critically questioned me about my lesson.
For example, none of them praise the lesson they observed. The aim is focusedon how to crystallize the school’s research objectives in each subject. All the aims
are oriented to this one purpose. The research objective has to be crystallized in10

Pursuing education which can be done only now, only hereeach subject, and all the subjects relate to each other, so you should not ignore othersubjects. For instance, I remembered on some occasions, the research conference
seemed to have turned into quarreling bouts in front of the participants and advisors
coming from other universities and institutions. There was never quarreling amongus, but for outsiders, it could have seemed so. Therefore, when the discussion wasover, the faculty members got together and agreed on a common ground for further
promotion of their research. I cherished the memory of those days sentimentally,
and I remembered it was such a desirable working place.
At one point, a senior faculty member made this unforgettable comment: “The
more questions are asked, the better the lessons and research conferences are.” This
must be true because when there are many questions, we will be flooded with new
ideas and will be highly challenged to incorporate those findings into the actual
teaching of even more different subjects. Taking it to the extreme, can we saythat lessons without questions are not worthy? I think that we educators should be
happy, even when asked the difficult questions, as this indicates critical thinking on
the part of the listeners.
11(2) Educational research of University affiliated Mihara Elementary School
Part 2–One new idea at each time
My goal for every research meeting and lesson study was to bring out
something creative. At least one new idea would do for me. So, I introduced themembers of the meetings to some experimental tools and materials, as well as
methodologies that I created, modified or devised. To achieve my goal, I reallypressured myself to a great extent. I constantly tried to make or find new ideas anddevices, and it was indeed a laborious task, though I must say that it was a laborof love. After demonstrating new ideas in the lesson study, some attendees would
come to ask me about my inventions, and I felt my efforts had paid off throughsuch a show of reception of my ideas.
From time to time, we in the faculty discussed how many people had come toobserve our research lesson, and if we met their expectations of learning from our
new ideas. At times, about eighty participants came, or on some days there wereabout a hundred. We excitedly counted them, as we used the number of observers
and participants as a barometer to judge whether the lesson was good or not. As
one senior teacher succinctly said, “There are those who annually come to observe
our lessons. Those visitors are now our guests; then, they will become our fans.
We will be regarded as a master of teaching by the number of fans we have.”
I recall the days of my hardships when I went through many trials andchallenges. In those days I wished to be a master of teaching.

4. What we must value at school now, and what we want to seek.
(1) Education is immutable and current①

Learning from Shokason-juku

I believe that education is both immutable and current. The immutable aspect isthe part which was handed down through the ages, while the current aspect is thetrend that corresponds to the changes of the times. Education will be transformed
as the years go by; however, there are also things in education that will remain
fundamental for all time. When I think of how education is meant to be, I am
reminded of one respectable educator in Japanese history --- Sensei YOSHIDA
Shoin. The photograph above shows the Shokason-Juku or village school buildingin Matsushita. This small hut-like private school had only one room with the area

12

Pursuing education which can be done only now, only here

Shokason-juku village school in Matsushita

Master YOSHIDA Shoin (1830-1859)of eight tatami mats, and master YOSHIDA Shoin devoted himself to teaching
there for only two and a half years. Nevertheless, the school produced many
graduates possessing distinguished talent during the tempestuous times from thelast days of the Tokugawa Shogunate (Edo Period) to the start of the Meiji Period(Meiji Restoration).
To reconsider my educational philosophy from the origin, please let me review
the educational philosophy of Shokason-Juku.
Master YOSHIDA Shoin believed in the following philosophy. When we havea chance to be aware of our responsibilities as members of the society, and makeample effort for self education, then we will become significant persons. “Educationmust provide chances to raise the consciousness of the students as a responsible
social member. Raise their spirits and courage, furthermore guide them to have themethodology and confidence.” In the present school education, in other words, wehelp pupils self-grow with the potential they already possess.
②

What the school and teachers should venerate and seek

Applying the principle of Shokason-juku, I value to work to help children selfgrow. This education, I believe, is○ an education that develops good points in the children; and○ an education which helps children see things with their own eyes, listen
to things with their own ears and develop their potential sensibilities andthinking ability.
13

In addition, I hope each and every child will have a zest for living, courageand confidence in life, and acquire basic scholastic ability, principles which haveremained unchangeable for millennia. Contrary to this, along with the socialchanges, children these days also need to have a capacity to communicate inEnglish. They also need to break down the information flow regarding how to takeup and disseminate information, and need comprehensive problem-solving skills,
which are usually studied in the period of the Integrated Study Period.
(2) Looking at what I believe now, in my educational philosophy and goals.
Within the University-affiliated Mihara Elementary School is a schoolaccommodation called the Keiun-Juku, which was founded in 1944. Since then,it has become customary for teachers and pupils to jointly hold or attend school
events at the Keiun house, which was founded when the nation was moving on
from defeat after the War. During those times, a strong desire for the humane
education of pupils being together with their teachers was advocated; under thesecircumstances, the Keiun-Juku was launched by the then teachers. The spirits of
Shokason-Juku are encompassed in this name as is their educational practices.
When Keiun-Juku was founded , it was aiming for two things, namely:○ For both teachers and pupils, by lodging together, to learn things that they
can not learn from in-school studies and play; and○ For pupils themselves to take the initiative in planning and managing theovernight program, think about the harmony of group life, and recognize theimportance of cooperation, thus, review and correct their own lives
The teachers’ responsibility in running the Keiun-Juku is quite heavy, but the
precious time they spend together with their pupils is irreplaceable. It is amazing
for teachers to see the children behave properly in their daily life outside theschool, and share the joy of their friends’ company through cooperative activities.
This is one of the school events that impressed me the most.
The aims of Keiun-Juku were ‘living together’, ‘mutual understanding’, and‘self development through cooperation.’ These clearly reflected the education of
Shokason-Juku, which I indeed appreciate. My experiences of Keiun-Juku helped
me to establish the principles and goals in my educational philosophy, not the least
being that it gave me the insight to reconsider them.

14

Pursuing education which can be done only now, only here
A sample day schedule at Keiun-Juku [one night two day program for grade 5 and 6]:
Extracurricular schedule
17:00 Cook dinner
18:30 Dinner, wash the dishes
20:00 Take a bath
20:30 Study
21:40 Reflecting on the day
22:00 Go to bed

Morning schedule
6:30 Get up, wash face
7:00 Cook breakfast
7:40 Breakfast, cleaning
Preparation for going to school,
review session
8:00 Go to school

Diary of a pupil“Good afternoon.” The overnight program for us Group 3 began. Our
lodge, the Keiun house is located right behind our school. The dinner menu
of our group included tofu, soy bean paste soup, natto (fermented soy beans),
rice, steamed potatoes and grilled capelins. The menu was just like a typicalJapanese breakfast. I thought our cooking went well and we enjoyed thefood.
Unexpectedly, we got into quarrels as to who gets to use the washroom
for taking a bath. “It should be ladies first!!” Girls made an oral attack
fiercely. Finally, it was decided by a game.
Now it is time to study. [-omitted-]15

Educational Philosophy ‘People grow while interacting with people.’①

Being together overnight, the interpersonal relationship development between
teachers and pupils, and among children themselves is essential and this is what
Keiun-Juku aims for. In addition, I have heard a saying of one old person, ‘Paddy
fields in paddy fields, human beings among human beings.’
I interpret that to mean that paddy fields which are surrounded by paddy fields
receive the best environment to produce rice. Not until human beings interact withhuman beings do people grow as people. Many persons get together at school,communicate and interact with each other, and thus all grow up. Taking theinterpersonal relationships into consideration, the following are the educational
philosophy of our elementary school education.
・ Have a consciousness to self-grow.
・ Establish a basic life habit
・ Learn how to mix up with people.
・ Acquire a basic and fundamental scholastic ability
・ Put oneself to work with a clear purpose
・ Do things patiently
・ Set a high value on the lives and personality of yourself and others
・ Be aware of co-existence with nature
Educational Goal ‘Self-Growth’②

The Student Council of the affiliated Mihara Elementary School is called Jishinkai, meaning ‘Group of Self growth’, and the original spirit has been inherited
since its foundation in 1924. The following are the three beliefs of Jishin-kai:
1.
2.
3.

We will grow while empowering ourselves.
We will be willing to labor for others and appreciate it.
We will respect our rules.

I got to know these beliefs during my pre-service
teaching practice; since then, I have counted on them as they
are universal for any era.
Will and motivation for self growth should be fostered inany era, and nevertheless, remains the most important for thepresent school education. Treasuring such feelings I would
like to set up the educational goal of, ‘self growth.’16

Pursuing education which can be done only now, only here

5. Creative school administration, creative school management–Do what can be done here only now–
Open lesson studies were frequently held at the university affiliated school.
I remember teachers who participated said, “This can be done because it is
the university affiliated school. This won’t be done in other places except theuniversity affiliated school.” I felt it meant the selected pupils enable us to do this,but it won’t be realized at general schools. For sure, things universally applied arenecessary. Specialized can be generalized but generalizations can not be applied toa specialized environment. But I came to believe that ‘Do what can be done here
only now’ should be the philosophy to steer my course in a certain school.
I will be transferred to various schools in the future. Wherever I will beassigned, there are two things to consider. First, I shall reconsider what can be done
there, no matter how hard the environment to do so may be. Then I will begin to
do what can be done, and realize what can be done every time. This is my basic
stance in educational research, and it is surely the fundamental stance in school
administration and management.
(1) Sharing the Policies in School Administration and Management
What is needed to make the school administration and management creative?
As a principal I believe that I must talk with and discuss things with the faculty
members on a day to day basis about our school administration and management
policies. “For what, aiming at which goals, and where we are heading to’” ----repeating this once, twice, and even three times would not be enough; therefore, I
must continuously communicate with them for a better understanding.
By releasing the school newsletter as well as holding the school assembly, classmeeting and open lesson observation day, I am still thinking of ways in which
I can disseminate my thoughts as principal, as well as the school philosophy tofamilies and the community; thus, establish a close tie with them, to gain theirunderstanding and cooperation to our school administration and management.

17

English activities at Nominoo Elementary School:
Enjoy learning English Activities‘Songs and chants’ and ‘games’ are practiced.
Enjoyable and intriguing activities encouragekids to use English naturally.

Ideal teacher image S/he can teachEnglish, using only English, without thehelp of other staff members.

‘Enjoy Challenge, Kidsof Nominoo!’ ‘Chance,
challenge, change’ withthe 3 C spirits.

We want to foster kids who can openly express
their own thoughts and feelings in any group, in
any region or country. ‘Anytime, anywhere, ourkids can express themselves.’

Characteristics of English education
activities at Nominoo Elementary
School
1. The homeroom teacher is the
major instructor to teachEnglish with the help of an ALT(assistant language teacher) and
GT. Respective talents must be
well demonstrated.
2. An effective combination of‘short’ and ‘long’ activities
3. Joyful participation in theactivities using body movements,
thus the ability of expression
will be upgraded.

(2) Mutual understanding in ideal child image and ideal teacher image
Let me introduce an example from Higashi-hiroshima City Nominoo
Elementary School where I previously served.
The school education goal should be something that the school and community
desire the most to achieve now, and can only be realized there. First of all, attention
must be paid to the ideal child image. ‘How we want our children to be’ must be
examined by all the faculty members so that we can reach a consensus regarding
this.
Higashi-hiroshima City Nominoo Elementary School receives children
graduating from the same nursery school; thus almost all of them stay together fornine years. Pupils are placed in a situation where they did not have to speak out
spontaneously among themselves because verbal communication was not necessary18

Pursuing education which can be done only now, only here
to understand each other. In such an environment, children tended not to develop
their abilities to express themselves. In the faculty meeting, we talked about theimportance of the goal for those pupils, and made a decision that they should
become expressive, in whatever group they are, wherever they are, even outside
Japan. They should be able to express themselves and speak their own opinions.
(3) Proceeding with the research and practices
To realize the ideal child image and ideal teacher image, we conduct research
considering certain courses and methodology. We persistently stick to our aim ofrealizing our ideal images of pupil and teacher. The stance to achieve this aim mustbe always coherent and consistent without digressing in the process. So let me
introduce some cautions in conducting research and practices.
①

Based upon the images of pupil and teacher“All faculty members must be aware of one goal --- to guide pupils’”
When all of us have agreed to the same goal and conduct educational activities
in the same direction, we will smoothly reap a rich harvest. When we all cooperate,then pupils and parents trust us, and the faculty members and administration will
feel a sense of solidarity that makes it easier to work toward one goal.
“Goals are common, but methods can be varied.”
It is essential to appreciate the same educational goals, but the methods torealize them can be varied as each individual faculty member exercises his or her
creativity and talent. Moreover it will boost the faculty’s morale and give themconfidence in this way.
“Evaluation is done in accordance with a child’s image.”
When the faculty is aware of the ideal child image, conversing with children
will be indispensable for them during day to day school life, without limiting it
within the lessons.
For example, the figure below shows the evaluation points for an ideal
child image and will be displayed in all classrooms so that the faculty will be
continuously exposed to it during thelessons and other activities, thus they canreflect upon and evaluate what pupils sayand how they behave.
Evaluation points of Child Image in English Activities.
19

②

In-service teacher training must be an occasion for the faculty to feel
improvement and advancement.

There is no need for emphasizing the significance of the in-service training[including research and character-development].
Skills required for the school faculty nowadays are, in the case of teachers,
overall skills to teach subject areas, for example, to speak in an easy-to-understandmanner, to analyze teaching materials, to use appropriate questioning techniques,to apply new techniques in blackboard writing, and to do lesson planning. Looking
towards the future, teachers should have a sense of humanity and love as an
educational professional, patience, consideration, and generosity as these will be
inevitably required. Both teaching skills and such personality should be upgradedin the training, and one should be able to feel the advancement through training
events.
“Everyone must have something that will be admired by others.”
Teachers should have something excellent in their field of teaching so thateveryone says “That’s superb!” Yet, they must not only excel in teaching but also
have an excellent ability to mediate disputes in human relations. This need will
become stronger and stronger as time passes by. In consideration of being more
proficient in this field, teachers should participate in the training willingly.
“A balance between gentleness and strictness”
When you guide children according to the ideal images, you may encounter
resistance which may inhibit your planned course, but whenever you can find achance you must exhibit your unshakable belief in guiding pupils. It is indispensable
to continue your efforts to become a reliable teacher who has both gentleness andstrictness.

6. Endless steps in education
Apart from my teaching experiences, I recall some words in particular that
I truly cherish. One is a comment from Mr. FUKUMOTO Masanori of Ousen
Kiln. He is a potter of Mikawauchi Pottery which is characterized by its delicate
fretwork. “There is no goal, no ending in my work. I think there are no goals in any
type of work when you work seriously as a professional. If one thinks it is the20

Pursuing education which can be done only now, only here
goal to be a large company’s president or the Prime Minister, can you believe thatis the best life? I feel it is sad to limit the course of your life in that way.” [Quoted
from a book entitled ‘Words gifted to me on a journey’ by WATANABE Fumio;
Published by Iwanami Books]
The other is a passage from a song called, ‘Headlight, Tail light’ sung by Ms.
NAKAJIMA Miyuki who is a very popular singer-songwriter in Japan. “Lighted
ahead is my unblossomed dream, lighted behind is my childhood dream. Headlight,
tail light, our journey seems to never end….”
This music is played in my favorite TV program, Project X, as a theme song.
Every time the program Project X introduces a great team which achieved theirgoals, representing the inexhaustible obsession of a team, the quests of brilliant
minds, great courage to challenge difficulties, and splendid leadership; thus I
always get impressed whenever I watch this program. In particular, when the theme
song ‘Headlight, tail light’ is played towards the end of the program, I emotionallyoverlap the hardships people went through in the program and feel moved.
People introduced to this program had dreams they never knew they could
achieve. But they stuck it out and chased them without giving up. When the
dream came true, it might look like something childish. After realizing one dream,
they start to chase a bigger dream, and never stop having and chasing a dream.
However, the journey never comes to an end.
This is similar to the educational profession. We pursue our ideal education andcontinuously make endeavors to grow professionally. As I mentioned, there is no
ending. The thought of something that never ends could be a marvelous thing. I
chase my own unfulfilled dream, applying my personality at my own pace, thus I
am continuously making my steps to achieve my ideal education.

This chapter is based upon a lecture which Mr. IKUTA gave to South African
participants in a course on Local Educational Administration and Management hosted by
JICA. The lecture was held at Higashi-hiroshima city Nominoo Elementary School on
October 1st, 2004.

21

Dialogue between Mr. IKUTA and JICA training participants fromthe Republic of South Africa.
Participant A: I want to know about the difference between University-affiliatedschools and the other general public schools. Compared to the public schools, what
privileges are given to the affiliated school?
Mr. IKUTA: Privilege is not an appropriate expression, I think. The universityaffiliated school is national, so the system is different from the general schools. For
example, there is no entrance examination to public schools, so anybody can enroll.
Children have to sit the examination to enroll at the affiliated elementary schools.
I do not deny the fact that it is easier to conduct in-service training at the affiliatedschool. In the case of general public schools, teachers seldom take the chance togo outside the Prefecture for training, but I had the advantage of visiting otherPrefectures three times a year for in-service teacher training.
Participant A: What is the role of the university affiliated school?
Mr. IKUTA: I am not sure if I can tell you all the roles you want to know, but
one mission is to train teachers. Universities with a Faculty of Education must
send students to schools for student teaching in order to receive accreditation and ateacher’s license, so the university needs affiliated schools. However, students who
do not wish to get a teacher’s license do not go for student teaching though they
belong to the Faculty of Education. Nowadays the number of such students is on
the increase.
Participant B: I want to ask about English education. How many elementary
schools conduct English education? In South Africa, the mother tongue education
is emphasized.
Mr. IKUTA: Japanese language education is also focused on at Nominoo
Elementary School. Basic scholastic ability includes the Japanese language
and arithmetic. We started English education not by simply teaching English,
but by developing communication ability. Speaking English will give pupils
confidence; then, they will overcome shyness. Therefore, we provide more time oncommunicating with others during English lessons rather than writing.
Participant B: Do other elementary schools also teach English?
Mr. IKUTA: There is a policy to some extent. Generally speaking, they start22

Pursuing education which can be done only now, only here
English from Grade three, by utilizing the Integrated Study period, calling it
International Understanding Education, but not English. About 60 % of elementary
schools teach English and the remaining 35% conduct welfare education orcommunity study. There are not so many elementary schools in Hiroshima
Prefecture which teach English from Grade one.
Participant C: When you start teaching English, will you identify a new
educational goal? Please explain about the aim of ‘individual development’.
Mr. IKUTA: Depending on the interpretation of the word ‘Individual’ it canmean a different thing. When we say a person is individualistic, in Japan it often
means that person is weird. Individuality must be along the social norm, and whensomeone regarded as individualistic is not accepted in the society, then that can not
be the true individuality. I believe individuality will also be developed throughpeople’s interaction.
Participant D: Could you tell me about the PTA?
Mr. IKUTA: All the parents of Nominoo Elementary School children become
PTA members. They select executive members and administer the PTA. The
PTA cooperates with the school management for the annual Sports Day. A PTA
membership fee is collected to purchase library books, etc.
Participant D: Do other schools also have a PTA?
Mr. IKUTA: All schools in Japan have a PTA. Sometimes it is called a
Guardians’ Association.
[In the lecture, Mr. IKUTA mentioned about the importance to read the winds(=trend) as principal.]Participant E: I think reading the wind is important for a teacher too. While you
are reading the wind I wonder if the wind could have blown away before you readit entirely, what do you think?
Mr. IKUTA: When you read the wind, you should read not only the blowing windbut the incoming wind as well to some extent.
Participant F: I think principals face difficulties at work. Can you give us anexample of the difficulties you have overcome?
Mr. IKUTA: Yes, I have faced quite a number of difficulties. That is why we arepaid an extra allowance for managerial duties. During the past four years, I havemade my Principal’s Office open and often talked with teachers over a cup of23

coffee. Compared to official assembly, some comments really touched my heart.
In Japanese there is an expression Nemawashi or root negotiation (negotiationin advance at the root level). Prior to the start of English education, for a period
of about a year, I continued to speak to teachers and persuaded them about its
necessity. It is not easy to launch something new, but after you tried, you will feelsatisfaction with your achievement and with the growth you made. When one canrealize what one has completed successfully, it will eliminate all the hardships one
went through. In Japanese, we call it ‘hardships with great value’ (Hardship brings
its own rewards).
Participant G: I’d like to know about the special class for the disabled. Are thoseclasses isolated from other classes?
Mr. IKUTA: At Nominoo elementary school we’ve named the special class‘Nakayoshi (friends) class’, and two first graders study there. There is one general
first grade class, and pupils of the Nakayoshi class attend almost all the lessons at
the general class except Japanese and arithmetic. To cite an example in arithmetic,
pupils in the Nakayoshi class failed in conceptualizing numbers even only from
one to ten before enrollment. Then a special program was prepared according to theindividual needs. The same thing happened in Japanese. Other subjects like music,
physical education, art and handicrafts are learned together with the general classpupils. Enrollment in the Nakayoshi class is made upon parents’ request; if theparents do not desire to send their children to a special class, the pupils can enter
the general class.
Participant H: Is there a teacher union?
Mr. IKUTA: First of all, we principals can not be part of the School Staff Union.
In Hiroshima Prefecture, the ratio of union members varies in regions like the Eastand West. In Fukuyama city, Onomichi city, Mihara city and Geihoku area, a lot
more teachers are members, but here in the Kamo plateau area, the number is fewer.
As my school is located in the Kamo area, it was relatively easy to be a managerial
staff member [he laughs]. Teachers and the staff members themselves have theright to be a union member. When I was transferred to this school, six teachers
were members. It is illegal for a principal to request the school staff to quit a union,
so I will never encourage them to resign. School Staff Union aims to improve theworking conditions of teachers and the staff; if the condition needs to be improved,
they become very active, but if it is all right, they do not organize activities. The
truth is, there was a teacher who used to work in Fukuyama City where the union24

Pursuing education which can be done only now, only here
power was strong, but stopped being a member after being transferred to Nominoo
Elementary School.
Participant I: Is corporal punishment prohibited in Japan? How do you guidestudents then?
Mr. IKUTA: Corporal punishment is not allowed in Japan. There are an
increasing number of children who do not listen to teachers and do not behave well.
I tell the faculty, “If you hit a child it will be the end for you.” We just continue
to talk with naughty children until they understand. In the case of a child running
through the corridor, which is prohibited, we tell him ‘Stop running, stop running,stop running,” until the child gives in. The child may feel it is more severe thanphysical punishment.
Participant J: Do you have addiction problems of drugs and smoking among
pupils?
Mr. IKUTA: I heard about the drug problem occurring at upper secondary schools
and universities, not with my own ears but from internet news, but I guess there
are no such cases at the elementary school level here in Higashi Hiroshima City of
the Kamo area. I heard some students of lower secondary school smoke. I knowsome are not addicted but just curious. Inside the school compound we have a nonsmoking policy.
Participant K: You have mentioned about spending 10 % of your salary forpurchasing books. I wonder if I can manage that.
Mr. IKUTA: I know it is something unrealistic. Even the teacher who gave methat advice had not spent 10 %, but I am sure he was reading a lot. What 10%means is that you should have the drive to study that hard. There are teachers whostop studying, but I think a teacher will not be able to teach pupils any more if s/hedoes not brush up. Only teachers who brush themselves up can teach children. I
think my advisor meant the 10% of salary as a symbol to describe how teachers
should be aware of brushing up.
Participant L: How long does it take for teachers to get to school?
Mr. IKUTA: For our faculty at this elementary school, the longest travel timeis 30 minutes by car. The shortest is a five minute drive. As for me, it takes
13 minutes by car. The current trend is to expand the area of teacher and staff
transfer. It is usually within 30 minutes for elementary and lower secondary school
faculties, but the upper secondary school covers the entire area of Hiroshima
25

Prefecture, extending the possible commuting time to 90 minutes under the Boardof Education, Hiroshima Prefecture. I know of upper secondary school teachers
who take 90 minutes to get to school and are fatigued, but I do not know of suchcases in elementary or lower secondary schools.
On Oct. 1st, 2004 at Higashi-hiroshima City Nominoo Elementary School.
Mr. IKUTA was a principal of this school at that time.

26

Teaching: Forever Alive in My Memories -realizing my dreams in remote area education-

Teaching: Forever Alive in My Memories-realizing my dreams in remote area educationODA Yukiko
ODA Yukiko was born in 1941 in Fukuyama City,
Hiroshima Prefecture. After graduating from university,
she became a Japanese language teacher of lower
secondary school. In 1988, she was appointed as viceprincipal of Geihoku Town-run Miwa-chuo Elementary
School in Yamagata County (in northern Hiroshima).
Then, after working as (a) senior teaching consultant at
Kabe Educational Office of the Hiroshima Prefectural
Board of Education, in 1993, she was appointed as
principal at Geihoku Town-run Miwa-higashi Elementary
School in Yamagata county. In 1998, she became theprincipal of Geihoku Elementary School and Geihoku
Kindergarten. She retired in 2002.

1. My dream; “I want to become a teacher.”(1) About my father
I was born in 1941, the year when World War II broke out. My father was ateacher. The first clear memory of my father being a teacher was in 1945 when
I was four years old. It was the year when the atomic bomb was dropped in
Hiroshima. My father supervised a party of schoolchildren from the Hiroshima
Second Middle School on the labor work (force) right behind the Hiroshima
Station building, and then the atom bomb was dropped. At that time, he was living
in Hiroshima city alone; while my mother, I and my siblings had evacuated to arural area to stay away from the air raids. After the atomic bombing, we went to
the nearby train station many times to look for my father but we never saw him. I
don’t clearly remember how long we waited, but one day he suddenly came home,carrying a seriously burnt student in his arms. He was also burned and lookedexhausted and completely different. This incident left a lasting impression in me
that “my father was a teacher who was doing all his best to help his student.” One
more thing that I clearly remember was that he used to write the word “sincerity”
in his students’ autograph albums at graduation. From my eyes as his child, heremained a teacher who thought of his students wholeheartedly and had always
dedicated himself to studying the teaching materials. I think I was unconsciously
27inspired by such an attitude of my father’s since my childhood.
(2) Longing for teacher OHISHI, the heroine in the novel, “Twenty FourEyes”
I first became conscious of my desire to be a teacher when I was in the fourth
grade, after reading the novel entitled “Twenty Four Eyes”. It is a story of twelve
pupils and a female teacher at a tiny school on Shodo-shima Island in the Seto
Inland Sea. I wanted to be a teacher like Ms. OHISHI who had so much love foreducation. Since I liked the mountains, I also dreamed of being a teacher of aschool in the mountains. When I was at the lower secondary school, I was indeed
moved by the biography of Pestalozzi, an educator of love. It could be around thistime that I decided to be a teacher.

2. Moving towards the realization of my dream(1) Becoming a teacher of a school in the mountains
My dream came true. At first I got an unofficial appointment to be a teacher
of a small lower secondary school in a mountain area called Toyohira Town, in
Yamagata County, Hiroshima Prefecture. Although I was very eager to work inthis school as soon as possible, I was also filled with anxiety because I was goingto an unknown mountain region. My father lovingly said these encouraging words
to me “If this were the place you wished and chose, then your dream would cometrue only there, and you would be able to give heartfelt and inspiring education.”
My mother silently nodded in agreement to what my father said. So I was filledwith dreams of hope and expectation.
This was how my teaching career started. Later I met another school teacher
who became my lifelong companion. We lived in this mountain area, called
Yachiyo Town, in Yamagata County of Hiroshima Prefecture for the rest of ourlives. I served as a teacher at lower secondary schools for twenty six years and also
experienced being a vice-principal and a teaching consultant. In 1993, I becamea primary school principal and, for nine years I exhausted all efforts in school
administration.

(2) As a female principal
Although they say there is no discrimination among teachers in terms ofgender, in actuality not many women had become principals. Since very few
female teachers had been appointed as principal in the very short post-war history,28

Teaching: Forever Alive in My Memories -realizing my dreams in remote area educationI never imagined that I would be one. As a result of the post-war educational
reform in 1946, seven female principals of elementary schools were appointed
across Japan. By 2000, the total number of female principals for both elementaryand lower secondary schools reached some 4,000 but this is still just 11 % of thetotal number of principals in Japan. At present, in this 21st century, this percentage
has largely increased; but when I was assigned to manage a school, I was thefirst female principal in that town. In those times, the social status of women in
mountain regions was regarded as low. Therefore, during the first meeting withparents and community residents, I intentionally gave this comment, “Even though
I am a woman principal, I will do my best. I hope you will count on me…..”
Nowadays, I think it is no longer necessary to give this kind of comment.
With the under-representation of women in school administration as principal, I
swore to myself that I would faithfully carry out my duties as a principal following
the spirit of the female principals who came before me and making history
myself. As a school manager, I thought that I should achieve and implement
educational practices that would not only satisfy me but also all other stakeholders;consequently providing better career opportunities for future female principals.
When I came across difficult situations, murmuring the poem, “Long Way” written
by TAKAMURA Kotaro would give me enough courage to move on.
The poem goes like this:
There is no path before me
There will be a path after me
Oh Nature, Father,Great Father who has made me independent
Keep an eye on me and protect meFill me with your spirit all the time
For the long way to go
For the long way to go
One day, a girl student of an upper secondary school sent me a letter. When I
became a principal for the first time, she was a sixth grade pupil of the elementary
school to which I was assigned. She said in her letter, “When you first cameto Miwa-higashi Elementary School, I was amazed to know that even a female
teacher could be promoted to principal. As I expected, working women like you
seemed surely vivid and cool.” Her letter gave joy to women like me, and it once
again encouraged me.
29

(3) Children - our gems who will build the futureEver since I became a teacher, I had always believed that children are our gems
who will build our future. I took it as a mission and responsibility to foster thesechildren. To this end, I must consciously try to become a teacher who always keeps
a strong passion for children and wholeheartedly helps in their proper developmentwith guidance and security.
My parents raised us, their six children, in a frugal and simple life in the postwar era. They were always saying that we, their children, were their only realtreasures. They equally showed their love to all of us, six kids, and with all theirbest efforts strictly raised us to grow up as good individuals. This philosophy of
my parents about children has been alive in my mind even after I became a teacher,particularly when I became a mother myself, so I braced myself to realize the true
meaning of this philosophy. When I was a homeroom teacher of the third graders
at a lower secondary school, my students presented this message at the time ofgraduation. “Our teacher showers us with a warm motherly look. Her love cuddles
the whole class as her family” or “Our teacher worried about us as if we were her
own kids. She was strict when it was necessary……….” Children encouraged mewith this message and taught me a lot of things. Also, through several books I read
to upgrade myself as a teacher, I learned that great educators were those who heldstrong passion and belief that children are (were) treasures. These great educators
also never hesitated to be strict when they must teach what they must teach.
Pestalozzi said that ‘education means to substitute with mother’s love’. My father
and mother, Ms. OHISHI, the female teacher in the novel “Twenty Four Eyes”, andPestalozzi – my heart is overflowing with deep feeling from all of their love forchildren.
YAMANOUE-No-Okura, a poet of Manyo composed a poem that goes like
this: ’”When I eat a gourd, it reminds me of my child. When I eat a chestnut,
I further miss my child. Silver, gold, a jewel, none of these are a substitute formy child. This is my favorite waka or traditional Japanese poem. When I havea chance to see or hear news about former students who are now occupying
important positions in society, I am once again reminded that children in this world
are truly our treasures, and they are the ones who build our future. Therefore theyshould be properly educated and developed.
In my case, I became a teacher because I wanted to be; but whatever thereasons are for becoming a teacher, I believe we have to be aware of the fact that
we have the mission to love and develop humans who will live for the future. To
30

Teaching: Forever Alive in My Memories -realizing my dreams in remote area educationfulfill this mission, a teacher has to exert genuine effort to become a competent,
trustworthy person who is a good planner, a good practitioner, and a good evaluator
as well as a leader. Each and every child is endowed with incomparable potential
and strength. We must believe in every child’s innate potential and calmly andobjectively observe his/her behavior. We must constantly guide each one withfirmness but at other times with gentleness to draw out and enhance the potential
ability of each child. I also wanted to be a teacher who could help the children
make decisions and say “I want them to grow this way” and study towards thisgoal. Thus I would be able to help in the self-realization of the children. One thing
we must be careful of and be reminded of is that we teachers belong to the world ofchildren. We tend to be self-righteous but since we are in the children’s world wemust have a broader view, maintain objectivity and have a well-balanced sense.
When I was a teacher of Japanese language at a lower secondary school, I
exerted effort studying about instructional methods, class management, and also
library education. By teaching in creative ways as I paid attention to every pupil’ sthought, I stimulated their interests in learning, and made classroom activities more
lively, and improved their academic abilities. As a principal, I shared my views onteaching to my faculty members whenever I had the opportunity.
(4) Three pillars of school management that I value as a basis
Serving at a small school in a mountain area, I conceptualized three views
resulting from my reflections on the particular status of the school and I was guided
by these three pillars in managing the school. They are as follows:
1. making a vigorous environment in the school
2. making an educative environment of the school
3. making a humane school
The first pillar, making a vigorous environment in the school, actually means that:○ We use to the maximum our abilities under certain disciplines as a memberof a group.
○ Being in the school opened to the community, we will actively practiceand,○ We create an ideal school environment best for education.
As for the second pillar, making an educative environment of the school meansthat:○ Teachers have to acquire teaching skills and, at the same time, acquire31the ability for self-learning. As teachers teach they educate themselves
through self-study. Teachers have to keep in mind that children grow up
while imitating how adults do things.
The third pillar, making the school humane refers:○ To cultivating the mind. We create educational contents which foster
morality among pupils; and,○ We respect pupil’s individuality and try to understand each other.
(5) You can do it if you try
To illustrate the practice of these three pillars, I will mention one of myexperiences at Miwa-higashi Elementary School in Geihoku Town where I served
as the principal for the first time. Geihoku Town is in the mountains locatednorthwest of Hiroshima Prefecture. It is cool in summer, and in winter there
are many ski grounds opened due to heavy snowfall. Schools in this town are
officially classified as remote area schools. Miwa-higashi Elementary School issurrounded by hills, and wild cherry blossoms bloom in the school ground. The
wooden school building reminded me of the novel ‘Twenty Four Eyes.’ At thattime, my heart was full of hope for the good to happen, and I said to myself, “I
can realize my dreams and hopes in this school.” As a school manager, I dreamedof creating a school where all the children could enjoy themselves freely and bethemselves, to achieve self-actualization. Since the school was remote and small,the vice principal also held another position, and only two teachers took care ofmulti-grade classes. The school had poor facilities and equipment and a limited
budget. From the beginning I faced many issues to be solved. However, I strongly
felt that in whatever condition, our pupils should not be sacrificed. While I could
see that children were innocent and obedient, I could not observe characters like
spontaneity and independence. Considering the status of the school and what I
wanted to achieve, I thought I needed to boost the faculty’s morale in education,and encourage pupils to be enthusiastic to study. There was a need for me to create
an ideal educational environment inside and outside the school. I thought my dreamwould come true only if I could encourage pupils to have academic abilities and thestrength to survive throughout life.
①

Making the whole school into a library

The first thing I did was to tell my idea of school management to my teachersand staff, “Teachers and staff themselves should be full of life and zest. We
32

Teaching: Forever Alive in My Memories -realizing my dreams in remote area educationourselves should prepare a good learning environment for pupils.” I further told
them, “If we try hard, we can surely ask for funding by proving the necessity. It
is hard but fun to create things by ourselves. Then the children will follow our
examples. Other people will also see and support us. It is important that we set theball rolling.” And my first proposal was “to transform the school into a library.” I
noticed that the reading environment was lacking in this school. I explained to theteachers and staff about the necessity and importance of reading books.
When I was still a teacher of a lower secondary school in the mountains, I
indeed missed cultural facilities, particularly a public library. The school libraryroom was hardly functioning as a library. The books in most schools in the same
county were generally very old which was not useful for students’ learning. Budget
allocation was insufficient to improve the situation. So, I spoke to the Principal’s
Association of the county, and initiated the ‘Research Council of School Libraries
in Yamagata County.’ We wrote a white paper to ask for a budget. I was working
at Chiyoda Lower Secondary School at that time, and I started the morning reading
time for the entire school. I also approached the PTA and asked the parents to forma ‘Parents Association to Recommend Good Books.’ I did all my efforts to expand
the reading activities. Now as a principal, I wanted to use this experience as a lower
secondary school teacher for school management.
Under the motto of ‘The Whole School as a Library’, the teachers, staff and I,
with the help of the children transformed a room which was used as a storage area
into a library/meeting room. We carried in books miserably left in the auditorium.
We also placed a Kotatsu [a low table with an electric heater inside and covered
with a blanket] so that children could read books in a sociable atmosphere while
warming themselves during the cold winter. We posted a chart on the wall on
which pupils affix stickers of cherry blossom each time they read or checked out
a book. Soon, the room turned bright and beautiful with a large quantity of brightcolorful cherry blossoms. There were various activities promoted, such as bookreading by adults and ‘Book Talk’ (*1). Books were placed not only inside thelibrary but also in the classrooms and corridors, and practically everywhere in theschool so that pupils could borrow books anytime. Then our reading project grew
more actively. Eventually, local grandmothers also began to gather in the library
to borrow books. Parents and community people were moved and delighted bythis change and contributed to the improvement of the learning environment by
donating books and shelves. Further, the town Board of Education approved our
proposal and allocated some budget for the school. With this budget, the lights of33

the auditorium were changed to fluorescent lights which made the area far brighter
than before. This made parents and community residents, who attended evening
meetings, joyfully remark “We feel shy as it is too bright to see everything.”
The teachers and staff who were at first totally desperate became active enjoying
making new things. They even came up with new ideas and energetically engaged
in various other programs, not limited to library activities. Gradually, the school
changed to be a lively place. As there was not enough staff, each person including
the children had several roles, thus everything was done in collaboration. Childreninteracted among children of different age groups, encouraging or teaching eachother, and learning to concentrate on things within their limited day time at school.
②

Making the school open to the community

The children spend their everyday life with just a small group in the school,
so I wanted to give them chances to mingle with as many people as possible. To
meet this end, I made two approaches; first, I invited community folks to theschool, and second, I allowed children to go out to the community and experiencenature through seasonal changes together with the local residents. Through suchinteractions, I wanted children to know the local people and environment andunderstand the bonds of interpersonal relationships as well as the beauty andblessings of nature. As a result, they would feel a sense of attachment to theplace where they live, and take pride in living there, however remote it was.
Consequently, we decided to actively participate in planning the project called“Pride of Hometown” which was proposed to the community by the Town
Government. In the meeting where all the representatives of various groups in thecommunity attended, I shared my thoughts about the project, got a consensus, andwe started the ‘Hometown Classes’ at school. We tried to increase the numberof attendees e.g. by planning for lesson observation days open to the public, andmaking pupils present their opinions, so that community people would know about
the school and pupils. Moreover, to learn about the community, children attended
the session on Warazori [ancient straw shoes or slipper like sandals] making, or
steamed rice pounding with a mallet in a mortar to make traditional rice cakes. On
the study outcome presentation day, pupils were not the only ones who presented
learning outcomes, but also the community people presented cultural performancesin the afternoon as I thought such a Cultural Day was also meaningful. Our school
was the only cultural facility in the community, so ideally speaking, I expected thatthe school could function as a Community Culture Center. Local folks performed
34

Teaching: Forever Alive in My Memories -realizing my dreams in remote area educationtraditional Kagura, dance and music to worship Shinto deities. In the second year,
even those people who left the town (to work in cities) came back to dance anddisplayed their paintings. As such, the day meant for pupils to demonstrate theiracademic progress became the day for local people’s cultural performance as well.
Almost all the residents attended and people enjoyed the whole day. Local people
brought lunch with a huge pot of meat and vegetable stew called Mizoguchi Pot
named after one of the districts in the community in which the recipe was invented
in the Hometown Class. Everybody enjoyed eating the stew while having a friendly
chat with others. Because many elderly people also visited our school with joy,
we hurriedly attached handrails at the stairways for support while moving up anddown the steps. A parent who was a carpenter helped in making these handrails.
The whole community kept their eyes on our children, and it seemed the pupils
felt that everyone was living in harmony. Though all the faculty members wereas busy as a bee, they realized the importance of knowing the community. One
time, a teacher who was living in this community, quietly but sincerely gave thiscomment from the heart, “This is the real open school, isn’t it?” These words still
remain in my mind. During my first year as principal, I helped the teachers bringout their talents and potential so that they participated in activities enthusiastically.
I also endeavored to enhance the educational power of the community to promote adesirable educational environment.
Another thing we did was to accept the responsibility of conducting the special
study program of “the Seminar for Educators in the Western Japan Remote Area.”This seminar was launched by the Ministry of Education, and my school wascommissioned by the Prefectural Board of Education through the local education
office to implement the program. Remote area education is defined as “uniquely
specific education undertaken in mountain regions or on far-off islands where thetransport network, natural, economical and cultural conditions are disadvantaged.”
In the public schools, school education aims to implement a localized curriculum
through effective utilization of local resources. In the Seminar, we held open
lessons which shared the outcome of our experiences, as we aimed to learn fromthe wisdom of the local folks living in the area as well as from the local nature
exploration activities conducted by the school. We also included sessions on
extracurricular activities involving parents and community residents. It was a big
experience for our children and the faculty to interact with numerous teachers fromother prefectures, including those from Okinawa and Kagoshima Prefecture, in thesouthern region of Japan. It was a worthwhile experience for our faculty members
35and pupils who gained self-confidence that if we truly have the will to succeed,
though a small group, it is possible for us to even host a big seminar.
To achieve an open-school policy, we utilized the uniqueness of a remote area
small school by doing various activities which could be done only by a small
group. As a result, the relationships among the parents and community people
and the school were deepened. Amidst trials, we progressed towards the goal inconsideration of the human education of our pupils while taking care of each andevery child.
This school was closed and integrated with other schools, but the schoolbuilding became “the Miwa-higashi Culture Center” being managed by thecommunity residents, and serving as the Center for cultural exchange programsfor people of this community as well as other communities. Children also visit thecenter to borrow books from the library, or meet with others to study and relax
together. The Cultural Presentation Day has continued since then for the people inthe community.
(6) “To do my best,” as my personal motto
Five years later, I was transferred to Geihoku Elementary School in the same
town. Two schools had been merged to form this school, thus the coverage ofthe school district was broader than standard. Some pupils took the bus to get toschool, and some walked for a long distance of more than three kilometers on hilly
roads which were snowy during winter. To get to know the environment of theschool district including the roads within the school zone, I left home early in themorning, went to the nearby pupils’ houses and walked to school together withthe pupils. While walking I talked with them and I could get to know their names,
status in life, friends, relationships, and family members. The pupils would let meknow of dangerous areas by telling me, “Bears pass by here.” This way I learned
about the natural environment surrounding the pupils. After school in the evenings,
parents went to school to accompany or instruct the pupils belonging to the Kids
Sports Club, such as softball or a martial art Kendo. I thought I also needed toknow about the activities of the Sports Club. While observing their games andpractices, I socialized with the parents, and easily memorized their names. Wintertime was not only cold but the snow level often reached above the knees or muchhigher. Just the same as in my previous assignments, I went to school earlier thanusual, and with the help of the vice-principal, removed the snow so pupils could
easily enter the school building. It was quite a chore to remove the heavy snow
36

Teaching: Forever Alive in My Memories -realizing my dreams in remote area educationmanually with only a shovel, but whenever pupils joyfully greeted us saying, “Goodmorning”, with a show of their perseverance in walking along the snowy road, I
was reaffirmed that children indeed have innate strength and energy. Doing allof these helped me get to know every child easily providing me a base for giving
concrete advice to their homeroom teachers based on their needs.
Based on my past educational philosophy characterized by my belief ofadhering strongly with my personal motto of doing my best, and by the belief
that understanding and reliability are the foundations of school management,
I constantly made efforts to influence the faculty with my policy of school
management. Due to the diverse values and points of views, I sometimes got into
arguments with the faculty, but I was never persuaded by them if they brought out
the educational theory written in books. I had an unshakable belief that I would
never agree to what I could not support. So, I repeatedly told them that “I hope you
speak to me about your actual practices which consider the children.” When thetime came that the faculty understood my management policy, and agreed to workto achieve it, I became confident that it could be put into action. To implement ourplans, I tried to understand every teacher and staff member, and became consciousof giving advice in each particular situation with affection and a certain level ofstrictness. I believe that the principal is an educational practitioner and a leading
partner who should take steps together with the faculty. We have to be aware ofthis mission; thus continue to make efforts.
① Research practices conducted vigorously
In the academic years 2000 and 2001, we voluntarily accepted to be a model
school to promote research as part of the Project called “Education Support for
Our Hometown” administered by the Hiroshima Prefectural Board of Education.
The project included three activities such as research and practice of the new
curriculum, reading activities and experiential-activities week. This project aimed to
enforce educational reform in the whole Prefecture, and before the implementationof the reform in the entire Prefecture, some municipalities were pre-selected andassisted by the Board to actually conduct the research and practice of the programs
which are indicated in the Compulsory Education Improvement Vision. As aconsequence, the outcomes of this pilot research would then be disseminated allover the prefecture. The key concepts of the Compulsory Education Improvement
Vision were to establish definite academic performance, richness of mind and a
reliable school. The duration of the research was two years and the annual allotted37

budget was 500,000 yen for the new curriculum; 200,000 yen for reading; and250,000 yen for experiential activities. Also in 2001, our school was designated tojoin the “Compulsory Education Research Improvement Project 21” based upon
the Compulsory Education Reform Vision, and mainly worked to achieve a definite
level of academic performance. We have a small number of faculty at our school,
so the research duties were divided simply into two departments; the Research
Promotion Department and the Practice Record Department. The principal andthe vice principal involved in both departments, gave guidance and advice to thefaculty synergistically. The eight faculty members including the principal shared
the duties and worked together to promote the research.
The following are some of the research activities that we actually did:
1. To set up the daily and weekly time schedule in order to maintain the basic
scholastic abilities among pupils – “The three R’s [reading, writing andarithmetic]” is conducted repeatedly and continuously; and “the Reading
Time” before the first period class in the morning.
2. To establish a reading environment and promote reading activities; establishment of a library, installation of mobile bookshelves in the corridor,
placement of borrowed books from a public (local) mobile library in eachclassroom, use of library books during the lessons, reading sessions topupils by adults, Reading Festival, reading events with parents, etc.
3. To observe and experience nature in the community - wild grass(es)mapping, observation of aquatic animals, rice cultivation, straw handicrafts,etc.
4. To develop basic life style habits that support scholastic achievement(performance) - survey on the status, collaboration with the families, etc.
5. To determine how “the Integrated Study Period” should be conducted pursuit of issues making full use of the locality, international understanding,etc.
6. To identify the scholastic achievement, and improvement of teaching skill- achievement test, questionnaire on (daily) study, weekly school-based
training, lesson study, computer training, promotion of training at the
Education Center and at other pioneering schools in research, etc.
7. To open the school - construction of school’s website, invitation to open
lessons and school events, distribution of a monthly school bulletin to all
households in the community, etc.

38

Teaching: Forever Alive in My Memories -realizing my dreams in remote area educationAmong these research projects, activities relating to children were carried out
by the whole school, and activities exclusive to each grade were carried out by that
grade. Children of different ages were put together and the content and the teaching
methodologies were adjusted according to the developmental stages of the children.
Story telling (Book reading to children), parent-child reading, development ofan observation pond, rice cultivation and all other experiential activities werecoordinated mostly by parents and local residents. We sincerely appreciated theirsupport as we were encouraged by them.
There were two reasons why I could be actively involved in such research.
First, based on my past experiences in my previous assignments, I had become
confident with the fact “If I try I can do it.” Secondly, if we kept a clear vision ofpromoting research, teachers would be empowered, and consequently children
could develop better academic ability. Furthermore, when conducting research,
we could get an extra budget to invite instructors from outside, and elaborate
and modify the research activities. However, having only a small number of thefaculty for conducting research, it was necessary to boost each and every member’s
morale and encourage active participation. As a principal, I always showed myappreciation to the faculty who naturally worked hard for the children as I felt
a sense of satisfaction of the results coming in one after another. We conducted
several kinds of research simultaneously. First we analyzed and categorized theissues, and promoted them systematically so that we could also apply the researchcontents concretely through continuously relating modifications with one another.
Therefore, children were comprehensively introduced to a wide range of abilities.
While valuing the basic scholastic abilities of reading, writing and arithmetic, weincorporated sessions of computer operations and applications necessary for thisnew era. We were convinced that pupils should develop having both skills inbalance. The faculty members were happily talking about such outcomes. Not only
the pupils, but also the faculty themselves were also satisfied with the practices
which would further lead to new research in education for a new era, as well as
subject teaching that is the most important in school education.
In Japan, there are these two expressions, “Fueki or unchangeable” and “Ryukou
or trend.” In education, there are phenomena or conditions which do not change
and should be valued through time, and that is “Fueki”. On the other hand, those
aspects which change as time goes on to meet the social trend are referred to as“Ryukou”. Having both Fueki and Ryukou always in mind, it will be possible todevelop real abilities and potential. Taking these into consideration, I want to be a39

Children always looked forward to hearing my picture book reading.
They laughed and shed tears from time to time.

teacher who can maximize the abilities of pupils and help them achieve their goals,
instead of sacrificing any pupil at school.
②

Early childhood education – basis for good living

Geihoku Kindergarten was established and attached to Geihoku Elementary
School. This means that I was the principal of both schools. While I read picture
books to children, had the school lunch with them, and played with them during
the after-lunch recess, I learned that early childhood education is the foundation
for children to develop the zeal for life. They always looked forward to hearing my
picture book reading, and their eyes were fixed on the picture book I brought in.
At the beginning, they just asked me about the book I was carrying in “What did
you choose today?” but gradually, they started to say “Principal, please read thispicture show too.” “Next is this book.” “I want this book to be read.” “Take turns,
take turns!” They picked up their favorite picture books or picture shows, andasked me to read them. “You know, it is dangerous to run off the road.” “The man
working in the zoo did not do anything wrong. It was the fault of the war.” Small
40

Teaching: Forever Alive in My Memories -realizing my dreams in remote area educationchildren laughed; shed tears or unconsciously murmured as being absorbed in thestory. I realized how the potential capacity of these young children could be drawn
out and developed through their expressions, comments and behaviors, and I wastouched by this fact. In 2001, my school was designated as an experimental site of“the Comprehensive Research School of Kindergarten – Elementary Coordination”
which was a mandated research project of the Ministry of Education. In addition
to our research started in the elementary school, we also promoted this mandated
project from the Ministry with two kindergarten teachers. As a result, I sincerely
realized the importance of early childhood education as well as the importance ofthe coordination between the elementary school and kindergarten.

3. What I think of my teaching career now after retirement.
Through my entire teaching life, I learned that when all teachers and staff
understand the principal’s policy of school management and work together exerting
all the effort to achieve a common goal, anything can be achieved satisfactorily.
Consequently children will then be actively involved in the school activities. I
am happy to have personally experienced them. Regardless of the circumstances,whether naturally, economically or culturally disadvantaged, children’s lives
should be considered equally important and they should be able to live towards
a future with the natural gift of strength. It is our responsibility as educators to
educate them with all our strength and might regardless of the type of school weare assigned to, so that the children can study well and be able to demonstrate all
their potential and live with an empowered mind. It is important that the principal
in particular, identifies the current issues of the school, what problems are needed
to be solved, and then boosts the morale of both the teachers and pupils, andapplies concrete practices. All of these practices in which I was involved in thepast, are what anybody may generally be doing these days. However as a small
school in those days, the practices I carried out based on my thoughts and theunique local conditions, were certainly necessary and important because bothschools and communities were empowered. The situations where teachers and thestaff enthusiastically and sincerely worked hard together with me, where children
spent days at school making great efforts with utmost concentration, all of theseare still alive in my mind. The warm hearts of the parents and community people,
and the events when they strenuously supported the school, I nostalgically recall
them with a feeling of appreciation. Also, I can imagine the sparingly scatteredhouses nestling in the mountains with the changing colors of each season, and the41

landscape with a school building, just like an Impressionist painting.
During my nine years as principal in Geihoku Town, with the support of theBoard of Education, I was able to manage the schools to make them lively, truly
educative, and warm. I am filled with a strong sense of fulfillment and satisfaction
as I sincerely devoted myself to education. I appreciate all my past experiences in
my teaching career.
Using an old expression, now “I have no regret in the path I took.”

This chapter is based on a lecture given to South African participants in a course on
Local Educational Administration and Management hosted by JICA, and it was held at
CICE, Hiroshima University in October 2002.
Geihoku Town, Toyohira Town and Chiyoda Town were merged with another town in
February 2005, and the area is now called Kita-Hiroshima town.

42

Teaching: Forever Alive in My Memories -realizing my dreams in remote area education-

Good Points about Remote School Education
Ms. ODA was the model educator for the “Principals of Hiroshima” project.
It was in 2002 when Ms. ODA gave a lecture on her own educational
experiences to the JICA participants from the Republic of South Africa at CICE,
Hiroshima University. I was not with them on that occasion, but later I was givena chance to hear about her lecture from Prof. NAGAO (CICE). The dialogue of
Ms. ODA did not carry any particularly stimulating episodes, and she delivered
the lecture in a rather calm voice. However, the South Africans who attended wereequally moved and one participant commented, “I wish I could take Ms. ODA
to South Africa, (to educate our teachers).” Some were listening with tearfuleyes to the lecture. What in the world did her lecture have that made such a deep
impression among the South African participants? I felt I discovered the reason
when I met Ms. ODA for the first time in 2006.
Ms. ODA has worked only at schools in remote mountain areas ever since her
first assignment.
The remote area education is defined as “education conducted in mountains or
on solitary islands disadvantaged in transport network, natural, economical andcultural conditions”. The remote area is regarded as ‘an un-blessed region’ withdifficulties for conducting formal education.
However, from the conversation with Ms. ODA, I did not feel any of thenegative images which were often represented these schools as gloomy andinconvenient. On the contrary, what I could learn were all the positive aspectsof being a small school where the educational activities were conducted withthe teachers’ solidarity and interpersonal exchange with elderly citizens in thecommunity.
I am convinced that not all of them were positive from the beginning but they
were the results of the practices realized by Ms. ODA. She possesses the ability
to convert handicaps of the remote area to a positive factor. It may be hard to
imagine all the hardships she must have gone through while she tried to makevarious approaches. But when I met her, she cheerfully shared her episodes like
“Children are very much looking forward to my book reading time, and all of themconcentrate on listening to my reading”, or cases in which she solved the problems

43

by working together with other teachers. I was deeply mesmerized by her way of
speaking as she vigorously talked about her experiences.
The remote area education is wonderful. It might sound like a contradiction.
But when I heard of her story, I sincerely thought “how wonderful the education ina remote area is.”
Educators in developing nations may carry many problems overlapping withthe difficulties Ms. ODA actually faced in remote area schools. Now, I know
the reason why the South African participants were moved by her story, because
their experiences in Africa could have been well reflected by hers. They musthave been impressed with her attitude to constantly make efforts to overcome theissues, because she has gone through tremendous problems just the same as theparticipants have back home.
Upon hearing about the reputation of her lecture from Prof. NAGAO in 2002,
we students were equally surprised at how much impact could be given to theparticipants from developing nations by simply listening to the experiences ofJapanese educators, and we were touched with this fact. We wished to disseminate
the experiences of Japanese educators to more people in the third world and as aconsequence, the “Hiroshima’s Principals” project was launched.
The chapter by Ms. ODA is crammed with many episodes that not only theeducators in developing nations but also any educator who is facing difficulties
should read. It will be my pleasure if as many more people will have a chance toknow the experiences of Ms. ODA and have a passionate feeling as we did.
Project member A(*1) Book Talk is a prepared introduction to a book to elementary, middle, or high school
students. It most closely resembles a movie trailer, where the book talker gives theaudience a glimpse of the setting, the characters, and the major conflict. In addition, thebook talker usually reads a passage from the book. Throughout the presentation, theresolution or denouement is never addressed because the purpose is to entice students
to read the book. Book talks are commonly used by school and public librarians,teachers, and reading coaches, to get a reader interested in a book or to recommend
similar books. It is an excellent tool for reading motivation.

44

Going the road as an elementary school teacher all through my life

Going the road as an elementary school teacher all throughmy lifeHANASAKI Noriko
HANASAKI Noriko was born in 1947 in Onomichi city,
Hiroshima Prefecture
After graduating from university, she became anelementary school teacher.
She gained experience as a teaching consultant for
the Onomichi City Board of Education, then in 1995 she
was appointed as vice-principal of the Onomichi city-run
Takasu Elementary School. In 1997 she became the viceprincipal at Onomichi city Kinosho-higashi Elementary
School, then in 1998 she was appointed as the principal
there.

Since 2003, she has been the principal of theOnomichi City-run Kubo Elementary School.

My lifetime mission, ‘An occupation dealing with elementary school education’will soon be accomplished a year from now. I am going to arrive at the final pointof my beloved task, which has been fun and meaningful, and of which I am alsoproud.
How I will spend the final year of my career will mean a lot to me. I feel I
don’t want to leave this profession which gave me so much fulfillment, so now
everything has become very precious as my final day draws near.
Let me share some of my experiences regarding this wonderful job and why I
feel I was lucky to have this occupation.

1. The reason I chose to be a teacher
I don’t think I can be your role model, because, ironically, I didn’t become ateacher out of any enthusiasm I felt for this profession, nor out of the admiration I
had for any teachers.
I went to a kindergarten that was held in a local temple. The community,
lacking in early childhood education facilities, temporarily used the precincts of a
Buddhist temple, and conducted kindergarten-level education, and I joined theirfirst year program. We drew, sang songs and ate lunch in the main building of atemple. When we went outside, we played under the big maidenhair (ginkgo) tree45

of the temple. A new building was completed only after our graduation. When I
was a pupil in the first or second year of elementary school, it became my daily
routine to visit that newly constructed kindergarten. I was not solely aiming toplay with kindergarten children, but I guess I was rather enjoying being theirsenior sister, and I acted just like I was their teacher. I let my small friends sitaround me, and read a picture story book in the form of an out-door theater. I canstill remember the pictures or recite some of the stories, which proves how much I
enjoyed those moments. As I was still in the first or the second grade, my reading
was probably not fluent, but the smaller children intently listened to me with all
their ears. I remember their eyes were sparkling with excitement. Every childseemed so happy to have me in their company. In my young life, that joy I had
was everything to me; thus, I think this was the first time I fancied that I could bea teacher someday.
The next reason was something more realistic. I was influenced by the way
my mother thought. My mother is now already in her eighties. During her time,
women were taught to stay home and take charge of the household chores for thefamily members, such as washing clothes, cooking and rearing children. Suchideas were prevalent those days, so my mother also felt oppressed being a woman.
She was convinced that it was her fault that she didn’t have a job and had to go
through such a humiliation, so she wanted her daughter to have an occupation.
The best job that offers independence was being an educator. Being a school
teacher, a woman could receive the same salary that a man did. She was tellingme thereafter that it was better to become a school teacher. “Oh, well, is it so?” I
was not very clear what she meant, but without thinking much, I had indecisively
chosen to study in the faculty of education. When I took the teacher recruitment
examination, the second baby boomers were reaching the school age, and a lot
more teachers were needed for the increased number of pupils. Thanks to such asocial change, luckily I passed the exam and was recruited as an elementary school
teacher.

2. My start as an elementary school teacher
The first elementary school where I was appointed was in Innoshima city. It
is an island city which will be merged to Onomichi city in January of 2007. At
present, a bridge connects the island to the mainland so it is possible to use public
transportation, but there was no bridge during my time, and a ferryboat was the
only means to cross the sea. So I had lodgings on the island. Filled with dreams,
46

Going the road as an elementary school teacher all through my life
I was assigned to the second grade class. Contrary to my expectation, nothing
was easy. Standing in front of me were more than thirty children, and no one else
could help me in the class. Going through practicum as a student teacher was a lotof fun for me, for all the kids listened to my instruction, and behaved very well.
Every day, I nostalgically recalled the past. Having had a very good experienceduring my teaching practice, I made my final decision to become a teacher as mylifetime occupation, but I found out that in reality it was different. I discoveredthat during the teaching practice, the kids were well controlled in the hands of their
homeroom teacher.
Once you are assigned a class, behind the children are their parents; so, thetask is more burdensome than merely looking after the children. A newly-recruited
teacher is assigned the same responsibility of being a homeroom teacher, as
well as those teachers with 20 or 30 years of experience. Facing this difficulty, I
recognized I was not capable of being a teacher, and I started to think I had betterlook for different work which would suit me. So I went to talk with a fellow
female teacher in her mid 40s. She was a homeroom teacher of the same grade
and her class was in the next room. Her advice given to me is still unforgettable.
“Ms. HANASAKI, you are a fresh first-year teacher. We have reached this level
after working for 20 to 30 years. Are you sure you are meant to be like me?
None of the novice teachers would be able to do so!” She flatly commented. I
reconsidered what I could do. I was the youngest teacher in school, which meant
I was the closest to the children in terms of age; thus, I thought I could play withthem, which was far better than being with the older teachers. No other teacher
could compete with me when it comes to playing with the children. Since then, my
pupils also stayed closer to me, but I continuously suffered from similar worries in
the next couple of years.
I accumulated more experiences, and became more capable in handling theworries typical in the first year of teaching; however, as time passed by, moredifficult and diversified concerns and worries occupied my mind.
In whatever condition I found myself, I tried to keep and hold on to myeducational philosophy. I always wanted to create a classroom where children
look forward to coming back, saying, “I want to go to school again today!” andtalk to their parents saying, “Mom, I am expecting to do this and that, so please
wake me up early tomorrow!” Parents feel relieved when they see their children’ssmiles and lively spirits after school. As a result, they trust the homeroom teacher.
The atmosphere of the classroom becomes better and better when both pupils and47parents trust us. Consequently the homeroom teacher becomes happier. Every
April when I was assigned a new class, I always consider what kind of goals must
be set for the class. Once determined, I put my plans into action from day one in
the class. I always prepared an inspiring activity for the first day when meeting new
pupils. For instance, I instructed the pupils to research about their community all
through the year, and compiled a picture book using the research outcome. Or I let
the pupils write poems relating to life through the year, and compile an anthology.
Every activity must be coherent or logical to the goals; this was how I tried to
manage the class. Children will be greatly influenced by a teacher. I took this fact
to heart early on in my career.

3. As a managerial staff member
After working at Onomichi city Board of Education, I was appointed as the viceprincipal of an elementary school in Onomichi city.
The school was located in a developing area. The population there was rapidly
increasing, and the school district was wider than in other areas. People weregathered from various sectors, therefore, the people’s ways of thinking and theirvalues were also well diversified. There were big gaps in the levels of family life
and academic achievement as well.
Under these circumstances, the children were strongly influenced; negatively,
positively or both. Some were abused by their parents. In one family, both parents
abandoned their children, and three small kids were left behind. What I learned
the most in that school environment was that there were children who go to school
even though they have big problems at home or have sad affairs elsewhere. I
thought indeed that children are the energy of life. They come to school though
they have not yet eaten breakfast. They come to school though their father andmother suddenly went missing. They come to school though they had to climb up
the steep slopes while carrying heavy school bags on their backs.
“Such brave, persevering children must be protected!” I strongly and firmly
said to myself. I told the teachers, “Please always prioritize the children here
at work!” I requested that whenever pupils come to us, we should suspend
whatever we are doing, and get ready to listen to them with all our attention.
When pupils misbehave, there must have been certain unavoidable reasons, so
before reprimanding them we should try to listen to them from the heart, except incases where they created a fatal incident or hurt somebody seriously. As the viceprincipal, I asked all the faculty members of the school to keep these points in48

Going the road as an elementary school teacher all through my life
mind. As the number of pupils was many, the things I learned in that school werealso numerous.
Though gathered together in one school, pupils have all sorts of family
backgrounds. Not all of them are wealthy; thus, not all get to enjoy their school
life. Therefore, school teachers should not look down on these kids with theirprejudiced views; neither should school teachers judge the parents with their biased
views. Biases and prejudices easily create dissension and conflicts among people.
Teachers should always have a broad mind to accept and understand any situation
particularly in accepting a child’s way of thinking, a child’s way of living as wellas life style, even though they could have never imagined any of them. Teachers
sometimes tend to criticize the parents, pupils or even the society, as if there isnothing wrong in themselves. I must emphasize that it is totally wrong to only
criticize other people, more so if the criticizing is done by the teachers.
In 1998, I was appointed as the principal of an elementary school in northern
Onomichi city. A principal must have a clear vision as to what kind of schools/he wants to create; otherwise, the administration and management of the school
will not be smooth and clear. As a principal who had no previous experiencein this type of work, I wanted to know the status quo. I conducted a survey, andasked pupils and their parents about the things they are proud of in this school aswell as what kind of school they wished to attend. Through my opinion polls, I
wanted to find out how I can create a school desired by the children and parents.
As I reflect on what I did, it was a so-called school evaluation. In 2001 and 2002,
my school was designated by the Hiroshima Prefecture Board of Education to
conduct a school evaluation and survey of faculty members’ proficiency rating. I
admit that I had already done that before the official one. I used the outcomes of
the questionnaire to set up an educational goal that would steer the direction of
the school. It is the same thing we did for the homeroom teachers. No one canmanage the class effectively without knowing the pupils as well as their parents.
It is essential to make sure of the facts, by understanding what aspects must be
reinforced to reach the goal; thus we can rear and train the children properly.
Let me share one episode from this school. Located in the rural farming area,
the school had rice paddies nearby. A program for the integrated study period wascreated for grade five pupils. This program dealt with how to effectively utilize
the school fields, and also how to incorporate the community people to join our
educational activities. We cultivated rice. The teaching staff was composed ofsenior citizens from the elderly community association. Staff members, the age
49

of the pupils’ grandparents, commuted to school so happily, and they were lively
every time. The fifth graders discussed how to utilize the rice paddies and reacheda conclusion to cultivate healthy non-chemical rice. Using a variety of methods,
the pupils sought to learn how to produce chemical-free rice. Their inquiry raised
a good learning opportunity and the children’s positive attitude to learn was welldemonstrated. As a result, they discovered that the Aigamo duck (crossbreed
between a mallard and domestic duck) -assisted farming method. Fifth grade
children came to my principal’s office and asked for the construction of a duckcoop. I really wanted to support their plans, so immediately I put in a request to theBoard of Education for the fund; thus, the duck-coop was constructed. Beginningfrom the transplanting of the rice seedlings in spring until the day of harvesting, thepupils learned so much that I am afraid my chapter in this book will not be enoughto describe all the details, so let me end this story here.
After the harvest, we had no more need for the ducks. Usually the farmers sell
those ducks to butchers, but our pupils loved the ducks so profoundly that sellingthem would never have been an option for the children. Five ducks followed50

Going the road as an elementary school teacher all through my life
the kids while they were leaving the duck-coop. Waggling their hips, the ducks
followed the children until they reached the rice fields. With this situation, weplanned to let the parent ducks lay eggs and have chicks; thus, allowing for
cultivating rice next year by the duck-assisted method. Being well taken care of,all the ducks survived despite living through a severely cold winter. Eggs were
often laid but it was so hard to have the chicks born. The children learned somuch about life as they were not limited to the confines of the classroom. Aftertransplanting the rice seedlings, we launched the rice farming method with the useof baby ducks. The duck-coop where parent ducks and chicks were kept became
gradually crowded as the chicks grew up. Lacking in funding to construct anotherduck-coop, we could no longer support the pupils’ plan. The children discussed itover and over again, and finally decided to make the parent ducks into duck meat.
There were kids who protested and opposed this plan until the last minute, but it
also became an opportunity to learn about nature’s providence and the theory of
the food chain. As the parent ducks were loaded on a truck bound for a butcher,the children went away shedding tears. Some children ran after the truck until theyreached the school gate. The processed duck meat was delivered to school for us toeat. Children now learned why we say “Itadakimasu” (*2) (‘we shall take the life’in Japanese) just before eating. Children indeed learned the real meaning of thewords through such a long but precious experience.
Children must be reared at home, fostered in the community and educated inschool. Children should grow up supported by all. My educational philosophy isto effectively incorporate this idea into school management, thus to instill soundeducation in the children. I have always supported teachers and the staff, as this is
my task as principal.

4. As a public education employee responsible for public school
education
In 1998 when I first became a principal, Hiroshima Prefecture was targeted by
the Educational Ministry for correctional guidance. It has never been executed inother prefectures before. The central government perceived the necessity to guide
Hiroshima prefecture because of several reasons. Even at public-run schools, theeducational content and educational activities were not aligned with the National
Course of Study. The number of lessons per year is stipulated by the national
guidance, but the local government of Hiroshima allowed a smaller number of
periods conducted at schools. School-based educational content was selected and51

implemented, and the ideology of individual teachers was incorporated in theirteachings. The capacity of this chapter is limited so I can’t tell you everything, but
as we are public educational personnel whose salary is borne from citizen’s tax,
it is unforgivable that educators have not been behaving well for a long time, andhave betrayed the expectation of the citizens.
Here in Onomichi city, the faculty’s awareness of these things is gradually
improving. Efforts toward the annual research meetings based on respective
schools have been made; thus the lessons have been improved too. Furthermore,in Onomichi, the city-wide scholastic achievement tests are conducted at all public
elementary and lower secondary schools, and the results are published; therefore,
daily lessons are designed to make careful improvements to upgrade the overall
academic achievement.
Just three years ago, the free selection system of elementary and lower
secondary schools in Onomichi was introduced. Today, the children and parents
have the right to choose the school they want to attend. In order to be chosen, eachschool is trying its best to provide everything that the children and the parents could
possibly ask for; thus, constructive competition is created. Schools are continuously
upgrading the quality of education; consequently, they are now gaining the trust of
the citizens.
The basic policy of ideal teachers and the staff of Hiroshima Prefecture areshown as follows
Universal Item
To have an educational passion towards children, and make education
one’s vocation○ To exercise one’s field of specialization, and to conduct duties properly
and accurately○ To have high ethical views, and flexibly cope with changes in society andchildren☆ Items particularly necessary to create the new “Educational
Prefecture of Hiroshima”
Sufficient scholastic achievement
Rich mind
Reliable school↓○ To have sufficient teaching skills☆
○

52

Going the road as an elementary school teacher all through my life○○○

To have good communicative abilities
To be motivated to spontaneously explore what was previously unknown
To be capable in conducting one’s duties in cooperation with otherfaculty members

These points are strongly expected from every teacher, so daily efforts for
self-improvement are important. In this way, we can foster promising children
who will build a better future for themselves and for others. The most important
requirements for education are the teachers who are always facing their pupils.
I think that the minimum requirement for teachers is to be very good at teaching
and making lesson plans. Carpenters who can not use a plane or a metal hammer
cannot work as a carpenter. If they don’t know how to use them, they are notprofessionals. Teachers who can not teach properly are not teachers. We have to be
professional lesson makers. Our lessons must help pupils to acquire the necessary
academic ability; if academic ability is not acquired, such lessons are not good
lessons. In every period, step by step, teachers must develop in the pupils scholastic
ability, based on their objectives. I hope our pupils would say that they enjoyedtoday’s lessons, and that they understood very well and would want to come backtomorrow to study more.

5. Being a principal at my second appointed school
At present, I am in my third year of the principalship, since my appointment
at this school. This is my second appointment as principal. As I have mentioned
before, I always regard the in-service teacher training as one of the most important
events in the school calendar. My school management focuses on the in-service
training before anything else.
In 2004 and 2005, my school was designated by the National Institute of
Educational Research (*3) as a research school relating to self-examination andself-evaluation in the implementation of curriculum.
We set up our research theme, “To improve the overall scholastic ability and thequality of the school using the development of language ability as a starting point.”
The subtitle of this research was “to plan to improve the learning environment
through self-examination and self-evaluation of the curriculum”. We conducted
the research for two years. The theme seemed too big and burdensome. Honestly
speaking, at the beginning, I neither knew what to do or how to do this research.
During the end of the previous academic year up to the beginning of the current

53

one, we gradually grasped the procedure and finally structured the flow of ourresearch system. First, we examined the seven areas of the curriculum and probed
the matter thoroughly, then after checking what we had conducted, we could make
improvements. In particular, in conducting a lesson study, we set the theme “creationof lessons that pupils learn spontaneously”, and the sub-theme “to upgrade theteachers’ qualities through establishment and fulfillment of a lesson observation
system.”I thought upgrading the teachers’ abilities and skills would make the mostinfluence and impact on pupils’ academic achievement. We have continued our
research with our efforts in order to improve and also to create ideal lessons thatmeet our objectives. We have been conducting self-examination and self-evaluationof teachers, and lesson evaluations are made by the pupils too. This fourth ofNovember we organized an open research meeting, and many people, even fromoutside Hiroshima Prefecture, came to participate. I am sure we have made steadysteps toward achieving our goals.

6. Woman at work
I have walked quite a long distance and left my footsteps in the educationworld.
Now, I would like to talk about another aspect of my life as a woman, as a wife
and as a mother.
I believe, the younger the pupils are, the more indispensable is the influence ofa woman. It is ideal, I think. There must be a reason why many of the teachers at
kindergarten and nursery schools are female. At the elementary school level, there
are still more female teachers.
Female teachers rear pupils with motherly care, as if they are raising their own
kids. Female teachers not only teach their subject lessons and give guidance, butthey also do a wonderful job of disciplining children, while contributing a lot inmaking children feel that they are individual human beings.
I feel passionately for the children just as I feel passionately for my own
children. I feel sorry whenever I see a child suffering. No mother would want thatfor her child. I could take care of my pupils and speak kindly to help them as if I
were the mother of these children.
However, parents prefer male teachers as homeroom teachers. Sadly, theyreject young female teachers or those who are just married. This is because
parents worry if young female teachers marry and have children, they will take a54

Going the road as an elementary school teacher all through my life
long maternity leave. They also think that female teachers are not very strict ininstructing pupils.
I don’t want them to worry about me. I also wanted to earn the parents’ trust,so I was determined to behave in such a way that parents would evaluate me as
better than the male teachers. After I had a child, I even worked at home after mychild had gone to sleep. I prepared lesson plans, wrote class newsletters, produced
printed handouts until late at night. Furthermore, I had to wash cloth diapers very
early in the morning, and hang them outside to dry, but during winter I saw thediapers gradually freezing. This happened not only once, but many times. Though
my children contracted illnesses, I could not attend to them sufficiently, or bringthem to the clinic. Being left unattended, my children received intravenous drip
infusion or in worse cases, they were hospitalized. Without the kind understandingof my husband, I would have had to give up my work. All my family members
supported me and understood the situation of my job. This is why I still have work
today.
I am sure my children were feeling lonely. When my daughter became an upper
secondary school student, she made this comment: “Mom, you never know how
lonely I feel when I turn the lights on in the dark house after coming home fromschool. So when I grow up, I want to be an ordinary housewife or mother (but not ateacher).” This is true, but facing this fact, a working woman has to strengthen her
spirits and make her family life and professional life compatible. Thankfully, mydaughter is proud of her mother who did not give up working, and got promoted tobe part of the managerial staff.

Final Remarks
I chose this teaching career as my life time mission. What I can tell you now isthat first of all you must be healthy and enthusiastic to continue in this occupation.
If a teacher is inactive, s/he will not be able to play with the children, and theteaching will not properly be done. Besides, you will not be able to discover, or
think of, good ideas. You have to eat well, sleep soundly, laugh from the heart,and deal with your pupils seriously. If a teacher is worn down (dispirited), it is not
only the class who suffers but also the individual child who will lose heart and bedisappointed.
When a principal is gloomy, then the school and teachers will be influenced
too; therefore, I always keep my motto, ‘lively and cheerful.’ This is the philosophy
I bring with me to work every day.
55

Ms. Blooming-Flower(Hana-saki) whom I encountered in mystudying of the teaching profession“Holding back tears in her eyes, Ms. Hanasaki talked about her pupils. I thought
she was a gorgeous teacher!”
These were the first words spoken by one of our project members who visitedthe Principal, Ms. HANASAKI. We heard that she had made remarkable progressin human rights education at schools; thus, we decided to visit and listen to her.
“I want to meet her! I wish I could visit her too!” I indeed felt so, and we realizedthat we should invite her to give us a lecture in the Elementary School Teacher
Education Course of the Educational Faculty, Hiroshima University. It was my firsttime to meet her, and I still remember that after the lecture I went home with myheart filled with emotion.
In Japan, almost all people go to schools, so with the exception of some topics
in one’s field of expertise, anybody can join discussions about school education.
“School education and teachers today are nonsense.” This type of criticism istypically dealt with by the mass media, and even by ordinary citizens almost
everyday anywhere, anytime. However, I wonder why there is not more talk like
“School is such a wonderful place!”
University students who specialize in teacher education programs, of courseshould know the harmful influences and problems in schools. We ought not to
produce self-centered, close-minded teachers. But, if we only look at the negative
aspects of school education, it will gradually make students throw away their dreamof becoming a schoolteacher. This is actually happening.
When I was an undergraduate student, I was also distressed. Several times, I
said to myself, “I don’t think I am capable to work at schools handling so manydifficult problems”. However, as Ms. HANASAKI said, she was not successful atthe beginning and she also thought she should quit as a teacher, then, she overcame
all of her difficulties. She proudly introduced herself as ‘a lifetime teacher inelementary school education’. She shared all the hardships she went through; thus,
she encouraged me strongly.
Also, I remember one of my college mates, a younger associate who wasstudying to become a social studies teacher. One day, he flatly declared that, “Being

56

Going the road as an elementary school teacher all through my life
a teacher will not be rewarding. There is no other unrewarding job like teaching,so I will not become a teacher! Ironically, he chose to take a teacher education
course, having once dreamed of becoming a teacher. I really thought he shouldhave listened to the lecture delivered by Ms. HANASAKI. If he had attended her
lecture, I am sure his answer could have been somewhat different. I wished I could
have asked him then whether he would want to be a teacher.
As I mentioned before, I was still a student when I heard of and attended thelecture by Ms. Hanasaki. I hesitated in making a decision whether to choose ateaching career or not, because I was not confident enough to work as a teacher.
What impressed me deeply was the story about the children’s experience in Aigamo
duck-assisted farming. Children took care of the ducks, but in the end they had
to agree to turn over the ducks to the butchers. The scenes in which the children
protested against the slaughter of the ducks, how they ran after the truck crying
profusely, and how they put together their hands so tightly as they learned thereal meaning of saying “Itadakimasu” before eating. All of those scenes flashedbefore my eyes so clearly as if I was watching them firsthand. Certainly, children
will be influenced by a school teacher who provides good learning opportunities;
then, they will be transformed. I really wanted to try to make such opportunities forchildren and thus I decided to be a teacher.
Now, I am working as a teacher at a lower secondary school. When I re-readthis story of Ms. HANASAKI, my impression did not lessen or diminish; I felt
something even stronger compared to the time when I was still a student. I also met
a girl pupil who came to school everyday even though she was going through many
hardships. She came to school, that’s why I managed myself to go to school. The
problems I was going though at that time seemed endless; there seemed to be no
solutions to the problem in sight. My fellow elder teachers commented, “I admirethat you did not stop coming to school at that time. If I had the same experience
when I was a fresh teacher like you I would have resigned.” I believe what
supported me at such a trying time was a message from Ms. HANASAKI. “Children
come to school no matter how hard their lives are, how sad they are, they just cometo school so laudably as if nothing had happened to them. Such persevering, bravechildren must be protected at all costs.” This was the strong determination of Ms.
HANASAKI.
Another thing is that, I am sure I will also face difficult times as a woman,regarding keeping my job. If again I read the story of Ms. HANASAKI, I am sure57

she will again encourage me, probably in a different manner compared to now.
As you must be aware of, Ms. HANASAKI is the kind of educationalist whom
you should really meet in your lifetime. If you are taking up a teacher education
course, or if you are novice teachers, and especially female teachers, you should
know her. Also, I expect the teachers in the managerial post can also learn a lot
from her. Furthermore, people who are always taking a look at the negative sideof education in Japan, saying ‘Education in Japan is a disaster...’, and foreign
educators who are interested in Japanese education who wish to learn something to
make use of for the development of their country’s education should read her story.
I sincerely appreciate Ms. HANASAKI who led me to and inspired me in theworld of education and still supports me morally.
Project member M*1 “Itadakimasu” (‘we shall take the life’ in Japanese). In Japanese culture, people say“Itadakimasu” just before starting to eat as a prayer or a custom.
*2 The National Institute of Education Research (NIER) is located in Tokyo; it is a semigovernmental organ under the Ministry of Education

58

Middle school

Seeking the impossible dream with an adventurous spirit

Seeking the impossible dream with an adventurous spirit
HAYASHI Tamotsu
HAYASHI Tamotsu was born in 1949 in Kumano town,
Hiroshima Prefecture.
After graduating from the Pre-Service Training
Course of Lower Secondary School Teacher at Fukuoka
University of Education, he taught for a year in a lower
secondary school. Then, he enrolled as a third-year
undergraduate student at the Faculty of Engineering,
Hiroshima University. He studied at Hiroshima University
for another three years and again taught at a lower
secondary school. Then in 1984 he enrolled in thegraduate program of School Educational Research at
Hyogo University of Teacher Education. After graduatingfrom the graduate program, he worked at Hiroshima Prefecture Education Center,
Hiroshima Prefecture Board of Education as a teaching consultant. In 1997 hebecame the principal of Fuchu town Municipal Fuchu-chuo Elementary School. In
2001, he became the principal of Fuchu town Municipal Fuchu-midorigaoka Lower
Secondary School (current position).

1. Detouring is what I love to do most often
I don’t clearly remember from where I heard this, but someone once said that
there are three slopes (saka in Japanese) in life: the upward slope, the downward
slope and the masaka, a Japanese word meaning unpredictable. If you ask myparents and family members, they will comment that I am an addict of masaka,and that I have made them worry almost all through their lives. After graduatingfrom an upper secondary school in 1968, I had my first employment at a Civil
Work Office in Kure city as a first rank public servant of Hiroshima Prefecture. It
was from there where my unpredictable life commenced. I had a strong desire to
be a teacher; so, I went back to study in the lower secondary teacher preparation
course at Fukuoka University of Education．Thereafter, I was recruited as ateacher at Senogawa Lower Secondary School. My family rejoiced upon hearingthat I had pursued a stable and promising career. However, I also had anotherdream --- that of becoming a scientist (engineer). A year later, I persuaded
my parents and brothers to agree to my plans of fulfilling my dream. Having
obtained their blessing, I enrolled in the third-grade of the Faculty of Engineering,59

Hiroshima University, specializing in the field of Chemical Engineering. Prior
to the enrollment, I appealed to the dean of the Engineering Faculty to allow me
to take the entrance examination. I made a direct appeal three times. At first,
the dean reiterated that the credits completed in the Faculty of Education can
not always be regarded as equivalent to those in the Faculty of Engineering; healso told me that I was too insistent. However, I convinced the dean to allow me
to take the entrance exam. I couldn’t forget how delighted I was when I heardthat I had passed the exam, and with a previously conferred bachelor’s degree in
Education, I was transferred to the junior year. After graduation, I was hired asa research assistant in the same faculty; however, only one year later I decided
to quit working in the university due to family matters and personal reasons.
In 1976, I again went back to teaching and started to work at Kumano Lower
Secondary School. During those times, I fondly imagined about improving myself
in terms of education, and this time I wanted to study pedagogy. Though I was
already married and had three children, in 1984 I enrolled in the post graduate
course at Hyogo University of Teacher Education. After completing my study, atfirst I was appointed as a teaching consultant at Hiroshima Prefecture Education
Center (HIPEC); then I was transferred to the Guidance Division of the Hiroshima
Prefecture Board of Education. Afterwards, I became a senior teaching consultant
at Fuchu town Board of Education, and then became the principal of Fuchu-chuo
Elementary School. At present, I am the principal at Fuchu-town Midorigaoka
Lower Secondary School. During the above mentioned periods, I concurrently
held the post of a lecturer for six years at the Faculty of Education and Regional
Sciences of Tottori University. My teacher’s licenses include a special rank
license in science & industrial art of lower secondary education, and the firstrank license in science and industry of upper secondary education. When I was ateacher of lower secondary schools or a teaching consultant, most of the time I was
in charge of industrial art. I spent 12 years working as a teacher, and 11 years as ateaching consultant. As of today, I have nine years experience being a principal.
During this period, I met many students and teachers and learned a lot of things.
In general, once a person gains employment after graduating from a secondary
school or a university, he or she is supposed to pursue that occupation; but as I
have mentioned, I carried my dreams forward not only once, twice, but then threetimes. The pursuit of my dreams quite often created conflicts of opinions with myparents and family members, and I know I troubled them. However, my family
now admits to saying that my efforts in foolhardily doing things my own way have60

Seeking the impossible dream with an adventurous spirit
somehow borne fruit. Even my children appreciate my vitality which I always
challenge. My family commented that what I have is not ‘vitality’ but ‘baka’tality. (The word ‘baka’ illustrates I am almost fanatical or too zealous in regard
to my passion, as if I am like someone who always leaps in the dark.) This bakatality truly describes me, and in my self-evaluation, I believe that I do have such a
trait as my treasure.

2. One day I will achieve the goal!
I wanted to be a teacher because I used to love teaching my brothers and friends
during childhood. I was also attracted to making things and creating devices. So,
I was dreaming to be a school teacher or a scientist when I grew up. But I did notstudy hard, as I was always running around the fields and mountains, building
my playing territory on a hill, and capturing birds with birdlime. As a result, myschool record did not show praiseworthy results. When I was in the fourth grade,one day we were asked to fill out a questionnaire in school. The question was“what would you like to be when you grow up?” and I noted ‘a scientist.’ Myfemale homeroom teacher severely scolded me. Since my academic ability was not
good, she could hardly imagine that I would dream of becoming a scientist. I waseven told, “You must have copied the answer of Mr. Y” who was sitting next tome. Mr. Y had superior academic achievement. To make matters worse, later theteacher called my mother and me together, and she scolded me again saying, “Mr.
Hayashi copied another pupil’s answer sheet!” The day before, I remembered how
to spell out the word ‘scientist’ when I saw the headline of a newspaper article
about the Cold War between the U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. I will never forget how sad
I felt at that time. I remember that that was when I thought “One day! One day
I will prove that even I can be a scientist or a teacher.” I had a sort of rebellious
spirit against that teacher, and I retained that bitter feeling even after proceeding
to lower and upper secondary schools. I promised myself that I would never be
the kind of teacher that she was. After I became one and started to experience allsorts of ups and downs with pupils, however, I started to think in a different way.
Perhaps the female homeroom teacher in my fourth grade knew my personality,and purposely scolded me with the intention of unleashing the rebellious spirit inme that would shed light on my future. Now, I have a feeling of gratitude for that
homeroom teacher for having helped me, because I would never have become ateacher if not for what she did.

61

3. Being a lower secondary school teacher with obstinate resistance toeducation
During the nine years that I was working as a teacher at Municipal Kumano
Lower Secondary School and Kumano-higashi Lower Secondary School run by
Kumano town, I became obsessed with my philosophy on two fronts. First of all,through daily school life, I encouraged the pupils to set a life goal; in other words,
let them live with the dream of a future occupation. I have an unshakable belief
that when we have a dream, we set up a certain goal and exert all efforts to reachit; and if we continue our endeavors, the dream will come true. I still maintain thisprinciple. I often lectured to pupils about my past dreams I had at lower secondary
school, also I often shared experiences of success or failure in the course of mylife. I used every opportunity to let them read biography books introducing the
careers of great persons, and made the pupils think the way they were meant to
be. I perceived that pupils were talking about their dreams vividly and they werelikely thinking of the way of life they wanted to lead allowing for their young
age. I also hoped many of my pupils would wish to become a school teacher
in the future, so through the daily lessons and club activities, I talked about theglory and beauty of being a teacher who helps develop human resources. I haven’t
had a chance to ask them the reason though, in fact, quite a few of them becameteachers. I feel very much excited when I hear about them or see them working
enthusiastically at schools and the board of education offices. The second front ofmine is to help pupils acquire and develop both literary and military arts. Virtually,
lower secondary pupils can study well while being active club members, and I
think they should be able to do both. I believe that it is our mission to help pupils
acquire the scholastic ability sufficient to pass the entrance examination of upper
secondary schools they wish to apply in. I repeatedly made my pupils engage inexercises relating to printed learning materials in Japanese, social studies, math,science and English during their spare time. These were the subjects required in
the entrance examination. At first, some pupils were reluctant to do the exercises,
but soon after they discovered their steady improvement academically, they began
to be more spontaneous and more enthusiastic. Also from the viewpoint of humandevelopment, I sincerely encouraged them to attend a club. I was in charge of thebaseball and girls’ volleyball clubs for nine years, and supervised the activities
aimed at ‘friendship building’, and ‘patience development.’ All year round, I
allowed only four or five days off, and I was nicknamed as a pitiless monster forthat. The other day, a parent of one of my current pupils came to visit me, and said
62

Seeking the impossible dream with an adventurous spirit
she was my graduate who had been in the volleyball club. Commenting on the
fruitful but severe club days she went through, she said that those experiences havebecome very helpful leading to her present life, and wished that her children could
have the same kind of unforgettable feeling.

4. Life in the Board of Education that exposed me to countless newexperiences
I learned quite a lot from my 11 years in educational administration andmanagement institutions such as at the Hiroshima Prefecture Education Center(HIPEC), the Guidance Division of Hiroshima Prefecture Board of Education,and the School Education Division at Fuchu Municipal Board of Education. I wastruly awakened when I discovered I should not complain about my workload. In
my sixth year at HIPEC, representing many other fellow teaching consultants,
I appealed directly to the director, pleading that “we teaching consultants havebeen working till nine or ten every night, we will break down and get ill due tooverwork. We request that our working conditions be reformed somehow.” Thedirector smiled at me, and said “I understand you. Please let me consider it.” Soon
after, I was transferred to the Guidance Division at the Hiroshima Prefecture Boardof Education. As I had previously heard, the workload there was surely muchharder than that at HIPEC. Around that time, the HIPEC director appeared at the
Guidance Division of the Board of Education on some occasions, and came totalk with me. “Hello, Mr. Hayashi, I wonder if your workload is somehow relaxednow.” I could imagine that the director implied, ‘You knew nothing of the world
before, and not only you were overworking….Keep your spirit up!’ Since then, I
started to see things differently, so I replied with a smile, “I can manage this, thanks
to everyone. I appreciate your consideration. ” One of the things I recognized,
which I had not appreciated personally when I was a schoolteacher, is that laws andregulations are the foundations of the teaching profession. To be specific, public
educational personnel must work observing the laws including national courses ofstudy, and strictly obey the service regulations. In particular, when I was in chargeof the in-service training for newly recruited teachers or for experienced teacherswith certain years of service, I acknowledged this during the course of discussion
with the activist groups on what the in-service training is meant to be. I learned
that explanations affected by emotions or experiences do not help settle the issues
at all. Of course I knew that we educational personnel should obey the law. But I
confess that I was not taking it seriously, and to me, being a good teacher meant63

having the skill of giving easy-to-understand lessons, fulfilling the school duties,
and doing my best to manage the club activity. I was not very conscious of theimportance of conducting educational activities in accordance with the laws. I was
selfishly taking only what I thought, behaving how I wanted, being self-righteous,and to top it all off, I was harboring an irresponsible feeling that obeying the laws
are the task of the managerial staff only. Now I perceive that I was totally blind,and sweat with fear when I remember that. Furthermore, I learned the significanceof and difficulty in working organizationally and functionally to raise the levelof efficiency at work. In the field of administration, you are a staff in charge of acertain assignment, and you are expected to be well-versed in handling it. But I am
just one of the officers, and the final decision maker bears the final accountability.
In some cases, a piece of action or thought of one staff might affect the educationof the entire Prefecture. Therefore, self-centered judgment or behavior should
never be permitted, and organizational work should be accurately conducted. For
instance, if the superintendent of education, division head, division head assistant,section chiefs, and individual officers-in-charge work organizationally as well asorganically with other divisions and sections, we can achieve the primary goal. To
do good work in an institution, it is essential to realize three elements: Ho-Ren-So,
that is, reporting (Ho-koku), informing (Ren-raku) and consulting (So-dan). (Theacronym word Ho-Ren-So means spinach in Japanese; thus, using a word that iseasy to remember for workers.) When I was in charge of an examination for which
examination sheets were purchased from a private publisher, I failed to makedecisions properly having overlooked Ho-Ren-So. I made inappropriate comments
to the press; thus, I caused troubles to the head officer in my division. The division
head had to take the responsibility for my failure, and it became an importantlesson to me. The same situation must be considered in schools. Applying the ruleof Ho-Ren-So, the principal, vice principal, head teachers and teachers in chargeof respective duties should cooperatively work along a single line and thus createa system of open communication with one another. I believe our work will be
fulfilled systematically and organically in this way.

5. Being a principal is worthwhile(1) Vigorous Fuchu-midorigaoka Lower Secondary School
Dream and hope with passion①

The Fuchu-midorigaoka Lower Secondary School where I work now has
64Seeking the impossible dream with an adventurous spirit
774 pupils. These pupils are divided into 22 classes composed of 20 ordinary
and two special classes, of which one is for mentally disabled and the other for
emotionally impaired students. One principal, two vice principals and 40 teachers
hired by the prefecture; with 14 temporary teachers and 17 staff employed by themunicipality, to make up a total of 74 faculty members. The Fuchu-midorigaoka
Lower Secondary School is the sixth largest school among the 249 public lower
secondary schools in Hiroshima Prefecture. One of the school management goals is‘to develop in the pupils high levels of intelligence, rich minds and strength to fightthe good fight.’ The other is to create a well-ordered school with an aesthetic andgraceful environment. One of the management philosophies is, taking the pupils in
mind, “if we want to create a good school, then we are going to make it good.” Themeaning of ‘a good school’ here is a school in which graduates can pass the exam
to enter their desired upper secondary schools. The other is, taking the faculty inmind, “it is not whether you are able to do it or not; however, it is whether you
actually try to do it for the sake of the pupils.” Therefore, I emphasized quick
action, ‘start doing while thinking.’ I believe it is essential for all the faculty andpupils to share the same goal in order to achieve our school management goals.
This is represented in the three principle goals of Midorigaoka lower secondary
school. They are: ‘exchange greetings spontaneously and vividly,’ ‘keep time’,and ‘clean up properly’ (*1), which are real basics. I believe when all the people
in the school are able to realize them, we can create the best school environment.
Therefore, during the school assembly or grade meetings, I have repeatedly
mentioned our goals. Also, these slogans were made into posters and hung on thewalls inside the classrooms and along the corridors to enlighten everyone. Whether
or not we can reach our goals depends not only on the pupils, but on the way ofliving led by each faculty member. Schools with teachers who can’t greet properly,
who are not punctual, who do not tidy up, can’t expect a balanced humane growthof pupils. Thus, I think it is a prerequisite that we adults must be role models forchildren so that they can copy us without hesitation.
②

Hard but enjoyable battle

When I was transferred to my current school some five years ago, I was
astonished with the site. During the assembly, I saw a few third grade boys withdyed brown hair, lying down in the gym where my inauguration ceremony was
being held. They had ignored the teacher’s instruction. Filled with private chatter,
the atmosphere of the ceremony was noisy as if nothing ritualistic was reaching65

their ears. As their fresh principal, first words which came out of my mouth
were, “Is this a Midorigaoka Zoo? I don’t need to visit other zoos then!?” I said
so all of a sudden without thinking, and I still can not forget the incident. It was
the beginning of my battle in Midorigaoka Lower Secondary School. My anger
was placed more on the faculty members, as I observed teachers who were notresolute in guiding pupils, teachers who ignored the pupils and teachers who did
not cooperate with others organizationally. Under such circumstances, without
a doubt, teachers and pupils were unmotivated. Besides, parents and community
residents had almost no trust in the school and its teachers, and we were criticizedharshly. In the school premises, there was a lot of trash, especially on the grounds
below the windows I found printed learning materials scattered miserably. In order
to fix this situation, I clarified the ideal images of a school, teacher and pupil, andemphasized the importance of work within a school body. As for my ideal imageof a school, I expect that both pupils and the faculty be energetic in the school.
If teachers are not motivated, pupils will never be so. As for the teachers’ image,
I want them to be trustworthy and accepted by pupils, parents and community
66

Seeking the impossible dream with an adventurous spirit
residents. In other words, teachers should be adults who can be a role model
for children and guardians. Also, the ideal pupils are those who can draw a line
between studying and doing other things, and those who can eagerly participate inmany sorts of activities. As a part of my concrete action plan, I picked up rubbish
everyday for about 35 minutes inside the school and the surrounding area. I did
this no matter how bad the weather was, on days with heavy rain, or even on days
with strong winds. Analyzing the content and the amount of rubbish I collected,
I perfectly figured out the condition of the pupils. The more chewing gum or
spitting I found, I could presume that more pupils carried in cigarettes and items
prohibited in school. When the litter decreased, the school ambience calmed down
and became stable. It is a wonder I found. I’m in my fifth year at this school andI still continue picking up this litter. “If the principal changes, the school willchange; if the teachers change, the pupils will change.” This is my personal slogan.
While trying to disseminate this in school, and enlighten teachers, I reshuffled thedivision of school duties for a better and more united school administration. To
pupils, at every opportunity, I praised them when they were good; thus, intending
to boost confidence in themselves as well as helping them to be proud of theirschool. Needless to say, I preached as well against their wrongdoing. Furthermore,
we purposely let the parents and community know the actual state of the schoolwith both merits and demerits. For example, I invited them to attend the opening
ceremony, graduation ceremony, sports day, cultural festival, and implemented
as many school open days as possible such as lesson observation days for thecommunity residents, school research workshop research meetings, and requested
the town associations and various other groups to participate. During the first year,
only a handful of participants were there, but the number of participants increasedin the second year. Afterwards it continued to increase in the third and the fourthyear, indicating steady progress. Compared to the past, I have been seen that our
teachers and pupils have become encouraged, and that teachers have started towork cooperatively as a body. Even club activities have become livelier, and havestarted to reach the top in competition, gaining the championship or the second
rank. Regarding the entrance exam to upper secondary schools, a lot more pupils
are now able to pass it and enroll in their desired schools. Parents and community
people who used to criticize the school, also started to comment positively that‘there are no more hair dyed kids’, ‘children are dressed neatly’, ‘they exchange
greetings with us’, ‘they keep rules’, etc. There are many ways to evaluate thecondition of school corruption and I think some indices are the number of violence67and bullying cases, the volume of litter, the number of windows with broken glass,and the increase or decrease of pupil’s absence. Through my observation, I learned
that when there are more corruption cases in the school, then the amount of litter
increases and more window panes are broken. Also, the more bullying cases there
are, the more the pupils fail to attend school. It is explained in such a simple way.
In 2001, the percentage of absent pupils was 4.86%, way beyond the average ofHiroshima Prefecture which was 3.25%. In 2002, it was 3.35%, in 2003, 2.66%,
in 2004, 2.05% and in 2005 this year, it is 1.80%, showing steady improvement.
Though many problems still remain unsolved, I am going to continue my efforts,
always working together with teachers and pupils as one body.
(2) A principal’s life gave me a lot of new insights
Through my nine-year experience as a principal at Fuchu-chuo Elementary
School and Fuchu-midorigaoka Lower Secondary School, I gained a lot of new
ideas and tactics to enable me to create a better school. One of them is that itis necessary to raise the faculty’s consciousness. Strictly speaking, the facultyincluding myself should understand that ‘we are not entitled to get paid if we don’t
succeed in improving pupils attitudes’. Teachers must have confidence and pridein teaching, and at the same time it is indispensable to have a humble attitude toreflect upon what and how each particular lesson is taught. There are teachers
who don’t do this nor do all of them have a humble attitude. They may blame
the leadership of head teachers and managerial staff like me, but among someteachers, quite a few actually reproduce old style lessons which they received
when they were pupils of elementary, lower and upper secondary schools. Some,paying lip service, announce that they will improve their lessons, but actually,
they can’t evaluate their own lessons objectively and do not improve or even don’t
try to improve them. It is necessary to thoroughly instill in them the importanceof accountability, and change their awareness through practices. “The customer isalways right” is the motto in the business world for servicing a customer; and inschools, pupils are considered as our customers too. We teachers and the school
should be able to satisfy the needs of the customers; thus we need to work hard.
We must be aware that both the children and the faculty can grow through having
good encounters as well as through having a good environment. Setting up ahumane environment is particularly important, and if we try to identify the good
points of the faculty and pupils, and perseveringly give guidance to them, they
will grow dramatically. I have had many such experiences. I replaced a homeroom
68Seeking the impossible dream with an adventurous spiritteacher who was handling the most devastated class in the school as well as a clubthat was regarded as a nuisance. The replacement was done in the middle of theterm so there were twists and turns to some extent, but both the class and the clubsettled down in peace; thus, I was astonished at how much the motivation andattitude of pupils depend on the teacher who is in charge. It is no exaggeration to
say that, for children, a chance to meet a good teacher will direct their course oflife. Ideally, every teacher should be aware of that and strive to reform themselves
accordingly. However in real life, teachers are limited in time and physicalavailability; therefore, school managerial staff should deliberately develop humanresources as is the case in institutions. In other words, the principal, vice principal,
head teachers in curriculum and instruction, other head teachers and middlemanagement teachers in the pyramid must have their roles clearly defined. Thus,
in-service education will be appropriately carried out according to the position.
In my case, on a daily basis I let my fellow staff imagine, “If I were in a higher
position, what would I think and how would I work?” For instance, I sometimes
requested the vice principal and curriculum coordination teacher, on my behalf
to draw up school management schemes or speeches for graduation ceremonies
and entrance ceremonies. Through daily activities, I want them to understand thenecessity of keeping a hand in the management by considering ways of developing
school management policy and administration methods which are generally done
by a principal. Also in front of the weekly school assembly I asked the viceprincipal to speak to the children every two weeks. Along the same line, the viceprincipal and the curriculum coordinating teacher give assignments to the headteachers and middle-management teachers to study the school management andadministration, or how to make easy-to-understand lessons; thus, helping teachers
reform themselves. While reshuffling people in different places, we develop
appropriate human resources; thus, the school environment as well as the pupils
will become energetic and vitalized. To achieve this goal, it is necessary todelegate responsibilities to the vice-principal and all the other head teachers, andmobilize them organizationally and functionally, while giving unerring approvaland guidance. One of my goals in management is to develop as many managerial
staff (principals, vice-principals, and teaching consultants) as I can. I believe mysuccessors will develop more human resources corresponding to their abilities.
Though I have never compared my case to others, during my nine years as theprincipal, eleven new managerial staff members were introduced. I also learned theimportance of continuously encouraging the faculty to comply with the laws and69

service regulations. Despite being socially responsible grown-ups, there are faculty
members who violated laws and service regulations, and such cases were reported
one after another. It is unforgivable because we are in the position to give pupils
guidance or to be imitated by them. I use a slogan which is described in a sentence
Sa-i-ta-ma no Hi ni kiotsukeyo (the acronym of which means ‘Be careful with firein Saitama Prefecture’), and it cautions us with the following 5 items. Sa (sake or
alcohol) means driving a car or working under the influence of alcohol. I (isei or
the opposite sex) signifies sexual harassment related issues, of which we have toconsider carefully when we speak and behave among pupils and fellow teachers.
Ta is (taibatsu or corporal punishment). In Japan there are some opinions in favorof physical punishment, but it is strictly prohibited by law. Ma (mane or money)
represents misappropriation and embezzlement of public funds, and forgery. Hi(hyobo or official documents) warns of the possible loss of curriculum guidance
record or school report cards. Keeping them in mind at all times, the managerial
staff should patiently give instructions to the faculty.

6. Aiming to be a ‘professional teacher’ and ‘professional principal’‘Kan-gineer’ is a word I forever keep in mind to encourage myself. I think thisword was created by YORINUKI Masahiro, the former President of Hiroshima
University. The original word is ‘Engineer’ and it was purposely coined as Kangineer, from Kan which means intuition. As I mentioned, after I graduated from theFaculty of Education and got employment as a teacher, then I entered the Faculty ofEngineering with a strong will. This word was used by Mr. YORINUKI to addressme during my entrance examination interview by the engineering faculty.
Mr. Y.: If you are accepted in the Faculty of Engineering, what will you aim for?
I: (proudly saying) I hope to become a fully fledged engineer.
Mr. Y.: (with a smile) It’s not good enough to be an engineer, you should strive to
be a Kan-gineer.
At the time, I had not fully understood the real meaning of Kan-gineer. Luckily
I passed the exam, and through lectures of and personal meetings with Mr. Y, I
gradually got a real idea of the word. Now I understood that Kan-gineer implies anengineer who can promptly cope with an unexpected emergency with the instinct(Kan) acquired through having various experiences based on all sorts of theories,
and not depending on pure guesswork. I think this idea can be incorporated into any
occupation. At present, I am teaching and educating my personnel as a principal but
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Seeking the impossible dream with an adventurous spirit
originally I was a school teacher. Whether you are a teacher or a principal, there isno difference regarding how we develop other people. Perhaps the mere disparity
is whether you are in charge of teaching a subject area and its class management,
or in charge of school management. We should always be clear about our own
task; in other words, we should understand the requirements for administration(=teachers) and management (=principals), and draw out the potential abilities
possessed by the children and the faculty to the maximum. Then we can become aprofessional teacher or a professional principal. In addition, a professional teacher
can potentially grow into a professional principal, but after reaching the level ofprincipal, if the person preserves the idea of being a professional teacher, s/he cannever be a professional principal. This kind of personnel should chase the path of
becoming an expert teacher. There is a sense in which we should always know
the requirement for our positions, and spontaneously and enthusiastically upgrade
ourselves. We should instantaneously and unerringly understand what the children
and the faculty have been through, what they have failed to achieve, what theyrejoice about, are concerned about, suffer from and expect. We should continuously
study how to be a real professional who can help others maximize their potential
ability in individuals. Mr. Ron Clark（*2）who was awarded the best teacher
prize in U.S.A. says, “You should be the best person you can be.” As a person in ateaching position, I wish to appreciate these words from the heart.

71Teachers are ultimate shapers of education
Mr. Hayashi describes himself as follows:“I am an addict of Masaka (unpredictability).”“I did what I wanted to do, and this vitality ( my family calls it baka tality )accurately describes me, and I think of myself as having such a treasure.”
To begin with, Mr. Hayashi is well characterized by the variety in his life
course. Mr. Hayashi’s diverse career is derived from his endless dreams andexertions to make those dreams come true. “I really wanted to be a teacher.” “I
could not give up my dream to become an engineer.” “I desired to specialize inpedagogy.” The power of unaccountable feasibility that he possesses actually madehim obtain his wishes. Not being satisfied with his present condition, and always
with a dream towards the future, he never stopped thinking about the way that heshould be. The way his life has been lived, has definitely influenced his educational
practices. “When you have a dream, you will start making efforts; thus, you set up
a goal, and if you continue to work hard towards that goal, it will come true.” Thismessage he presented to the pupils as a lower secondary school teacher, must havecarried a lot of conviction for them because it was spoken by a person who could
actually manifest it.
Teachers should be aware that they will be imitated by the pupils. Mr. Hayashi’s
experiences and practices represent this essential aspect of education.
Mr. Hayashi has created many revolutions in schools through his educational
beliefs. Those changes were made by his power of feasibility which he displayed
all throughout his life. “It is not whether we can do it or not, but it is whether
we challenge to do it for pupils or not.” In these words, his unshakable belief in
education is symbolized. His influential vitality awaked teachers, then changed
pupils, thus the entire school was oriented to develop into a better environment.
Specific messages of his own are, ‘Let’s exchange greetings full of vigor’,‘Let’s keep time’ ‘Let’s do cleaning properly during the cleaning time.’ All are
fundamentals in human lives. One of his practices is picking up litter on theschool grounds and in the periphery of school, and it was done even on rainy
and windy days. Everyday he made rounds and picked up rubbish, and grasped
the hidden condition of pupils while analyzing the items and amount of rubbish.
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Seeking the impossible dream with an adventurous spirit
Before speaking to pupils to request them to do something, he tried to act first as aprincipal, keeping in mind that ‘I first take actions, then think while moving.’ Heacted first because he was the principal. Step by step such a practice made steadyprogress. ‘The amount of trash will increase when the school has become morecorrupt.’ As Mr. Hayashi observed, seeing less and less litter at the school, theenvironment in his school has become peaceful gradually.
“For children, it is no exaggeration to say that their future depends onan encounter with a teacher.” In saying this, Mr. Hayashi’s strong sense of
responsibility and pride in the teaching profession is felt. He claims that pupils
will be encouraged if we try to discover their good points and then if we show
our great perseverance in giving them guidance, pupils will demonstrate great
progress. Emphasizing his philosophy, ‘Move before thinking’, and based upon his
educational practices with his diverse background and rich experiences, certainly
he has become a Kan-gineer which had been his long sought aim.
In the end, I would like to mention Mr.Hayashi’s warm personality, which I
believe you also might have noticed after reading his discourse. Upon visiting
Mr. Hayashi at his lower secondary school, he welcomed us warmly and gave us
a talk even with occasional jokes. We felt grateful that he took our meeting so
seriously, and we learned a lot from him and had an enjoyable time in his company.
Education is based on ‘human relations’, and we could deeply sense the stance Mr.
Hayashi has taken.
While interviewing Mr. Hayashi, I hit upon an expression, ‘Teachers areultimate shapers of education’. The educational issues would vary depending on
in which country or prefecture you are now. But the phrase, ‘Teachers are ultimate
shapers of education’ can be universally accepted. I got to know that pupils willlearn a lot of things through interacting with teachers, by knowing their way of
thinking and behaviors.
Project member N*1 clean properly-- A period of cleaning up is a part of the educational curriculum. Pupils
together with teachers clean the school (classroom, toilets, corridors, etc.) everyday.
*2 Ron Clark-- He has been a teacher since 1995 and has taught in the most difficult schools
in North Carolina and Harlem in the U.S.A. Since winning Disney’s 2001 Teacher of theYear, he has spoken across the country to teachers, school boards and PTAs to share his
55 rules. He lives in Atlanta.

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School Organization and Human Development

School Organization and Human Development
HIRAGA Masayuki
HIRAGA Masayuki was born in 1943 in Kure City,
Hiroshima Prefecture. After graduating from university, hebecame a Japanese language teacher at lower secondary
school.
From 1972 he worked at the Hiroshima Prefectural
Juvenile Reformatory, Hiroshima Gakuen for 12 years.
After working as Head of the First Guidance Division at
the Hiroshima Prefecture Board of Education, in 2000
he was appointed as principal at Higashi-Hiroshima City
Takamigaoka Lower Secondary School. In 2004 he wasappointed as vice principal of Onomichi Upper Secondary
School and concurrently the Head of the Establishment
Preparation Office of Onomichi Lower Secondary School. In April of 2006, he wasappointed as principal of Onomichi Gakuen Onomichi Lower Secondary School.
Since August, 2006, he has been the principal of Onomichi Lower and Upper
Secondary School (current position).

1. To have something meaningful in life
No matter how greatly the society changes, there must be somethingunchangeable (invariable) which must be valued eternally.
During the latter half of my upper secondary school life, I found myself
experiencing miserable days, as my parents were both very old and unhealthy,
and could not afford even the minimum food for the family. Due to economicalreasons, I could not proceed to higher education like my three elder brothers, andI had lost my zest for life so I did not even attend my graduation ceremony. I was
deeply discouraged and was living empty days looking at the mist of the early
spring in an absent way. Two years later, my elder brother who became a medical
doctor kindly offered me partial assistance, and I also did part time work to earnmoney for my life and tuition fees. I determined to create my life by myself, andI enrolled in a university. I lived in a dormitory for four years, and had part time
work every day. My father passed away around that time. I would faint due to
starvation and malnutrition. Whenever the deadline to pay my tuition fee drew
near, I spent all of my time earning money doing such chores as “cleaning thedead bodies with formaldehyde to make them ready for anatomy classes.” When75

I recall my past, I simply feel thankfulness to all the people who supported me atthat time. My parents, brothers, and my teachers, though their assistance was not
visually in sight, they were always worrying about me sometimes secretly behind
my back, and sometimes openly in my presence. My parents, elder brother and theteachers, have all passed away, but I could survive and still am alive now thanks tothem. After graduating from university, I have lived almost 40 years till now, andI sincerely think “I am not living but I am left to live by them.” This is one of theinvariable teachings since ancient Japan.
At dinner time, my mother was just staring at her children who were eating
merely a small bowlful of rice mixed with Japanese radish [finely diced radish
was used to increase the amount of the staple food, ‘rice’ which was insufficientduring the wartime]. She was not eating anything, but repeatedly told us, “Be
patient! If you endure you will surely be paid off someday.” She also said to us, “Be
someone who is worthy to other people.”
I am left to live, and remembering my mother’s words, I started to thinkof becoming a person who is useful to others, and wanted to make my life
meaningful. Lower secondary aged pupils are in adolescence for whom it is as
if they are living in a maze, and I know they are unconsciously rebellious due tothe physiological imbalance in hormones. I want to stay by them, and be theirsupporter and guide, and thus I decided to be in “the teaching career.”

2. Learning as a teacher
I first worked at a public lower secondary school for four years as a Japanese
language teacher. Then I became the dormitory superintendent (head) of a juvenilereformatory school. I lived in the dorm which was designed for a head couple(family), thus my family accompanied me to live there. While working there for
pupils who behaved antisocially, I aimed to acquire the bases of teaching throughlearning the depth of youth psychology of pupils. I worked there for 12 years.
Stipulated by law, children under 18 years old whose parents are no longer able
to look after them due to their anti and unsocial behavior were sent to the juvenilereformatory after staying at the Child Guidance Center or juvenile corrective
institution (detention home). They were emotionally unstable because they were
unsatisfied and had distrusted life, due to the failure of their parents’ upbringing
such as over-spoiling or abandonment.
Those children gave us a penetrating glance with hostile regard, and showed
impudent conduct. Together with my wife who was the dorm mother, I prepared76

School Organization and Human Development
their belongings for living and study while being distracted with anxiety. Throughthe daily routine of living together with my own family, we tried to make themrealize that there are adults who still cared about them. If they think even for a
split second “I wonder if I might be able to live with these people”, then they lift
their faces up and show a sign to listen to us. Then we can stay closer to them,and we show them what to do or encourage them to imitate us. Then gradually
we can discipline them, and let them establish a basic life habit. Our own children
staying with us also spread invisible messages to them about the comfort in having
a stable life. Once humanity revives, the child has a rosy complexion, starts tobehave confidently, and then turns into an obedient child with a child-like faith.
Their transformation is always beyond recognition. Through living together forcertain periods, children gradually and naturally incorporate our character, way of
speaking and actions, especially they acquire the knowledge for judging good andevil or true and false. That is called “Identification.” Afterwards we provide them
many more chances to have social experiences in terms of study, life and labor, sothat they will form their egos. One day I was in bed with a high fever, and then in
the morning, I found that those inmate children had taken turns and stayed by me
all night long, replacing the cooling wet towel on my forehead. I realized the factthat they were seeking an adult on whom they could rely. Through activities ingroups, I encouraged them to form a strength of the superego which is the ability
to control ego, so that they could be independent. Before they leave the juvenilereformatory, we also help them to have better relationships with their parents andthe school which they used to attend and which they would go back to attend,so that they can rejoin the society. I helped more than 100 children to return tosociety, and I came to a conclusion that “None of the children are bad, but they
were just driven to behave badly.” Through the developmental stages, thosechildren had no love shown to them, or were unsatisfied by over-spoiling, and they
were isolated from their family, society and the school. As a result, they became
emotionally unstable, and misbehaved through acts of violence, running away from
home, stealing, drug abuse or withdrawing from society (staying indoors at home
without social contacts). Now I can tell that what they carry deep in their minds is “aloneliness” that they have nobody to share with, nobody who scolds them, worries
about them or praises them, and nobody who will share their feelings. Children
feel lonely when their parents keep a loose rein on them, but they also feel lonely
when their feeling is not filled with real love but over-indulgence. This finding
greatly helped me at my later work to teach children. When I reached the age of77

forty, during the labor work period, I got out of breath when I demonstrated how tofarm manually with a shovel. The next morning, five pupils ran away in a group.
I understood that I reached an age not possible to endure the 24 hour work style.
I made a request to be assigned to work at an ordinary public lower secondary
school.
At the school to which I freshly returned, I could fully utilize my experiencesfrom juvenile reformatory school, and taught pupils strictly and gently while
always placing myself on their side. I always kept my stance to be on the side of
the children, when I praised them or when I scolded them. As a result, I was quite
often asked by pupils and their parents to be their homeroom teacher. I think I was
evaluated as a teacher who could well understand the feeling of children. I myself
am also convinced that I could conduct my class management as well as student
guidance making the fullest of what I acquired in the past. Two years later, I was
appointed as a teaching consultant at the Kaita Education Office of Hiroshima
Prefecture.
My new assignment was the instruction of the Japanese language, not student
guidance. I had never taught Japanese at elementary schools, so everyday I studied
hard until late at night, remembering the words of my boss. “Once you are assigned(in charge), you must study the field.” These words were given to me by my senior
officer, the Head of the School Education Division, when I was totally at a loss
having been assigned to teach a specialized content that I had never experienced,
besides being in a completely new environment and situation. The head barked atme saying, “You were called to this position, because we know you can handle theduty. So all that you have to do is study.” This has become my motto. Anyway,
I read as many books as possible, and thought over and over, and answered morethan 120 cases of questions coming from various schools and thus tried to lead theresearch. At one school, I was severely asked the methodology on how to write
the letter “A” in Japanese in a lined (framed) penmanship. I felt it was sarcastic.
At another occasion, as I was afraid of not being able to meet their expectation, I
visited a school carrying as many reference materials as possible to “do my bestwith sincerity and enthusiasm” and I encountered many characteristic principals
with rich personality, and established good relationships. These sound relationships
which were established simply through sincerity and enthusiasm, greatly helped
my later work duties. For instance, when I was a management officer in charge ofteacher management, or when I was the head of the School Education Division in
charge of personnel matters of managerial staff members. I still appreciate everyone
78School Organization and Human Development
now. I am involved in the personnel transfer to form a school where the principal
is in the center of the school management. As a result, the educational environmentof elementary and lower secondary schools in the administration area of the Kaita
Education Office, improved greatly. In particular, a lot of open research meetings
were held, and fostered many excellent teachers which thus upgraded the overall
educational level. Even the in-service programs held at Hiroshima Prefecture
Education Center were mostly occupied by the teachers coming from Kaita district.
These experiences gave me a lot of confidence.
In those days, those who worked at the Board of Education of Hiroshima
Prefecture were usually assigned difficult schools. Without exception, I was
appointed as principal at one of the worst three lower secondary schools in Kaita
Town. One week prior to my assignment, a problem of discrimination alreadybroke out. Twenty cases of intentional puncturing of bicycle tires occurred. Manycases of pupils’ smoking and drinking alcohol were reported. Many pupils stayed
away from home overnight, or ran away. A lot of pupils did not come to school,
so there was student guidance conducted everyday. I carefully handled it case bycase always considering the feeling and the situation of the children. At the sametime, I reprimanded the teachers strictly, and each time, I instructed them how
to handle the problems. To create a brighter future for children, I created a work
place experience in the school curriculum, and asked for cooperation from thecommunity. This also served to regain the trust of the community. Furthermore,
our school was designated as “the Curriculum Research School” under the
Ministry of Education, and worked to create a pioneering educational environment.
“Hello, Principal! To tell you the truth, before we were afraid of your pupils so
we always looked down while farming, but now they greet us. When I greet themback, they smile at me. So I feel refreshed and start a balmy day.” Community
people started to tell us about the changes in our pupils. The cases of complaints
coming from citizens were also diminished and instead they started to cheer us up
and provide support. The 50th anniversary of the school foundation was held fortwo consecutive days, and the PTA organized the big event together with all thecommunity residents, so the school was roused. One of the school events is “Town
Ekiden run”, where all the pupils form a class team, and relay race all around thetown. Besides them, other groups in the community such as the town’s volunteer
fire-fighting group and various youth groups also participate. Senior citizens spreadstraw mats on the roadsides to cheer the pupils running. Some teachers who were
opposed to such events, were encouraged to cooperate and naturally forced to be79

a part thanks to the active movements made by the community. However, I will
never forget one ironic comment made by one of the former principals of thisschool. He said, “No matter how much better this school becomes, nobody would
wish to work there.”
After three years, I was transferred back to the Prefecture Board of Education.
As I wanted to continuously guide and support the open lesson research of thislower secondary school, I requested to remain in the same administration area, so I
rejected the appointment to be in the head office of the Hiroshima Prefecture Boardof Education. Fortunately I was appointed as Head of the Kaita Education Office.
After a year, I was appointed as Head of the 1st Guidance Division of the Prefecture
Board of Education. The correctional guidance was launched by the Ministry of
Education to reform the education of Hiroshima Prefecture, so my appointment
was to exert those corrections without fail. For instance, in accordance with thelaw, in-service teacher education should be organized by the authorities but not by
the teachers union. Or, schools must hoist the national flag and sing the anthem
according to the national course of study. We made a joint research opportunity
with Hiroshima University, and also thanks to the help and leadership of a varietyof people, I think we could achieve the expected correctional reform drasticallyand precisely. I was working hard solely for the sake of children in whichevereducational positions I had, but in those days my feelings were not perfectly
satisfied. If I had worked directly connected with the presence of the children, I
thought I could have felt the meaning of education more realistically, and could
have been fulfilled more in my teaching life. I also wanted to spend my final four
years until retirement in a school, and therefore, I again requested a transfer. I was
appointed as principal of a lower secondary school. Another reason was that I had
a heart disease called angina pectoris and ever since I had the first severe attack, I
had paroxysm of occasional attacks, so it was no longer possible to continue as theDivision Head.

3. School Organization and human resources development
I set out for my new post with my strong desire to create a school where
everyone would say, “This school is changed!” I had this experience before and I
wanted to try it again. There were 525 pupils belonging to 15 classes, and most of
the pupils were inactive and very calm, and they seemed to lack in expressing theirintentions. Teachers were split into three factions, and the communication among
them was not smooth, so they rarely reported or informed me of anything, and they80

School Organization and Human Development
were rather quite arbitrary in taking action. Parents were enthusiastic for children’s
education, however, they were opposed to the school or had no more expectationsof the school. Problems with pupils’ misbehavior like violence and bullying as well
as absenteeism of nearly 30 pupils urgently needed to be solved through student
guidance. Also, it was necessary to enhance the scholastic ability by developing
the pioneering curriculum and promoting the practical research using an evaluation
system. These were the two urgent issues in this school. Therefore I determinedto act like MIYAMOTO Musashi the prominent swordsman of Edo period who
could utilize two short swords at a time, and not SASAKI Kojiro, his opponent
swordsman who was famous for his use of a single long sword. Keeping mymotto, “If I can change the pupils, then the parents and community people will
also change”, I decided to handle all of the cases always prioritizing children, andconcentrating on the children.

Strategies and tactics of our dramatic reform since 2000
(1) Presenting the school management vision, and division of school
duties strongly dominated by the principal
I set up the management philosophy “It is not whether we can do it or not, but
it is whether we will try to do it or not! Before everything, we take action, thenthink while taking action.” I also presented my vision with the focused policyof “Intellect, Virtue and Physical strength” at the first faculty meeting in the newacademic year, and I explained the content in detail. The teachers and the staff
might not have clearly understood what I intended, but I gave them anyway animpression that “This new principal may start something influential.” Later onwhenever I directed the teachers, I again explained about the vision printed ona sheet by indicating “What you are doing now is described here in this vision.”
Thus I made every teacher to become aware of their duties. I appointed the headteachers only considering their capabilities. As always, intending to develop morehuman resources, from my second year I domineeringly appointed the head teacher
from among the teachers who had not belonged to any factions. I was never tolerantof any opinions against my policy.

81

(2) Reducing the frequency of the faculty meeting which was held four times a
year, and mobilizing the head teachers more frequently, to enhance theircapabilities
In order to increase “the time spent with pupils” and to assure certain periods
for teacher training aimed for raising teachers’ awareness, I reduced the numberof faculty meetings and abolished the department meetings and other conferences.
Instead, I commenced a weekly Planning Committee meeting in which theparticipants were the managerial staff and seven head teachers [in curriculum
coordination, student guidance, the respective three grades, research and student
council]. For example, when planning school events or for reflecting on those
events, I skipped the overall faculty discussion. First, I asked the head teacher incharge of a certain duty or members in the same group to draw up a draft plan.
This draft was circulated among all the department members, and they brought up
their opinions and ideas to revise the plan. Then the head teacher finalized the plan
discussing it with the Department members. Here, at least one fourth (1/4) of thecontent from the previous year’s event must be revised. Then it was submitted to
the Planning Committee which is held every Wednesday, for further discussion.
Finally the principal approves it. The head teacher in curriculum and instruction
will make a handout with the conclusion, and on the following day, distribute it toevery faculty member for consensus. Teachers read the report and learned what
they must do and thus worked cooperatively with others. As a result, there were no
more faculty members who did not participate. The managerial staff and the headteacher in curriculum coordination evaluated every event by observing satisfaction,for example whether pupils are impressed or not, and also checked the procedural
progress, then gave proper guidance, so that the outcome will be used to improve
the next planning event. All the head teachers instructed other teachers, and all theteachers worked cooperatively and spontaneously for the sake of the children. The
principal was placed in the center of the school organization, the factional divisions
disappeared, and all the faculty started to work cheerfully. Led by head teachers,
even younger teachers started to share their unique ideas to create an event focusing
on the pupils’ impression. Since their ideas were well accepted and realized, theyfelt more satisfied at work, and pupils also started to be lively one event after
another. Our school became a place with cheerful greetings everywhere. To holdthe Sports Day, it generally requires marching practice for many days, but ourpupils completed the marching parade after rehearsing only for two days, much82

School Organization and Human Development
shorter than the commonly practiced period. Towards another event “Class Match
sports games”, pupils spontaneously got together to practice sports in which theywould compete among classes, in the early morning before the first-period classstarted, and even after school. While the entrance exam to upper secondary schools
was drawing near, pupils encouraged each other, taught each other and thus thewhole class formed a cheerful and well-behaved group. Every child was able totake action with pride and confidence. This environment helped them greatly when
they chose their desired course after graduation.
(3) Establishment and functioning of the student guidance system throughinteracting with pupils organizationally“Greeting, Punctuality, Putting things in order”, as three school mottos wasprinted on a banner and displayed on the sidewall of the school building so that itwas visible from the school ground. Teachers by themselves demonstrated thesethree teachings, so that pupils acquired the ideal basic life habits. The basic life
habit serves as the base for academic improvement.
The meeting of the Department of Student Guidance was held at the 4th period
every Tuesday. Two teachers each from every grade heard preliminary hearings
from all the homeroom teachers about “the situation of bullying, absenteeism
and misbehavior.” The head teacher in student guidance heard from the member
teachers about all the cases, and made a report, then submitted it at the meetingof Student Guidance. The Department of Student Guidance alone identifies the
direction, and asks for guidance from the principal. On the following Wednesday
morning, the head teacher of student guidance revises the report with thecooperation and advice from a school counselor, then the issues will be discussed at
the Planning Committee held on Wednesday. In the meeting, with the cooperationof each grade’s head teacher, they make the proposal on how to solve the issues.
Then on the following Thursday, all the faculty will be informed about the resultwith written documents, and thus everyone can start to work together. In this way
all the teachers can get to know the situation of every child. The homeroom teacher,accompanied with a teacher from the Student Guidance Department visits thepupils’ home, based on the motto “until everyone understands clearly, we continue
to interact with pupils.” The result of home visit is reported to the managerial
staff and the head teacher of Student Guidance, and depending on the necessity,
more actions are continuously undertaken. All the teachers in the same grade ofthose concerned pupils observe the pupils during the lessons, and encourage them.
83Teachers in different grades as well as the school nurse can associate with those
pupils during the club activities, in accordance with the situation of how intimately
they have built a relationship with those pupils. Teachers who have no chance tobe with those pupils still keep an eye on them warmly in school. In any case, it
was ideal when all faculty members were involved in the procedure from all sides,
wholly and impartially.
When the cases of misbehavior were serious and needed an immediate
settlement, we immediately shared the above-mentioned process, of conducting
the survey, and identifying the guidance direction. We made a sheet of handouts
with those pieces of information as well as the information of the family condition.
Keeping the common key words, “Be honest and turn ourselves flexibly always
with cheer”, all the faculty members cooperated with each other, while the headteacher of student guidance took the leadership. When shoplifting by pupils wasreported, the faculty first talked with the parents in advance. It was encouraged
that the parents should wait for the words of apology from their children. Children
were made to take an initiative to speak the truth to their parents if the family
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School Organization and Human Development
situation allowed them to do so. When children apologize to parents spontaneously
by themselves, and show regret for what they did, it will be possible to make thempromise to straighten up their life style and study attitude from the following day.
All in all, the parent–child relationship must be recovered to re-start their life. Thismethod greatly helped the school to gain reliability from parents to the school. And,
this once gained reliability spread a good reputation of the school widely, and theschool itself was labeled as a trustworthy school.
Club activities in the past where teachers were absent changed to be held in
the presence of a teacher in charge, thus pupils’ attitude became more and moreenthusiastic. Bullying disappeared. After all the pupils marched in on Sports Day,I spoke to the pupils showing a little of my expectation. “Your principal wishes tohold and hoist the champion flag in his hands even just once in his life.” Parents
had started to cooperate and cheered the children, and also accompanied by pupils’
serious strenuous practices, I was able to hoist the championship flag many times
afterwards.
(4) Creating the commonly practiced school events to be more ‘touching’I categorized all the school events into three groups. Graduation and Enrollment
Ceremonies were planned and held by the school. Sports Day and the Culture
Festival were produced by the school and pupils as a body. Class match games(sports played among classes in competition) and grade-level events wereplanned and managed by the pupils alone. First of all, we aimed to form the basicorganization flow of the Sports Day and the Culture Festival. Then in the future, we
can let the Student Council spontaneously plan and manage them. The Departmentof the Student Council was established to foster pupils’ active involvement andthe head teacher was assigned the Student Council activities to activate the pupils’
independence. Here, we set a rule that the repetition of the same planning content
every year would not be accepted, and we requested the teachers and pupils torevise the content at least by one fourth (25 %) every time. As a consequence, at
every event pupils took more initiatives, and it was made increasingly impressive.
Pupils themselves started to ask their parents and relatives to come to school to
see their progress. Besides, local residents were also touched by the reformationof the pupils themselves and thus increased their participation gradually. I asked
all the pupils to write a report on their impressions after every school event, andI read all of them carefully and returned them after writing my comments. In
particular, I adapted the new ideas from those pupils’ reports, and made great use
85

of their opinions for improvements, thus fully utilizing all the pupils’ suggestions.
In the beginning, some of the reports carried merely one sentence, commenting,“This event was boring so there is no need to do it.” But gradually the contents
were changed as follows: “It was touching. I will never forget it in my entire life.
Next year, we must plan even a better one than this year’s which was organized byour seniors.” “I couldn’t do well, though every one encouraged me and I felt thekindness of people.” All the pupils wrote reports filled with their impressions andgood evaluations. Pupils started to fill in the A4 size sheet from top to bottom, andthe number of such pupils increased year by year.
The graduation ceremony is planned by the General Affairs Department withleadership taken by the vice-principal. The customarily practiced commanding
such as, “Stand up! Bow! Sit down!” was abolished, and we held a refreshing newstyle and yet solemn ritual event.
“Though we don’t have children of the lower secondary age, we wish to bepart of the graduation ceremony.” The community residents also started to attend
it and their number gradually increased. Also, the customarily held many day prepractices were made shorter, regarding 80 % achievement as enough. On the dayof the graduation ceremony, all the teachers and pupils put their hearts together as
one, and created an impressive ceremony.
Through conducting my daily duties as principal, I always kept thinking of one
thing, “What will our pupils benefit from if we do this”, and then judged whether
we should go ahead or not. Therefore, I repeatedly talked to the faculty, “It is notwhether we can do it or not, but whether we will try to do it or not” and “Once you
have decided to try it, just take action. Think while taking action, then improve.”(5) Establishment of Research System and Promotion of Research
The common desires of parents were “We expect children to achieve a higher
scholastic ability, and learn how to form good human relationships, and have awill to spontaneously study”, and these were the desires of the pupils themselves
as well. I thought on how to promote the research purely thinking of children, byimproving the teachers’ awareness while understanding the educational policy ofthe country, prefecture and the city. I thought I had to brush up myself so I readthe national Courses of Study over and over again, and tried to interpret the deep
meanings between the lines (invisible hidden philosophy), and wrote down in it
whatever came to mind. I summarized my understanding and made a summary
sheet, and then explained it to the teachers at various times. In some cases, I
86School Organization and Human Development
just extracted the framework of the research and indicated it to the faculty. For
instance, if I wanted to form a small-sized ability-based class of Math and English,
I indicated the following requests to each head teacher in charge:(a) Try to upgrade the scholastic ability of every child. If not achieved, analyze
the causes and improve the situation.
(b) One class is divided into two groups, and the group activity of each classmust be valued.
(c) At every content unit, let pupils choose at which level [basic or advanced]
they want to study. To facilitate them to choose, conduct a quiz in advance,and let the pupils choose based upon their self-evaluation. Here, the teacher’srole is to consult and support only.
(d) The content to study in the basic course is to “carefully and slowly acquire
all that the textbook contains and in the advanced course to “aggressively”
prepare more advanced contents beyond the textbooks and challenge thepupils.
(e) Evaluate achievement based on the uniformed standard of evaluation forboth courses.
Based on these clauses, I asked the head teachers in charge to work out adetailed plan, and under my guidance, the scheme was completed. Head teacherspresented the plan at the faculty meeting, and each assignment was allocated toteachers. The content was modified every year, year after year. In 2001, when wewere preparing our following year’s plan, and making documents to apply for the
possible budget, our school was visited by a Math Prof. of Tokyo University as
well as the officials from the Finance Division of the Educational Ministry, andboth of them highly extolled what we had been doing. Right after this event, thebudget allocation for our school grew bigger, and our activities also spread acrossJapan.
I asked several tasks of head teachers. The head teacher of Research created the“Morning Reading Time” “Drawing the annual teaching plan of all the subjects”
and the “Development of Absolute Evaluation.” Teachers with a certain number ofyears experience and younger teachers with only few experiences drew the annual
teaching plan of elective subjects with an aim to develop children’s individual
ability, and head teachers of each grade drew the objectives as well as “the annual
teaching plan of Integrated Study Period and the objective.” In those days manyof the pioneering schools across the country were not conducting true research but
87just crawling along based only on what they had experienced. Some were simply
replacing other school events as substitutes, so the pupils had not acquired any
skills after the completion of such research. To enrich our pupils with “the zest
for living”, I by myself analyzed the aims of the Courses of Study, and produced
supplemental materials, and summarized my works in 2001, based on the study
tour to upper secondary schools which was conducted in the previous year. Here I
developed three steps. First of all, I set out “a Goal” of each unit of the Integrated
Study Period, as well as “a Goal” of respective related subjects, and merged those
Goals into one. Secondly, to achieve the goal, the “Teaching Plan” was drawn
clearly indicating the relationships between the systematic experience activity andother related subjects. A third, a portfolio “Evaluation” was developed in relation
to the school record.
I accepted all the opportunities to present our school reform anywhere in the
country, and it was always highly praised. I also received a lot of offers frominstitutions including NIER (National Institute of Educational Research) andthe Educational Ministry for its Curriculum Workshop as well as from various
educational journals, and contributed reports and articles. In 2003, the national
government revised the Course of Study exactly in accordance with our outcome.
Through our approaches, we always valued the reaction of our pupils as astandard and made every judgment, thus gradually improving the content year
by year. Teachers did not accompany the pupils on survey activities, so pupils
by themselves made a plan because I noticed the voice of the representative of
the pupils was trembling with fear, when they were making appointments on thephone in the principal’s office. Afterwards, they started to prepare questions inadvance, and even prepared supplemental questions in order to be ready to makethe survey smoothly. They even grew to be able to make additional questions
instantly if necessary, depending on the responses made by the upper secondary
staff. After experiencing several questions, the upper secondary schools started tocomment, that “Before we were replying to them briefly, but now we must study
the cases in advance, so that we can answer them more appropriately.” Pupils
summarized what they surveyed, and presented the outcome making full use of acomputer presentation software called Power Point. They had transformed in thatthey had grown to be able to say what they wanted to present even without looking
at the manuscript and furthermore in a respectively more unique way. This activity
originally started in the Integrated Study Period, developed, and influenced thepresentation format of the Morning Assembly. Pupils from the Student Council
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School Organization and Human Development
started to report freely and more confidently without having any written form of
manuscripts. I was moved to see a certain growth in them. They had definitely
acquired an ability to be independent which is necessary to live on their own in the
future, and had exhibited their talent with great confidence. Pupils became cheerful,confident and actively participating in any activity, as a result of our creating afavorable curriculum which was always thinking of the pupils, and for the sake ofthe pupils.
Grade 1・ 70 periods of expression study focusing on oral language. [Reciting in agroup, individual recitation, discussion, speech]
・ 30 periods of expression study using a computer
Grade 2・ 40 periods of expression study focusing on written language. [Production ofa local newspaper]・ 30 periods of work experience study
Grade 3・ 46periods of career guidance aiming for self-realization [Upper secondary
school visits, etc]
・ 34 periods of career realization study
I requested all the teachers to conduct a research lesson once a year per person
as a part of the lesson study aiming to upgrade their teaching skills. Among them,
one lesson of Moral Education was made compulsory per grade. To improve
the lesson delivery, I asked them to prepare card-type sheets to write down theiropinions: “If I were this lecturer, I would have done this,” so that they could
mutually compare and correct. In particular, I asked the head teacher in chargeof Research to bring out new ideas for further fulfillment. All the processes wereconsidered tough, but the content was improved greatly. Our attempts dramaticallyupgraded teaching skills of teachers and pupils scholastic achievement.
“Absolute evaluation and rating” suitable for the lower secondary school level,
was created by the head teacher of Research with clear objectivity and reliability.
We indicated the annual teaching scheme of all subjects for all the grades as wellas the concrete view of evaluation, and developed the methodology to evaluate
and rate objectively by using figures. At the beginning of the following academic
year, we distributed to the parents the report including all of the information. The
accountability of the school was thus fulfilled. Our research and development of89

the annual teaching scheme which indicated both the target goal and evaluation
method was disseminated locally as well as nation wide.
(6) Human Resources Development
Thanks to these strategies and tactics, the faculty members solidified placing
the principal in the center of the organization. I appointed head teachers fromamong the teachers who could make swift actions seriously for pupils. While I
assist head teachers, I try to draw out their potential capacities, and then gradually
they demonstrate a characteristic ability. Teachers in their thirties were also given
duties so that they could grow to be appointed as head teachers. For example, I
asked them to bring out ideas which were “made for pupils and only considering
pupils”, then, I required them to confirm reactions and transformation of pupils sothat they accumulated experiences and thus matured. I tried to thoroughly instill inthem the appropriate way of speech and behavior as a teacher with pride as well as
the minimum requirements as public educational personnel which was undertakenby the correctional guidance of the Ministry. Teachers started to attend guests
politely showing dignity [for example, bow low until the guests go out of theschool], and pupils also stabilized in life style as they were favorably influenced bysuch changes of the teachers.
In 2002, some 800 participants attended the Open Research Meeting held at
our school. Our school became prominent across Japan. Because of the highquality performance of our research and stability of the school, I was requested tovisit other schools even in other regions to give lectures. For example, I presented
during the Research Meeting held at Fukuyama Lower Secondary School affiliatedto Hiroshima University, and I presented at the training for public servants of cities,
prefectures and the nation, and I wrote articles to educational journals, and so on.
Furthermore, I was asked to be a lecturer for the Head Teacher Training and otherconferences. As long as I did not stay away too much from my pupils, I accepted
the opportunities to meet their needs as much as I could, because I thought thatthese would also serve as opportunities to brush up myself. I constantly developed
more and more human resources, and many of them have been promoted to
managerial posts or to administration offices.

4. Achievement and responsibility of the Principal.
The Prefecture-wide test, the “Basic and Fundamental Achievement Status
Survey” for Japanese language, Math and English was conducted in Hiroshima90

School Organization and Human Development
Prefecture. The number of our pupils per grade was below 200, but the achievementscore was the best in Hiroshima Prefecture. I am convinced that this is the result of
all the faculty members solidifying and mobilizing organizationally while always
thinking of the pupils. Problematic behaviors decreased, and the number of absent
pupils was reduced to only around eight. I still feel moved and feel appreciation
to the parents who were involved in cooking noodle-soup for more than 1000
people at a school event. This memory brings tears to my eyes. Through various
approaches, annually around 250 volunteer participants from the community cameto the school to support our educational activities and thus enriched our school
education, and I feel thankful to them. Everything is because the aim of oureducation was always placing pupils in the center of our mind, only for the sakeof the pupils, always closely together with pupils we never forgot to think what
would be the best for the pupils. In 2005, our school was awarded the Prize of the
Ministry of Education with two other schools in Japan.
As principal, I planted flowers in the area around our school premises, andpatrolled the school while picking up trash. When I took a short break after using
an electric mower, suddenly a girl pupil said to me a loud voice, “Hello, Principal,
keep up your good work!” I can still hear her words in my ears. It is important tohave affection and passion to “do all for children until the end”. This is what I havedetermined as my vision and strategy for children.

91

Reflections on My Meeting with Principal Hiraga
For someone from the outside, entering Japan’s social and educational system
can deliver a massive cultural shock. Yet when I met principal Hiraga on amemorable winter’s morning on the outskirts of Hiroshima, there was something
about his welcome, his warmth and his wisdom that made me feel completely at
home.
The first thing that struck me was his technical knowledge of the managementof schools, something that clearly was accumulated over many years working in his
position as teacher and principal. His knowledge of the operations of his institution,and the ingredients that make for a successful school, left me in awe—for what heshared made a lot more sense to me than the hundreds of ‘how to’ books that I haveread on educational change.
The second thing that struck me was his craft knowledge of the leadership ofschools, that inbuilt wisdom of a leader that inspires people to work together, toimprove themselves, and to empower their students. It was clear to me that heknew that capability was not enough; that the credibility of the leader was equallyimportant in leading schools.
The third thing that struck me was his spiritual knowledge of people, that innate
capacity to recognize and affirm the humanity of other people. He was completely
at ease with me as an African professor, with the young Japanese education
students in the company, and with the American teacher in the same room. It wasvery clear to me that I was in presence of a man devoid of the racial, linguistic,
cultural or age biases that so often demean persons of his accomplishment.
The cultural forms that I had become accustomed to in interacting with people
from Africa and America, the two continents on which I lived, are the dramatic
acts of engagement, the intense physical interaction and the direct statements
of approval or otherwise. I learnt from my all-too-brief interaction with thiswise principal, Mr Hiraga, that there is depth, meaning, sincerity and warmthin the quiet, determined spirit. Though the principal spoke softly, he spoke withconviction and clarity about education, development and change.
As we walked through the school, I noticed how the students respected him,
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School Organization and Human Development
how his staff revered him, and how his deputies looked up to him for leadership.
He clearly did not attain this respect through an authoritarian hand, but through theauthority of his life as a leading principal in Hiroshima.
I was overawed by the man and his geography, and I remember saying tomyself at the time: “how could they drop atomic bombs on this city? If they had
met principal Hiraga, they would never have resorted to such barbaric behaviour.”I left the office of the principal humbled, inspired and affirmed as a teacher, aleader and an activist. The experience was so riveting, I had completely forgottenthat he was speaking through a translator.
Thank you, principal Hiraga, for your enormous contribution to the educationof all of us.

Jonathan D. Jansen
Dean of Education
University of Pretoria

93Double encounter with Mr. HIRAGA and Prof. JANSEN of
South Africa
Prof. JANSEN, Dean of the Educational Faculty of Pretoria University,
Republic of South Africa came to Hiroshima University and in March 2004, visited
the Takamigaoka Lower Secondary School when Mr. HIRAGA was principal. I
was lucky to have accompanied him and joined their meeting, and together with
Prof. JANSEN, I heard the educational philosophy of Mr. HIRAGA and his idealteacher image. I am glad I was there on that day. At that time, I was lingeringover continuing my study in the teacher education course, while being at a loss
whether to become a school teacher or not. It was a gift opportunity to learn “theideal teacher image” and “the good points of Japanese educators”, and it became an
unforgettable day.
Prof. JANSEN, after observing all the school facilities, had a dialogue with
Mr. HIRAGA in the principal’s office. Following the conversation, Prof. JANSEN
spoke to all the school pupils during the school assembly.
“I was a weird child. I liked playing soccer, and I was disliked by teachers
because I didn’t study. Most of the classmates in my childhood are either deador caught in prison. You may wonder why only I have survived and become auniversity professor. Now I’ll tell you the reason. I am a person who never did
the same thing like others. I hope you will also find what you can selfishly devote
yourself to, and grow up to be a creative person. Don’t think in the same way withthe others. Recently, those who don’t admit the differences of thoughts from others
joined a terrorist group and attacked a train in Spain that caused many casualties. It
is indispensable that you have empathy for others, appreciate and respect them.”“We are not supposed to use our ability for someone equal to us, but we areentitled to use our ability for those who are different.”
These last words of Prof. JANSEN particularly impressed me.
I felt I was given a new view which I didn’t posses before.
Through the conversation with Mr. HIRAGA, Prof. JANSEN seemed to haverespect for him from the heart in various aspects, including his technical knowledgeof the management of schools and craft knowledge of the leadership of schools,
as well as his spiritual knowledge as “a person” who can accept anybody without

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School Organization and Human Development
prejudice while respecting their differences. Regardless of the social status, he canshare his feelings equally to anyone, and thus appreciate one another. All of these
aspects must be crucial in the teaching profession. Coming from a foreign country,
Prof. JANSEN speaks a different language and his skin-color and nationality isalso different. Besides, he was accompanied with an AET (assistant English teacher
of a public school, also coming from another country) and us Japanese students.
Mr. HIRAGA heartedly welcomed all of us and showed to us great care. Prof.
JANSEN described Mr. HIRAGA in his essay as follows: “It was very clear tome that I was in presence of a man devoid of the racial, linguistic, cultural or age
biases that so often demean persons of his accomplishment.”“A competent teacher, with an honest mind and sincere heart, who can treat
anyone equally.” Coming from South Africa whose people had suffered from
Apartheid, Prof. JANSEN could truly identify with “the image of ideal teachers” inhis eyes through the actual meeting with Mr. HIRAGA.
Under the political system Apartheid, the Republic of South Africa extremelycomplicated its development. Under the past racial segregation policy, white
people, Asia-oriented and mix-bloods called ‘Coloreds’ were educated separately.
As a result, it created a great disparity in the education level. This raciallydiscriminated educational system was abolished in 1994 with democratization,
however, it is said that such negative assets from Apartheid still remain throughout
the country. I had a chance to make a private trip to South Africa in my senioryear right before my graduation. What I saw there were high-school-aged blackchildren sitting on the road, seeking day labor. I also observed racially segregatedschool children. The residential areas have remained separated by races, and there
were schools which only white children attend and schools only for blacks. The
official system was abolished, but it doesn’t help all the people shift their old wayof thinking. I realized that it would take quite a long time to completely demolish
discrimination, and to develop a democratic society. I felt that such a society
particularly needed an educator like Mr. HIRAGA who was competent and honest
as well as who would be able to change the society for the better.
Only after I visited South Africa, could I clearly realize the real meaning of thewords of Prof. JANSEN. “Our ability is not for similar people but for those whoare different.”
What is necessary for different races to live in harmony and co-exist? It is to95

appreciate each other. When we can accept other people with different thoughts,
and can exert our ability for those different people, we will appreciate each other.
We can demolish “Prejudice” harboring in our mind. “Let’s think creatively.” Thisis a motto of Prof. JANSEN. When we think creatively we can find new ideas andmake things or our situation better. I think I can now understand the words of Prof.
JANSEN in my own interpretation, because I visited and experienced South Africa,
When we hear about education in Japan, public news often carries negative
aspects such as misbehavior like bullying and school violence, students’absenteeism, psychologically retiring from society, low academic achievement aswell as disciplinary measures against teachers. Good news seems to be rarely aired.
But when we change the direction of our viewpoint, and carefully pay attention tolook at the image of the teachers, I think most of the Japanese teachers do makeefforts in associating with pupils/students equally. Japanese teachers treat all thepupils equally whether they are Korean-descendents living in Japan, or any othernationality. In addition, the Japanese education system has the curriculum of
Dowa (social harmonization, anti-discrimination) Education and Human Rights
Education, so that schools can properly handle the issues organizationally. Besides
the parents, teachers are also adults who are very close to the children and thus
will greatly influence upon their value formation. Therefore, teachers must be“honest and discrimination-free personnel”. They brush themselves up for thesake of educating children, and accumulate various experiences, and increase
their technical expertise. I think we are very lucky to have such school teachers
including Mr. HIRAGA, and we are also lucky to have many students who admire
such teachers so that they wish to be like them.
Project member I

96

As time passes by

As time passes by
MAEHARA Toshio
MAEHARA Toshio was born in 1949 in Yoshikawa
Village, Kamo County, Hiroshima Prefecture. After
graduating from university, he became a science teacher
of lower secondary school. After working as teachingconsultant at the Hiroshima Prefecture Board of
Education, he was appointed as vice principal at HigashiHiroshima City Hachihonmatsu Lower Secondary School
in 1997. Since 2003, he has been the principal of HigashiHiroshima City Koyo Lower Secondary School (current
position). He possesses the title of Hachi-Dan (8th Rank)
of Iaido Kyoshi awarded (conferred) by the All Nippon
Kendo Association.

1. What I remember
First of all, I recalled my past with the events which could have influenced me,
and motivated me to become a school teacher.
(1) The soul nurtured by the age of three (*1)
The oldest memory I can recall is the following.
One of my grandfathers who is my mother’s father was a military serviceman.
After the war, he farmed with horses. I remember he was often taking care of
his Japanese sword in a dark storage room. Ever since I can remember, I felt mybody frozen with fear when I peeped at him with a sword in his hand through theJapanese fusuma [a framed and papered sliding door as a room partition]. The
sword drawn out of the case was a shining ash-color, and the long shaped blade was
extending as high as if it would pierce the ceiling through. Looking at the sight, myfeeling was both of fear and wonder. I think it was the origin of my interest in theclassic martial arts.
My grandfather is a farmer who had no school education. However, he could
write letters with a brush and ink. Also he developed a reservoir for rice farming in
the village, he kept cattle, built houses, he could do as many as a hundred things (justlike the Japanese word for farmer Hyaku-sho =Hundred surnames). When I was
three or four, I always accompanied my grandfather, and we pulled the cattle on the97

farm, cultivated the forests on a hill, strangled chickens, pumped up the bath water,
everything we needed for living. Thanks to these experiences, I learned how to use
my body, and how to live with the soil and in nature, though I am not as powerful
as he was.
My father was an elementary school vice principal. I remember when I
accompanied him to school during the school events like excursions, I got gifts oflunch and snacks from other teachers, or slept in a night-duty room while listening
to the cheerful conversation of the adults who were drinking together. “School
is such a pleasant place, teachers are cheerful and kind.” I think I was imprinted
with such a school view in those days.
Heartwarming scenes and the rich climate in my hometown that I felt in
my infanthood through living and meeting people still remain in my mind
comfortably, and I feel it as a miracle and am thankful for my memory. I now
appreciate the meaning of an idiomatic phrase: “The soul nurtured by the age ofthree will determine the personality which lasts until the age of a hundred.”(2) A teacher in my memory.
①

In my sixth grade

I was a huge boy 160 cm tall and weighing 70 kg. As I always helpedwith farming, I had strong arms and my leg muscles were well developed andpersevering. Though I always brought up the rear in every footrace, at the obstacle
race of straw rice-bag carrying, I was always the first. None of my classmates
were strong enough to sumo-wrestle with me, so I alone had to observe others’
sumo matches. My homeroom teacher who could not bear to watch me being left
alone, invited me saying; “Shall we sumo-wrestle together?” I can’t forget how
delighted I was, when I made a smashing tackle to the teacher with all my strength.
The teacher who gave me a chance to eagerly do something, who accepted all
my energy with his entire body, I really adored that teacher. I still recall those
happy moments. I believe in the following proverbs: “Master acts as a needle,
a disciple behaves like a thread.” “Master and disciple face to face.” These are
the fundamentals of the classic martial arts and practices of traditional Japaneseculture. I think we should never forget this kind of educational philosophy throughthe eras.

98

As time passes by②

In my third grade at lower secondary school

My homeroom teacher was a science teacher. There are three unforgettableepisodes from this time in my life. During the summer vacation, we went aroundthe Saijo Basin area on bike and studied the stratum. The teacher said, “In Saijo,
they say there used to be a lake half the size of Lake Biwa, the largest lake inJapan.” He intrigued me by such words. We surveyed the things I wanted to know,
and I summarized my study and presented it. I thought science was fascinating andI loved it. What I learned from this teacher on how to study it, helped me greatly
when I wrote my graduation thesis at university.
One Sunday morning, I got a phone call from the teacher, “Mr. MAE, pleasecome to school.” Wondering “why?”, I went to school. I was called to practice one
type of the obstacle races ‘passing through the cloth-tube’ which would be heldat the Sports Day. As my physique was big, I always struggled to go throughthe cloth-tube, and everybody knew I was going to be the last runner. The teacher
helped me to find the knack to go through the cloth-tube smoothly and quickly,
and I was touched by this offer; “How come this teacher devotes himself to me somuch…”, and I indeed appreciated it.
The third also started with a phone call one Sunday morning. The teacher
said; “Mr. MAE please come to school.” Then he said, “Let’s go to see yourfather in the hospital.” The teacher told my hospitalized father; “How about
making your son a school teacher?” He gave him such a word by thinking about
my future course. He was such an admirable teacher. The teaching profession
means to establish human relationships, so reliability is the most important thing.
Recommended by this teacher, I decided to study at Tamagawa University.
③

When I aimed to be a teacher

The President of Tamagawa University whom we called the ‘Boss’ was Mr.
OBARA Kuniyoshi. He was often surrounded by students, and he sat down
anywhere on campus and heatedly talked with the students with a smile. He
gave us teachings like “Your mentor is your will”, “Only those who brush upthemselves are entitled to teach others” and “If a teacher does not discipline
strictly, s/he is lazy.”Students described President OBARA as follows. [quoted from a publication“Master’s Road”, by Tamagawa University Press]99

1. He made us carry the night-soil bucket, but he also made us sing Beethoven’s“Ode to Joy”
2. He taught us how to read the Bible and how to use an abacus.
3. He guided us to be a damn fool, but also guided us to be like a snake which
is a symbol of being quick and intelligent.
4. He made us wear a formal suit but also made us wear work clothes.
5. He had lofty ideals, but he was also a steady executor.
6. He was a wild visionary, but also a steady practitioner.
7. He had nerves of steel, but was also extremely scrupulous.
8. He understood things brilliantly but was obstinate.
9. He was uncommonly short-tempered but uncommonly a crybaby.
10. He loved his wife the most but was also a tyrant the most.
11. He advocated internationalism more than anybody but was a patriot morethan anybody.
12. He displayed his originality but he also worked for others.
13. He took care of a sickly child, but also fostered an extraordinary athlete.
14. He educated gifted students but also educated poor students.
15. He was extremely complicated but also very simple.
16. He is a teacher but he did not look like a teacher.
17. Mr. OBARA, he is an expert who can merge opposites into one.
He is a great educator. The education held at Tamagawa University is the ‘allround education’ method, and it is based on the immutable educational theory
as well as the education of the soul. Education must aim to foster ‘soul’ before
anything else.
④

Soul education

Soul education can take place even outside the school. I met a person who
was not my “teacher” but a person whom I could call my “master.” When I was afreshman and 18 years old, I had a chance “to become a disciple under this master.”
His name was HIROI Tsuneji and he was a Shihan [=Master] of a classic martial
art who belonged to the Metropolitan Police Department. At first, I was only
curious and peeped into the classic martial art practice held in the Town Gym, andI was riveted to the spot, rooted to the spot by fascination. “How amazing! This
person must be real.” I remember I strongly thought so. I am really thankful to thisencounter, because I learned a lot of things since then.

100

As time passes by“It is better to find a good master even if it takes three years. Then it could bebetter than starting three years in advance!” “If we don’t learn from a real master,
it means we don’t learn anything.” As the priest Dogen left these words, goodlearning is made possible by meeting a good master. I was allowed to observe theirpractices for a while, and around two weeks later when I sat in front of the master,he gently gave me a kind word; “Would you like to try?” This moment when I
decided to enroll in his group, marked the start of a new phase of my life, I believe.
There is no compromise between the master and a disciple. One technique ispracticed for a period of six months. “The basics will be a basis to strengthen yourcharacter. You must acquire it only in your body. Lying or cheating are never tobe accepted. You have something what will be shining if you polish it up.” All hiswords were strict but warm.
Here is an episode of my practice of Kendo (*2). Skillful players can freely
apply a variety of several techniques, e.g., by implying one but actually using
another. It is indeed praiseworthy. On the contrary, I was not yet skillful, so one
stroke of Men (*3) was all what I could try out. When I was still at this level, I
was given two types of instruction. One person said “Having only one stroke of
Men is not good enough. There are other techniques such as Kote, Do, etc. and how
come you are not trying to use them all? You must practice Kote and Do more
and more!!” However, the master HIROI did not say so. “Your stroke of Men is
excellent. The straight –up and the large scale swing is indeed amazing. You should
keep it as your strongest point.” Being told so, I felt encouraged, and naturally my
Men strokes grew harder and swifter. My rival recoiled and I was given a chance toeven try Kote. This is how I got to be able to use Kote.
“Don’t stamp, don’t stamp, be water!” and “Scold but do not get angry. Praise
rather than scolding” are common idioms, and I found dignity in such a way of
consistent teaching with the soul. Dignity and majesty are human nature which isdeveloped through the long continuous ascetic practices, and they are indispensable
elements for soul education.
I spent only four years at Tamagawa University, but I was blessed with
opportunities to experience real society being away from my parents, to meetmany precious people, to learn things through my body, therefore, every moment(everyday) seemed fulfilled.
After graduation, I came back to my hometown Hiroshima, and was recruited asa Science teacher. I became in charge of the Kendo Club, and practiced it (sweating)with pupils. Also in my leisure time, I continued my practices of Kendo, Iaido (*4)
101and Joudo (*5). The best part of being involved in classic martial art practices wasthat I met a great many people. Gradually I started to think if I could incorporate“the good points of classic martial arts and the joy of meeting people” into school
education.

2. As the Captain of KOYO-maru(*6) ship
I had the honor to be assigned as the head of the Koyo-maru ship (i.e.Koyo
Lower Secondary School). While feeling the strong responsibility, first I recalled
the words of the Captain of the Toyoshio- maru ship. Under such stress, I was
greatly encouraged.
The Toyoshio-maru is a training vessel of Hiroshima University. I had
experienced three days training on board and cruised the Seto Inland Sea. At night,
we sat in a circle on the deck, and exchanged opinions while drinking beer. The
talks by the Captain were particularly impressive. The humanity of the Captain
who is responsible for the lives of the others, was represented by belief, decision,passion and action.
Belief: If there is one person who is not alert enough there will be no guarantee tokeep the safety of the ship. Respective crews must fulfill their duties in respective
places, thus the safe voyage will be secured. While keeping each duty, we musttrust each other, that is required of a man on the sea.
Decision: At the time of a storm, it’s better to be off the coast in the sea rather thanstaying near the port or in the bay. When in a typhoon, I navigated the ship toward
the eye of the typhoon, thus I saved lives by avoiding a possible disaster. Decision
making is the biggest task of the Captain.
Passion: I studied all about the sea such as winds, waves, birds, climate, ports, shiproutes, relations with foreign countries, history, machinery, and oil. A person who
has gathered sufficient information can work with latitude.
Action: At least once a day, I patrol and see every part of the ship with my own
eyes. Therefore, I can identify what must be done now. [Quoted from talks by the
Captain]
Before starting my principalship, I reconsidered them as follows:
Brief: I must protect the school [establishment of relationships with mutual trust,stabilization of the school environment]
Decision: Following the old tradition can be unsafe. I must decide what to do andmove ahead to the ocean [vision]102

As time passes by
Passion: Be well acquainted with information, and share it with others [concrete
methodology in detail].
Action: Confirm with my own eyes [practice, and evaluation of others]
I have been in my principalship for three years, and the Koyo-maru ship
is sailing proudly while hoisting the sail of the Japanese spirit. Things havebeen accomplished thanks to the school faculty, people in the community andeducational stakeholders.

3. Japanese spirit
The word Wa-gokoro [or Japanese spirit] doesn’t exist in a dictionary. I met thisphrase for the first time in 2000, when I was at the venue of the third meeting of the
All Russian Kendo Tournament held in Moscow. The phrase was indicated righton the front part of the Prime Minister HASHIMOTO Ryutaro Cup. The former
Prime Minister, Mr. HASHIMOTO, made a present of the phrase “Wa-gokoro” tothe tournament to consider Kendo as a friendship bridge between Japan and Russia.
This phrase was adapted with honor and respect as an appropriate expression torepresent the aim of the meeting and the tournament. Until that moment, I had notbeen aware of the particular meaning of being a Japanese, but I was freshly awoken
to the fact. My country Japan deserves attention from foreign countries, and I felt
pride that I have as a base the spirit of a Japanese. I realized that we can fulfill our
spirit and get energized when we are in a place with pride and a peaceful mind.
Since then, I have felt myself comforted with the words Wa-gokoro [theJapanese spirit] or (Wa-no-kokoro) Spirits of Japan. The word “Wa” indicates thecountry Japan, but there is more than that. Wa is also found in other words likeHeiwa [peace] and Chowa [harmony]. Wa also reflects the view of humanity
including affirmation, reliability and dignity which are considered important tokeep good human relations. Nagomi [which contains the Chinese character Wa in
written form] signifies the Japanese mind of ‘wabi-sabi’ [‘austere refinement’ and‘quiet simplicity,] the value of spirituality, poetic elegance, an aesthetic sense andrich mind towards nature. The good points and energy which exist in the spiritual
culture of Japan are represented in these words.
The word Wa as a Chinese character is described by the left radical of ‘Food’( 禾 ) and the right radical of ‘Mouth’ ( 口 ) combined to make Wa ( 和 ). I
think having a balanced combination of ‘drink’ and ‘accompanied nibbling’ also
describes the meaning of Wa. At the best occasion, it is important to sit together
with knees facing together around the drink and food, then to have discussion,103Performance of Tea Ceremony―from left, Mr. KAJITA Eiichi, President of Hyogo
University of Education, Mr. NAKAMURA Satoru, professor of Hyogo University and Mr.
MAEHARA Toshio, principal of Koyo Lower Secondary School

while forgetting the time. School will never be vitalized if we are filled withbusiness and hardships. The energy of a school is made by the energy of the faculty
and pupils. Energy is produced by cheerfulness. Cheerfulness is created by heart toheart communication of Nagomi.
Shotoku-taishi Prince once said, “It harmonizes as honorable.” The Japanesespirit which the Shotoku-taishi Prince indicated was that an independent
individual or an autonomous group shall respect each other, trust mutually, andwhen integrated on a large scale, the wisdom will be further developed to create awell balanced better society. This spirit of independence and integration signifies
the spiritual culture of traditional Japan, and its good point. When we reflect on thegood things consigned to oblivion among us, I think we can find the right directionof educational reform.
In the light of the social conditions today, there are social problems including
the increase of atrocious crimes, or the increase of part-timers (those who do not104

As time passes byintend to get proper employment) or NEETs (=not in employment, education ortraining and withdrawn from society). It seems we live in a terrible chaotic era.
General citizens are seriously worrying about our future; “If nothing’s done, Japan
will go to ruin.” Or if we leave these problems unsolved, “there will be no brightyounger generation to build Japan.” While our concerns and worries are swelling,
we must reconsider the countermeasures like “career education” and make efforts
to answer the questions on how the education should be or how humanity shouldbe.
Apathy or egoism will not be accepted in society. How should we foster the
next generation to have “an attitude (and motivation) to contribute to the society
with the Japanese spirit, human reliability or spirit of independence to establish
their own lives?” It is our responsibility to face this issue as their senior generation.
Then naturally, we will reach an answer of “What must be done is all in education.”
To realize the substantial education, concrete, intensive and constant learning
opportunities in which pupils can find dreams, must be provided to vitalize thepupils. It is also necessary to train them so that they will be aware of manners andrules, and how they are related to their lives.
Nothing should be hard to achieve. We simply need to take a step forward to
make the children have a “feeling of satisfaction in learning, working and living.”
Encountering a real art or a genuine, meeting with people and goodness, andcontinuous study will provide a key to establish a base foundation in spirit (a richmind, strong mind, manner and devotion, thankfulness and coexistence, a mind
to love yourself and others). In this way, we can nurture Japanese people withawareness and pride to be a member of the international society.
“Japan will go to ruin.” The root of this worry may be from the fact that
“Japanese have abandoned Japan”, and we must take this warning to our hearts.
Then it will be delightful to challenge the new dreams of a “revival of the mind andbody of Japanese people” and “help children to be independent and foster the spiritof Japan in them.”
Now, I have a strong belief that the soil and culture of “the Japanese spirit”
must be included in the school curriculum as a new concept to learn the spirit ofJapan in school.

4. Curriculum to learn “a piece of spirit”
The educational objectives in our school are; “to foster (nurture) a person who
is well acquainted in the spirit of respecting others, and who is equipped with a105

well balanced intellect, virtue and physical strength, and who is feasible as well as
rich in creativity.” In short, we aim to foster an ability to live (=zest for living).
The following three are our slogans and we aim to help pupils grow towards ourideal pupil image:
Bring in the wind of the Japanese culture to Koyo Lower Secondary
School② Construct! Brighten up! The culture of Koyo Lower Secondary School③ Hand over the tradition. Brighten up our future.
①

We have been practicing our curriculum to learn spirit (=Japanese culture
study). All the faculty members are participating in these educational activities
while looking forward to seeing the development of spirit and motivation of pupils
in study. Japanese culture study is taught as an elective subject, and it includes
Koto [a horizontally long Japanese zither with thirteen strings], Shakuhachi [avertical bamboo flute with four holes in front and one in back], tea ceremony,
Joudo [one of the classic martial arts using a long stick to fight], Ink painting,picture card drawing and bamboo handicrafts. Let me introduce what we have
implemented.
Efficacy of the Japanese culture study
Joudo [classic martial art] is taught as an elective sport and also as part of theIntegrated Study Period. Here is an impression as described by a pupil.
I have chosen Joudo in the Japanese culture study. When I first had astick in my hand, my feeling was filled with excitement to start something
new and worries about studying something new. [omitted] I think the sports
in the Western culture aim to gain as many points as possible and the “cool”
performance is more focused. However, in the Japanese culture Joudo, we neverhurt the rival. While respecting the others, we are seriously involved in thegame.
While I was studying about Joudo, I started to think of “What is realrespect?” I think it is not only that you use honorifics in conversation, or behave
politely. I think “respect” also includes an attitude to research the techniquesand skills of your counterpart, as well as to try to come closer to that level.
When I concentrate myself on the movements of my counterpart with a stick, I
feel I could discover more the meaning of real respect. Through continuing mypractice of Joudo hope I can find as many meanings of respect as possible.
106

As time passes by①

Polishing sensitivity is a basis for “Study, think and act spontaneously” [ourschool motto].

While learning how to handle a stick, this pupil started to think about “Whatis real respect?” I felt passion in the pupil. I was touched by the pupil’s amazing
sensitivity, impressed by the raised viewpoint, and once again, I was given an
opportunity to think about the good points of the classic martial arts.
②

Creating the rich soil [from form to mind, from mind to form]

In classic martial arts, acquiring the “Form” is valued in practicing. “Bowing
to start, and bowing to end” is one of the forms. At the beginning, the pupils are“requested” to greet, but gradually they greet without being requested. It does notmean that the philosophy of “we must do it obediently” is crammed forcefully. But
the classic martial arts have a function to bring out a real feeling to greet heartedly.
This is the real value of the classic martial art or the Japanese way of learning.
This pupil has started to notice the essential part of the classic martial art, thatis “Practicing classic martial arts is equal to learn how to respect other people.”“Feeling” means to create a rich soil that will help grow new sprouts. Once a pupil
is awakened and motivated by the aesthetic impression of the unknown world, thepupil will never stop but continue to challenge to progress towards the goal.
③

Experiences made by feeling in the body and thinking in the mind will help
make strong roots“Form” is a technique and theoretical method which is developed throughmillions of trainings and practices for people to live a better life, and was handed
over through generations. Practices of classic martial arts aim to help form humans
and the society. It is not simply training or cramming of knowledge. By intriguingthe learners’ interests and concerns, we give them the potential to search fortheir futures in creating culture and establishing human relations. Therefore, it isextremely educational. When I think of education I wish to focus on this aspect andutilize it.
Having many experiences of “feeling in the body and thinking in the mind” isequivalent to expanding the strong roots of a plant. The strong roots once grown by
taking sufficient time can steadily absorb water and nutrition by themselves, andthus bear a rich harvest. Life without roots, just like rootless grasses, will never findhappiness or respect from others.

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④

Posture represents a piece of mind

The practice of learning Japanese culture is held only once a week, but every
time we are surprised at seeing some changes in the expression and attitude of thepupils. Without being instructed by someone, the stick itself orients the pupils toknow the fact; “if you do not concentrate on yourself and if you do not keep yourposture right, you can never do it right.”
When we practice the form, we interact with each other as if forming the
Chinese character “Human” 人 or “Human beings”, approaching each other tolearn and touching each other. Thus, the players will find the meaning of what
they are trying to do between them. This awakening becomes the starting point ofan “etiquette mind.” Practices in learning the Japanese culture will make them noteit and think of it. Then everyone becomes straight-minded. Posture and behavior
are represented by the status of the mind, and if one is equipped with a beautiful
mind, one can greet straight-mindedly. Everything begins from this point. It fosters
motivation and behavior with pride, and also good human relations and sociality. It
is indeed the development of “the zest for living”. The real aim of education must
be conducted to form a serious relationship of reliability just like the “Form” inclassic martial arts. More than hearing a hundred times, more than seeing a hundred
times, we can learn respect in teaching through one touch. I hope all the teachers
would reflect on themselves in this way and brush themselves up.
⑤

Practicing is a basic style of learning

The Japanese word “Practice 稽 古 ” is described by two Chinese characters,“ 稽 thinking” of the “ 古 past”. This means to deeply taste the wisdom and theinnermost secrets of living by our ancestors. When our pupils start practicing theforms of tea ceremony or classic martial arts, they certainly prepare themselves forconcentration. Pupils straightly get ready to start practices. If they keep this postureand continue their practices, they will surely acquire the art. Learning in this basic
way of our tradition which Japanese people have cherished for years, will also
provide an opportunity to form a character as a Japanese person.
⑥

Understanding and cooperation from the community [If one strongly wishes,
it will bloom.]

In the study of the Japanese Culture, we rely on community people to teachtechniques and specialized contents. Instructors from the community discuss108

As time passes by
beforehand and make arrangements with the teachers in charge of each course,
all in accordance with the school policy. For some occasions, we ask them to join
the school-based teacher training, in order to create an ideal lesson by establishinggood human relationships. After the lesson, the community instructors talk about
their long private experiences including hardships and joy in the Principals’ Office,and this also helps widen the view of the faculty members.
I recall once it was right after the open school event, some community residents,
by knowing about the Japanese Culture study held at our school, telephoned us andsaid; If you need help, I will volunteer and go to school to teach”, or “I also want tojoin the pupils and learn together.” How thankful we are. Having the understanding
and cooperation from the local community is the best encouragement for us.
Our pupils encountered something “genuine” through interacting with local
people, and discovered the joy of learning through the attentiveness of adults
committed to them in teaching, and made great efforts so that they can now proudly
present what they acquired at the local Culture Center Festival, and so on.
⑦

Creation of education, creation of school culture, character development, life
choiceIn education, it is essential to direct educational activities with genuine andspiritual value. Continued learning which cultivates the mind, will lead to creating avigorous school culture. As an idiom illustrates, if one chases the worthy objectivein life, one can be blessed with a good encounter. A good encounter means tomutually enhance human value. How can we create the best three years of lower
secondary school in order to form a sound human, and to make the best choice inlife? We need to think well and use our own initiative.

5. Pupils’ awareness changes
People live with spiritual activities. Happiness, satisfaction, pride, motivation,or showing emotions like pleasure, anger, sadness and joy, all of these arespiritual activities. We can express our feelings when we feel impressions throughexperiences of achievement and satisfaction.
Pupils exhibit their feelings in
expression and actions, but they also convey messages to teachers in words [bywriting a composition describing their impressions of the activities.] In theircompositions, we can identify the inner growth in them. It is such a joy.
There is an idiom that goes like this;109

[The most impressing thing for a person is the sincere words from the bottom of
the heart.]- From Pupils compositions- :…...I am left-handed so I hated the period of calligraphy since elementary
school. But the current instructor of ink drawing, said to me, “It doesn’t matter
whether you use your right hand or left hand”, and since then I feel confident
with drawing. I learned that if I concentrate to draw with my heart attached,even I could complete a favorable master piece. I think I will try to demonstrate
my ability not only in drawing but also in my daily life without giving up.
[This pupil changed so much, nowadays she greets us vividly every time we
meet.]…….Koto [a long Japanese zither], is a mysterious musical instrument. In
between the two notes, I can hear another beautiful sound. Every time I play the
Koto, I feel I can concentrate more and more on myself. We keep silence rightbefore the start of playing, and I feel the presence of a peaceful mind. Before, I
could not stop private talks during the lessons because I could not switch myself
off from the recess time and could not concentrate on myself, even after thelesson started.
Community people come to our school to teach us, taking time out of theirbusy schedules. At the Culture Festival, I want to play the Koto proudly to
exhibit how much I have achieved, therefore, I must practice it now very hard.
[Confidence you gained after making efforts will turn into motivation to “wishto present”.]…….What I gained from the picture-card drawing class is that now I canconcentrate on the activity with a peaceful mind. Through drawing the picture
cards, I took a chance to carefully look at vegetables and flowers. In addition,
my view point of thinking about the names of flowers or looking at objects waschanged.
…….We went to an elderly home called Choju-en, to bring our hand-painted
picture cards. Before reaching therSe, I was very excited. (Omitted) At first, I
was too nervous when I handed my picture cards to senior people, so I could not
say anything except “Please.” While I was giving them to various people, I got
accustomed to it gradually, and I managed to speak to them saying something110

As time passes bymore. When I saw an old lady crying after receiving our picture card gifts, I
really thought how glad I was to be able to bring them here. I thought I wanted
to practice drawing more and be a better painter. All the staff at Choju-en wasvery cheerful, and whenever I met someone, they vividly greeted me, so I felt
very comfortable. I think it was good to visit Choju-en, because I could please
them, also I myself became natural and smiled naturally, and my heart was
warmed up. My future dream is to be a care worker. I will make the best use ofthis experience, and after I study at upper secondary school, I want to be a care
worker just like Mr. XX who was very nice. I want to visit Choju-en again.
[When she came back and reported what she did, her face had completelychanged compared to that before the visit.]…….Tea Ceremony is performed in a very quiet environment and somepeople say it is too stiff. I thought so too at the beginning. Since I started toenjoy making green tea, I feel quite comfortable to be in the quietness. In such a
moment, I do sense this is Japanese Culture. Nowadays, there are many Japanesepeople who are not exposed to Japanese Culture. I think it is a big shame.
[It takes a while to nurture a piece of mind. When one continues to practice, one
gradually discovers the good positive aspects.]…….I used to easily get tired of doing anything, but now I can concentrate
to listen to speakers until the end of the session. My goal this year is to pass
the Shodan (first rank) with all other classmates, and I would like to makepeople outside the school astonished at our Japanese culture activities of Koyo
Lower Secondary School. I want to make our tradition of Koyo with everyonein the school. Mr. OO teaches us enthusiastically, so I also want to meet his
expectation. I am very glad that Mr. OO recovered and got out of the hospital. I
will stick it out to do more practices.
[This pupil worried about the instructor who was sick in the hospital. We reallywant that he will achieve his goal of obtaining the 1st rank.]
Through impressive and satisfactory experiences, pupils feel the joy oflearning, then they are more motivated as their attitude toward learning is boosted.
Furthermore, through acquiring the techniques which help solidify the mind andbody, as well as through understanding the cultural value, they can develop pride
and an affirmative feeling in themselves and others. By associating with other111

people smoothly, they acquire social skills as well. Even for instructors, they
can realize again the greatness of the Japanese Culture [the true Japanese in theJapanese culture]. They can also witness the dramatic growth of pupils, and savor
the happiness.

Closing Remarks
The Analects of Confucius include the following teachings. “If I can find theway to the truth in the morning, I won’t mind to die in that evening.” “If I canprovide the best teaching which can satisfy all my disciples here, then more people
will gather from outside.”
These teachings imply what Confucius was seeking the most in his life, andwanted to hand over to the next generation. When people live, they will face anoccasion to question themselves, as to “what they must handover”. I think it will bearound the age of 50. Confucius has also said, “People know the Province at 50”.
I think we just live making a headlong rush until the age of 50 then, the real life
comes afterwards.
What I would like to say at last is that, “Our work depends on meetings andthankfulness.”
Everybody knows what lacks in him/herself more than anybody else. But atanytime, someone supports us and cooperates with us so that we can go ahead. I
am grateful to all the educational stakeholders [schools, parents, administration
offices, universities] and to those people in classic martial arts who live in this cityand those who come from other places in the Prefecture, even foreign enthusiasts
of classic martial arts. They gave me warm kind words so that I could consult or
make requests to them whenever I needed. I can hardly deny that the ultimate goalof education and classic martial arts are “building true human relationships.” A
Chinese thinker, Mencius also said these words, “Depending on one’s situation,fate can change for better or worse. However, when everyone works together, nomatter where you are, fate shines upon you.” Indeed, I am intoxicated with thisteaching.
We must take a long time at work and in life. We must develop ourselves truly
without a lie but also generously and deeply. Training yourself, brushing up,
cultivating your culture, making such efforts outside the educational world can also
be quite useful for the teaching profession. There is a saying, “a good well must be
dug widely”. In addition, if we keep our own world, an inner world, we can also
create good relations with other people, have enriched ideas and an educational112

As time passes byphilosophy. All the rest is just lifting my face up confidently to the sun, while
continuing my daily work as time passes.

This chapter is based upon a lecture conducted by Mr. MAEHARA Toshio for the
JICA participants from the Republic of South Africa as part of the JICA training course on
Science and Math Teacher Education. It was held on October 9th,2004 at Higashi-Hiroshima
City Koyo Lower Secondary School.

113

Material 1: Words in the Principal’s Office
All the visitors to our school are first invited to the Principal’s Office. Teachers
and the staff often come to the principal’s office too. The principal’s office serves
as a place to help the visitors understand the school, or, convey the principal’s
thoughts to the faculty members. On the walls, the school’s educational objectives
and the school motto are usually displayed. In my case, in addition to them, I also
place frames with my hand writing, for example my day-to-day (fugitive) feelings
or words by quoting from other materials. I also aim to remind myself of them.
Here are some of them.
・

・
・

・

・

・

Ten Educational Instructions
Always smile and have a cheerful heart.
Vigorous greeting will make the day alive.
Converse with others with a mother’s feeling.
A father’s mind is deep and bias-free.
Brush up yourself, you are a mirror.
Promote research and foster (cultivate) your belief.
One day one progress every time in a fresh sense.
An educational mind exists also in scolding.
Complaints and ill-speaking will destroy myself.
Humane love is warm and generous [from my old (former) teacher ofclassic martial arts, the certified Hanshi Mr. NAKANISHI Yasushi].
When performing a classic martial art, use the body only honestly and on alarge scale. Simply do it proudly and boldly [from my old teacher of classic
martial arts, Iaido Hanshi, Mr. IWATA].
When you are reported of something, galvanize yourself into action.
Speedy handling will determine the result. This swiftness will determine thedevelopment of your organization as well as your growth [quoted from anewspaper article].
When you have not planned yet, you must be humble and precautious. Once
you draw your plan, then do it boldly without fear. When you achieve it, youmust be careful because security is the greatest enemy [from Mr. KATSU
Kaishu, a naval officer and statesman during the late Tokugawa Shogunate
and Meiji Era].
“Did you greet someone with a smile again today?” “Dream” [from Mr.
OHARA Kuniyoshi, president of Tamagawa University].

114

As time passes by“First you demonstrate what to do, then you explain over and over again,
and then you praise them. Otherwise, you can never mobilize people.”
・ Peach and plum trees bloom beautiful flowers and bear fruits, so people
naturally get together and thus create a path [=Peach and plum trees signify
a man of character, and people adore such a man of high virtue and naturally
gather around him/her.] [from the Records of the Grand Historian written by
SIMA Qian].
・ If you change your view, you change your thought. If you change yourthought, you change your mind. If you change your mind, you change
your behavior. If you change your behavior, you change your habit. If yourchange your habit, you change your character. If you change your character,
you change your fate.
・ A person with a small talent can not notice a gifted chance, a person withan average talent can not utilize the chance though s/he noticed the chance.
A person with great talent can even utilize a subtle chance as if only lightly
scraping the sleeves among people.
・

Material 2: Introduction of an elective subject titled “Learning the Culture of theJapanese Spirit”
We launched an educational program on “Learning the culture of the Japanesespirit” which was created systematically in the “Integrated Study” for Grade 1,“Special activity” and “Moral Education” for Grade 2, “Elective subjects” forGrade 3. Here, a scene of an “elective subject” is introduced from the report of the
instructor in charge.
① Music [Koto or a Japanese zither course, Shakuhachi or a bamboo flutecourse]Community instructor (instructor from the community) plays the piece“Spring Sea”, and the music teacher talks about the Seto Inland Sea (the Sea
in the south of Hiroshima Prefecture) and the composer MIYAGI Michio.
Pupils are guided to be able to reflect on the image of the scene clearly, andthen they play the music. Though it is held once a week, every unit by unit
the better developed pupils’ expression, posture and feelings were observed.
115

Pupils participated in the Community Center’s annual festival or the musicalconcert participated in by all the lower secondary schools in the same city,
as well as other events, having more stage performance experience, they
gradually became confident.
Encountering adults in various scenes enabled them to have a good chance tolearn how to interact with different people.
② Fine Art [Ink painting course]
Creating the darkness or lightness by mixing the black ink with water indifferent combinations, pupils can describe flowers or seasonal items on apiece of paper by various strokes made by a brush, so they were completely
absorbed in ink painting.
Through learning the drawing pattern of four elements [composed of orchid,bamboo, plum and chrysanthemum] they acquired the special technique ofink painting and thus concentrate on painting by applying the newly learned
skills.
③ Sports (Physical education) [Joudo course]
The form and basics of Joudo authorized by the All Nippon Kendo
Association are repeatedly practiced, and then they learn the technical skills
and rules, manners and relations with counterparts.
They experience the feeling and fulfillment to practice seriously. Judging is
conducted in turn.
④ Social study [Tea Ceremony Course]This course is related to the study of history, the unit of Azuchi-Momoyama
Era (1500-1600).
Its aim is to understand the Spiritual Culture of harmony and respect which
was free from the social ranks, by experiencing the performance of tea
ceremony.
⑤ Japanese [Noh Theater Performance Course][=the world’s oldest living
theatrical tradition]
Its aim is to understand the brilliance and auspiciousness of a Noh song
and a stage play of a tale titled “Tsuru-Kame” or “Tortoise and Crane”.
Pupils learn how to express the Noh song in body movements throughunderstanding the meaning. Pupils are interested in acting in a Noh play, as
they can feel the circle of words and comfort produced by chanting with aloud voice during the stage performance.

116

As time passes byThings which shake pupils’ hearts
The Koyo Lower Secondary School where Mr. MAEHARA works as principal
is located quite near our campus of Hiroshima University. We launched thisPrincipals Project focusing on the area of “Hiroshima”, and it was amazing that it
has taken quite a long time to reach such a closely-located school while looking fora prominent principal.
We often know little of what is happening right at our feet, or in our own
backyards, and chase something in the far distance as if things far away must be
greater.
We have been dreaming to find the ideal education. To realize our dream, we
have taken opportunities to meet prominent educators who have been readily taking
action while overcoming difficulties. One of the reasons that it is difficult to realize
this dream is because the issue “What kind of children do we want them to grow up
as and what can we do to realize that?” is a difficult question to be answered.
Recently, schools have more freedom to conduct characteristic educational
activities taking the locality of the community and the specialty of the children
into consideration. When such a “freedom” is given, reversely the school may
find it inconvenient. In order to implement good education overcoming suchinconveniences, and difficulties, how can the Captain on a ship called a schoolwith a large crew steer? In the case of Mr. MAEHARA, he made a decision tosteer toward “Learning the Culture of the Japanese spirit.” I recognized that he wascertain of the merits in what he himself had acquired through learning culture witha Japanese spirit.
Most of us were born in Japan, grew up, and lived here. As if it is for granted,
we go to elementary school and then to lower secondary school. How many
chances of knowing Japanese culture and noticing the good points of it do wehave through our school life? I guess we must consciously involve ourselves inlearning the Japanese Culture with a certain will to deeply understand it. Under
such a circumstance, Mr. MAEHARA who had cultivated his “spirit” throughthe practices of classic martial arts, carried a passionate desire to provide theopportunity to make pupils learn widely about the Japanese Culture. He placed itin his school curriculum. Thanks to his attempt, his pupils are now blessed with a117

chance to note the good points of their culture.
The practices of the culture education with the Japanese spirit were promotedwith understanding and cooperation from the community. In every community,
there is much expertise and people with a variety of talents who can be wellincorporated into the school education. At his school, community people who areprofessional technicians and specialists, taught pupils how to play the Koto, draw
ink paintings, learn Joudo, etc. and provided the best chance to meet the “real”
culture of Japan. They started to go to school with a will that “they wanted to learn
and grow up with the children.”
We all desire to deliver good education. I understand that it is important tomake the educational content as attractive as possible. However, besides that,when an educator passionately desires that; “I want to provide a chance for pupils
to know something genuine”, and then this passion will be the force to shakethe pupils’ heart. I strongly felt so. The thoughts of Mr. MAEHARA and theentire school reached the hearts of the people in the community. The desire of thecommunity residents that: “We want to hand over the good things to children”,
traveled around, and gradually reached the hearts of the pupils.
The pupils encountered a variety of people, and interacted with them, andrealized the strong desire deep in the bottom of the heart of those people. And thenthey had a chance to face themselves. As a consequence, they learned sincerely
about “what is important to be human” and “spiritual aspects that are only handed
down from person to person.” None of them could have been learned from school
textbooks. Through such experiences, children enriched their mind, thus, they
developed the transformation of their expression and movement.
Learning from Mr. MAEHARA’s practices, I learned that it is important tohave a clear view of what kind of pupils we want to develop. I also learned that
it is important to have a passionate desire to mobilize them toward the goal. As
a school teacher, what can we do for children? Before everything else, we shouldcarefully pay attention to the children in front of us, and note that wonderful things
are also in our backyards. I think this view is universally important for any educatoreven those beyond the country borders or regions.
Project members, I and N

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As time passes by*1 This is part of a Japanese proverb “The soul nurtured by the age of three will determine
the personality which lasts until the age of a hundred.”*2 Kendo is the modern sport of Japanese fencing. It is one of the few modern classic martial
arts to have grown out of actual battlefield combat. Today it is a one-on-one competition
between armored opponents using bamboo swords who try to strike one of 4 specificpoints using a specified part of the sword, a specific technique, and who call out theintended striking point as they attack it. The term kendo came into use in 1919 when the
Dai Nippon Butoku-kai renamed the arts of kenjitsu and gekken.
*3 The helmet worn in Kendo or in general terms a mask. The men is a valid striking point
roughly between the temples.
*4 Quick-draw manner of sword use where simply drawing the sword from the scabbard is a
cut at the opponent.
*5 One of the classic martial arts using a long stick to fight.
*6 Suffix added to the name of a Japanese ship.

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120

Five Years as a Principal who came from the private sector

Five Years as a Principal who came from the private sector
RYOAN Takashi
RYOAN Takashi was born in 1946 in Toyama City,
Toyama Prefecture. After graduating from university, he
was hired by Mazda Motor Corporation, and worked in themarketing and public relations departments of the company.
Having had 32 years of experience at Mazda, in 2001, he wasappointed as principal of Kurose Lower Secondary School in
Kurose Town, Kamo County (currently the area is known as
Higashi-Hiroshima City) in Hiroshima Prefecture through the
newly-established system of appointing principals from theprivate sector.

1. How I became a Principal
I became the Principal of Kurose Lower Secondary School in April, 2001 under
extraordinary circumstances. In Japan, nobody can become teachers of publicschools, even more so principals, without the necessary preparations. However,in recent years, as part of the School Reform Program in Japan, a person without
teaching qualifications may be appointed as a principal.
Under this project, persons who have accumulated experience in organizational
management in private companies may be given such post. This program waslaunched in order to promote innovations in schools under the able leadership ofexperienced corporate managers. At present, this reform initiative has now spreadall over Japan. Today, there are about 100 principals nationwide who came fromthe private sector. So in 2001, for the first time in Japanese history, I became aprincipal even without a background in teaching.
It was the time the bubble burst, or the collapse of the Japanese stock andreal estate markets. Many enterprises were under pressure to restructure theirorganization or dismiss their employees. My company was not an exception. In
January 2001, an appeal for voluntary resignation before the retirement age wasmade in a large number. I had already served there for 32 years. I believed that I
spent the best years of my life there; yet, I also felt that it was high time for me torelinquish my position. So without any regret, I tendered my resignation.
Not long after that, news reached me that “Hiroshima Prefecture was looking
for a new public school principal who has had working experience at a private
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company”. After leaving Mazda, I wanted to avoid the cutthroat competition life
I used to have. Instead, I wanted to do something that would impact other people,
no matter how small a task it could be. The post of a public school principal justseemed too big for me. Without the needed teaching qualifications, I thought thisproject was just a dream in some far-off land.
“Mr. RYOAN, (if you are appointed as principal,) you are not going to educate
students firsthand. We expect that you will manage the school.” My feeling was
shaken by this explanation and I felt I might be able to handle the job.
Prior to this stint, I worked at a car manufacturing company called Mazda. I
was assigned to various divisions: merchandise planning, marketing, advertising,and public relations. I also worked as the president of its affiliate company.
While at Mazda, I always tried to understand the feelings of customers and theprevalent social trends, and concentrated all my efforts on prioritizing products
and services that would meet the needs of the market (including the customers).
In addition, I was always asked to exhibit my management ability to the fullest,
and unite our comrades together and empower them so that our company would
survive the highly competitive business atmosphere.
As I reflect on my recent years of working at Kurose Lower Secondary School,
there is no doubt in my mind that the experiences I had with Mazda greatly
prepared me.

2. Principal as a manager(1) Importance of communication
The Kurose Lower Secondary School where I work is located in the central
part of Hiroshima Prefecture. It is within the rural districts surrounded by
Hiroshima City in the west, Higashi-Hiroshima City in the north, and Kure City inthe south. Recently, new housing areas have been developed in Kurose Town, andmany residents commute to Hiroshima City, Kure City or Higashi-Hiroshima City.
The population of the town has grown to 25,000; still, my school is the only lower
secondary school here. With 900 students, it is the second largest out of 250 lower
secondary schools in Hiroshima Prefecture.
I spent 32 years working only in a private company, and I did not have any
experience or specialized knowledge in education, but I have well adapted myself
into this new environment without much anxiety.
The first thing I did in my assignment was to hold an individual meeting withall 50 teachers. I allocated one hour each for every interview with a teacher.
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Five Years as a Principal who came from the private sector
As a former marketing man, I learned that hearing the opinions in the market
or from people at the actual place of work was fundamental in making soundjudgments and taking concrete actions. By listening to the opinions and views of
the 50 teachers at Kurose Lower Secondary School, I could clearly see various
aspects including the status quo and issues within the school, teachers’ dreams andaspirations, and future directions and plans for the school.
I tried to listen to as many opinions and thoughts as I could about students’
circumstances, teachers’ daily working conditions and concerns, parents’ viewson school education, and things that ought to be done to make the Kurose Lower
Secondary School better. It took me two months to finish hearing from all 50
faculty members, but by that time, I had become quite well-informed of my school.
What surprised me the most at school when I first entered the educational
world is that school teachers work extra hard. Starting their day with early morning
practices of clubs at around 7 am, they give lessons for five to six hours, and after
school, again they involve themselves in club activities. At around 6 pm, they startmarking examination papers and prepare for the following day’s lessons. A great
number of them go home after 9 pm.
So, I made it my mission to get to know and support these hard-working
teachers. Welcoming a new principal coming from the private sector was
new for them, and I was sure they were curious but also worried about what
I thought and what I intended to do. Therefore, I thought of ways in order toopen the communication lines between me and the teachers, as I know that goodcommunication is vital in any organization.
I was quite taken aback when I first entered the school, because the practices
being adapted there and the viewpoint of the faculty seemed incongruous for a
person like me who had spent most of my life in a private company. Policies andperspectives in business activities such as “management toward a goal”, “quality
management, responsibility to quality”, “concept of competitiveness”, and “value
efficiency” were rarely observed in school. I am not saying that private companies
are ahead of schools. The nature of each differs in many ways, and it will be quiterisky to force the schools to just accept and practice corporate principles andvalues. But sometimes in some cases, schools may adapt viewpoints and thoughts
of private companies as well as of the general citizens, if these will result in betterschool operations. With these ideas in mind, I wrote some of my thoughts in aweekly essay entitled “Principal’s Random Thoughts.” I wanted to share my viewsand experiences coming from the business world with the teachers through those123

articles.
For instance, in one essay on the topic of “Social Responsibility andAccountability of Schools”, I explained about the necessity of transparency
in organizations. In “The Day When Schools Disappear”, I wrote about mypredictions that along with the changes in the era, schools and teachers would
be placed in an atmosphere that is highly competitive, and this would cause cutbacks on personnel. Writing about reinventing schools in “Creating a New SchoolBrand”, I proposed the need to “create an attractive Kurose Lower Secondary
School trusted within and highly regarded by the community” to underscore theneed of schools to operate with a clear understanding of the meaning of their
existence. Every week, I brought various stories and proposals from different
points of view. Thankfully, I heard that the teachers felt refreshed learning newthings from my essays.
(2) Working for School Reform– Creating an image of a new brand –I used two approaches to reform the image of the school and to create a brand.
The first one is “management technique in problem-solving style”. I discussed
many issues with the teachers; for instance, ① how to teach meticulously, ② how
to secure the sufficient number of lessons, ③ how to create learning opportunities
beyond the lessons, ④ how to provide more chances to the students who want tostudy more, and ⑤ how to provide undivided support in learning, starting from
grade one.
Various recommendations were given as a result of these discussions,
namely: ① achievement-based class formation, ② drastic restructuring of school
events, ③ implementation of extracurricular sessions including morning-study
and supplemental study, ④ establishment of the Research Department, and ⑤
institutionalization of scholastic achievement tests starting from grade one.
The other approach I used was the “management technique in setting up goals”.
Too mighty educational goals would not be helpful in setting up guidelines for
activities. Based on the idea of creating an attractive school, we discussed among
the faculty members how to make “the school, students and teachers” appealing as
each of them is an indispensable element in our organization. So we set up threegoals to create a desirable school, namely, “an institution that has a universally
good reputation”, “energetic children”, and “teachers who can make easy-tounderstand lessons.” Questionnaires filled out by all of the students and parents
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Five Years as a Principal who came from the private sector
were also considered in setting these goals. However, the details on how we
operationalized our plans are omitted here.
(3) Holding the “School General Assembly” to disseminate information andinform the community residents
The new academic year’s annual plan named SMAP [School Management
Plan] is completed every mid-April. Yearly, we invite people in the community,
parents and stakeholders in Kurose Town to our general assembly at school, andthen explain about the contents of the SMAP.
Publicizing our plans entails a lot of hard work, but from different perspectives,
we must be proud of what we have made public, and then proudly implement what
we planned. Gaining understanding and trust from parents and the community is
the most needed for public education today.
During the General Assembly for the current school year, we presented ourreport of activities from the previous academic year, and announced the coming
year’s annual scheme. The goals and plans of the past year had been smoothly andsatisfactorily implemented, and many attendants praised our efforts.
Thanks to the trust and reliability of the people of Kurose Town, oureducational activities have been continued.

3. Principal as an educator
I find a great deal of joy and thankfulness to be in this position, when I get the
chance to directly give my lessons to the students, or when I have dialogues withstudents in the interview sessions. I attend them very seriously, however, to tell you
the truth, even in my fifth year as principal, every now and then, I still feel nervous.
One of my concerns as the principal, is that I find it hard to remember the faces
and names of 900 students. I cannot talk with all of them individually, as much as
I would like to. Perhaps there are some students who never have a chance to speakwith the principal during the three years of the lower secondary school life. If so, I
feel very sorry for them as their principal. If it is possible, I sincerely wish to havea conversation with every student, one by one equally. In particular, I want to givean essential talk on “how we must live in our society”.
I have been harboring that feeling ever since, and so I proposed that on someoccasions --- at least once a year --- where I can talk with them. One such occasionis the moral education lesson for newly admitted first graders, one lesson per class,held almost right after their enrollment. The other is for the second graders, and125

I give a joint class lesson on the topic “What is good work?” right before theirpractice of work experience outside the school. Also for the grade three students,
towards the end of the year, I sit for an individual interview. Originally I am nota school teacher, so I feel quite nervous when I speak in front of the students.
But whenever the session is over, I feel joyful for having being able to contributesomething to the growth of children, and I indeed appreciate the fact that I am now
dealing with school education.
(1) Moral education for grade one
There are seven classes this year in the first grade. Last May, I was givena chance to do one period of moral education to each class. I gave the students
homework a week in advance. The theme was “What would you like to do yourbest for the three years at lower secondary school?” Students wrote down freely asummary on what they thought. I asked them to present their work in accordancewith the name roll.
“I want to do my best in both the student clubs and my studies,” said one student.
Most of them presented similar ideas.
The principal’s question followed: “Which club are you referring to?”“A baseball club,” replied the student.
“How are you going to do your best?” I inquired.
“I will attend the early-morning exercises seriously, and attend the after-school
practice without fail. I will also practice on Saturdays because I want to be selected
as a regular player.”“Do you think you could be selected only by those practice sessions?”“I will also practice swinging a bat at home.”“Are you sure you can manage to survive such rigorous practice sessions? Can you
continue it to the very end until graduation?”“I think I can do it.”“All right. Once you are chosen as a regular player, please come and tell me about
it. I will go to cheer for your team.”“Thank you very much.”
I spend about a minute talking with each student and a total of 40 minutes
for all 40 students. I just try to listen to them and encourage them with a gentle
smile. Other students also get to listen to our conversations. Every time somebody
wraps up his/her presentation, we give him/her a big round of applause. Afterthe presentation, I see half shyness and half delight on the faces of the students. I
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Five Years as a Principal who came from the private sector
remember a well-known saying by a poet SATO Issai who lived in the end of the
Shogunate Era: “To rouse oneself is a catalyst to progress in learning.” I hope thatstudents will rouse themselves to put their hearts and souls into the things they doduring the lower secondary school life.
(2) Lesson for second graders
Every June, second graders go outside school to have a job experience for twodays at local companies, shops or nursery schools. It is a good opportunity for themto know about the society they live in. It is also a refreshing experience for the
students because as a person who came from a private company, I can give them atalk about jobs during the introduction session.
“What is a good job?” is the title of my session, and I give a few examples anddetails about the difference between work and volunteer activity. I tell the students
that the most important factor at work is the customer, and that a good job satisfies
customers as well as the workers themselves. I also tell them that different people
have different values. It is important to know what the customers are looking for.
Three hundreds students seriously listen to me with great interest. They have said
my face brightened up especially when I talked about my past job at MAZDA
Motor Corporation.
After the introductory session, I asked the students to write a composition
describing their impression of the session, and their reports always illustrate thecontent of my talks quite clearly.
“I was surprised that our principal was employed by MAZDA and also acted as
the President of MAZDA SPEED. It was my first time to know about that. The
principal displayed posters and various other items and explained to us clearly andso happily.”“The principal told us that a good job makes both customers and workers feelsatisfied. I agree with that. If I myself can not feel satisfaction, I don’t think thatjob is meaningful to me.”“The principal said he felt good when he went to a convenience store and the
shopkeeper said “Welcome” with a smile. I am going to cheerfully greet customers
when I am at the work experience session.”“When I am trusted by a customer, it means that “I am also bought by a customer”(=Customers paid money for the product and also for my service). These words
were very impressive to me.”“The principal’s talk was very clear. There is a greater variety of products at
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cheaper prices in a supermarket than in a convenience store. So how come many
young people still choose to go to the convenience store? It is because it is locatedeverywhere, so it is closer to their residence. In the same manner, there is a wide
variety of car models, so we can choose our favorite one. If there is only one
model, it won’t be attractive to us. I agree indeed.”“Towards the end of the class, the principal suggested that we should work in a
way that both other people including customers and we ourselves can rejoice. It
was great to have a chance to listen to his talk.”
I was just so glad that they seemed to have absorbed straightly what I talked
to them about. Children of their age must have opportunities to seriously listen
to stories like these from others, and learn from them. I reaffirm that thoughtless
talk or rash words will be poisonous to children. The students’ reports describing
their impressions are my most precious treasure. How lucky I am to have such a
privileged occupation working at a school.

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Five Years as a Principal who came from the private sector(3) Interviews with the principal for grade three students.
Recently, it has become common to require oral examination interviews as acharacter test during entrance examinations in upper secondary schools, just likethe oral examinations for the recruitment of companies. Prior to the actual exam,teachers offer several opportunities for students to experience the oral exam, andgive basic training on how to enter the interview room, how to greet and introduce
oneself, how to choose proper words for polite expression, how to answer someof the questions, etc. For the final practice, our students attend the interview
conducted by the principal. For the students, the interview with the principal is theexperience that makes them feel the most nervous.
My interviews are carried out from October to December. I heard that thestudents indeed feel stressed out to be interviewed by me. For instance, after one
interview, I saw one boy’s trousers wet on both knees. I asked him why, and hereplied that he sweat from the palms of his hands. It was funny and at the sametime moving to know that.
The questions I ask my students are the same every time. I always start with
“What have you done your best at for the three years of lower secondary school?”
Many students talk about their club activities, the school’s Culture Festival and theSports Day. The other question I ask is, “After graduation, what would you like to
do? Please tell me about your dream.”
There was one not-so-noticeable boy to whom I asked “What did you do yourbest at for the three years of lower secondary school?” He replied, “I haven’t done
anything in particular.”“There must be something” I insisted.
“I cooked dinner.”“Oh, can you cook?”“Yes, I can cook! I don’t have a father, and my mother works until late in theevening, so I cook dinner for my mother and also my younger sister.”“I see. You are a laudable, fine young man. And is your cooking good?”
The boy seemed a bit disappointed with my question. “Yes, it is good, because
both my little sister and mother eat it saying it’s good! Delicious!”
An image of a warm, inviting home where the three family members were
happily having dinner together crossed my mind. I think his mother is a lucky
person to have such a good son.
Towards the end of the interview, I always make it a point to ask this question.

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“What do you think of the three years at Kurose Lower Secondary School?” Everychild would say, “It was pleasant and enjoyable.” “It was a fulfilling three-year
school life.” “I am happy that I made a lot of friends.” It is in moments like thesethat I as the principal feel joy from the bottom of my heart.

4. Final remarks(1) Differences between a company and a school
Most of my life had been spent in my career in Mazda, but I have well adapted
myself into the school environment without much anxiety, because the school andthe private corporation have something in common. Companies have workers andcustomers, while schools have teachers and students. Both involve ‘people’, so if
we have placed a premium on ‘people’ and human resources, then there should be
no bewilderment.
If I name the differences, will it then be of any value? Let me raise two things
which are commonly practiced in a company, but not in a school. One is that
“Outcome-based evaluation is strictly required.” Every year the stockholders’meetings are periodically held in a company. A large number of stock-holders
attend there, to hear the reports given by the president and the executive staff.
When the performance made was better than the publicly pledged plans a year
ago, they welcome us with big applause. If the performance was not achieved, thepresident and the executives will be made to feel impeached, or worse, denounced
as if one sat on a chair of nails.
In a school, though the results of educational activities did not meet the
expectations, it seldom happens that outsiders severely denounce the school staff.
One of the big events in school is the Teachers’ Research Meeting / Workshop,
and they report the research outcome to a large number of honorary guests andparticipants from outside. Of course, there is no such ‘failure in research’; therefore
all the participants give them a big hand, thus the meeting will end in peace.
What we must be careful about is that though the presentation of the researchoutcomes was good, it does not mean that their educational activities were equally
good. The school and every teacher has to make continuous efforts to upgrade theperformance guided by such questions as “What is a good education?” and “Whatare the educational goals and philosophy by each (individual) teacher?”
The second difference is that in a company, philosophies that the “Customers
are Always Right and Marketing is a Priority” are thoroughly inculcated among the130Five Years as a Principal who came from the private sector
employees. The management in private companies is very focused on satisfying
the customers and the market by providing the products and services which meettheir needs. Therefore, a company is very keen on “how to read and interpret thetrends and sense what the customers are looking for now and in the future”.
In a sense, we will easily persuade the Department Director and the President
if we can clearly explain about the demand from the customers and the market.
Therefore, in a well-managed company, employees are taught and trained to listen
to the customers and see the market trends more deeply than the executives.
In a school, if the principal and teachers are aware of the “outcome-based
responsibility” and “marketing intentions”, I am sure the work attitude will change,
and thus result in something better for everyone.
(2) Beautiful Japanese words
Recently, we have focused on one particular educational activity at our school.
All the students in my school read aloud for ten minutes every morning in eachclass. What they read aloud are Japanese classics and masterpieces.
These days, there are strong criticisms being raised against youngsters who
have too rough tongues. The youth can not express their thoughts properly throughwords due to a lack of vocabulary. It is also said that young people today seldom
read books so they seem to lack consideration for others and do not know how to
be discreet in their behavior.
I believe that learning our beautiful language should be given more importance.
We have our beautiful mother tongue in Japan. Even before the Chinese charactersand words of Chinese origin were introduced with Buddhism some 1500 years
ago, we had already created our original mother tongue with a Japanese spirit.
Some 1300 years ago, the Manyoushu anthology was published. It is a collection oftanka poems composed by a wide rage of general citizens, regardless of their social
ranks. The Genji Monogatari [the Tale of Genji], which is the oldest full-lengthfeature novel in the world as well as Makurano-soushi [Pillow Book] an essay fullof artistically structured sentences, were both published some 1000 years ago.
Even in this modern era, we can still enjoy the beauty of those words andsentences, and imagine how our ancient people lived and what they felt at that time.
Besides the above mentioned literature, there are a lot more classic publications
filled with beautiful words and sentences of the Japanese language. All of them are
our treasures which we can pass on to the next generations.
In my school, we are promoting that every morning students and even every131teacher read aloud those classics and masterpieces repeatedly until they can recitethem by heart. We did this so that our students will experience the beauty of
the words written by our ancestors, and thus polish their sensibility, refine their
sensitivity, and nurture and cultivate their Japanese spirit.
It is our wish, as well as the big responsibility of school education, that children
be given this beautiful treasure of preserving our mother tongue, and enabling ourpeople to maintain a beautiful Japan in the future.

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Five Years as a Principal who came from the private sector
Material: “Principal’s Random Thoughts”
Here are samples of the “Principal’s Random Thoughts” introduced in thischapter.
“Principal’s Random Thoughts”
May 28th, 2001
7. Social Responsibility and Accountability of the School
The Statement of Accounts of each company appears in large quantity in thenewspaper at the end of May every year.
TOYOTA gained the highest profit in history with 471,300,000,000 yen.
In contrast, MAZDA and MITSUBISHI fell into the historically highest redof ▲155200000000 yen and ▲278100000000 yen respectively.
I am not going to tell you now the causes of this big gap between the profit
and deficit. When I was in charge of PR (public relations) at MAZDA, twice ayear in November and May, I publicly announced our Statement of Accounts of
the one year period or half a year period, as well as our scheme for the coming
one year period or coming half a year period, to the large number of stakeholders
including the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the press club of the Federation of
Economic Organizations, various magazines and analysts.
A company holds a general meeting of stockholders. A month after theStatement of Accounts is released, a company has to report the result of
performance to all the stockholders. If the performance did not meet the
expectation, the manager will be denounced and impeached during the meetingand be asked to take responsibility. If a scandal was uncovered, the manager will
be questioned for five hours, or even for ten hours. It seems as if one is sitting
on a chair of nails.
When I was president of an affiliated company, I had to constantly submit
the long-term scheme, annual plan and half a year plan to the parent company,
and report all the deals in details.
When the performance is good, nothing would turn into a serious problem,
but due to the lingering depression in recent years, many companies are facing
an ordeal to achieve the goals. Making it worse, while having no money, theiroperations are adversely affected because financing from the banks was also
stopped. If we are delayed in paying for stocks, trading partners and client firms
will stop trusting us, resulting in bankruptcy.
Out in the world, the cases of bankruptcy are on the increase, annually133

breaking the record.
Executives on the management side of a company rarely possess theirown company’s stock, and all the executives are responsible for reporting andexplaining to the stockholders such as investors, clients and even to the society.
Who are the stockholders, clients and the surrounding society for a school?
These are clear for the Kurose Lower Secondary School. The stockholders
are the Kurose Town Government, the clients are parents of students and thesociety, the residents of Kurose Town.
◇ What are the educational policies of the school?
◇ If children enroll, three years later what kind of children will they
become?
◇ What kind of lessons are delivered in this school?
◇ How is the student guidance conducted in detail?
◇ What are the guidelines and concrete activities of the clubs?
◇ What was the achievement level of the previous term?
These will be the biggest concerns for stakeholders.
In general, if people say that they can not see what the school is doing, they
are not satisfied with the school policy, and if they are wondering what teachers
are doing, it is because the school policies and educational activities were notwell communicated to the stakeholders.
It is often said that if a school must be open, or if a school must gain the trustof the people, the solutions lie on whether or not the school personnel, under the
responsibility of the principal, carefully and clearly explain things to others.
Next April, I will hold the School General Meeting right after the PTA
General Meeting, and talk about the following issues to the attendants.
① Target: Parents, Kurose Town Board of Education, Residents in Kurose
Town, etc.
② Content● School policy● Subject teaching policy● Student guidance policy (guideline)● Club activity policy● Each grade level’s policy (policy for the first grade, the second grade andthe third grade)134

Five Years as a Principal who came from the private sector
It will be better if the principal and each head teacher will report and explain
about them.
We run the school based on policies communicated in the meetings, so wemust boldly and proudly implement our school management.
To realize this, we need to draw up a yearly plan earlier than usual. This is
to make people understand our thoughts and strengthen our position so let us
work together to achieve the ideal.
Thank you.

No.2
“Principal’s Random Thoughts”
October 15th, 2001
15. Creating a New School-Brand
1. Attractive brandHow do you make the decision to buy something? If you buy sports shoes,
will you choose ASICS, MIZUNO or NIKE? When a woman buys a bag, will
she select CHANNEL, LOUIS VUITTON or PRADA?
Before you actually see the products, you have already had a certain image
in your mind even before heading to a shop, right? You imagine the scene inyour mind that you are wearing those shoes or holding that bag.
How does this happen?
There is an expression called “Brand Worship”. It means that people
distinguish certain products from the rest by giving a special sense of value, forexample, high-grade image, elegance, sophistication, good quality, urban-styletaste, youthfulness, and sporty sense or vigorousness. The brand value will bereflected in the products, and thus differentiate them from others.
NIKKEI, the Japan’s leading business and financial newspaper, and othersurvey organs, have recently conducted a study on the companies in Japan.
In this survey, the Corporate-Brand was numerically evaluated according to
its impact on the consumers, stockholders and employees. The result of the
rankings was publicized.
They are NTT DoCoMo in the first rank, followed by SONY, and Seven135

Eleven Japan Co.,Ltd. In third, TOYOTA the fourth, and the fifth was NTT.
The sixth was Murata Manufacturing Co.,Ltd. and the number seventh wasTokyo Electric Power Company.
Precisely, what are the brands and the brand image?
To put it simply, a brand is “a name, a code, a design or an integration of
all three, and these factors set a product apart from the rest of the products
manufactured by rival companies.” And the brand image is the product user’s
image created by the product itself and the manufacturer. Also, it is how others
perceive the product and its users whenever others see it being utilized.
The “brand worship“ which is represented by LOUIS VUITTON actuallypromotes the purchasing desire of people by giving their products a special
value, through the established image created by the product and the use of the
products.
Modern business activities have focused on how to satisfy or encourage thecustomers in the market. Such activities are called the marketing strategy. And
the core of the marketing strategy is the brand strategy.
What kind of image shall be created for the product will determine thedestiny of the company. In producing sports shoes, the appearance, sporty
sense, urban-style, youthfulness, and good quality will be added in value. In
the manufacturing aspect, the companies will use specially-developed lightmaterials, or increase the number of stitches to make them durable, and employ
globally known leading athletes for advertisement.
Once the targeted image is established successfully, then youngsters willrush to purchase it. The sense of exclusiveness and of a higher-grade weremore valued in the past, but nowadays, inexpensiveness in price has also caught
attention.
McDonald’s and UNIQLO have established a strong appeal because theirproducts are reasonably or even inexpensively priced.
2. School’s brandIs it possible to have a brand at school?
If the brand image of the Kurose Lower Secondary School is attractive tostudents, their parents, and the residents of the Kurose Town as well as of othercommunities, then the school will be trusted by them and will have an ideal
environment.
Private schools went ahead in creating the school-brand. They have been136

Five Years as a Principal who came from the private sector
making every effort to ensure the number of enrollees and to compete with otherschools; thus, survive in competition.
First of all, they try to establish a good reputation. When the baseball teamplays a game at the honorable Koshien Baseball Stadium, or other sports’ teams
win in the national tournament, the mass media will headline the news. On theother hand, they also exert effort to increase the number of graduates who go on
to first-rank universities. Also, they are astute enough to ask leading designers
to design the school uniform.
To make the sports teams win in the game, or to send out brilliant students touniversities, an incredibly well-established system as well as tremendous efforts
by teachers must be in place as the foundation of the school. Once the brand isestablished, it will just go on and on.
In the past, ten years were required to establish a brand, but nowadays five
years will be enough. What type of school must be formed and what image
should be fitted to the school? If we can describe the form as a whole, and work
together to realize it, five years later, our new brand image of Kurose Lower
Secondary School will surely be established.
Thank you.

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Glory of working in educational institutions
It is a fact that Japanese people sometimes have not paid particular attention
to some of the things unique in Japan because they have lived in the country sincebirth. But by having a chance to talk with someone who has spent life outside
Japan, people can easily identify whether those were good points or bad points. Mr.
RYOAN … who came to a ‘school’ from a ‘company’ gave me such an awakening.
Towards the end of the campus holiday in March I went to visit the Kurose
Lower Secondary School to meet Mr. RYOAN. I was a sophomore student. Unlike
him, I had spent my whole life only in schools, and also specialized in school
education. A principal who came from the business world made me imagine
someone like a strict manager who often appeared as a typical fearsome character
on TV or in comic books, so I was really nervous as if I were heading to myrecruitment interview. I knocked at the door of the principal’s office, and when I
opened the door, I saw him with a gentle facial expression in a very polite manner.
In a confidential tone of voice and with tender accents, Mr. RYOAN spoke
about a variety of his experiences in the principalship. He also told me about thedifferences between a school and an enterprise. The manner in which he comparedand contrasted both made me easily understand, especially the difficult points andthe weaknesses which a school possesses as an organization. It is natural to makeprice negotiations at a company, while at school, though everyone complains about
the high price of school uniforms, nobody has ever tried to make it cheaper. At acompany, goals that are unlikely to be achieved will never be set up, but at school,
people tend to set up ideal educational goals, and as a result, such obscure goals
tend to end up as a dream. I asked Mr. RYOAN “How have you made good use ofyour company experiences?” He just said, “I have been working as usual….actually,
I am not sure what aspects of my past experiences have been helpful”. However,through his dialogue, I could grasp the fact that the fundamentals in management
he had acquired at a company have been well applied in school reform.
In fact, I have noted the reason why Mr. RYOAN has been skillful at school.
It is not because he can identify the problems in school and is able to solve them,but because he can bring out the good, invisible points in school. I was touched byhis attitude that he had been enjoying his new job while understanding the valuesof ‘co-existence’ and ‘nurturing’ at school, and those values are quite different
from ‘competitiveness’ or ‘defeating’ others which are commonly practiced in a138

Five Years as a Principal who came from the private sector
company. His dialogues with students in the class, episodes during the faculty
meeting, every point of his talk was delivered to me with his happy disposition. At
Kurose Lower Secondary School, he encounters many people and has various talks
with them, and observes a variety of growth. I got the impression that this principal
must be the one who is enjoying school life the most, probably much more than thestudents. Upon hearing the comment of Mr. RYOAN, that “I should have becomea school teacher from the start”, I refreshingly thought that ‘being a teacher must
be definitely a wonderful occupation’. Mr. RYOAN came from the businessworld, therefore when he talked about the goodness of a school, it was particularly
persuasive.
Now, I am also working in a school, and I sincerely feel that in the school
environment there are not only students, but also other teachers, parents andcommunity residents. Everyday is filled with interaction with those various people.
“Humane love. It is what is more important than just having a feeling that I lovechildren.” This is what Mr. RYOAN told me when he was talking about one masterteacher whom he respects. Also, Mr. RYOAN said that dealing with people is thesame when you’re in a company and in a school. Now I feel I have more deeply
understood what he meant by these words.
Perhaps, one condition to be a good educator is to be ‘one who likes people’.
Mr. RYOAN, who came from the outside world and transferred to academia,
conveyed a lot of messages to us about ‘people’, the preciousness and the glory
involved in education for people, and even the difficulties, all of which are
irreplaceable and indispensable.
Project member O

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High school

The Chemistry Teacher who became a Principal

The Chemistry Teacher who became a Principal
ISHIDA Toshio
ISHIDA Toshio was born in 1950 in Hiroshima City,
Hiroshima Prefecture.
After completing a postgraduate course, he becamea science teacher of upper secondary school. In 2003,
he was appointed as Principal of Hiroshima Prefectural
Ondo Upper Secondary School following his stint as ateaching consultant of Hiroshima Prefecture Education
Center (HIPEC). Since 2005, he has been the Principalof Hiroshima Prefectural Aki-minami Upper Secondary
School1. I aimed to be a teacher, and then became a teacher [aptitude and theright job]
(1) Choosing whether to become a school teacher or a company employee
When I was still an upper secondary student in the mid 1960s, Japan wasright in the middle of rapid economic growth, and private enterprises were in
full bloom. The nation-wide trend leaned towards the Science and Engineering
fields, and everybody seemed to be flocking to private companies right after
graduation. During those times, every day I was enjoying the “Joy of teaching toothers” in my upper secondary school. Many of my classmates quite often asked
me to teach them how to solve problems in math and physics. I vividly remember
how my friends seemed very thankful to me when I showed them the knack forsolving problems. Unknowingly, by helping them, I was experiencing the work of‘a teacher’ in my student life. So, throughout my three years of upper secondary
schooling, I thought that being a teacher would be quite an interesting path topursue. Perhaps, it would be a meaningful job option for me, though at that time I
was not yet that decided on a career choice. Against my honest feeling, however
when enrolling at university I chose the faculty of engineering which was very
popular in those days, because I could not swim against the social stream. I was too
weak to make my own decision. So in 1968, I entered the Faculty of Engineeringof Hiroshima University, majoring in Chemical Engineering. In the first winter141

as a freshman, university disputes stormed nationwide, influencing Hiroshima
University. As a result, the campus was barricaded in January, and no academic
activities were offered until the next September. I was not the kind of student
who joined the disputes, however, the eight-month period was long enough toreflect and reconsider what I would be doing from now on. I nurtured the dreamof becoming a teacher in my high school years, and once again I started to desire
to be a teacher. I planned to transfer to the Faculty of Education when the classes
resumed in September; however, being already registered as a sophomore student
on the official document, I was not allowed to change my course. The only path
was to take the entrance examination again and start anew as a college freshman
to be accepted in the Faculty of Education. My family strongly opposed my planfor there was no guarantee of success in the exam. When my father saw that I
was really determined to make this last resort in pursuing my dream, he made thebargain that if I graduated from the university within four years, he would allow
me to do whatever I wished to do after graduation. But if I repeated a year or
took longer than four years to finish college, I must look for a job in a company
immediately. I took his offer. Later, I found out his real reason for bargaining
with me. He didn’t expect that I would still be interested in taking up anothercourse after four years of completing my degree in Chemical Engineering. He
was completely wrong. I was just so overjoyed that he understood my passionate
feeling and allowed me to enter the Faculty of Education.
From then on, I studied with just one goal in mind - to simply get the minimum
number of credits for graduation, and true to my word, as I promised my father,I graduated taking only four years. Flashing those days across my mind, I think
my professors at the Faculty of Engineering had evaluated me as an unmotivated,lackadaisical student who was only going through the process of studying. In fact,
I had lost my sense of attachment to the Faculty of Engineering, and no longer
desired to study there, so it could not be helped that I was evaluated poorly. Thus,
I entered the Faculty of Education as a junior majoring in upper secondary school
education. After finishing the bachelor’s degree, I proceeded to take up post
graduate studies. When I was still in the senior year in the engineering faculty,
the number of companies exceeded that of job hunters, to the point that at least
sixty corporations were offering employment to just one graduate. My former
campus mates easily found jobs in top corporations. In those days, the salaries
of employees from these top corporations were much higher than those given toteachers. So, my relatives were wondering why I chose to be a teacher in spite of142

The Chemistry Teacher who became a Principal
my engineering degree.
After knowing the above episode, you readers might think that I had a highminded ideal so I chose the teaching career. Certainly, whenever someone asks
me why I wanted to be a teacher, I say that it is a meaningful occupation with aclear mission, and I also feel proud of myself answering in that way. However,deep in my heart, I simply love and rejoice in teaching, and I feel a deep sense offulfillment doing it. In addition, I was only a student who was not independent
economically so the truth is that I didn’t know the real meaning of “making aliving.”There is no need of saying that “aptitude” is important when you choose
an occupation. I believe that in a sense my immature but pure and simple heart
directly guided me toward the perfect job option. This is certainly the reason why
I never thought of changing profession ever since. Thinking afresh, it is indeed
essential to be honest in making decisions.
(2) Choosing a mountain or the sea
Today, the applicants for the teacher recruitment examination are more thanten times as many as the fixed number, but during my time it was not extremelycompetitive. However there were considerably many applicants, I remember. The
first level screening consisted of a written examination on general and specialized
knowledge; and the second screening included a test on the Constitution of Japanand an interview. During the oral examination, the interviewer asked me in whicharea I would prefer to work, whether in a mountain area or on the islands. In
around 1976, newly-recruited teachers were first assigned to small schools either
in the mountain areas or on the islands. After gaining a certain number of yearsof teaching experience, they were then transferred to mid- or large-scale schools
in the urban areas. It was the system of personnel transfer in those days, and thatis why I was questioned so. Comparing to islands, mountain areas are connectedby roads which means I can easily visit various places, so is convenient for me,
therefore I instantly responded, “I prefer mountain areas.” Here, I just said so
without considering anything deeply.
As a result, I was indeed assigned to a small-sized M Upper Secondary Schoolin the mountains where a community antenna was necessary to receive TV andradio broadcasts. I lived in the government owned dormitory for single employees
where there was no community antenna facility, so I could neither watch TV norlisten to the radio. It was quite an adjustment for me as there was an extreme
143difference in the lifestyle I had in my hometown Hiroshima City, and in this areaof my assignment. In Hiroshima City, it was so easy to access information and
get in touch with people. I deluded that I was left all alone behind the modern
culture. In the mountains, the only means with which I could connect to the outside
world were through TV and the daily-subscribed periodical newspapers at school.
After quite some time, I got used to a lifestyle minus the TV and radio. The quiet
environment in the mountains was very much conducive to reading as many books
as I could lay my hands on; something I rarely experienced in my life in the city.
However, there were very few places to visit for leisure. The shopping area wasless than a hundred meters away from the dormitory and the rest of the landscapeconsisted of paddy fields alone. Privacy was also an issue, as many students
already knew what I had eaten every time I dined in the restaurant near the dorm. I
felt like I was always under surveillance, and it bothered me.
Both physically and spiritually, there were many inconveniences. But I
appreciated the people in the community who were very hospitable and often sentme food. Even to this day the memory survives. I always recall my fresh years ofteaching in that place with fondness. I spent only two years in M Upper Secondary
School, but those two years were a crucial part of my teaching life.
(3) Three important lessons
Three important things happened during my first few years in teaching, andthese have significantly influenced me to form my own educational philosophy.
The first thing is related to the division of school duties. Since M Upper Secondary
School was very small, there were few teachers assigned to it. It was different
from a large-scale school, thus, all of us were given many assignments and asked
to handle different subjects. Although I majored in Chemistry, most of the time
I taught Math as well as Biology. This made my students think that I was reallya Math teacher. When one is assigned to teach more than one subject, one needs
to take a lot more time to prepare the lessons, however, I started to have interestsand concern from a broader perspective. In fact, I also became confident andcapable of teaching any subject though I had never taught them before. Since then,I experienced teaching all of the following subjects in Science; Physics, Chemistry,
Biology, and Earth Science. My teaching license is issued in Science, therefore
there is nothing surprising in at that I taught all the subjects, however, in thesedays, not everyone is accorded this kind of rare opportunity, particularly, when it
comes to the teachers of large-sized schools. It was a good thing that this enabled
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The Chemistry Teacher who became a Principal
me to look at Chemistry Education from different areas of the discipline.
The second event is that I was struck by the gap of the scholastic achievement
and performance among students. Our school is a small upper secondary school ina mountainous region. Being the only upper secondary school in the area, it admits
almost all graduates from the local lower secondary school. When our school gives
an entrance examination, almost all graduates of the lower secondary school areable to pass which implies that our first year students seem to be just fourth year
students of lower secondary school. This is evident looking at the similar disparity
in the academic achievement of our students in the lower secondary school. Thereis a big disparity of academic achievement among the students. Although I had
some ideas about the academic achievement gap in my students, my expectations
were just beyond the actual situation. For example, in one lesson in Evolution aspart of the Biology class, I divided the class into groups composed of three to four
students and asked them to research and prepare for a presentation. Randomly
from among the students of each group I appointed the presenter, MC and the one
who answers the questions during the presentation. One of the groups presented
their output which I thought was done haphazardly. After their presentation, I
reprimanded the members in front of the whole class, and asked why they didn’t
do their research more thoroughly. I thought they weren’t taking their studies
seriously. Suddenly, a girl from the group cried and tearfully said that the presenter
I appointed was of a low academic ability and could hardly read and understand thecontents of the text. Even if the other members of the group researched thoroughly
and helped the presenter practice his/her part many times, the presentation was
still wanting, and they couldn’t do anything else afterwards. I realized that I
should have carefully checked the students’ records and taken notice of the fact inadvance, and made the necessary adjustments. Then, I could have made a proper
evaluation of whether the presentation by that pupil was frivolous or done with all
his/her effort. I learned how important it was to pay careful attention to each andevery student. This became a very important lesson to me.
The third event was an episode that happened in my second school assignment.
After two years with M Upper Secondary School, I was transferred to the I Upper
Secondary School, which was three times bigger than the former. I was assigned
as a homeroom teacher from my first year. The father of one of my students was
suffering from hepatocirrhosis or cirrhosis of the liver, which was already at theterminal stage. Because his/her father was in need of a large amount of blood foran operation, my student appealed to me to seek blood donors among the other145

students in the school. So during the faculty’s morning assembly, I requested theother teachers to ask their students to donate blood. I was filled with a strong senseof justice, and was very satisfied as I knew I did something with the best of myability. However, immediately after the assembly, I was called to the principals’
office. I saw the principal, vice principal and the head teacher of the student
guidance department there.
“Mr. ISHIDA,” said the principal, “what you tried to do earlier was right. But
when it comes to blood donation, we need to get the parents’ consent because theschool can not take the responsibility if something wrong happens. Without theconsent, what you are trying to do will turn out wrong”.
I was stunned, and realized that I didn’t thoroughly think about theconsequences of my request to the teachers. If it were now, I would have perfectly
understood the necessity of such an official procedure. Then, the head teacher fromthe student guidance department said, “Don’t worry, I will make the forms for theparents’ consent right away”.
Those words were indeed more redemptive than anything else, and I felt
relieved. Consequently, several hundreds of students were willing to donate theirblood. Unfortunately, the father passed away before the operation could be done.
From that time on, the written consent form was one of the important lessons that
I keep until now. It serves as a reminder for me that whenever I think of doing
something, I must not only come up with a good, precise plan but also consult myseniors before taking any action.

2. Shifting from “easy-to-understand” to “eager-to-understand” lessons(1) Doing my own instructional analysis
Even before becoming a full-pledged teacher, I always wanted to design lessons
that were easy to understand. This conviction grew stronger during my first two
years as a neophyte educator. Individual academic abilities vary, so I made it mygoal to come up with lessons that are easy to understand by students of different
academic abilities. However, in those days, there was no institutionalized system
for teachers to mutually help one another through comments based on observationsof classes. Teachers used to conduct their lessons inside their closed classrooms,
so none of the classes were compared to one anther, or a teacher’s performance
was not assessed. The video deck is a convenient apparatus nowadays, but it was
not yet popular in those days. To know how my lesson was, I secretly placed a146

The Chemistry Teacher who became a Principal
recording device under the teacher’s desk in the chemistry laboratory, and forrecording, I flicked the switch very quietly so that my students would not notice it.
After the lesson, I replayed the transcription, and checked the volume of my voice,the clarity of my pronunciation, the pausing, the precision of my explanations,etc. I analyzed my own lessons. I always was preoccupied with what my students
thought about my lessons. So, I also made a survey questionnaire for students toanswer, and analyzed the results. In spite of these ways of lesson analysis, actually
I was eager to know how other teachers as professional educationalists assessed
my lessons. Unlike now, some 25 years ago, teachers could not observe lessons ofother teachers. In addition, it is now a practice that the public can observe lessons,which was not possible at that time. By sheer chance, I learned then that all of
the science teachers of I Upper Secondary School felt the same way I did. Thus,
upon the suggestion of a senior teacher, we launched an open lesson study andinvited teachers from all the neighboring upper and lower secondary schools to join
us. This became a great opportunity for me to be involved in lesson study which
would also help me analyze my own lessons. I remember that on the day of ourresearch lesson, a large number of lower secondary school teachers participated.
The attendance was far beyond our expectation. The topic for the demonstration
lesson was on ‘freezing-point depression.’ During the initial demonstration, I
planned to show the phenomenon of the super-cooling of glacial acetic acid. It
was a very cold winter morning, and usually the frozen acetic acid turns into liquidbecause of the extreme coldness of the climate. With a simple vibration of myfinger, all at once the glacial acetic acid instantly freezes. This experiment could
be conducted only once without preliminary practice. While everyone was staring
at me, I tried to believe that I would not fail. With a trembling finger, I tapped thecontainer with the chemical. Instantly, the acid started to freeze. There was a big
round of applause in the classroom. The rest of my lesson went on successfully,
satisfactorily meeting my expectation.
The joy of doing a successful lesson was my driving force to prepare for the
next demonstration lesson study. The demonstration lesson study we conductedsoon led to the organization of the Research Group on Instructional Evaluation,
which included other subject areas not only science, and teachers of other schools
joined too. Although I am no longer a member, the Research Group continues toundertake its activities, and new members are also joining constantly.

147

(2) Experiment; it is indeed my life
There was a turning point in my career in 1983 when I was 33 years old. The
I Upper Secondary School was designated as the Secretariat of the Physics andChemistry Group of the Science Education Research Association of Hiroshima
Prefecture, and I was appointed the head secretary. I was overwhelmed withthe responsibilities because I was still young with just a few years of teachingexperience, so I decided firstly to take an action before standing on some pretext orother. There were Card-style experiment books in all Science subjects for students.
These have been handed over to us by our senior fellow teachers. Each card in thebook can be taken out one by one and on each card is one laboratory assignmentor experiment unit which contains the objectives, method and evaluation. There isalso space for writing down the results and discussion. After the class, teachers can
ask students to submit the page as an experiment report. These cards had been used
for a long time. After students have filled up the cards, based on the actual reactionof students, teachers revised the content or added information over a long period oftime.
When I became the head secretary, the number of physics and chemistry
experiment books in use had declined to one third in the entire prefecture. At first I
thought these cards had been evaluated as poor in quality and that’s why they were
not widely used. We inquired into the cause, and soon learned that the real reason
was not really the poor evaluation but more the lack of promotion. We were proudof the quality and we had also learned that the content was not poorly evaluatedby others, however in reality, the number in use was decreasing. Thus, it could
mean that the high quality was not approved by others. Therefore, whenever there
was a chance, we promoted the experiment card books and tried to make others
understand their good qualities. Consequently, the number of teachers using thecards increased three-fold.
Our next measure was to furthermore improve the content of the experimentcard. We needed to conduct all the experiments and collect impressions of thestudents. The second year of the secretariat started with the goal to conduct
as many experiments as possible during the one-year period. I placed handson experiments as the focus of my yearly plan in Chemistry. While proceedingfrom one experiment to another, I gradually started to taste the real delightfulness
and profoundness of laboratory work. Since then, my greatest source of joy
was the students’ experiments, demonstration and also the development of new

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The Chemistry Teacher who became a Principal

experiments, etc. --- practically every aspect of chemical experiments. Besides, I
also met many other Chemistry teachers through Chemistry-related experimental
activities. In the Research Group, we actively discussed and examined how to
conduct experiments. For instance, we examined the method on how to help
students handle tools which require a better trained skill, the reasons for students’failure in obtaining the right outcome as well as the best knack to conduct
experiments. The knowledge I obtained from the discussions has become myprecious treasure. In addition, the casual conversation during the recess time ofthe official discussions created an atmosphere of a lounge or coffee shop. My roleas the head secretary in the Physics and Chemistry Group entailed too much work
like office documentation and the like. In spite of this, I learned a lot and grew
professionally from these responsibilities.
(3) Lessons I want to deliver
The minimum requirement for teachers is to make lessons that are easy tounderstand. However, this is not an easy task. When we teach formulas and149

concepts in Chemistry, we can not change the formulas and concepts to easily suitthe ability of all students. Scientific formulas and the concepts are immutable.
These “easy-to-understand” lessons entail that the number of steps required to reachthe formula should be presented according to the students’ ability. Taking slow
learners into consideration, many steps must be prepared; yet some unnecessary
steps can be skipped to teach the advanced students. Easy-to-understand lessons
do not mean taking up much time to teach subject matter. Sometimes it is more
effective to teach the content repeatedly at a faster pace.
Keeping this idea in mind, I continuously revised my lesson plans after
observing the reactions of my students. Going through a series of trials and errors,
I started to doubt if these “easy-to-understand” lessons were the best, because
they were structured using a one-way style, with learning inputs coming from theteacher alone. Teachers spend a lot of time researching the content and creatingwell-developed lessons; but if students have no chance to think, then what they
have understood in such a lesson is not their real understanding. Both students
and teacher should think together, should then exercise this way, and thus students
performance will be highly elevated. I noted that the ideal lesson is a lesson
where both teacher and students are eager to learn. I became aware of this when I
conducted the presentation-style lessons which were formerly practiced at the M
Upper Secondary School. I reconsidered those lessons, and implemented themafter making some modifications. In the “evolution” unit of Science I, I divided
the class into 12 groups, and presented the six topics about evolution. Eachgroup chose one topic, and every two groups shared the same topic. I prepared a
B4 size material sheet for each group, and the students used the sheets for theirpresentation. All the necessary materials were distributed to all the students
beforehand. During the presentation, besides the presenting group, other groups
were also assigned to play the role of an MC, timekeeper, inquirer and evaluator.
I allocated three periods for research and preparation, then four periods for actual
presentation. The very first presentation in the first lesson ended poorly, as theflow of the presentation was not smooth. Then, from among the groups which werescheduled to present in the second period, one group started to do more researchand even rehearsed after school. Being inspired, other groups followed and started
to work harder after school. Compared to the second period presentation, thethird became better, and then the fourth was much better. I had a full realizationof the gradual but clear progress in the content and method of presentation. The
first group requested me to do it again, but due to the limited schedule it was
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The Chemistry Teacher who became a Principal
not possible. So I assured them that the difference in the quality of presentation
among groups would not be reflected in the ability record. I recognized that eventhough students might have different motivations for doing an activity, such as
for the school record, once they develop the habit of research, find the happinessin understanding, get the feeling of satisfaction out of making others understood
through better ways of presenting, students would demonstrate abilities beyond our
expectations.
“Eager-to-understand” lessons for students can never be realized with teachers’
one-way lectures. Teachers must intentionally plot their lessons in such a way sothat students will initiate their own thinking. Besides lecture-style lessons, thisidea may also be effectively incorporated into experiment-style lessons, demo
experiments by teachers, use of models, and other lesson formats. Buying new
tools and apparatus may not be necessary; but all schools can somehow reconsider
how their lessons are made. I would like to further develop the evolution of mylessons, from ‘easy to understand’ to ‘eager to understand.’(4) Chemistry teacher always and forever2005 was my third year as Principal. I have not taught lessons in front ofstudents for five years since the time I assumed the managerial post. Though I
want to create my ideal lessons, I have no more chances to teach students. Beingin the management position, what I must do is solely to mobilize the facultyorganizationally in consideration of the entire school. As the leader in the school,
it is my responsibility to make sure that we achieve our educational goals. Plus,
these results must be favorable, and better every time for the students to possess
the knowledge and skills they need. Producing positive learning outcomes resultsfrom designing effective lessons. I believe that a school should be a place wherestudents develop their abilities, which include not only those in subject areas, butalso skills for their holistic development as a part of humanity. The latter is, “anability to be a responsible member of the society.” This can be nurtured throughall the educational activities at school. Students spend most of the daytime atschool attending classes, so we should remember that lessons play the central rolein achieving their educational goal. Besides lessons, learning can take place insituations like school events, student council activities, and club activities. Althoughcontents are taught in different subject areas, every lesson should also provide
opportunities to teach and re-teach students how to salute, how to carry themselves,
how to behave, and how to have the right attitude in their studies. Since assuming151

a managerial post, I lost all the chances to teach, but I have always tried tobehave like a teacher whenever I am with the students. Of course the role of aprincipal is different from that of the teachers. But I should not forget the teacher’s
spirit, which is fundamental in any school. I believe that if I continuously value
it, I will be able to find the right direction for my school as the principal. I am nota principal who was once a Chemistry teacher, but a Chemistry teacher who is now
a principal. I would like to be so all the time.

This chapter is based upon the lecture made by Mr. ISHIDA Toshio in a JICA course on
Science and Math Teacher Education for participants from the Republic of South Africa. It
was held on November 13th, 2003 at Hiroshima International Plaza.

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Material: an example of a card-style experiment sheet
This is one example of the ‘Experiment Card’ introduced in this Chapter.

The Chemistry Teacher who became a Principal

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Dialogue between Mr. ISHIDA and JICA training participantsfrom the Republic of South Africa
Participant A: How can we teach Chemistry to students who do not like it or who
are not good at the subject?
Mr. ISHIDA: In my case, I would rather focus on experiments, by providing
opportunities to actually touch and manipulate something, rather than cramming a
lot of knowledge into students’ minds. I never depend solely on the textbook, but
I try to make the students notice how the knowledge of Chemistry is utilized inthings and phenomena involving our daily lives. By learning Chemistry in this way,surely some students will be motivated. Of course, if they are prejudiced against
chemistry before everything else, there is nothing we can do (laughter).
Participant B: In the lecture, you introduced the activities of Science teachers in
Hiroshima who hold meetings to create Science experiment cards for students. I
admire very much what they do. If there is an English version, I wish to take themback to South Africa. Could you explain to us how to use them in the Chemistryclasses?
Mr. ISHIDA: Such experiment books are produced by Science teachers in mostof the prefectures in Japan [Mr. ISHIDA shows the book to the participants]. This
type of experiment card comes in the shape of a book. The Ministry of Education
promotes the use of experimental activities at schools, and the Board of Education
also encourages the schools to do experiments as much as possible. But not all theteachers use them for the class. Usually, one out of four periods can be allocated forlab work, and then teacher’s demonstration will be done once every three periods.
This is the case for very enthusiastic teachers. There are teachers who just make thestudents solve the entrance exam drills for university during the chemistry lesson.
In the actual laboratory class, students work in a group and collect the data, butevery student is supposed to fill in the experiment card individually. Students are
asked to write down their impressions, particularly some queries that were raised,
and then the teacher returns the card to each student after responding to theirquestions.
Participant C: In South Africa, we sometimes use a micro-Science kit whichcontains a simple apparatus and tools for experiments. The Provincial Government
procures and distributes them.
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The Chemistry Teacher who became a Principal
Mr. ISHIDA: What kind of items are in it?
Participant C: Micro test tubes, some chemicals in small quantity, etc., and plastic
containers that are not durable.
Mr. ISHIDA:Those types of kit are quite expensive, so we seldom use them inJapan. Plastic materials should not be heated up, so they are not recommended foruse here.
Participant C: In South Africa, we can not afford the kit in most of the schools
either. You have introduced to us a new idea. We can think of utilizing thematerials existing in the laboratory, and then teachers may start on an experiment.
Participant D: Please let us know more about the Idea Cards.
Mr. ISHIDA: An idea developed by a teacher and used in the introductory part of
the Chemistry lesson is summarized on each card, so that other teachers can also
use them for their lessons. Any teacher can modify the content for their own use
in their lessons. The information in the cards is published on the net by the Tokyo
Publisher. For example, I have created a card for an experiment with my ideas on
the topic of electrolysis of salty water using dry batteries. The good point of thisexperiment is that you do not have to use a large apparatus.
Participant E: In your school, if science teachers do not conduct experiments, howwill you guide them as the Principal?
Mr. ISHIDA: I just tell them “Do it” (He laughs). In fact, I observe those teachers
during the lessons and give them advice. Almost all Science teachers know eachother since they periodically meet at the research meetings. Therefore, I haveestablished a good relationship with them.
Participant F: You have mentioned that Principals give guidance to teachers, but
if the subject areas are not the specialization of the Principal, how do they give
guidance?
Mr. ISHIDA: In Japanese schools, all teachers participate in the lesson study of
their respective subjects, and help guide each other. It is one of the fundamental
duties for teachers in Japan to brush themselves up through the in-service teacher
training. Basically, the principal is supposed to give guidance in all the subject
areas; however, when it comes to the more specialized content I ask the wellexperienced teachers to give advice in each subject. The ideal is not for the
principal to order them to do it, however, through open lesson studies, teachers
should have the motivation to upgrade themselves. It is the principal’s task to create155an environment in the school where teachers constantly upgrade their skills.
Participant G: Concerning the research meetings of Science teachers you
mentioned in your lecture, I would like to know who acts as the representative.
Also, I wonder if anybody can join in, and when do they hold the meetings?
Mr. ISHIDA: The representative is chosen from among the members who aremainly steering the meetings. The chair is to be chosen in rotation and the term ofoffice is one year, which means if I take the chair this year, in the following year
another teacher of a different school chairs. The chair person can be selected again.
This kind of research meeting is approved by the Prefecture Board of Education,
so the role of the chair is also important. The research meeting secretariat office ismanaged by a teacher of any other school, which the chairperson does not belong
to. Teachers from both public and private schools can attend the meetings, andthe meetings are held during office hours. Teachers must seek permission to leaveschool, and taking into consideration the participants’ convenience, the meetings
are usually scheduled on Thursday afternoons. So as not to cancel lessons, ingeneral the meetings start around 3 pm and end at around 5 pm, but in some cases
the meeting will finish much later at night.
Participant G: Is the research meeting held voluntarily? Who shoulders the costfor the meeting?
Mr. ISHIDA:Participation is upon one’s own volition. The cost for the meeting
varies depending on the group, but when the group is approved by the Board of
Education, the subsidy for research is allocated. Also, each teacher has to pay amembership fee.
Participant H: Where do they hold the research meetings?
Mr. ISHIDA: It is usually held at school. Member teachers take turns to host thevenue. The venue school has to prepare the drinks, etc. for the meeting.
Participant I: Your lecture today about “the frozen ground” was quite informative.
I would like to clearly understand it, so could you explain it again?
Mr. ISHIDA:……….What does the phenomenon ‘melting ice’ mean?
Why do we scatter salt on the snowy road?
Why do skates slide on the ice?
……… (further) detailed explanation about these things.
Participant J: We practice corporal punishment in South Africa. What about in

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The Chemistry Teacher who became a Principal
Japan?
Mr. ISHIDA:If a teacher punishes a student physically, then the teacher will bepunished officially.
Participant J: Without corporal punishment, how will you guide students who do
not obey?
Mr. ISHIDA:It depends on the case. When a student disturbs the lesson, thestudent will be asked to leave the classroom, and then will be disciplined in adifferent room; in some cases we discipline them in the presence of the parents. I
do not agree with the idea of school suspension because some students are not welldisciplined at home.
All the participants: We agree (They laugh).

This was held on November 13th, 2003, at Hiroshima International Plaza.
Mr. ISHIDA was the principal of Hiroshima Prefecture Ondo Upper Secondary Schoolat that time.

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Living life through turbulent educational conditions

Living life through turbulent educational conditions- supported by the phrase ‘Isshokenmei’ Mr. UCHIDA Nobumasa
UCHIDA Nobumasa was born in 1943 in Hiroshima
Prefecture. After completing the postgraduate course,
he served for 12 years in upper secondary schools. Thenhe was appointed as the head of the Upper Secondary
School Education Division at Hiroshima Prefectural
Board of Education (HP. BoE). He became the principalof Hiroshima Prefectural Shisei Upper Secondary School
in 1995, then of Hiroshima Prefectural Hiroshima Minami
Upper Secondary School in 1999 and of Hiroshima
Prefectural Hiroshima Kokutaiji Upper Secondary Schoolin 2000. In between his appointments as principal, he
served as the Director of the Education Department at
HP. BoE. In 2001 he was appointed as the Director of the Hiroshima Prefecture
Education Center. In 2004, he became an associate professor of the Faculty of
Literature of Hiroshima Women’s University. Since 2006 to the present, he has beena Senior Professor of the Faculty of Psychological Sciences at Hiroshima KokusaiInternational University.

1. The reason why I became a school teacher
I was born in 1943, which was towards the end of the Pacific War. I was
the eldest son of a family living in a farming village with abundant greenery ineastern Hiroshima Prefecture. My father came from northern Hiroshima to marry
my mother in this village, and he was adopted as the son-in-law into my mother’sfamily, and was teaching at an elementary school. He chose the occupation ofteaching, particularly to support my mother’s family which was one of the village’s
good old families. My siblings are one elder sister, one younger sister and one
younger brother. I studied at the village-run elementary and lower secondary
schools, where there were 100 students per grade. Since both schools werelocated on the same premises, the schools’ sports day was jointly held with full
support from the village community. In those days, it was the general trend in
this area. During the school events, namely the sports day, enrollment ceremony,
graduation ceremony, etc., the village mayor, local policemen, post office director
were invited as honorary guests. Nowadays, it is challenging to establish strong
ties and cooperation among the school, families, local residents and other related159

institutions. This reminds me of the good old days in which an ideal linkage
among them surely existed.
I enrolled in school when the new postwar education period started. So,
I received a democracy-oriented education based on the Fundamental Law of
Education which was stipulated in 1947 under the jurisdiction of the JapaneseConstitution. However, I doubt if the pre-war education could have been changed
so hurriedly. This is because I recall one incident that could well support thisdoubt. When I was in grade six, my homeroom teacher gave us a lesson on Kojiki,
the oldest Japanese anthology of poems from A.D.712. All the names of the Shinto
deities in this anthology were written in Katakana characters and the teacher
found out that we had not learned any katakana yet. Katakana is one of the three
types of characters used in Japanese, and the other two scripts are called hiragana
and kanji or Chinese characters which are generally used more. In a panic, first
the teacher taught us six graders the katakana characters which should have beentaught in the first grade. I imagine, probably in the beginning of the postwar
years, teaching Kojiki was regarded as taboo (*1). Probably the reason we had notstudied katakana until grade six could be well explained by the confusion in the
chaotic situation of the post war education.
Telling my story when I was in elementary and lower secondary schools, would
probably give you a detailed account of why I chose teaching as a career. The
reason why I decided to be a teacher was not because of a dramatic unforgettable
experience; nor because of someone who strongly influenced me; nor becauseof any special events. Within the present context or educational perspective, mymotivation may seem rather odd or unusual. In short, I believe I was born to bea teacher. It was undeniable that I had to take over taking care of the family as
the eldest son and maintain the UCHIDA family, which was the tradition fromtime immemorial. I was brought up in an environment where there were a lot of
unwritten and unspoken rules which everyone was expected to follow. It was only
natural that I decided to be a school teacher. I am not saying that now I feel sorry
and regret making such a decision; but actually it is also true that when I was still avery fresh teacher, there was an occasion I asked myself why I chose this teachingprofession.
Looking back, I also think I could have decided differently and have chosena different direction in life. Usually, students decide what to do after graduation
based on various sources of information and career guidance, while taking
academic achievement, one’s interests, concerns and ability into consideration.
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Living life through turbulent educational conditions
However, in my case, there was already a destination and I just took it as if it
was my choice. In other words, I chose my career without seriously thinking
and having to go through the usual feeling of confusion like others. With the
responsibility of taking care of the family, I planned what I should do. My
priority was to look for a job near the house, so that I can live with my family
and commute to work. There were three choices, either to be a teacher like myfather, or to be a public servant in the village government office, or to be a staff
member of the local agricultural cooperative. Then, I assessed my academic ability
to determine where I’d fit in best. Considering current levels of school education,
career choices are invariably made to support a student’s self-realization. But mycase was far removed from the modern ideology. I am not saying that I chose an
occupation against my will. The fact is somehow I was also influenced by thesituation that many of my relatives were already school teachers. That was why
without any doubt I took the path to be a teacher.
I went to an upper secondary school in my local community, and studied in thegeneral course. In those days, the upper secondary school program was conductedunder three categories namely a regulated school district within small areas,
integrated curriculum, and co-ed. This setup restricted access to upper secondary
schools. Nowadays, such a system has become out of date, and students can apply
for any upper secondary school in Hiroshima Prefecture, and it is indeed amazing
to see such a big change.
The next stage was entering the university. As I was planning to become ateacher, inevitably I had to choose a teacher education course. It was fortunatethat Hiroshima University was one of the two prominent universities in teacher
education in Japan since the pre-war time. Here again without any hesitation, I
decided to go to Hiroshima University. I specialized in social studies majoringin history, and in the post graduate school, I majored in Western history. When I
was about to complete my master’s course, nation-wide student activism had juststarted to be organized.
Toward the realization of my life-plan, I took a teacher recruitment
examination, and got through it, and in 1968 I was recruited to an upper secondary
school in the northern part of the prefecture in which there were two courses;
the general course and the home economics course. I taught world history andgeography and worked there for the next five years. Later I served at two otherupper secondary schools over a span of seven years. Having a total of 12 years
experience, I was appointed as a teaching consultant of the Hiroshima Prefectural
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Education Center [HIPEC]. For the next two decades, my work was mainly at theBoard of Education ranging from being a teaching consultant, a division head, aDirector of the Education Department, and an executive director. During those
years, I was also assigned to three upper secondary schools as principal over a spanof four years. I retired as the Director of the HIPEC in March 2004, which ended
my 36 year teaching profession.

2. My educational philosophy
Before sharing my current thoughts in education, I would like to go over myrecent years in education in Hiroshima. When I became a school teacher, Japanwas right in the middle of a nation-wide dispute created by university students.
Hiroshima was not spared and in fact it was rather at the center of the movement.
The campaign was not restricted to the university campus alone, but had an
influence on upper secondary schools too. There were student assemblies held
almost daily in the upper secondary school where I was first assigned. The actual
situation of my school was way far from what I had expected. This situation mademe for the first time doubt whether or not teaching was the right profession for me.
As time passed by, student activism gradually subsided but the educational
environment of Hiroshima was nothing like what I experienced in my schooldays in elementary, lower and upper secondary schools. At the same time,the educational world was experiencing various upheavals such as an antidiscrimination of minority groups’ campaign, and an active School Staff Union.
As a result, in every event people encountered various incidents and problems
which those groups tried to blame on the Ministry of Education and the Board of
Education. This turbulent scenario continued until May 1998, the time when the
Ministry of Education promulgated the three-year plan on correctional measures.
This means that for some 30 years starting from the mid 1960s till around the endof the 1990s, education in Hiroshima was in chaos. In fact, most of my teachingexperience falls in this period. On April 1, 1998, I was forcefully transferred to thePrefectural Board of Education to take a role as the new Director of the Education
Department, so I had to quit being the principal of Hiroshima Prefectural Minami
Upper Secondary School. This happened right before the implementation ofcorrectional guidance by the Ministry of Education.
Concerning my educational philosophy, I think it is not significant if I talkabout my days at the Board of Education, because it is only in the school where wecan actually practice our educational philosophy. Education should be conducted in
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Living life through turbulent educational conditions
schools, and it means how teachers can teach students, influence them to transformtowards positive change. Therefore, I am going to reflect on my earlier work
as principal – my thoughts on school management and my accomplishments –therefore, you can see my personal educational philosophy.
(1) Practices at Hiroshima Prefectural Shisei Upper Secondary School.
In 1994 I was at the Board of Education as the Head of the Upper Secondary
School Education Division. During this year, I was involved in a reform which
was one of the long time educational disputes in Hiroshima, namely the groupbased screening system for admission to upper secondary schools, which was
resolutely abolished first in the northern area of the prefecture. The group-based
screening system originally began to equalize the level and status of all theschools, so students were selected in a school group then distributed equally. It
was the beginning of the educational reform of the entire Hiroshima Prefecture.
Upper secondary school(s) with an Integrated Course as a new concept were alsoestablished in the Hiroshima City area. In either case, unprecedented negotiations
with the School Staff Union as well as with the Anti-discrimination Body were
made. In April 1995, I was assigned as the principal to Shisei Upper Secondary
School in the east of the prefecture, where our negotiation counterparts had placedan activity center. The superintendent of education gave me the mission of newly
establishing an Integrated Course in the eastern section of the prefecture. Shisei
Upper Secondary School was regarded as an educationally difficult school andit was one of the targeted schools chosen by the Board of Education for taking
countermeasures. I was transferred to this school with my previous experience ashead of the upper secondary school education division of the Board of Education the division assigned to implement the reform for upper secondary education. So it
was natural that there was a strong resistance against me. On April first, right after
my arrival, the School Staff Union members gave me a harsh welcome. I had no
idea about the severe status of the school yet and what I discovered at that time wasjust the tip of the iceberg.
The students’ academic performance at Shisei Upper Secondary School was
the lowest compared with other schools in the same district. Some had not attended
the lower secondary education properly and some had been bullied since before
enrollment, and many students were facing various health and family problems.
Classes were often interrupted or cancelled; problems due to misbehavior were
rampant; students were loitering in and around the school during class hours;
163there was also a seriously high occurrence of absences. All kinds of trash wereeverywhere in and out of the classrooms including that of cigarette butts althoughsmoking was illegal. There was violence among students, mugging and evenviolence against teachers frequently happened. When I went to school for the firsttime on April first, I had a severe culture shock because I couldn’t believe I wasin a school. I commuted to this school located in the east of the Prefecture using abullet train from Hiroshima City in the west. Every morning I carried a big vinyl
garbage bag and a pair of tongs and picked up litter all around the school premise.
It became my self-imposed daily duty. Almost every day I filled the trash bag withkitchen refuse or discarded food and cigarettes. The school’s image of devastation
possibly reflected the similar state of the students’ homes and family life. They
went to school without having breakfast and without any homemade lunch boxes.
Taking a look at the 26 teachers, they frequently took paid holidays and leave for
official trips, resulting in cancellation of classes almost everyday especially on
Mondays. After having two days off over the weekend, five to six teachers werealways absent. Almost everyday, the bulletin board was full of notices for cancelledclasses. I was also assigned to take over some classes and gave makeup classes
twice. Some young teachers frequently locked the door of a radio studio room andtook their rest inside during their vacant periods.
I had a strong belief that teachers and students must have the physicalinteraction of sharing the same place and time as fundamental to real education,
so I thought of how to change the situation. Students were disobeying the teacher’s
instruction and often violated teachers. I realized that teachers were intentionallynot doing anything to avoid confronting the students. In this situation, I thoughtteachers were fatigued and felt hopeless at work. It was not fair to just blame
the teachers as if they were too lazy. When I gave serious consideration to therelationship between the students and teachers, I thought the situation was alreadyout of the teacher’s control, preventing them to be motivated to seriously guidestudents, even though the teachers still had an inner feeling that they should interact
with students..
In order to improve such circumstances, I took several concrete actions. For
instance, we the faculty should have a liaison with the police and parents in
preparation for any untoward incidents due to misbehavior. If violence occurs
against teachers, we will immediately contact the surgery clinic next door, andobtain a medical report to be given to the police. Everyone has the right to protect
one’s human rights so any member of the faculty can freely report the case to the164Living life through turbulent educational conditions
police. I explained to the faculty that I, as the principal, was willing to take all the
responsibility. Another achievement which I did for the first time in Hiroshima
Prefecture was the creation of a rest lounge for the faculty. An unused classroom
was renovated for this. I also created an educational counseling room for students
who were having problems, and I requested for two psychological therapists to bedispatched two days a week. Furthermore, I continued discussion with the faculty,
and tried to establish a system to fully support students. It was gradually realized
through sharing a common understanding and practices among the faculty.
Here is one episode on how I changed students’ behavior. At Shisei Upper
Secondary School, fire alarm bells had long been out of order. In my second year,
after I noticed some improvements in the school situation, I asked the educationalboard to allocate 1.2 million yen for the repair of the alarm system. To stop students
from pressing the alarm button for fun, I told teachers that if the alarm rang eventhough they knew it was a false alarm, to evacuate all the students as if there wasa fire. Students used to press the alarm to confuse the school, because they felt
happy if teachers went into a panic and the lessons were interrupted. Under sucha circumstance, I knew these students enjoyed being in the center of attention
feeling like a star. Therefore, every time a mischievous alarm was set off, everyone
evacuated, and took refugee at a designated meeting place. Teachers called theroll. In this way, students not attending the lessons were also forced to be at the
refuge and the teachers asked why they were not in class. Moreover, when a lesson
was disturbed due to this false evacuation, I did not cancel lessons but required
makeup lessons for every minute lost. Consequently, when there was a mischievous
ringing of the bell, students complained about why they were made to evacuateeven though they knew it was a prank and they hated to have extended classes
to make up for the lost time. When a false alarm happened the second time, aninteresting scene occurred. When all of us were at the refuge, one student protested
and appealed to all his/her schoolmates, “Please don’t do this again! If lessons areextended and end later, I can not get to my part time job on time!!” Since then, themisconduct was no longer considered a star performance among the students, thus
the false alarms never rang again. This incident triggered stronger ties among thestudents and harnessed the group power which is a foundation for friendship. We
went through various experiences, but in around autumn of this year, the lessons
started to be delivered smoothly, and the number of the faculty members taking
leave has also decreased. The school was reborn as a school. In my second year,
community residents and educational stakeholders started to evaluate the Shisei
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Upper Secondary School better.
I conducted drastic reshuffling of faculty members. During the first two years,
I reassigned 75 % of the personnel. Basically, the teachers and the staff who
had been in this school for a long time were transferred, however, I sincerely
did the reassignment based on their requests to be transferred to their desired
schools. I gave priority to those who were recruited to Shisei Upper Secondary
School since right after graduation, and remained there for a long period. I did
this because I thought the reason why teachers had lost motivation was that theeducational management was not playing the ideal role it is meant to, so I believed
the responsibility was on the management side. My first year’s staff reshuffling
resulted in a boosting of morale of the faculty who remained in the school. Newly
assigned teachers were nominated from among those who had long teachingexperience and who were competent. In the beginning, they were reluctant to betransferred to our school, but they surely demonstrated their ability as much as I
expected.
The revision of the courses that included the conversion of the General Course
into the Integrated Course was a special mission mandated by the Superintendent of
Education. At first it seemed hardly feasible at all. However, with the cooperationof the Board of Education, people of the community and concerned organizations,and the full support of the teachers, we realized it within two years. This is one of
the accomplishments that I shouldn’t forget to mention as I am indeed proud of it.
At that time, one movie had become quite popular starring a well-known
Japanese actor Mr. KATO Go. In the movie, the quote “when a principal changes,
the school changes” was made, and this phrase had become public knowledge.
Through my own experiences at Shisei Upper Secondary school, I am convincedthat “When teachers change, the school changes”. Article 28 of the School
Education Law which was stipulated in 1947 based upon the Fundamental Law
of Education, stipulates ⑥ “Teachers manage education for children” ③ “Theprincipal manages the school functions and supervises the teachers and staff”.
Therefore, teachers are the key persons who interact with students; thus they
can directly influence them. It is essential to establish a strong foundation in
the student-teacher relationship. It is my belief that teachers must have a clear
understanding of what the teaching profession demands and must possess a lifelong
sense of vocation and passion in education. The Principal’s mission and role
are to enable teachers to demonstrate their ability in every aspect of their daily
educational life. Therefore, the principal must express his/her own philosophy of166

Living life through turbulent educational conditions

education, and has to be competent in getting the teachers to understand.
(2) Practices taken at Hiroshima Prefectural Kokutaiji Upper Secondary School
In April of 2000, I was again transferred from the Board of Education office
to a school, the Hiroshima Prefectural Kokutaiji Upper Secondary School which
had a long tradition and history spanning over 120 years. Before the end of WorldWar Two, this school had dominated the area as Hiroshima’s No.1 Middle Schoolin the old education system. It had produced many talented people, in the political,
financial as well as various other worlds. Under the new postwar school system, it
re-opened as an upper secondary school. Soon after the new system commenced,
the group-based screening system was introduced and it lost its long-standing
historical status of prominence and prestige. When I was appointed to this schoolin 2000, three years had already passed after the group-based screening system wasabolished.
Under the group-based screening system, six upper secondary schools in
Hiroshima City area formed a group. And after the introduction of the individual
school-based screening system, those six schools were ranked and two upper167secondary schools had reached the top; but Kokutaiji Upper Secondary School
was almost at the bottom. From my first day, I prepared the School Reformation
Plan and presented it to the stakeholders in and out of school, aiming to regenerate
and restore the school. On the basis of the plan, I was fully convinced of the highpossibility and necessity of reform, not only because the school had a long history
and tradition but also because of the suitable geographical location of the school.
Being right in the city center it was easy to commute to and from the school.
First of all, I presented my reform plan [see the attached document] to thefaculty. The catchphrase was “It was good to enroll here. It was good to send mychild here. Let’s make everyone think so! Let’s create a new Kokutaiji Upper
Secondary School.” It aimed to create an upper secondary school that is attractive
for both students and parents. The bottom line of the reform philosophy is “To
create an open school”. In general, schools had established a corporate identity andwere somewhat isolated from outside society. The times had changed. To go withthe social change, schools could no longer properly function without opening thedoor to the community and the public.
The pillars of the school reform philosophy were the principles of ‘Informed
Consent’ and ‘accountability’. These principles have already become common
knowledge in the medical world, and the principle of “Informed Consent” isalready incorporated in this modern society as a general principle. In particular,
in school education, it can be regarded as the most important principle in realizing
the educational ideology and an ideal exhibited by the principal. Above all, the key
is how a teacher conducts the daily educational activities for the students. When“education is helping students make a journey for self-identification”, teachers are
directly responsible in guiding students on how to make the journey. Therefore,
education will bear fruit only if the principal has abundant trust and faith in theteachers. The principal has to communicate daily with the teachers to make themunderstand the educational philosophy of the principal, so that teachers can maketheir ideas more effective in teaching practice.
The other principle, ‘accountability’ is indispensable in creating an open policy
in a school. Often, the school tends to be isolated, and when we want to fulfill
our educational responsibility with cooperation and support from the community
and residents, it is important to make the general public understand the policy
and educational programs that we are actually going to implement. By using
accountability, the school can gain the understanding and cooperation from thecommunity and residents towards the school.
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Living life through turbulent educational conditions
To begin with, I presented my plan of action showing the principle ofregeneration for Kokutaiji Upper Secondary School to all the teachers. What
I presented was based on my past painful but rich experiences at Shisei Upper
Secondary School. Thus I was able to convince them about the effectiveness inthese principles and methods.
Through thorough discussion with departments and groups in the school, I
raised the faculty’s common awareness and explained about my management
policy to the PTA general assembly and to the executive committee of the Alumni
Association. To get the cooperation of the parents, the head teachers of: career
guidance, student guidance, curriculum and instruction, and each grade coordinator,etc. presented their respective policy and programs. In these days, this type ofpractice is commonly seen at many schools, but I admit it was quite innovative inthe school management of those days. The outcomes and the results were clearly
evident to the public the following year by the fact that the number of graduates
who passed the entrance exam to universities increased. I had a full appreciation of
the success of our endeavor, though I do not intend to tell the details here.

3. Concluding Remarks
Everything that I have done – that moved me forward, encouraged me andeven reproached me – is based on my motto, “Do all my best” or issho kenmei inJapanese. This word was originally used in a poem from the Kamakura Era (A.D.
1192-1333). The poem goes like this;“ If I hadn’t had this territory offered from my lord, how come I would revere
my lord, how come I would sacrifice my life on the battlefield? The phrase‘Isshokenmei’ means ‘to sacrifice one’s life for one’s territory and occupation,and it implies the real significance of life. [Article 3-5, “Hojo Godaiki” which is a
Historic Account of 5 generations of the HOJO Clan in the Warring State Period.]
In the contemporary dictionary called Kojien, it is defined as ‘to protect the
territory honorably given to you by the Lord, even risking one’s life, or that land
itself.”
The more commonly-used word Isshoo kenmei’ in modern Japanese means
working hard exerting all effort. Considering the original meaning of Isshoo
kenmei’, it has a much deeper meaning. It connotes examination of one’s situationand condition. To reconsider what is necessary to be done now, to determine what
is important, and then act.
Why was I able to work issho kenmei’? I don’t think I can give you a simple
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explanation. What I can tell you is that I chose to be a teacher without any
hesitation; took the teacher recruitment exam as planned; then became a school
teacher. To me, being a teacher and being involved in education seemed to be mymission from heaven; as such, I had to do my best.
To end, I would like to share part of my speech that I made at the 52 nd
graduation ceremony of Kokutaiji Upper Secondary School held on March first,
2001.
“…..By the way, I would like to repeat my first words given to you during myinauguration ceremony which was held last year when I was first assigned to thisschool. I told you “it is important to do what you can do here and what you can donow; or if you have to do something now, you have to do your best. It is important
to live with dignity and self-pride. This Kokutaiji Upper Secondary School wasreborn under the new school-based screening system. As a principal, I try to dowhat I can all the time and what I should do with all my might. No mater how
others look at my actions, now or in the future, I will always be proud because I
think I made the best decision at the right time. Anytime and anywhere I always do
my best. It is important to convince yourself of this.”This chapter is based on a lecture given to JICA participants from the Republic of South
Africa in a program on Local Educational Administration and Management. It was held at
Hiroshima International Plaza on October 15, 2003.

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Living life through turbulent educational conditions
Material: The Framework of Reform Plan at Hiroshima Kokutaiji Upper
Secondary School
1. Basic features of school administration-establishment of an open school policy○ School administration based upon ‘Informed Consent’ [explanation andsatisfaction](1) Common understanding and cooperative practice among the faculty[Educational activities under the responsibility of the faculty](2) Understanding and cooperation of parents and community[Parents perform their duties in education]○ School management with accountability(1) The faculty fulfills their duties as educational personnel in charge of
public education. [Outcome-based responsibility will be questioned](2) The school itself plays a major role in promoting an open school
concept
2. Guidance Policy(1) To guide students to acquire an attitude towards a rational and effective
life style using their power of concentration＊ To encourage students to seriously attend lessons, clubs and dohome study, and lead a daily life with discipline and order(2) To guide students to have a positive attitude towards life by making themost of everyday lessons.
＊ Help students acquire a basic scholastic ability in all subjects.
3. Measures(1) Introduction of the new system of two semesters per year, and sevenperiods per day(2) Introduction of small group teaching [tracking class] according tostudent ability.
(3) To be designated as a school focusing on the Academic Performance
Improvement Program of Hiroshima Prefecture, then to promote theprogram.
(4) Close collaboration with the local Kokutaiji Lower Secondary School
and Rijo Alumni Association.

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Dialogue between Mr. Uchida and JICA training participantsfrom the Republic of South Africa
Participant A: I want to ask you a question as I hear that according to thestatistical difference from the standard of academic achievement schools areranked, therefore, students in the low-level schools are tended to also be ranked
lowly? Compared with students at high-level schools, I think not enough attention
has been paid to those students, what do you think about it?
Mr. Uchida: If you graduate from a prestigious school, you will be able to entera prestigious university, and then get a prestigious job. This is the principle uponwhich the school system with the statistical difference from the standard is based.
There is a huge disparity of situations among the schools I talked about today. At
one end of the spectrum are the high-performing schools and at the other end are
the low performing schools. Most graduates of high-performing schools enter
universities. What about in your case in South Africa?
Participant A: Such differences as you mentioned are quite commonly seen in
South Africa. There are prominent schools as well as unpopular schools, andparents want to send their children to a famous school. At a school with problems,
students can not study properly, thus they have no hope to enter a good university.
I think the situation is the same as that in Japan.
Mr. Uchida:In Japan, however, there is a tendency to have several course offeringsin one school. For example, at Shisei Upper Secondary School where I worked, thepercentage of students entering university was low and annually there was only one
or none at all who could enter university after graduating from the General Course.
On the other hand, at Kokutaiji Upper Secondary School and Minami Upper
Secondary School, almost all of the graduates proceeded to higher education. So insuch a school like Shisei Upper Secondary School, it is important to create courses
other than the General Course.
Participant B: You have told us that when you were a principal you transferredsome teachers from the devastated school to reform education. I would like toknow what points you considered the most.
Mr. Uchida: The biggest reason that I was able to rebuild the school in a period of
only two years was, by transferring some teachers I was able to boost the moraleof the teachers in general. The chaos was not created by an individual teacher; thus
the principal should provide a working environment that will give them comfort.
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Living life through turbulent educational conditions
It is important for the principal to find what kind of environment can motivate
teachers. Being able to create the best condition is the first step towards solving the
problems, thus students will also be motivated. Not all the principals are always
doing this. Therefore, first we must foster such principals in Hiroshima Prefecture.
Participant C: I understand that you succeeded in reshuffling 75% of the teachersin two years, also upon their requests. Apart from transferring teachers, what othermeasures can be helpful?
Mr. Uchida: The school system itself can also be changed. For example,
converting the General Course into the Integrated Course, the school formulated
a new goal. Then my teachers prepared themselves to work on achieving the newgoal and thus transformed the school atmosphere.
Participant C: What is the difference between the General Course and theIntegrated Course? What are the characteristics of the Integrated Course?
Mr. Uchida: The Integrated Course is a combination of the General Course andthe Special Course. Students can choose subjects from a wide array of different
course offerings not limited to the track they belong to. A class is opened based on
students’ enrollment after making choices. Thus the number of students per classcan be smaller than the official quota of 40, so more teachers are needed at theschool.
Participant D: In South Africa on pay day, quite often, teachers go home
immediately after receiving their salary. What about Japanese teachers?
Mr. Uchida:In Japan, the salary is paid into a bank account. Also, work
performance is strictly assessed. If a teacher goes home like in the case in South
Africa, first the principal reprimands the teacher, and if s/he does not obey theprincipals’ order, the case will be reported to the Board of Education for sanction.
However, I have never heard of such a case. Our educational issues in Japan are
how to make the incompetent teachers competent, or how to persuade them toresign from the teaching profession. For instance, annually about 20 teachers aresent to the Hiroshima Prefectural Education Center [HIPEC] for training, due toincompetence.
Participant D: Did you say only 20?
Mr. Uchida: But every year! Some resign and some go back to teaching. Annually
about seven million yen is budgeted to re-train each one. At a private corporation,such incompetent teachers can be laid off instantly. But public school teachers aretenured and can not be laid off like that. Thus they are entitled to attend a one year
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teacher training program being away from the school where they are regarded asincompetent. If these teachers remain incompetent after the retraining, they will besent back to HIPEC again for more training.
Participant D: Do such teachers under the rehabilitation program also get paid?
Mr. Uchida: Yes, they do. Exactly the same salary is guaranteed. Therefore, thebudget of seven million yen is allocated.
Participant D: In South Africa, our policy resigns such teachers if they fail toacquire proper skills after training. What about in Japan?
Mr. Uchida: We also have the same system but we are still studying the case ofwhether or not to actually ask the person to resign. Although we can legally firethem, we are still very careful.
Participant E: What if there are incompetent principals?
Mr. Uchida:Incompetent principals? That’s a very good question. [He laughs.]
Participant E: I imagine you have no incompetent principals, and thus it is notpossible to answer my question?
Mr. Uchida: As I mentioned, not all principals are attempting to realize the ideals I
introduced to you. In Japan as well, there are incompetent principals and we would
like to ask them to quit. But we have no system to demote them. In such cases, wetransfer them to the most unpopular schools where nobody wants to be assigned.
Then, some will spontaneously resign, but some may continue. Only if a principal
misbehaves in violation of the law, s/he may be disciplinarily dismissed.
Participant F: I have heard the enrollment ratio in upper secondary schools is
extremely high in Japan. Do you have a problem of school dropouts?
Mr. Uchida: Almost 100% proceed to upper secondary school, so of course there
are dropouts. The ratio of dropouts from Upper Secondary School is less than
three percent, but the total number is about 110,000, so it has become a serious
state-concern. How about the dropout ratio in South Africa?
Participant F: Our situation is worse. Not even half of the entrees graduate fromupper secondary school. Now we are undertaking educational reform and expect
some improvements but in our country “a compulsory education system” juststarted, so we are not yet ready to tackle the issue.
Mr. Uchida: In Japan, our serious problem is that those who leave school fail tofind a job.
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Living life through turbulent educational conditions
Participant G: It is the same in South Africa. Job hunting becomes severe
without a higher education background. For example, such dropouts may do highjacking, and the possibility of this is not low. Thus, it has become a state-concern.
Originally, education in South Africa had not been highly valued in the past, thus
education was not given much importance in society. Our new trend focuses on
education. In South Africa, the first 12 years of education until upper secondary
school graduation is free, so there are no economic dropouts.
Mr. Uchida:Talking about the “economical reasons,” in Japan it does not include
students who couldn’t pay tuition fees because of poverty; but the problem iscaused more by dysfunctional families.
Participant H: You told us you have specialized in social science. Taking a look at
South Africa, if we want to improve our education, I think we also need to improvethe entire society not only looking at education itself.
Mr. Uchida: That’s right.
Participant H: When there is a good social system, children from the dysfunctionalfamilies will be supported, thus they will no longer dropout.
Mr. Uchida:Education is necessary to develop the economy of the nation, but it
also plays a role to stabilize the society and keep order. Therefore, educational
finance must be properly planned and allocated. The rapid growth of Japan in the
1960s was also achieved by quality education. In those days, the whole nation was
taking a step forward with the motto, ‘Catch up with the Western nations, Go aheadof the Western nations.’ Our education was propelled by this slogan. We aimed at
all of the children being treated equally to learn and acquire knowledge and skills.
But as we moved closer to the world summit, and now towards the 21 century,
we face a new issue on how to continue our nation-building with very few natural
resources. Also the role of and expectation of education has shifted. For the last 20
years, Japan’s educational reform targeted developing the youth to think and makejudgments independently.
Participant I: Going back to the issue of dropouts, if I look at the ratio, yours ismuch lower than ours in South Africa.
Mr. Uchida: Still, this is one of the biggest problems in Japan.
Participant I: Well, I am ashamed to tell you this, but in South Africa, we don’t
have such reliable statistics as you have provided for us today. I think we first haveto gain more accurate statistics like yours.
175Mr. Uchida:They are made annually by the Ministry of Education and the data is
as of May first.
Participant I: In South Africa, we have statistics on the enrollment rate made by
the central government. But it is not yet generally utilized, and there is no practiceto bring them into discussion to grasp the condition of our education. Neither are
our statistics divided into Provinces yet.

This lecture was delivered on October 15th, 2003 at Hiroshima International Plaza. Mr.
Uchida was the director of the Hiroshima Prefectural Education Center at that time.

(*1) During WWII, the Japanese Emperor was regarded as a deity and people fought in the
war sacrificing their lives for the Emperor. In the post-war era, the Emperor became
a symbol of the nation, and was no longer regarded as a deity. Since the anthology ofpoems Kojiki deals with the ancient stories of deities, probably the story was not taught
as it was considered improper right after the war.

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The meaning of life that I found in my teaching career

The meaning of life that I found in my teaching career
SEZAKI Nobutoshi
SEZAKI Nobutoshi was born in 1941 in Fukuyama
City, Hiroshima Prefecture.
After graduating from university, he became anindustrial arts teacher of upper secondary school. In 1991,
he became the vice principal of Hiroshima Prefecture
Miyajima Technical Upper Secondary School, and in 1994
he was promoted as principal. In 1996, he was appointed
as principal of Hiroshima Prefecture Kure Technical
Upper Secondary School and principal of Hiroshima
Prefecture Hiroshima Technical Upper Secondary Schoolin 2000. Later he became principal of the Hiroshima
Institute of Technology, Polytechnic until his retirement inMarch 2006.

1. Introduction
Before I finally decided to be a teacher, I was at the crossroads of two possible
choices. One road would lead me to be a public researcher working at a national
institution like the Ministry of Construction or Architect Institute. The other way
would lead me to be a teacher.
I thought over and over again and sought various opinions and suggestions
from a great number of people. While I was spending much time thinking about
my future occupation, I felt indeed determined that whatever occupation I chose, I
should never regret about it in the future. I chose to be a teacher.
I never had any experience teaching. However, I have a very good lasting
impression of a teacher who was my homeroom teacher at my lower secondary
school. While I was studying to become a teacher, this teacher actually made me
finally decide to be a teacher.
Except for some diligent students, most of us at the lower secondary school
untiringly played softball in the school ground everyday until evening after school.
This built a very strong friendship among our classmates.
Our homeroom teacher was still new, and our class was his first homeroom
assignment. I can recall how we sensed his intense passion for education, which hehad shown by his enthusiastic but careful interaction with us. He was concerned

177with both our studies and personal life as evidenced by his daily practical dealings
with us. One time, he became very worried about us because we were already inthe third year but we had very low motivation to study for the entrance exam toupper secondary school. Because the exam was already near, he rode on a bikeeven during very cold winter nights to visit us at our houses where he taught us
subjects necessary for the entrance exam. He encouraged some more students to
get together in one house to study with him.
Though I was aware of my teacher’s strong passion for education, I neverstudied seriously. One day as the exam day drew near leaving only a couple ofmonths, the teacher asked me to which upper secondary school I wished to go. I
knew my scholastic achievement level, so I pointed out to him the name of one
upper secondary school for which I thought I could pass its entrance exam without
making efforts. Surprisingly, he seriously reprimanded me. I had never seen him
angry this way before. This incident remained in my mind very clearly. I think
this served as the turning point for me to think about how I should spend the restof my life.

2. Two episodes shaking my heart(1) Meeting the best students
In April 1967, I was newly recruited as a teacher at Miyoshi Technical Upper
Secondary School, now known as Miyoshi Seiryo Upper Secondary School. The
school is located on a hill in suburban Miyoshi City. Surrounded by a Japanesecypress forest, this school was originally established as an Agricultural Upper
Secondary School and that is why the school has a beautiful garden.
The Construction Course, newly opened that year, had forty students under
my care. Aside from me, there were two other teachers in charge of specialized
subjects, and we had a strong determination to create history for this new course.
We wanted to instill the Pioneering Spirits among our students, so we fostered the
traditional philosophy of apprenticeship or the ‘Master-Disciple’ principle.
In autumn, some six months later after the academic year began, when I went
to school a fellow teacher on night duty told me; “Mr. SEZAKI, one of yourstudents was drawing the design overnight in the design room.” I quickly went tolook for the student and asked him why he had been there overnight. The student
answered, “Yes, I was so absorbed in my drawing work that I missed the last train.
So I decided to stay at school.”This was just one of the episodes, and there were many more events when
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The meaning of life that I found in my teaching career

students enthusiastically and spontaneously studied in order to meet our
expectations. I can clearly remember those scenes even now.
Though I was a passionate teacher, my teaching skills were not good enough.
I did repeated trial and error practice in student guidance. Soon I felt my efforts
paid off because my students made great achievements. The students in that
school were well worth teaching.
Through my students, I gradually convinced myself that the potential of every
student is without limits. If teachers have the passion to teach, students can growby themselves and have the strength to open up their future.
William Arthur Ward, an educational philosopher of the UK said, “Themediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher
demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” On the contrary, I would say that mybest students inspired me, so that I was able to sustain a long teaching career. This
makes me appreciative of my former students.
Another point I admire in my former students is that most of them found a
job which they maintained, and almost none of them gave up. Nowadays, they179

are playing active roles as executives of administrative organizations, privatecompanies, branch offices, and other important positions.
Whenever I meet my former students in the alumni association reunion affairs,
they generally say “In our work, we faced countless difficulties, pains, andhardships and thought many times to quit the job. But when we think of the ordeals
we experienced in our old upper secondary school, we believe we should be able tomanage any difficulties in society. That is why we managed to overcome each oneof these hurdles in our career.”
It is said that education is the preparation for the future. So the school educationis the foundation of our personal lives, and I learned that it is important to makeour students climb up the high mountains which they have never experienced,
and develop the strength to endure the hardship of climbing. Thus after they havereached the summit, they can taste the joy of achieving something by seeing the
scenic beauty from the summit as a reward for their hardship.
(2) Transforming a difficult school into a place for teachers’ dreams
I worked at Miyoshi Technical Upper Secondary School for nine years, andthen in 1976, I was transferred to Hiroshima Technical Upper Secondary School.
Founded in 1897, it is one of the distinguished schools in industrial education. I
had been longing to work there and I once dreamed of entering the school gate
which was being constructed at the time of its foundation. Today the gate serves as
an emblem of the school.
Hiroshima Technical Upper Secondary School had many highly skillfulteachers who had long working experiences. On the other hand, the students werealso active both in their studies and sports. They were proud of being students ofthe school, and were aware of their mission to hand on the long tradition of thetechnical school. During the morning assembly where 1400 students congregatedin the school ground, everyone concentrated on listening to the speakers and there
was no private whispering at all. I worked at this Hiroshima Technical Upper
Secondary School for eleven years.
Then in 1987 I was transferred to Miyajima Technical Upper Secondary School.
At that time, the school was regarded by the community residents as a nuisancebecause it was in complete disarray. One reason was that the principal was not in
the center of the school management. The faculty members hoped to remedy thesituation to some extent, but they were not united; each one was just doing his/herthing individually. There were those who easily criticized others who had different
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The meaning of life that I found in my teaching career
thoughts or ways of doing things. Often this resulted in conflicts among the faculty
and the disagreement precipitated to inconsistency in teaching, and students
were not sure which teacher’s guidance was the right one. Students had become
emotionally unstable and eventually had lost their trust in the school and teachers.
Here and there we saw damaged school facilities. Though we repaired them,soon they were again broken by students; so the school no longer repaired them.
Most students did not listen to teachers, and many classes were interrupted so thatmost lessons could no longer be properly delivered. Students were stressed as they
never felt satisfaction from studying. This caused more troubles among students aswell, and created a situation in which even obedient and diligent students dropped
out of school in large number.
In my first year at this school, I was assigned to the student guidance
department so I interacted with many students every day. Being a new andunacquainted teacher, the stricter I was with the students, the more they became
rebellious. I realized that verbal conversation alone could not possibly persuade
them. Therefore, I reconsidered what I should do to gain the trust of the students.
The first thing I did was to change the environment by cleaning the classroom.
The classrooms in the Industrial Course had not been cleaned for a while, andthere were many areas to be cleaned. I asked students to clean with me, but no one
responded so I cleaned all alone. As days passed by, and the classroom graduallybecame tidier, a few students came to me and said, “Teacher, you really likecleaning, don’t you”? They started to help me little by little.
By showing students how to do things, I had gradually touched their emotions.
Finally one day all the students joined the cleaning of the classroom after class.
From then on I observed that though I dealt with the students strictly, they beganlistening to me.
I wanted to extend my activity to the other faculty members, so I asked someyounger teachers to join me. I obtained a positive response so that before any
school event, many teachers joined in the cleaning of the school. When all the otherteachers understood our school cleaning efforts, it soon touched the minds of thestudents. Eventually, young teachers were able to do student guidance and subject
teaching freely and actively.
In my second year at the school, I was assigned a homeroom. At this time, theschool started to show some signs of order but there were still many things to becorrected. Because of the school’s bad reputation, the majority of the enrollees
were not from the local lower secondary schools. So, most of the students
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commuted to school from far places taking trains and buses.
There was one student Mr. A, who was the most impressive in my class. He wascommuting from Hiroshima City taking nearly more than an hour. He had a wellbuilt physique and seemed to be a naughty boy. Right after the enrollment he wasinvited to join the School’s Cheering Squad where he got a leader-like position.
Thereafter, he often caused trouble with other students.
Being in charge of the students’ guidance at that time, I was confident of mystrict guidance practice to any students but Mr. A was an exception. No matter
how strict I counseled, he rebelled even more. I did not know how to handle thesituation anymore.
Though Mr. A went through failures both in his studies and life, he managed
to graduate and found employment in a large-scale construction company in
Hiroshima. What amazed me the most about him was his huge and glaring
transformation after graduation. Some time after graduation, he came to visit theschool, and we were surprised at his polite manner of speaking and the content of
his conversation. Everything in him was completely different compared with what
he was during his school days with us.
I wondered how he could have changed himself so dramatically within sucha short period. Mr. A told me; “Teacher, I knew what you were trying to tell me
when I was a student. I fully understood what you were trying to point out, but
I was too conscious of my classmates and friends. I had pride in that I could notchange myself so easily after a teacher told me to do so. I just stuck to my original
conviction. I appreciate your perseverance in guiding me. Now I can work at aplace by making good use of what I learned in this school. I am really thankful that
I could become a full-fledged member of society.”
He showed his inborn leadership skills as site foreman at the construction sites,and excellently united all the workers. He even obtained the national qualificationof a 1st grade architect. Thus he has grown to be an indispensable member of thecompany.
What I learned from Mr. A is that whenever I counsel students, they carry
their own thoughts with them that may not be expressed in words or actions. As acounselor, I must be aware of this reality.
Later, the school became well-organized through the strong leadership of theprincipal as well as by the support from people in the local community. All theteachers unified their teaching policy and made serious efforts in teaching andstudent guidance. This brought stability among students as they started to study
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The meaning of life that I found in my teaching careerand did sports seriously as expected.
Around this time, a new PE (physical education) teacher came to our school.
He was also asked to coach the baseball club which was then a weak team thatlacked a sufficient number of players so it was not possible to participate even in aprefecture-wide preliminary game. To make things worse, the baseball play ground
was covered by wild grass.
In such an environment, this new coach gathered all the baseball club memberson the ground and said, “I am going to make your team participate in the nationwide games at Koshien Stadium. In order to achieve this goal, I hope you will try
to establish the base.” He talked passionately of his dream to the students. Since
then, they started to have early morning practices and even after-school practices
that extended until late at night. Every time the team played in the local games,
the players proudly said, “We have practiced baseball the most in this prefecturecompared with other teams so we will never lose any games!” In reality, however,it took three to four years until they reached a certain level of competence to win
over other teams. Our team improved and in the prefecture-wide tournament it
started to win over powerful teams of other upper secondary schools including
the prominent Koryo Upper Secondary School or Hiroshima Commercial Upper
Secondary School. This influenced the new applicants coming to enroll in our
school. For instance, excellent student players from local lower secondary schools
also started to flock together wishing to join the baseball team of our celebrated
coach. Finally in the 7th year that this coach was assigned to this school, the teamwas developed enough to join the nation-wide Koshien tournament.
Luckily, I was their principal at that time. I also cheered for the team from thebleachers of Koshien together with other students, parents, and even with alumni
and community people. I nostalgically recalled the disastrous time when I was
newly recruited to this school, and my heart was filled with emotion.
Thanks to this achievement, we started to gain a lot more support from thePrefecture Board of Education and people in the community, which resulted in thereconstruction of the school buildings and gym. Now, the school has turned into anindispensable upper secondary school in the community, with great trust from thelocal residents.

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3. Reform of the Industrial Education and Instructional Improvement(1) Reform of Industrial Education at Upper Secondary School
In the Second World War, our national land was devastated, and the industries
were catastrophically damaged. The nation started a new life to alleviatethemselves from poverty in clothing, food and living. Now, we are in the 60th yearof the anniversary since the end of the war.
During the fifty years right after the war, the population constantly grew by amillion annually, while the living environment including working opportunities andthe housing system was developed, as well as the establishment of an educational
system which aimed to raise children who would support our future. The whole
nation was rebuilt, and now, the living standard includes not only “food, clothing
and shelter” but also cultural and educational aspects, and the society is wellformed so that a majority of the people can feel an abundance in life.
Despite Japan’s scarce natural resources, it has redeemed its status as a country
with a high ranking development which is often called “a miracle.” This wasachieved by the extreme diligence of the Japanese who were quick-witted, which
the country prominently demonstrated in the field of technological advancement.
I first entered into industrial education in 1967. Japan was still at the gateway
towards rapid economic growth. In those years the enrollment rate to upper
secondary schools skyrocketed to the 70% level.
Students in those days were economically impoverished. This challenged
them to develop a common clear goal that if they studied hard and found a job,
and worked seriously they could achieve an enriched life. Reflecting on this idea,
their morale for studying was high. School teachers scarcely faced problems likeabsenteeism or misbehavior among students.
At this time, Japanese industries achieved dramatic economic development. To
catch up with Western-developed technology, companies manufactured products
massively by using the conveyer belt while the production line was efficiently
standardized. Strengthened by cheap labor, Japanese companies became superior inregards to cost effectiveness and won competition in the world market.
To back up this development, we needed a large number of technicians withcertain skills. This led to the establishment of technical upper secondary schools
nationwide since around 1961. Here in Hiroshima Prefecture, a total of seventeen
technical upper secondary schools, both public and private, were established.
In those days, the abilities we expected of students at the technical upper
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The meaning of life that I found in my teaching career
secondary schools included memorization of known facts so that they can utilize
their knowledge whenever the need arises. It was not expected to have an ability
to deeply think and try to respond to challenges. As a consequence, the content of
the daily lessons were mechanically unified, and lessons were in a one-way styledelivered from the teachers’ side to the students, mainly aiming to cram as muchknowledge as possible.
Later on, the economic growth of Japan caused a high raise in the salary scale.
The country was no longer able to compete with other developing nations mainly in
Asia in terms of cost performance. It was time to change the customarily practiced
manufacturing system which used to aim to catch up with the advanced countries.
Nowadays, companies are expected to invent new products by making the best useof IT Technology, or to develop and manufacture highly value-added products bothin functioning and designing.
Along with considerable changes in the industrial picture, engineers andtechnicians were expected to gain more knowledge not only in their area ofspecialization, but also in other related fields. At the same time, employees musthave the capability to reconsider the situation deeply, to modify the products better,and find solutions for every issue to achieve the goal.
To meet these needs in the industrial world, new subjects were introduced at
the technical upper secondary school like “Basic Industry,” “Industrial Math andScience,” which provided the knowledge and techniques related to the overall
industrial technology.
Furthermore in 1995, a subject “Issue-based Research” was offered to train thestudents to study spontaneously, invent things with creativity and work to be able
to solve problems.
By flexibly coping with the global environmental changes which surrounded
the industrial world, the education of technical upper secondary schools stably
produced human resources who could be the breadwinners in the industrial world.
Thanks to this approach, we have established a firm base to conduct basic
research and development in scientific technology. This was proven when thenation experienced the burst of the economic bubble in 1993, and the management
environment of companies went through severe deterioration. Today, aspects of
those results are seen in the production of digital electronic home appliances and inautomobile manufacturing.

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(2) Lesson Improvement; Introduction of “Mastery Learning”
The compulsory subject “Industrial Math and Science” was officially introduced
to technical upper secondary schools after the revision of the Courses of Studyin 1982. It aimed to supplement the basic ability in science and math of technicalupper secondary students along with the advancement of industrial technology.
The goal of teaching this subject is “to cultivate basic abilities in which students
can practically and mathematically handle the concrete issues in all areas in theindustrial field.”
I taught this subject from the first year of its introduction. Because it is a basesubject serving for other specialized subjects, I wanted to assure 80% achievement
in students’ learning.
While I was researching for the best teaching method to achieve this goal,
I came across “Mastery Learning” which was developed by Prof. Benjamin S.
Bloom at the University of Chicago, U.S.A. I started to study it and practiced it in
my actual lessons.
The basic principle of this method is that “If both the content and method forlearning are appropriate, the gap in achievement level among students simply
indicates the gap of their learning velocity.” It means “there is no difference in thebasic learning ability among students.” Therefore, even those slow learners canalso fully understand the complete content if appropriate assistance is given in theprocess.
The method which I actually applied in my lesson was, that first of all I
conducted a lesson to the whole class of 40 students all at once. Then before ending
the lesson, I gave them a post-quiz to judge how much each student had reached thelevel of “Mastery”. Those students who had not reached the expected level were
given supplemental instruction after school. During the supplemental lessons after
school, after the overall explanation was given, the post-test was conducted again,
and those who failed to learn the expected content were then given individual
teaching. Through these steps, all the students were helped to reach the “Mastery”
level before the next lesson to study the next level. Students had no fret about thedelay, or worries to attend the next lesson, and all of them could proceed ahead
comfortably.
As a consequence of the practice of “Mastery Learning”, students who attended
the supplemental classes exceeded the term-end exam scores higher than those
who didn’t attend the remedial lessons. In addition, many students who experienced

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The meaning of life that I found in my teaching career
the supplemental lessons commented that, “It was quite effective to repeatedly
study the same content to deepen understanding” “I gained confidence because I
could catch up with my classmates through taking tests after remedial classes aswell as individual tutoring”.

4. Realizing the school management where the principal is regarded as
the real leader(1) Structuring the school management system based on the authority andresponsibility of the principal
Younger generations who will support the development of Japan in the future
must have the power to be independent as individuals, as well as to bear results bycooperatively working in a group consisting of characteristic individuals.
The school must be autonomous, and must have developed a distinguished andunique character to foster this power, so that schools can be a place where enrollees
come to attend with a desire to study there.
Educational activities in school are formed by class management, lessons andother activities, therefore organizations are necessary to conduct each effectively.
To make the organizations function perfectly, first of all, the faculty members mustfully understand the educational principle and policy of the principal. Then it isessential that all the members work cooperatively in the same direction. Before
everything, the strong leadership of a principal with authority and responsibility is
indispensable.
However in Hiroshima Prefecture, in the past many years, the final decisionmaking in school was left to the faculty meeting, and also during the graduation andenrollment ceremony, the hoisting of the national flag and singing of the national
anthem were not practiced despite the national Course of Study. The authority ofthe principal was quite restricted as no one obeyed the principals’ instruction.
The head of the school is the principal, and the decisions in school management
had to be made by the principals’ authority. So such practices in Hiroshima
Prefecture were violations of the public education laws and ordinances.
This problem was pointed out at the Prefectural Assembly and then was raisedat the National Diet, and in 1998 the Ministry of Education instructed the Board of
Education in Hiroshima Prefecture to exert correctional measures.
Upon receiving the national guidance, some correctional measures were
undertaken in all schools. In order to organize and function the school187

management, principals tried to abolish the customarily practiced illegal filing suchas agreements between unions and management. However, all of these measuresseemed to destruct the vested rights and one’s ideas and principles of the School
Staff Union. Thus the faculty overwhelmingly resisted and I also felt chagrin at
losing the fights many times.
However, through the unshakable policy and stance of the Pref. Board of
Education, with the full cooperation of the Principals’ Association, all the necessary
measures were undertaken one by one. Gradually, the path to establish the school
management with the principal’s authority and responsibility was formed, andthings went ahead by opening up to new horizons.
(2) Establishment of the League of Public School Principals Association in
Hiroshima Prefecture
I served eight years as a principal for public upper secondary schools and in the
8th year, I acted as Chair of the Upper Secondary School Principals’ Association ofHiroshima Prefecture.
To cope with the extreme changes in society, we have been promoting various
reforms to re-create school education for the new era. This kind of reform tends tobe conducted individually in each school, or even when they are grouped, still they
are separated from the elementary school group or lower secondary school group.
We must remember that students go to lower secondary school after graduatingfrom elementary school, and then go on to upper secondary school. So if we lookat a child, a constant education must be provided. To achieve consistency, smoothconnections between schools must be formed taking into account the educational
content and method.
Before, Principals Associations were organized separately according to theschool type, and then they were allied to establish the League to secure linkages
among the public schools.
I remember our case in Hiroshima Prefecture was the first attempt in Japan.
For instance, about 990 school principals from all the public elementary, lower andupper secondary schools met once a year, to attend lectures to collect information
about the future vision and school management, or report about their practices ofhandling issues in respective schools relating to teaching and career guidance. Also,
we are planning to divide this League into sub-blocks according to 29 regions, sothat they can further talk about the local issues based on each branch group.

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The meaning of life that I found in my teaching career

5. Concluding Remarks
We were born to be an indispensable part of this society. But one day, all of us
pass away as in the old saying, “Living creatures must die.” It is said that many of
us will think of the following two things in the dying process.
① What will happen to me when I die? Will I really be going to the Land ofHappiness? Will I be going back to the Great Nature, and then will I revive asa new life?
② Was there meaning in my life? Did I have a meaningful life?
I think the answer to these questions depend on whether I could have madeother people happy through my efforts at work.
Many students and others speak to me at the graduation ceremony or during
an alumni meeting, “Thanks to your particular words, that student recovered asmile on his face. Your guidance at that moment motivated that student and after
successfully graduating, he has been enjoying a happy life”. It is a great joy for ateacher like me, to hear words of praise for me.
Whenever I talk about my experience, I am immediately flooded with a memoryof my former student Mr. B. I was his homeroom teacher at Miyoshi Technical
Upper Secondary School. His home was far away, and because of the inconvenienttransport system, he was lodging at his grandmother’s house to go to school. Hischaracter was gentle and cheerful which earned him his friends. However, he wasstruggling with designing, and often failed to submit the assignment of architect
designing in due time. When the graduation was nearing, he suddenly stopped
coming to school, probably due to the pressure he felt for not making the reportsubmitted by the deadline. I had experienced the same kind of hardships inarchitect designing during my university course. I knew what he had to do to go
through this was just keep himself sitting at the desk and draw one single line tostart. When I visited his residence to tell him what to do, his grandmother criedbecause she took the responsibility of taking care of her grandson and begged
me to let him graduate. Thanks to the push by his grandmother, I was able to put
him on my bicycle, and brought him to school, and made him sit at the designingdesk. Exactly the same as I experienced before, this incident gave Mr. B a chance
to boost his morale. Finally, he was able to accomplish his requirements andgraduated. Now, he has grown to be an architect in the front lines while he manages
his own office.

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The teaching profession is an occupation that can make other people’s lives
happy. It can make one’s life meaningful through the daily work. It is indeed awonderful career.
This chapter is based upon a lecture conducted by Mr. SEZAKI for JICA participantsof the Republic of South Africa as part of a JICA training course on Science and Math
Teacher Education. His lecture was held on November 8th, 2005, at Hiroshima Institute ofTechnology, Polytechnic.

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The meaning of life that I found in my teaching career

Dialogue between Mr. SEZAKI and JICA training participantsfrom the Republic of South Africa
Participant A: Upon hearing your lecture, what impressed me the most wasyour admission that you learned from your students being their teacher. You alsomentioned that you learned from fellow teachers too, I think it is a marvelous wayof thinking that I can use back home. The major issue South African teachers are
now facing is how to change the school. I would like to know how you did it.
Mr. SEZAKI: Even though the principal desires to effect changes in the school
and works hard for it, he may end up in a situation where none of the teachers workwith him. In such a case, the principal and even long experienced teachers get tiredof the situation. Then, it will be impossible to change the school with the currently
assigned teachers in the school. In Japan, there is a transfer system, and teachers aretransferred from one school to another school. Taking advantage of this system, I
transferred those fed-up teachers to other schools, and instead I welcomed younger
and more energetic teachers to my school to work together to change the school.
Participant B: What I thought great is that when you were a teacher, you cleaned
the classroom leading others ahead, and tried to give the message to students that it
was important to modify the surrounding environment. I know it is not an easy task
to apply this in South Africa, but I want to take your teaching method back home.
It is indeed praiseworthy that a teacher took an initiative action without beingcommanded by the principal.
Mr. SEZAKI: One of the fundamental practices in the Japanese culture is when
you are newly assigned to work, you start cleaning before doing anything. If
you have a will, anybody can do cleaning. What I learned through my practicesof cleaning is that students’ spirits calm down in a good environment, or they
feel unstable when things around them are out of order. Therefore, I think
the environmental modification including cleaning is indispensable in school
education.
Participant C: Do you think if the principal and some of the teachers in school
work together very hard, the school can be changed?
Mr. SEZAKI: When we want to navigate the school to a better direction, if theprincipal values only the thoughts of the teachers, there will be no good results.
In my experience, I learned that if issues are discussed only among the school191

staff, we could never find the appropriate direction. When only teachers discuss
the issues, things will be changed just for the sake of the teachers. Therefore,
we asked the local residents and parents to join the group to talk about possible
improvements for the school. The decisions made by the group will be used to set
up the policy by the principal, and then the principal leads the teachers. In Japan,
a new system has been introduced recently whereby the community residents andparents become the school council members. This is now spreading nationwide.
Participant D: In South Africa, our education is now in transition from teachercentered education to student-centered education. I wonder what kind of instruction
is needed to realize this goal of making the students responsible for their own
learning and not simply waiting for the teachers’ instruction, but to think bythemselves. Based on your practices and experiences, could you give me someadvice?
Mr. SEZAKI: I have mentioned that at one technical upper secondary school
one student stayed at school overnight while concentrating on designing. I mustemphasize that that student did not have that much motivation in the beginning. He
enrolled in a newly-offered course so we teachers tried to instill “Pioneer Spirits”
intensely among all the students in the course. Based on this spiritual approach,
we set up different goals suited for individual students. For instance, participationin the national contest of designing, or obtaining various qualifications wereamong the goals. All the teachers supported the students patiently so that they
could accomplish their goals. Maybe it was more “exercise” than teaching. Having
been awarded at the prefecture-wide contest, students gained confidence. If
you persevere to make efforts against ordeals, you will obtain good results. The
process of investing efforts on students is of course important, but we really needto make them achieve their objectives so that they themselves can find some senseof fulfillment. After reaching one goal, students gain strength and confidence,thus they can set up new goals. Whatever students have acquired may turn into adriving force that motivates individual students to make more of their best efforts.
Then they can achieve another goal. This favorable cycle must be established by us
educators.
Participant E: Please let me know about the issue-based research project, e.g. theway of thinking and the method of assessment.
Mr. SEZAKI: Japan’s industrial development was changed from the original ideaof “catching up with Western Technology” to “creating innovative things.” Along
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The meaning of life that I found in my teaching careerwith this, the industrial education was greatly reformed. Before, the educational
goal was to develop human resources who were responsible to instructional
manuals, and who can exert what was commanded, so that cramming the existingknowledge and being able to apply them was the main goal in school education.
However in these days, it is needed more to develop personnel who can identify
problems and find solutions by themselves. To cope with this kind of social need,this issue-based research has been introduced as a new subject for industrial
education. Needless to say, the most important point of this subject is that students
themselves find the issues. Unfortunately, our students were brought up in a system
in which the education is given to them only from the teacher’s side so it required
much time for students to finally find the issues by themselves. Before, teachers
did not have patience to wait for the students, and felt anxious guiding the students.
In addition, none of us were aware of the method of assessment and evaluation. We
gradually figured it out and reached one evaluation method with three points. We
evaluated whether students worked cooperatively with others in a team, and thenthe content and the quality of the products. We also evaluated if they could present
their outcomes so that the audience would understand clearly. What teachers
needed during the issue-based research period was to observe students, without
teaching them. Japanese teachers are too kind, so that they always want to teachimmediately.
Participant F: I was impressed with the Flow Chart of the “Mastery Learning.”
Without allowing dropouts, the students understand all the processes, and teachers
check the students understanding in all the topics and units before proceeding to thenext stage. Making sure that everyone in the class understood the lesson is indeed
ideal. I also think that the method of group work, where students teach among
themselves is admirable. I believe “Mastery learning” could also be effective inSouth Africa.
Mr. SEZAKI: In Japan, most teachers conduct small tests to confirm the students
understanding after teaching the whole class. However, after identifying the factthat some students have not understood the content fully, it is not possible toconduct supplemental teaching as this increases the teachers’ burden. It will be
impossible to implement Mastery Learning in all the subjects if the teachers’ tasks
are not lessened. In teaching the subject ‘Industrial Math and Science’, I appliedthe “Mastery Learning” because this subject was fundamental, so I thought it wasworth doing, even though my burden increased.

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Participant G: If those students who were found “failing”, could not achieve theexpected level even after the remedial lessons, what would you do then?
Mr. SEZAKI: For such a group of students, we prepared individual materials
according to the student’s level of understanding. In the end, private tutoring wasdone. Then, the teacher easily identified how much the students had acquired. Thenthe overall unit test was conducted.
Participant G: Still then, if they failed again?
Mr. SEZAKI: We can not expect all the students pass, so our actual ultimate goalis 80% of the students.
Participant H: When the number of students rapidly increased, how did you
handle the situation?
Mr. SEZAKI: In Japan, many technical upper secondary schools were opened
from around 1961, and the number of teachers was inadequate at that time. There
were 40 students per class and 36 period lessons weekly. One teacher was assigned
around 23 periods per week. Now, it is only 17. Teachers had to work more tocover up for the insufficient number of teachers so they taught as many periods as
they could.
Participant I: While the industry develops rapidly, how has the education changed
in terms of what our environment and the society should be?
Mr. SEZAKI: In Japan, there is a popular saying from ancient times, that “When
we have food, cloth and shelter, also we must have politeness and manners.” In
the post war era, the industrial development brought abundance in the economy,
and people no longer suffered from a lack of food and clothing. However, I feel
we have lost something related to morality. Throughout the development in Japan,
we have failed to value the other aspects of education, such as the way of living
as a person, volunteer spirits or social contribution. In recent years, there is moreconcern that we must teach those values in school education. In addition, studying
about environmental problems and coexistence with nature are also considered
important parts of the school education.

This dialogue was also held on November 8 th, 2005, at Hiroshima Institute ofTechnology, Polytechnic, where Mr. SEZAKI was the principal.

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Going through the dark with just a flicker of light

Going through the dark with just a flicker of light
TANABE Koji
TANABE Koji was born in 1950 in Tojo town, Shobara
city of Hiroshima Prefecture
After graduating from university, he taught at
Fukuyama City Upper Secondary School.
He worked with the educational office in Miyoshi
for two years and then worked at the Educational Board
Office of Hiroshima Prefecture. From 1999 to the present,
he has served as principal in two schools, namely theHiroshima Prefecture Sera Upper Secondary School(1999 to 2005) and Hiroshima Prefecture Miyoshi Upper
Secondary School (current position).

1. Introduction
I was born in a small town called Tojo at the foot of Mt. Dogo in the Chugoku
Mountains. Most parents at the elementary school and lower secondary school
where I studied earned their living cultivating the paddy fields and harvesting
forest products, therefore, most graduates left the town to work in the cities. My
father used to say to me, “At this time, it is not good if you do not have a university
education.” “You should graduate from a university and become a school teacher!”
It was the time of the baby boomers (*1) when I took the entrance exam for
Hiroshima University. Imagine the number of applicants who tried their luck toenter the university, however, in spite of the very stiff competition I managed topass and enter Hiroshima University. Honestly, I longed for this new campus
life to study and do research, but college life did not turn out the way I expected.
I desired to transform my apathetic self to someone who was more sociallyconcerned by facing challenges in my environment. It was the time when student
activism (*2) was starting to gain grounds in universities all over Japan, however,I couldn’t seriously join the nation-wide student demonstration against the
government; neither was I brave enough to quit the university. I was a lost soul
who couldn’t decide on what I really wanted to do as a student.
My indecisive character took its toll on my studies, and inevitably I needed
to repeat courses and stay one year more in university. I was lonely and felt thatpeople were blaming and accusing me. At this time I remembered my classmates
195and other students who dropped out and those who already graduated. I
remembered my old schools in my hometown where I was strictly disciplined. I
remembered my teachers who accepted me wholeheartedly and guided without
discrimination. I was indeed homesick. At this time, I felt a strong desire to spend
my life with children, then, I finally decided to become a teacher.
At that time, although there was strong social criticism against spoiled anddependent students, there was also a safety network for juvenile delinquents. This
worked favorably for me, and I was given a chance to reform my life.
I became a teacher. In my first year of teaching, I was assigned to an
upper secondary school that was beset by several unresolved issues of student
misbehavior. I kept myself absorbed in homeroom duties, subject teaching, student
guidance and supervising a soft-ball tennis club. I discovered the joy of sharinghappiness and hardships with my students while we were practicing soft-ball tennis
also while performing my duties in student guidance. This made me contemplate
on, and made me more determined about my future direction as a teacher.
I was transferred to Tojo Upper Secondary School in my hometown where I
met the principal KIKUOKA Michio who was a graduate of Hiroshima Upper
Normal School(*3). From him I learned the principles of community based school
management. The environment of upper secondary schools in those days wasstrongly influenced by the Teachers Union and activist groups. Restructuring ofcourses was hardly realized due to resistance from these groups.
Under such circumstances, Mr. KIKUOKA, the principal, showed hisleadership whereby all school teachers were involved in the revision of the courses
in cooperation with the PTA, alumni association and the community. The Home
Economics Course was revised into a General Course. For the first time in Japan,
an Information Education Course was offered. Everyday the school conducted
open school seminars on information technology until late at night, and thecommunity residents learned how to operate computers. “The school can change,
and the community can change.” Having experienced this drama 20 years ago, it
has become a driving force of my philosophy in school reformation.

2. Corrective Interventions by the Ministry of Education.
When Mr. TERAWAKI was appointed as the superintendent of education,
he launched educational reforms such as the institution of the Integrated Coursefor Upper Secondary Schools. Initially, the Upper Secondary Schools Teachers
Union and activist groups firmly resisted the reforms but when they accepted196

Going through the dark with just a flicker of lightthe introduction of the Integrated Course, people started to see some kind of
movement in education in Hiroshima Prefecture.
With his appointment as the next superintendent, Mr. KISO abolished thestudents screening system based on school groups (*4). People started to feel the
movement of educational change in Hiroshima.
Contrary to these developments, at one lower secondary school in Fukuyama
city, there were disputes over the national flag and anthem (*5) that led to thesummoning of witnesses at the House of Councilors. Thus educational issues
particular to Hiroshima were raised in the National Diet. The mass media reported
Hiroshima as a place saddled with many educational problems; consequently the
Ministry of Education did its own investigation of the prefecture and started to
enforce some remedial measures.
Mr. TATSUNO, the newly appointed superintendent, implemented the
Education Ministry’s correctional measures which led to the issuance of guidelines
in March 1999. The guidelines on the national flag and anthem seriously created arift between the Prefecture Board of Education and the Principal’s Association, andthe Upper Secondary Teachers Union and activists groups. The Board of Education
ordered the principals to properly handle the issue and strictly implement theguidelines by any means. Thus the schools should hoist the national flag and sing
the national anthem in chorus at the graduation ceremony. At an upper secondary
school in the northern Miyoshi city area, discussions held with the activist groups
became an agonizing issue for the principal. It emerged that the whereabouts of aparticular principal was unknown for a certain period.
Then the unexpected tragedy occurred on the fateful day of February 28. “I
no longer know what is right and what is wrong. I have nowhere to proceed.”
These were the last words of Mr. Ishikawa, the principal of Hiroshima Prefecture
Sera Upper Secondary School who took his life in desperation. It was the day
before the graduation ceremony. While large numbers of mass media kept an
eye on the following day’s graduation, the anthem was not sung, and the oncedisplayed national flag was soon withdrawn behind the stage curtain in the middleof the solemn ceremony. I saw the teachers at the funeral of the late principal
accompanying the pupils as usual. One could not see a single bit of evidence
showing remorse in these teachers, and I was filled with deep anger towards them.
“How bitterly regretful…..” Upon hearing the message of condolence made by the
Chairperson of the Principal’s Association from the Onomichi city and Mihara cityarea branch, I swore to myself that “things need to be done so that schools comply
197with the law without fail.”

3. As a principal at Hiroshima Prefecture Sera Upper Secondary School
In March 2000, I received unofficial notification of my transfer from Hiroshima
Prefecture Board of Education to Sera Upper Secondary School. I could hardly tellmy family about my transfer. So I kept it secret until the very last night before theofficial order was published in the local newspaper. When I finally confessed to
my mother and wife about my transfer, my wife cried and complained, “Why doesit have to be you?” “You have exhaustibly worked at the Educational Board until
you almost got sick.” I told her, “This is my inevitable fate as a public servant of
the Prefecture Educational Board. I chose this career and have an obligation to theBoard.” “Being selected to this post, I must do my best to implement the corrective
measures to achieve educational reform.”
On April 1, 2000, I received my official appointment from superintendent
TATSUNO, and left for Sera Upper Secondary School. Pulling up in my car at theside of the front entrance of the school, I reached the front door, but none of theteachers came out to welcome me. Feeling that I was not welcome, I entered theschool office, and presented my written appointment to the secretary and entered
the Principal’s Office. At that point, I thought that as the principal I should maketeachers understand what I expected them to do, and that in doing so I would not
get angry.
Right from the very first day, I entered into negotiations with the members of
the Teacher’s Union. We held negotiations constantly but intermittently and theUnion requested the school management to forge an agreement with the Upper
Secondary School Teacher’s Union. The Union executive organ threatened
that “if we didn’t close the agreement, they would not cooperate with the school
administration for the change in class schedule.” Further, as if tempting us, they
revealed, that they could work cooperatively when they unofficially and secretly
drafted the confirmation and agreement before I came. So they suggested that
“We should work hand in hand for a better relationship.” However, I consistently
rejected and said, “We are entitled to our own beliefs but we should always beready to explain openly to the prefectural citizens about everything.”
At Sera Upper Secondary School, teachers’ registration in the Union
membership was 100% making it a very strong Union branch. Even after thesuicide of the former principal, the faculty continued to resist in the hoisting of
the flag and the singing of the anthem during the graduation ceremony. I was
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Going through the dark with just a flicker of lighttherefore sure it would bring much confusion to the enrollment ceremony in April
if the guidelines were enforced. While I was sitting with them at intermittentlyheld negotiations, I visited the town mayor, the superintendent of local
educational board, principals of lower secondary schools and the chairpersons andrepresentatives of various autonomous groups in the community, asking for theircooperation. They assured me with these words, “We do hope you will hoist theflag and sing the anthem. We promise to support you.” With these words that I
received, I was deeply encouraged and motivated.
During the faculty assembly, we discussed the issue of the entrance ceremony
but everyone seemed against the hoisting of the flag and singing of the anthem
because by doing so they believed we were going to trample on the innocent
feelings of the new pupils. After the meeting, one teacher sneaked into myoffice late at night, and quietly told me “I hope we will hoist the flag and sing theanthem. I am afraid that if these are not done, Sera School will become isolated
and abandoned from the community.” After uttering these words, the teacher
hastily left. This incident made me realize that there was a silent opinion and I wascompletely blind not to see this.
The Union strongly resisted the presence of mass media during the enrollment
ceremony as this should be a solemn occasion. I told them that it was not
appropriate to reject the mass media’s presence because people in Japan were
eagerly waiting to see how the entrance ceremony in our school would turn out.
Until late at night before the ceremony, we continued to hold the faculty
assembly, but we never succeeded in reaching a consensus, even though I had
firmly decided on what to do the next day. Together with the vice principal
and the office secretary, we prepared the national flag and a cassette tape of thenational anthem and checked the condition of the tape player. I took all necessary
preparations including spending the night in my office.
On the morning of the entrance ceremony, the vice principal and I again
checked the flag and the tape of the national anthem. During the faculty meetingin the morning, I announced to the teachers and the staff, “Based upon the nationalcourse of study, we should hoist the national flag and sing the national anthem.”
Many resisted saying “You are trampling over our feelings and those of ourchildren!” Many other harsh words were said to me one after another, and theatmosphere was tense and seemed out of my hand. After an hour of haggling andarguing, I declared, “The national flag and song are indispensable. I am going totake all responsibility.” Then I adjourned the faculty meeting.
199

The enrollment ceremony commenced. The secretary was the master of
ceremonies and announced “The next part of the program is the singing of the
National Anthem. We will sing together.” The vice principal pressed the play
button of the cassette deck, but the music did not come out; he pressed it again andagain, but still no sound. Almost in a panic, we tried to check the batteries but thebatteries all fell on the floor. To pacify the vice-principal, I said “It’s OK. Let’s
just sing together!” After having said this, I stood up behind the microphone andstarted singing alone. Very soon, the parents and guardians of pupils attending theceremony followed me and started singing. Gradually the sound of voices became
larger and created a big echo in the ceremony hall.
To tell you the truth, I am tone deaf; so I don’t go to Karaoke or have neversung in any drinking bars. But that morning, I thought that “if even the principal
refrained from singing the national anthem, who else can guide the pupils to singit?” Taking responsibilities for my duties to guide the school in implementing
the national anthem in the ceremony, I practiced singing everyday on the way toschool while driving. I used a cassette tape and having used it a million times could
have almost caused it to be broken. It was indeed fortunate that I went through withsinging the anthem during the entrance ceremony.

4. Creating a school supported by the participation of parents andcommunity residents
After the ceremony was over, my life as a principal became “hell.” Teachersaccused me of having begged the Board to become a principal with the promise tohoist the flag and sing the national anthem. Worst, they said they “didn’t regard me
as their principal.” Thus, nobody called me Kocho (principal in Japanese); instead
they called me Tanabe-san (Mr. Tanabe) whenever they talked to me. After the
farewell and welcome ceremony for faculty members who were being transferred
to other schools and those coming over, Union executives like the Union branchchairperson and secretary made sure they were around me and the vice principal.
This was a deliberate attempt to isolate me from the teachers and staff and frompreventing teachers approaching.
The entire school was under Union control, with the union executives at thecenter even to the point that the Union Personnel Committee determined in-school
personnel matters. I, as the principal was completely excluded, and the task left forme was to oversee one grade and an assignment related to the Dowa (*6) education
promotion department. The union held their meetings prior to any faculty assembly200Going through the dark with just a flicker of lightto prevent free interaction between the teachers and the principal. Definitely,whatever I wished to happen would never be accepted in the faculty meetings. This
type of system was firmly established way back before I became the principal.
I had a strong will to bring back the rightful authority of the principal. To dothis, I needed to establish a participatory-style school management system which
would allow active involvement of parents and community members. Thus, inJune, I proposed the creation of a “Group” that would foster Sera Upper Secondary
School. As expected there was strong opposition. They raised the questions like
“Who will approve it? Who would like to be a member of a group that would
pressure the school?” My explanation was “Without support from parents and thecommunity, how can Sera Upper Secondary School survive?” I persuaded withutmost persistence. Thus, on August 30, with the active cooperation from halfof the teachers as well as parents and community members, we managed to holdthe General Assembly for the establishment of the Sera Upper Secondary School
Fostering Group. This group aimed to represent the opinions of parents andcommunity members, and to provide support for the strengthening of the school
management anchored on the principal. The Group became my biggest supporter,and many events and movements took place, among these were “Brighten up!!
Joint Concert at Sera Upper Secondary School”, “Sera Upper Secondary School--Future Designing Congress”, “International Exchange Promotion Conference”, etc.
Having many opportunities to go to school, parents and community people started“knowing, seeking, selecting and participating in” school activities. They started totrust the school again. I observed the rapid rehabilitation of the school with greater
reliability and certainty.

5. Open school and compilation with laws
In September, the School Education Committee of Hiroshima Prefectural
Assembly sent a delegation to observe Sera Upper Secondary School. It was
unprecedented to allow the mass media in during the Education Committee
observation, but I requested the Prefecture Board of Education to allow us to havethe press. The condition of faculty meetings, in-school personnel recruitment
matters, illegal filing of unofficial leave (for non-curricular activities and nonschool related activities) etc. are examples of the many malpractices that needed
to be disclosed. I believed that exposing these malpractices to the prefecture
residents, corrective measures could be done thoroughly, and it seemed inevitablefor our school at that time. Other schools and the former principals of the201

school pointed out “You would expose all the shame of the school to the entire
prefecture”, “It is only the principal who has to undertake reforms with all thepower and responsibility”, “It is not ideal to use the power of media, which could
only make the case go out of your control.” These opinions did not hold water
as after the school observation of the School Education Committee, corrective
measures ordered by the Educational Ministry were done immediately as were theimplementation of the orders. After April, those who were resisting and fighting
over the nullification of the unofficial leave of absence for reasons that this had
been customarily practiced finally withdrew. The press release was a turning point,
thus, this malpractice was completely abolished.
In November, NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) proposed thebroadcasting of our faculty assembly while tackling the issue of the national flag
and anthem. Since the decision would affect other schools, I asked the permissionof superintendent Mr.TATSUNO, and Mr.KOCHIGAMI, the chairperson of
the Principal’s Association. While it was easy to ask permission from the top
administrators, it was far more difficult to get consensus from the teachers, causing
delay in the airing of the press report. It was aired only in December. TV cameras
were focused on the back side of the faculty members. No names were mentioned
during the meeting. Several precautions were made to ensure the safety andprivacy of the faculty members.
In general, a “Faculty Assembly” would connote democratic discussion anddiscourse, however, it was not the case at Sera Upper Secondary School. The
Faculty Assembly was always preceded by the Union meeting wherein decisions
on the Faculty Assembly agenda were made in accordance with the Union policy.
The only thing the 59 faculty members would do was just to concede with andmake comments in accordance with the pre-assembly decisions. It was pointless toengage in discussion as the decisions were already made by the union. No matter
how eloquently the principal argued and proved his points, all the statements weredenied. Though some would empathize or agree with the principal’s opinion andwish to support the principal in the discussion, it was better to keep silent because
everything was already decided by the Union.
But once the TV camera started rolling, one could hardly deny the Principal’s
authority, or say something against the law, nor burst out in anger in a loud voice.
Therefore, the discussion on the national flag and anthem was often prolonged
and covered only trivial matters like whether the ceremony should be held on thestage or on the floor. Since the faculty members would not attend the meeting if it
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Going through the dark with just a flicker of lighttouched on the issue of the national flag and anthem, inevitably it was cancelled. It
had been difficult to have an opportunity to talk about the issue. In mid February,
we finally had the flag and anthem debate, but the discussion was not deep enoughto solve the issue. When there was no TV camera, I would be rained with negatives
comments like “We really doubt if you are competent to take responsibility.”
Whenever some teachers gave comments like “I agree with you, Mr. Principal”“I think we have to comply with the national course of study”, the oppositiongroup teachers would go to the classrooms of these teachers and tell the pupils,“Your homeroom teacher is on the side of the principal, and trying to disturb yourthoughts on the graduation ceremony.” Being provoked, the pupils rushed into thelesson preparation room and accused their homeroom teacher of antagonism.
In spite of opposition, the graduation ceremony was eventually undertaken upon
the Principal’s discretion. However, there had been no guidance to pupils about
attire and behavior during the ceremony. It was not only the teachers but also themajority of pupils who kept sitting even when they were asked to stand up, so we
could say that it was a miserable and shameful graduation ceremony.
Making the faculty assembly open to the public through mass media was themost effective way of making everyone aware of the compilations of laws. We
have to make decisions with a very clear understanding so that everyone can clearly
explain to others when asked. We also have to show that we were responsible indeciding matters in accordance with the law.

6. Pupils change, the school changes
When I was new at Sera Upper Secondary School, I saw countless problems instudent behavior, like children with inappropriate attire such as dyed brown hair,
make-up and loosely-worn socks. Problematic behaviors included smoking anddrinking alcohol, sitting in and around the school grounds but never going into theclassroom, going to school in the afternoon and leaving school early.
Immediately from my first day, I started patrolling the school and brought those
pupils back into the classroom. Instead of appreciating my action, I felt teachers
were really annoyed with what I did.
One day around 50 angry boys burst into my office accusing me, “Ever since
you came here, the school became strict” and “Don’t think this is your world.”
They used abusive language against me and they occupied my office for about 3
hours. Most teachers who passed by my office just ignored it and I could feel their
feeling of indifference. Indeed, I felt sad and thought teachers here had never203reproached the pupils from the heart; neither had they spoken to them a single wordof affection.
This prompted me to initiate programs and with the support of the PTA, I
launched a “Greeting Campaign.” (*7) I greeted kids on Tuesday mornings, “Goodmorning, it is nice to see you!” Whenever I greeted loudly, pupils put their facedown with shyness but pleasantly went into the school at a smart pace. During theday, whenever I met a pupil in school, I greeted him/her “Good morning” in themorning, “Hello” in the afternoon, and “Good-bye” after school. Pupils gradually
exchanged a greeting with us, and the community started to have a better evaluationof the school. Greeting is not something you wait for and reply to, but somethingthat you start from your side! This became a lesson to me.
Pupils in the Life Welfare Course were very much looking forward to a fashion
show at the annual Culture Festival. It is not an exaggeration to say that it was
their dream to mark the end of their three years of schooling modeling on stage
wearing a dress or Japanese kimono which each of them designed and handmade.
In my third year, I daringly invited a professional model from Tokyo. The stage
performance was beyond comparison, and pupils, parents and community residents
were deeply impressed.
In special courses like Production Information, Environmental Science and Life
Welfare, pupils practiced presenting their research projects but they failed to doclear and impressive presentations, and the outcome was nothing praiseworthy orfor the pupils to be proud of. To remedy this, I instructed teachers to give thoroughinstruction on the proper use of the computer display tool called Power Point[program for presentation], and on reading the students’ manuscripts. Our efforts
resulted in presentations beyond recognition, and this made pupils more confident
during the presentation. Now, pupils from both the General Course and the Special
Courses cooperatively present their research outcomes during the Integrated Study
Period.
I believe that a school and its pupils can be changed by teachers who can sharethe same ambition with the pupils, live enthusiastically and work hard with utmost
sincerity.

7. School management, being developed with the community
Like other mountainous areas, the Sera Plateau area faces social issues like thedecreasing number of children, aging population, and a succession in agriculturalactivities. Sera Upper Secondary School can survive only when the Sera Plateau
204Going through the dark with just a flicker of lightarea develops into an ideal town in which people would wish to live at least oncein their life. It is a must for our school to actively cooperate to promote the Sera
Plateau community and address these social concerns.
We wanted to create “a town where senior citizens wish to live.” Thus, weestablished the “Sera Senior Citizen College” utilizing the vacant seats of students.
We encouraged elderly residents to attend lessons with youngsters, on music,
fine arts, Japanese calligraphy, computer operations, website construction, andcultivation of endangered plants using biotechnology.
Also with the cooperation of our pupils, they designed “The healthy road,strewn with greenery” and planted flowers along the river bank protection area,
as part of an effort to create a “town in which people desire to live at least once intheir lifetime.” In the near future, we want to launch a research project on grape
cultivation utilizing the idle paddy fields.
Aiming to establish a town where the young and old live and work
harmoniously together, in the Life Welfare Course, students learn the rudiments ofproviding help and care at home. Through this course, meetings are held providing
opportunities for interactions among elementary, lower and upper secondary pupils
and elderly folk. Included in the course is the actual practice of care giving at local
welfare institutions. These various activities created a friendly atmosphere between
the young and the old and the cultivated a welfare conscious mind.
To encourage local skilled parties (human resources) to support this welfare
scheme, we are planning to venture into the welfare business such as offering‘day care service”, food delivery, or providing a support service to elderly people
living alone and those in welfare institutions. In the future, we hope to further
promote our research to utilize the Botanical Garden [which will be opened in the
Prefectural Citizen’s Park and Agriculture Park] as the senior citizen’s activity
center.
To create ‘a town in which the younger generation wish to live”, we offer
opportunities of agricultural internship programs at various agro-parks including
rice paddies, orchards and vegetable farms, floriculture fields and tea plantations.
This program also aims to transfer the skills of agro-technology to successive
generations.
To make use of idle paddy fields, we grow vegetables and sell produce at a
shop located in the bus terminal, which provides ways of experiencing farmland
enterprise. We hope the General Course pupils will also actively join in thisfarmland management, and expand our agro-business.
205

Aiming to create a ‘town where people can dream towards the 21st century’, weare promoting international exchange actively with the Republic of Kenya, Taiwan,
and other countries.

8. Promotion of International Exchange
Sera Upper Secondary School is proud of its past glory of being the national
champion four times in the Ekiden (*8). It has also hosted the trial games for
the Chugoku region. This community’s claim to fame is being the hometownof ekiden. However in November 2000, in the preliminary games of ekiden for
Hiroshima Prefecture held in the northern Miyoshi city, Sera Upper Secondary
School disappointedly ranked only second against everyone’s expectation. In thenext games covering the Chugoku District, our school barely managed to be one of
the finalists for the national competition tournament for upper secondary schools.
The same fate happened the following year in November of 2001 during thepreliminary games for Hiroshima Prefecture held at the cross-country field in
northern Saijo town. The school performance ranked second, which was not goodenough to make it to the national competition level. The ekiden fans in Sera
Plateau area were disappointed saying, “There is no more hope for the Sera Upper
Secondary School.” I hopelessly couldn’t do anything to comfort them in theirmisery over the loss by the Sera Upper Secondary School. As I was driving back toschool alone, I could not hold back the tears from rolling down my cheeks. I wasdetermined to do my best so that one day Sera Upper Secondary School would be
the national champion in the Upper Secondary Schools Ekiden tournament. This is
one way of helping realize the dream of Sera people and making the school the starof the Sera Plateau.
As an immediate action, I organized an International Exchange Promotion
Committee composed of faculty members, members from the PTA, alumni
association and Sera community groups. On one cold and gusty day in December,
Mr. KOJIMA Toshifumi, the chairperson of the campaign club of the track andfield club and I went to the Embassy of Kenya in Jiyugaoka, Tokyo and expressed
our desire to accept Kenyan students. So in February of the following year, wewelcomed Kenyan students at Sera Upper Secondary School.
Soon after, more than ten JICA participants from the Republic of Kenya cameto Japan for a training program. All of them were either Educational Ministry
officials or secondary school principals, and as part of their program, they visited
our school. Every year thereafter, Sera Upper Secondary School has welcomed
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Going through the dark with just a flicker of light

JICA participants from Kenya and the activities paved the way to our harmonious
relationships with the Republic of Kenya.
Way back in the early Showa era (1926-1989) foreign students from Taiwan
were welcomed to our school during the time of an agricultural recession. At
present, there is a Taiwanese alumni association ‘Taiwan Tong.xue.hui’ with morethan 60 members. Thanks to the great assistance of the alumni, we could form asister relationship with Datong Upper Middle School in Taiwan. Three years after
the establishment of a sister relationship, we were able to conduct a school trip to
Taiwan that was participated in not only by pupils but also by community residents.
At Datong Upper Middle School more than 3000 pupils, as well as their parents
and people of the community, welcomed us warmly with open arms.
Some graduates of Sera Upper Secondary School are running schools or
hospitals/clinics in Brazil, South America. We have also actively promoted
exchange programs with the Nisei and Sansei (descendants of Japanese emigrants
in the second and the third generation) in South American countries.
Having had exchange programs with people from over ten nations, these207

activities have caused the deepening of understanding of cultures and histories
among the countries involved. Every time we hoisted national flags and played
national anthems of different countries including Japan, we instilled among thepupils the importance of showing respect to other countries. With this exposureand the various experiences in international exchange, the younger generation will
surely forego any historical issues among countries, and favor the building of trustand friendship instead. I believe the opportunities to have face to face encounterswith other nationalities could pave the way for a brighter future of Japan.

9. Educational reform at Sera Upper Secondary School
To implement the five-day school week (*9), we introduced a new structure.
The school year is divided into two semesters, and everyday seven periods of
45-minutes each, is offered. The pupils were grouped according to academic
ability and lessons were basically done through small group activities. Withina month, pupils got accustomed to it, but on the contrary, teachers continued tocomplain saying, “Teaching seven periods daily is too much work and very tiring.”“We have no time to summarize each lesson.” There was also strong resistanceagainst ability-based grouping. Some believe students should be treated equallyregardless of scholastic ability; thus some teachers taught exactly the same lesson
content to both advanced and regular classes.
The enrolment was not enough to meet the quota of the school because
there were not many applicants to our school. To attract more applicants, weincorporated the Integrated Elective System allowing the students more freedom
in choosing their elective subjects; and expanded the application process to allow
students regardless of their residence (as long as it is in Hiroshima Prefecture)
to come to our school. These measures upgraded the school and added value.
School-based subjects were also newly instituted, among which were “Intellectual
development” and “Second foreign language.” Furthermore, working incooperation with the university, we developed lessons with the latest sophisticatedtechnology like, ‘Gene manipulation’, ‘IT meteorology’ and ‘Horticultural
therapy’.
To guide the graduating students in choosing their desired careers, we organizeda special college-bound class, a qualification-oriented class, supplementary lessons
held early in the morning and after school, and extra lessons utilizing the satellite
broadcasting system. As a result, the Sera Upper Secondary School maintained theoriginal six classes per grade, and also demonstrated a skyrocketing improvement
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Going through the dark with just a flicker of lightin the number of students going to college.
Faculty members commented, “Mr. Principal, you tied a rope around our necks
and pulled us with force; but you made the school a very good one. This is not
only good for the students but for us faculty as well.” Upon hearing this, I wept
with joy. Normally, teachers hate change. Thus, the principal must initiate reforms
based on his/her own philosophy; otherwise there would hardly be any reform. I
always believe that the principal is the main engine propelling others to move.

Concluding Remarks
In 2006, Sera Upper Secondary School celebrated its 110 th foundation
anniversary. We continuously engage in changing the school environment toachieve two ultimate goals. The first goal is for forty of our graduates to pass theentrance examination to public universities (either national or prefectural). The
second goal is for the school to be the national champion in the Upper Secondary
School Ekiden tournament. Having high goals which require quantum leaps will
hopefully change our attitude towards work. With a great wall to overcome, thenormal reaction would be to give up without even trying. But we encourage thepupils to keep on trying and accepting the challenge instead of just giving up
outright without even trying. We want our pupils to have the spirit, “Anyway, letme just try it!” Even if moving ahead may not immediately bring us closer towards
the high goal, we just keep on moving because for sure we will reach these goals.
Through community based programs like agro-business, developing a townwith plants and flower blossoms, and a welfare business, we were able to establish
a relationship wherein there was free exchange of ideas and cooperation. Such
unofficial organizations could expand outside the school, to Town Administration,
Fruit Tree Group, International Exchange Promotion Committee with involvementby alumni and community residents. Thus, we gradually built the foundation forour school in the community creating a support network for the school.
In the past six years, though it seemed I was merely holding a tiny light in myhand, I made steady steps with the teachers. I sincerely appreciate them and theirsupport.
Poem: Going through the dark with just a flicker of light in hand
No need to fear the darkness.
Depending on the light, small but trustworthy.
(by SATO Issai, a Japanese Confucian scholar, 1772-1859)209

This chapter is based on a lecture delivered by Mr. TANABE Yasushi for JICA
participants in the science and mathematics teacher seminar for the Republic of Ghana.
It was held on August seventh, 2003 at CICE international seminar room of Hiroshima
University.

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Going through the dark with just a flicker of light

The core behind his strength
I met Mr. TANABE for the first time in February 2003. I was at his lecture
held for the students of the Faculty of Education which we project membersorganized.
The first impression I had was “How straightforwardly he presents key issues”.
There weren’t any single uncertain terms in his comments, and I felt uplifted andcomforted.
What impressed me next was the way he was, as I understood he was holding
a strong anger and indignation against the current situation. It was against thebackground of the upper secondary school to which he was assigned. The school
environment there was nothing praiseworthy and triggered the suicide of a former
principal, and in general, there was low appreciation of teachers by the society.
Facing such circumstances, he was not a person who could easily give up saying,“Oh, well, it’s OK.” “Well, there is nothing I can do.” I guess a lot of people tend
to give up easily in such cases. But Principal TANABE tackled the problem; he did
not think of his own safety but devoted all his life in bringing it back to order. One
needs a lot of energy to convert the status quo. I wondered from where he drew his
power to confront the difficulty.
During his lecture, one of the project members asked the question, “I understandyou need a large amount of fuel to change the fixed customary practices. What has
become the driving force in your case?” Then he replied, “Through my footsteps
as being a school teacher, through teaching children, I encountered tremendous
satisfaction when I achieved something together with children.” He said thoseexperiences have fueled him up sufficiently. Also, to the other question, “Whatability do students in a pre-service teacher training course need to have to becomea teacher?” he answered: “Children grow up while looking at the grown-ups next tothem. Thus, you should be an adult whom children want to be.”Rebuilding the school where the environment was worse enough to have causeda principal’s death, and paying attention only to that, we can easily focus on hiscompetency. But what flows below the reformation is, he hopes children will learn
a lot from admirable teachers while building good relationships with teachers.
Power must be taken from his straight and pure thoughts on education. Mr.
TANABE’s ideas and ability in his uncountable reforms at the school are indeed
admirable. In order to revive the trust in the school, he devised many schemes.
211For instance, he opened the faculty meeting to the public, and made use of PTA
newspapers. Regarding the depopulation problem in mountain regions, not simply
accepting it as a fatal pinch, he also took it as a chance and searched for strategies
to survive. He made the school a place where multiple generations and various
nationalities can learn together. Beyond that, coming out with an abundance ofelaborate ideas, he supported school education. His supremeness and energy forschool reform comes not simply from his competency, but probably from his deep
affection towards children.
I felt the aim of his school reformation was not to change the teachers alone, but
in actuality addressing everything that was done for pupils.
In the core of his lecture, Mr. TANABE focused on “How I changed teachers’
awareness” and “How I rebuilt the school.” He clearly exhibited the critical aspectsof the school situation, therefore in the first impression we thought “How straightly
and critically he comments! He is a beacon of confidence and a great teacher.”
But as the lecture went on, we could touch upon his real thought towards children
deep in himself. In the end, we came to think “He is indeed a great teacher.” And
we looked at him with admiration.
The difficulties Mr. TANABE went through must be globally experienced, andhelpful to the educational personnel in Japan and in developing nations. By being
exposed to the rich experience of Mr. TANABE, we hope you will actually feel
his motivation to school reform and his warm thoughts deep in his heart given toschool children.
Project member A(*1) Baby boomers are those who were born right after WW Ⅱ (1945), so the birth rate wasextremely high and the number of school children increased sharply.
(*2) Nation-wide student campaign against government (policy), a student movement spreadnation-wide in Japan from 1968, mainly involving university students, and devastatedthe academic facilities. Around 80 % of universities in Japan were effected [i.e. There
were no lectures at these universities].
(*3) Hiroshima Upper Normal School, publicly founded in 1902. One of the three major
normal schools first established in Japan. Later it became Hiroshima University.
(*4) Several schools in an area were grouped, and pupils could take the entrance exam
relative to their school district, however as to which school they would go (after
passing the exam) was decided by the district authority. Pupils could not choose aparticular school where they wanted to study, but the enrollment was decided fromamong the group. It was aimed to relax examination hell and to generalize the school
ranking. Now it is abolished nation-wide.

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Going through the dark with just a flicker of light(*5) The teachers’ union claims the national flag and the anthem as remaining powerful
symbols of Japan’s wartime military and thus protests the government’s contention that
it is important to show proper respect to them, and protests the raising of the flag andsinging of the anthem during the ceremonies of the school.
(*6) In Japan there is an occupational minority group who were discriminated against simply
because they were the descendants of people whose jobs were considered ritually
unclean so they were ranked at the bottom of the society during feudalism. In 1871, theMeiji government promulgated the Emancipation Edict denouncing the lowest social
rank, but for decades after that discrimination remained and special guidance was also
undertaken at school to educate children.
(*7) In the morning, the principal and PTA members in turn stand at the school gate or at thecorners of the roads in the school district, and greet pupils who are going to school.
(*8) Ekiden or long-distance relay road race(*9) The 5-day school week started in 2001. Japan had been criticized from the internationalsociety for its long working hours, and there was no exception for schools. The school
week was shortened to Monday to Friday, and classes customarily-held Saturday
morning were abolished.

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My basic stance towards education・My steps taken as a managerial staff

My basic stance towards education・My steps taken as amanagerial staff
BANMOTO Masakazu
BANMOTO Masakazu was born in 1947 in Kure city,
Hiroshima Prefecture.
After graduating from a university, he became a
Science teacher at an upper secondary school. After
working as a management officer at Hiroshima Prefecture
Board of Education, he was appointed in 1995 as
Principal at Geihoku Branch School, an affiliate to Kake
Upper Secondary School. In 1998 he was assigned toKure Mitsuta Upper Secondary School as Vice Principal.
In 2001, he became the principal of Gion-kita Upper
Secondary School. Since 2003, he has been the principalof Hiroshima Lower & Upper Secondary School in
Hiroshima Prefecture (current position).

1. Knowing the wonder of Natural Science
My uncle, who lives about a kilometer away from my house, has a uniquepersonal history. After gradating from school, he worked as a carpenter for someyears but at some time in his twenties, he quit his job. Then he entered a university,
studied hard, and became a lower secondary school teacher who majored in theJapanese language. At the age of around 50, he quit his job again, and became an
associate professor of a private university, then was promoted to a professor. Whilehe was working at a lower secondary school, he was researching on his own theme“Study on Haiku, or an amusing and playful waka (traditional Japanese poetry)”and published many papers. My uncle also did a lot of other things that were notrelated to teaching. Taking advantage of being a carpenter previously, he crafted
various things, for example, he built a tea-ceremony room in his garden, or createdmagatama (ancient-style good-luck charm in a C-shape used as accessories) byliquefying glass. He is now retired and still enjoys inventing many things.
When I was a child I used to visit his house. Each time I was there, he taught
me how to make some kind of handicraft, which is now considered as scientificmaterials taught at school. There were no convenient science kits in those days, so
we used wooden boards from kamaboko (which was sold in a shop with boiled fish
paste on top), or empty cans from preserved food, and then made bells and motors

215

or crystal radio sets. We filled a bottle with baking powder and rice vinegar, andthen made a simplified fire extinguisher. I still remember how excited I was when
my handmade bell rang, when the motor ran, when I heard a sound through ear
phones, and when the mixture spouted out of a beer bottle.
After entering a lower secondary school, however, I no longer paid frequent
visits to my uncle’s house, but I was completely captured by my interest for
Natural Science which was cultivated in me by my uncle. I was indeed impressed
when I by chance read the theory of differential and integral calculus in an upper
secondary textbook, or when I learned the special principle of relativity written ina paperback pocket edition.
I used to take if for granted. Before I knew it, I was already being drawn to theworld of Natural Science.

2. Whether to be a researcher, or an educator
After graduating from an upper secondary school, I enrolled in the Tokyo
University of Science, and studied Chemistry at the Faculty of Science forone year. Then I took up Earth Science at the Faculty of Science, Hiroshima
University. In both universities, I was allowed to enroll in elective subjects on
top of the required credits, so I designed my weekly schedule such that I had
practically no vacant periods for myself (though all other students had some open
hours in their schedules). Considering the campus life as “a great opportunity tolearn as much as possible”, I tried to attend all kinds of lectures in subjects like
Physics, Biology and Geography even in other faculties and departments. Whether
my record was good or not, I just spontaneously studied and earned more credits
than required. I am proud of myself at that time, even now. The number of credits I
earned at Hiroshima University was a record high at that time, but within 20 years,
one of my students broke my record.
After university gradation, I was unsure whether to proceed to a postgraduate
course or to work as a teacher. If I entered the postgraduate course, I could
specialize in geology or mineralogy, and thus make my way to be a researcher. If I
became a teacher, I could teach pupils the fun and the wonders of Natural Science.
Both occupations seemed quite mesmerizing as a life-time mission and vocation
for me.
My thoughts changed over and over again, until on the 31st of March, thelast day of the academic year, I finally made up my mind to go on with a post
graduate course. I went to bed but at midnight, I was awakened suddenly, and216

My basic stance towards education・My steps taken as a managerial staff
could not go back to sleep. My other option, to be a teacher, crossed my mind, andI reconsidered it for a few hours until dawn. Finally, I decided to be ‘a teacher’.
I ultimately chose to be a teacher because taking my personality into
consideration, and imagining my life after the age of 30, I thought I would behaving a more meaningful life as an educator. In truth, there are no available
means of determining which occupation should have been chosen, but I believethat once a decision is made, one must stick with it, and since I decided to be ateacher, I stuck to this resolve.

3. Four seasons at school
In April 1971, I was newly recruited at the Geihoku Branch School which wasaffiliated with Kake Upper Secondary School in Hiroshima Prefecture. I faced adrastic change in life, as my residence was moved from an urban area to an underpopulated town, and the school and teachers there were also far different fromwhat I had imagined.
In general, a newly-recruited teacher has formed an image of pupils, teachers
and the school based upon the school environment and the life experience fromhis or her childhood. Contrary to the expectation, there are a variety of pupils andteachers, and schools also vary in reality. The disparity between the imaged school
and the real one is extremely huge, which will often lead us to have uncountable
worries and anxieties.
I, for one, could not adequately handle the issues of teaching and classmanagement as I wanted. In addition, I often had feelings of confusion and regret.
Many times, I thought “I have mistakenly chosen this occupation, I should haveproceeded to take up my postgraduate course.” During weekends on Saturdays andSundays, I went to Hiroshima University as a research student; I also took several
national qualification examinations in view of a possible career change in the
future.
One year passed by. On the day of the graduation ceremony in March, I
experienced one of the most moving scenes. I saw both students and the faculty
members crying and shedding tears. Then I said to myself, “There are ups anddowns in a teacher’s life, there are issues too difficult to handle, as if I had run
up against a wall. But look at this graduation ceremony. Why is my heart filledwith so much emotion? If I do my best, soon enough I will reap the fruits of mylabor. If there is winter, spring can not be far behind. There must also be changing
seasons at school, just like in a person’s life”.
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In Geihoku Branch School, I made my first step of my long career as a teacher.
“From time to time I may remain stagnant by facing difficulties, but I should notlook back. Everyone faces hardships. I shall just look ahead and do my best all thetime so that there must be a path to go forward.” All in all, I spent four years in the
Geihoku area, and I had made a fresh start as a teacher though I was still green in
the profession.

4. My experiences as a Science teacher
In April 1975, I was transferred to the Kure Mitsuta Upper Secondary Schoolin Hiroshima Prefecture. This school was prominent for its high percentage of
graduates who go on to higher education. The school mission was to upgrade
the scholastic achievement of pupils and guide them to reach their goals aboutcareer-related choices, so the school demanded high levels of teaching and career
guidance.
I had to be capable of responding to pupils’ questioning properly so during myfirst days I studied the university entrance exam drills until late at night every day.
(1) Promoting research on nature in the community, and developing teaching/learning materials using the research outcome
In Japan, the number of children who dislike Science gradually increases
beginning from the elementary to the lower secondary school, then on to the upper
secondary school. Several factors account for this. For instance, one-way lessons
tend to be taught in ways that do not promote collaboration between teachers
and the students. In addition, students can not see how Science is connected andactually relevant to their lives.
I wanted to further heighten my students’ interests and the spirit of inquiry
toward nature, and deepen their understanding in nature and natural phenomena.
I decided to connect the content of my lessons to daily life and nature in thecommunity in order to motivate them. Therefore, I conducted basic research on
topographic and geologic features, climate and natural disasters, then developed
teaching materials for these topics.
(2) Creating lessons that facilitate students’ understanding
I utilized my self-made instructional materials in Earth Science and also in aschool-based subject “Regional Research” at both Kure Mitsuta Upper Secondary
School and the Geihoku Branch School.
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My basic stance towards education・My steps taken as a managerial staff
As for Earth Science, I included contents that were indispensable for theentrance exam to a university, and I also prepared my own teaching material, called‘Mr. Ban’s Notebook’, a summary of my research on nature in the community, andmaximized its use in my classes.
(3) Attracting students to my lessons
Teachers are expected to deliver high quality lessons by carefully selecting
the contents and improving and modifying the methodology. However, even
if the teachers explain logically while clearly focusing on the objectives of thelesson content, if they failed to arouse pupils’ interests and concerns, then an
active learning style will not be realized, thus the aims of the lesson will never beachieved.
In order to gain my pupils’ attention in my class, I often talked about my own
experiences of making trips inside and outside Japan [see below for further details]
in relation to the lesson content, and introduced the insights I gained throughtraveling. Also, to help explain scientific phenomena to pupils, I frequently usedbody movements to visually express the invisible structure. For instance, when
I taught a lesson on geostrophic wind in Earth Science, I used my left hand toindicate the pressure gradient force, my right hand to signify the Coriolis effect,
and my body to symbolize the wind, as I moved around the classroom. Pupils
fondly nicknamed this as “geostrophic wind dance”, and the lesson became very
popular among my students. I remember some of them even recorded my lessons.
I always tried to introduce my teaching practices and the outcomes of myresearch, so I published them in university journals or in journals of scientificsocieties. Furthermore, I applied for Educational Awards hosted by newspaper
companies, and I wrote entries for paper contests. I did this not only to keep a
personal record of my work, but by making my works accessible to the public,
I expected I would be able to improve my craft through the comments andsuggestions from various sectors. I also hoped it would be some kind of reference
for other teachers as they plan their lessons. One of my publications, entitled“Development of Teaching/Learning Materials on Topographic and Geologic
Features and Climate in Kure Area” [author BANMOTO, 1986] is one of them,and I heard it was used in lessons by teachers of other schools. Hearing this wasenough to please me, furthermore there was another episode with this book. One
day a visually-impaired person visited the Kure City Library and asked about thecontent of my book. As a result, it developed into a new activity that volunteers219

made an audio book of my publication. It became the first of its kind in the Kure
City Library, so the library staff established a section for this type of referencematerial. I was deeply moved by the turn of events involving my work.

5. Enhancing myself as a teacher(1) Challenges to obtain various qualifications
I have constantly talked to pupils about the importance of spending their school
life with certain objectives, as a homeroom teacher in the class, and as Principal
in the school assembly. It is also important that I myself set up a certain goal as ateacher for their life model. Therefore, I challenged various examinations relating
to the Natural Sciences, namely an amateur radio operator, a hygiene administrator,a hazardous substance operator, and obtained the official qualifications.
(2) Overseas observation and visit to museums
To deepen my cultural understanding and widen my outlook in education andnatural science, I made sightseeing trips and formal observation tours abroad andI tried to utilize the new knowledge and experiences into my lessons as much as I
could.
During the teachers’ delegation trips abroad sponsored by the Ministry of
Education, or (Pupils’) Educational Counseling Groups hosted by the Hiroshima
Prefecture Board of Education, I was able to visit schools in the U.S.A. and Canada.
In addition, I made private solo trips to North America, Europe, Australia andSiberia, and to actually feel the vast continents I used trains and buses. Whenever I
was abroad privately, I tried to visit museums of natural history in the local areas. I
saw a large number of dinosaur skeletons exhibited in the Natural History Museum
in the UK and visited the American Museum of Natural History in New York, andsaw Apollo spacecrafts at the Smithsonian’s museums in Washington and roundsliced models of human bodies at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago,
Illinois.

6. School management and educational practices as a managerial staff
I was a teacher at Kure Mitsuta Upper Secondary School for 13 years, and thenworked at the Hiroshima Prefecture Board of Education office for seven years.
Later on I worked as Principal for three years at the Geihoku Branch School where
I had previously worked as a fresh teacher. From 1998 to 2001, I was the vice-220

My basic stance towards education・My steps taken as a managerial staff
principal of Kure Mitsuta Upper Secondary School. Since 2001, I worked as the
Principal of Gion-kita Upper Secondary School in Hiroshima Prefecture. Since
2003, I have been the Principal of Hiroshima Lower and Upper Secondary Schoolin Hiroshima Prefecture.
(1) Specifying the school issues and management policy
The School Evaluation System was introduced in Hiroshima Prefecturesince 2003. According to the system, principals are assigned to specify the
mission and vision of the school and its educational goals. Long before this was
institutionalized, I had already been presenting to the faculty my basic thoughts
towards education and my management policies. In both Kure Mitsuta and Gionkita Upper Secondary School, in early April, I conducted an analysis on the current
situation and issues in the school, made documented reports on the vision andeducational policies to the faculty members, and printed them in the School Journal
to make the information open to the public.
(2) Boosting the moral and motivation of the teachers, and improving theirtalents and teaching abilities
Boosting the moral and motivation of the teachers and improving their talents
and teaching skills, thus helping them reach their full potential to demonstrate theirabilities, will greatly contribute to their effectiveness in the classroom. This will
also surely impact the students’ academic ability and growth of humanity and thus
will consequently lead to their self realization for the rest of their life.
Originally every teacher has excellence in ability, even if it is not displayed yet,it potentially exists. Some are capable to upgrade their talents and teaching skills,
but others spend the days doing nothing, and as a result their abilities will regressin due time.
In general, when we are in an environment where we can feel self-existence,naturally we will find a feeling of self-satisfaction and a meaning in life, thus ourmorale will be boosted. The school should be a place where each teacher’s ability
is approved of, and helps teachers enable to participate in school administration
duties spontaneously while having mutual trust. Under this kind of environment,teachers would surely actively participate in educational research and training, andmake every effort to hone their talents and teaching skills.
Therefore, managerial staff must encourage the faculty to be involved intraining and educational research inside and outside the school, and thus motivate
221them so that they will voluntarily try to brush up their talents and teaching abilities.
In my case I promoted the lesson study, and encouraged faculty members to takeup postgraduate courses at the University of the Air (*Open University). I also
recommended that they conducted their own research and contributed articles to thejournals of the scientific societies.
Besides all these, I restructured our organization to be the best to realize thewell-balanced school, and reshuffled the assignment of duties while giving special
consideration in assigning the duties for each teacher, such that the individual
teachers were still able to demonstrate their abilities to the fullest, and their abilities
will be further strengthened.
(3) Working in close cooperation with the community
Every school has a role and a mission in the community. It is essential thatthe managerial staff properly understand the situation of the community and thestudents, and implement educational activities to fulfill the role and mission of theschools. Therefore, it is indispensable to work in close cooperation with the local
administration, local elementary and lower secondary schools and the community
residents, and provide the educational power of the school to the community,
as well as utilize the educational power of the community, and disseminate theinformation of our educational activities to the community.
An example of this ‘providing the school’s educational power’ in my former
school, is that at Geihoku Branch School, we planned and implemented personal
computer and astronomy lessons for the people and children in the community.
Another example is that we invite community residents who are well acquainted
with local nature and history, to teach pupils in special sessions.
Concerning the public relations and information dissemination, at Geihoku
Branch School and Gion-kita Upper Secondary School, also here at Hiroshima
Lower and Upper Secondary School, we actively published school magazines andreports and even constructed our own website.
(4) Working in close cooperation with the lower secondary schools anduniversities
In order to make sure that the content of education from lower secondary
to upper secondary schools then to universities is continuous and related, andto improve the teaching methods in our school, we actively conducted the joint
research on lesson study and subject teaching, and also conducted demonstration222

My basic stance towards education・My steps taken as a managerial staff
lessons for pupils of local lower secondary schools. We also enlisted the help of
university professors to make lessons. By providing the opportunities to attend
the lessons of higher education, we hoped that pupils will have more interest andconcern for their studies, and that they will take advantage of opportunities forhigher education.
Also, at Gion-kita Upper Secondary School, while I was establishing a close
tie with the University of the Air, the pupils have been able to study in the Facultyof General Studies since 2002. Upon students’ requests and with the assistance of
their teachers, subjects like “World of Physics” and “World of Materials” which
upper secondary pupils can also understand were taken up. When the achievementin those subjects was regarded satisfactory, we honored the credits as a schoolbased subject. Here at Hiroshima Lower and Upper Secondary School, the samepractice has been conducted since 2005.
(5) Establishment of Science and Math Classes in the General Course
At Kure Mitsuta Upper Secondary School and Gion-kita Upper Secondary
School, nearly half of the pupils go on to universities in the field of Scienceand Math. In general, those pupils are already interested in Science and Mathand have a desire to proceed to universities in Science and Math, even before
enrollment to upper secondary schools. In order to actively and efficiently support
them to achieve their goal, Science and Math classes in the General Course were
established at both schools, to focus lessons on these subjects, and provide more
opportunities like experiments, practicum and issue-based research.
(6) Promotion of International Exchange -exchange with a Chinese schoolTraditionally in Japanese society, we have the idea of the head family, (ledby the eldest son’s family) and a branch family, (led by the younger brothers’
families,) and the head family is higher in status than the branch families. In thearea where the Geihoku Branch School is located, some residents and pupils haveimbibed this thinking. To put a stop to this idea, we promoted various programs
based upon a slogan “Let’s brighten up together with the community”, to instill agreater degree of self-confidence among the pupils and at the same time to develop
pride in them as Branch Upper Secondary School pupils while spending school life
with positive feelings.
One of the programs we participated in is an exchange agreement witha Chinese school. In 1995, with the support of the Geihoku Town Board of223

Education, all the second graders visited Xi’an and Chengdu cities in China andinteracted with pupils of Chengdu city No. 20 Middle School (school focused withconsistent lower and upper secondary school education, number of pupils 2000).
In the beginning pupils were at a loss how to communicate with each other, but
gradually they started to open up by speaking a little English and by means ofwriting some Chinese characters. An hour later, they had become quite congenial,and started to deepen their friendships as they began having pleasant chats
cheerfully.
Chinese Middle School pupils exhibited their strong will to reach their goals,
and everyone had a big dream towards the future. In addition, they could speak
English fluently. Getting to know the youths of the same age who were highly
motivated aiming to be an internationalized person, and having a chance to deepen
friendships, I am convinced that it resulted in nurturing pride in our pupils.
Before going to China, many pupils were insisting that they wanted to go
to Tokyo Disneyland on a school trip. In the questionnaires we distributed aftercoming back from China, all of the pupils equally mentioned “the school visit was
great, and we made many new friends. It was an impressive trip.”
Since then, the pupils of Geihoku Branch School visit the No 20 Middle Schoolin China annually. From the second year, during the cultural exchange, Branch
School pupils have performed the local arts of Kagura (sacred music and dancing
traditionally performed at shrines) and presented the Japanese ancient myth on
the stage, thus deepening the mutual understanding and promotion of cultural
exchange.
Also, in 1997, 39 pupils and the faculty members of the No 20 Middle School
visited Geihoku town. The School’s Friendship Agreement was sealed and aceremony was held, and we performed the arts like Kagura, and we also enjoyedskiing, etc. During their visit, many Geihoku town residents and lower secondary
school pupils attended the ceremony and experienced in the international events.
Thanks to these activities, the Geihoku Branch School was officially designatedas a research promotion school of sister school exchange programs by the
Educational Ministry in 1997. Their exchange program has been continuously heldeven now.
When I was at Kure Mitsuta Upper Secondary School, having the same
objectives as the case of Geihoku Branch School, we went to visit Beijing City
Yuetan Middle School in December 2000 and had an exchange meeting with thecounterparts pupils.
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My basic stance towards education・My steps taken as a managerial staff
Here at Hiroshima Prefecture Hiroshima Lower and Upper Secondary School,
together with Higashi-Hiroshima city Takamigaoka Lower Secondary School
and Kinki University affiliated Higashi-Hiroshima Upper Secondary School, 19
pupils and teachers went to Beijing. We visited the Northern Jiaotong (Transport)
University-affiliated Middle School and Beijing City No. 14 Middle School andhad exchange programs. This was realized thanks to the support by the Asian
Culture Center of UNESCO and the guidance given by the CICE, Hiroshima
University. In November 2004, a delegation group from the Northern Jiaotong(Transport) University-affiliated Middle School visited our school and socializedwith us on our Culture Day.
In addition, besides China, we have accepted many visitors from U.S.A., South
Korea, the Philippines, and Thailand. Whenever they come we not only provide
opportunities to observe school facilities and lessons, but also hold educational
meetings or goodwill meetings together. Taking advantage of all the opportunities,
we would like to undertake international exchange, and thus promote international
understanding to develop the communication skills of our pupils.

7. What is a school?
(1) Irreplaceable three years
The graduation ceremony is one of the most important school events. In
the solemn and refreshing atmosphere, the Principal gives a farewell address tomotivate the graduates to start a new life. In most of the upper secondary schools,
the final homeroom activity is held right after the graduation ceremony, and thehomeroom teacher gives pupils parting words while everyone reminisces about thepast three years at school. These “parting words” have a very important meaning
just the same as the Principal’s farewell address in the ceremony, so every teacher
must examine the content well a few days prior to the graduation ceremony. I
remember one of my particular “parting words” that I still keep in mind in order toadmonish myself.
It was when I was still in my mid thirties, on the occasion when I bid farewell to
my class. I had been their homeroom teacher the last two consecutive years. In the
final homeroom activity, I talked to my pupils with words based upon my previous
year’s manuscript which I pasted in my notebook. The pupils’ representative
brought me a bunch of flowers, and all the ceremonial events were over. The
pupils and their parents individually approached me and gave me their words of225

thankfulness. At that time, a few girl pupils said, “Teacher, we are very grateful foryour work in the last three years. But, we wished you could read the parting words
with much more feeling and emotion. We expected also to see tears in your eyes.”
Their comments came as a terrible shock to me. How woeful I was to use theprevious year’s parting words again. No matter how many flowery expressions I
used to flourish my words, it is no wonder that they did not create much impact on
my pupils. Once, I was a teacher who thought of all the pupils, and I used to rack
my brain thinking about the best parting words I could give to my pupils. Why did
I not do the same now? Once in a graduation ceremony, I was filled with so muchemotion that in the presence of the pupils, tears almost rolled down my cheeks.
What has happened to me now?
Since then, I counted this as a lesson for myself. “For a teacher, three years
at school is only three out of 30-some years of a long teaching life, however, forpupils, the same three years are one of the brightest periods in their lives, and themost crucial moment which will determine the rest of their future. Thus teachers
should never be with pupils with a heart of three-out-of-thirty. We should not be
226My basic stance towards education・My steps taken as a managerial staff
their teachers by force of habit, but we should spend every minute as if it were ourlast. We must engage in education seriously and with real intentions at any time, at
any place.” Whenever there is a chance, I always share this to the faculty members,
and I also continuously remind myself about this lesson I learned.
(2) True sense of a teacher’s word
On the evening of the graduation ceremony, one graduate from another classand her mother came to visit me in the faculty’s office. She said, “When I was in
the second grade, you advised me when we met in the corridor. That motivatedme to study hard, and I passed the entrance examination of my chosen university.
Thank you very much, teacher.”
I had already forgotten the conversation we had in the corridor. According
to her, I told her, “Judging from your personality, you are suited to be anelementary school teacher. I think you will be a good teacher. As long as you show
determination and perseverance, any of your dreams will come true.”
My words, probably casually given to her, had greatly influenced her in her
career. This made me think that on the other hand, my words could have possibly
hurt the hearts of pupils and put them down. How dreadful it is if such a case exists.
Teachers’ words and behaviors indeed affect the future of pupils to a large extent.
We teachers can both give dreams to pupils and wound them deeply by what wesay.
We must deeply engrave in our minds that teachers’ comments, any trifle words
and behaviors can react as a big impact on pupils who are in the stage of decisionmaking for the future.
(3) What is school for, for whom is there a school?
Once, there was a frequently debated issue about the school administrationand education itself, on whether the decision of a certain topic was made‘democratically’ or not. When this type of debate is done by teachers and thestaff, it is sometimes dealt from the viewpoint of their personal interests under thename of ‘democracy’. For example, during the faculty meeting, we discussed theissues on how the student guidance should be, or the working conditions of thefaculty. When I recall the remarks made by the faculty, there were many opinions
without taking the pupils and teaching objectives into account. Regarding thepersonal information of pupils, some staff were just curious to know it, and they
were joining the discussion without a viewpoint on what each piece of information
227

will mean for the pupil’s education towards the future and what effect is expectedby knowing it. Whenever I encountered such opinions, I doubted what the real
meaning of their ‘democratic’ way was.
Precisely, under a ‘democratic’ system, citizens select the politicians andtheir lives rely on the policies made by these officials. In other words, the resultof selection will reversely affect the people who made the selection. Likewise inschools, the selections in terms of educational content or methodology made byteachers will largely influence children. Education must be done for pupils but itshould never be carried out for teachers. The school is a place where pupils achieveself-realization towards their future, and the school is not created for teachers.
Frankly speaking, I think school should not be a place of democracy in the narrow
sense in which the faculty often talked about it. Venturing an objection, school
should be a place for pupils and a place only for children.

8. Creating a wonderful school
The period during the lower and upper secondary schools is the most crucial
for pupils as they decide their future course. Every child possesses talents andpotential. It is the mission of the faculty and the school to draw them out and moldthem to the persons they were born to be.
My school was newly established last April of 2004, with great hopes for the
citizens in Hiroshima Prefecture. Now, I am going to commit myself to engaging
in education with strong resolve without forgetting the ideal to create a new schoolwith my everlasting passion for education.

This chapter is based upon a lecture conducted by Mr. BANMOTO Masakazu for the
JICA participants from the Republic of South Africa as part of the JICA training course
on Science and Math Teacher Education. It was held on November 13th,2002 at Hiroshima
Prefecture Gion-kita Upper Secondary School.

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My basic stance towards education・My steps taken as a managerial staff

Dialogue between Mr. BANMOTO and JICA training
participants from the Republic of South Africa
Participant A: How do you motivate the teachers especially those in scienceeducation?
Mr. BANMOTO: I try to promote a better way of assigning our personnel. I also
try to create a desirable working environment so that teachers can have a feelingof satisfaction and achievement, and exhort teachers to be involved in self-study
research or attend in-service training to brush up their teaching abilities. Also, I
repeatedly tell them that “We must be at work keeping in mind every time thatthe school is a place for the self-actualization of children.” Concerning Science
Education, I tell them that “We must motivate the pupils through proving thelinkage between the subject contents and real life, and creating easy-to-understandlessons so that by achieving the higher scholastic ability we may encourage thepupils to set a future career course goal.
Participant B: Mr. BANMOTO, I have felt that you are an excellent leader andat the same time a skillful principal. I wonder how you could gain trust from otherteachers and community people? What do you think were the major reasons?
Mr. BANMOTO: I think it is essential to interact with other people faithfully.
You should not be two-faced, but always deal with people in all honesty,
earnestness and with good intentions. This should be practiced not only in
educational activities but in our private lives as well. Another is that I try not
to forget my basic convictions. I, myself, always keep my passion, dream andadventurous spirit toward education, and always set my goals and achieve them bymaking efforts, and by continuing to take on challenges.
Participant C: I think a good teacher should be able to self-examine. Could you
give us some pointers (or hints) to confirm whether I myself have become a goodteacher or not?
Mr. BANMOTO: At the beginning of every academic year, I request all theteachers to write and submit their individual goals in education. Based on thiswritten plan, I conduct a person-to-person session with them to discuss their goals.
At mid-year, I evaluate the progress and give guidance, then by the end of the year,
I summarize it to make an outcome, and clarify the issues so that we could set
better directions for the following year to solve the remaining issues. In teaching229

science and math, before conducting the mid-term and term-end examinations,
I request the teachers to set the estimated average scores, so that after theexamination, the actual average scores of pupils can be compared to the planned
ones. Then considering the gaps, teachers can self-assess the appropriateness of theexamination content in regard to the pupils’ actual achievement.
Participant D: You value the observation of other schools and museums abroadin order to improve the teaching ability in science and other subjects. I would liketo know how you finance those trips. Do you pay for them by yourself or is there asponsor?
Mr. BANMOTO: I have been abroad more than 30 times. So far, seven trips were
hosted by the national or prefectural governments. I myself paid for the rest of thetrips, and there was no sponsor. I looked for discount tickets and stayed at cheap
hotels, I did everything to make my trips as cheap as possible. For example, I sleptin the YMCA hotel in the USA, or used long-distance buses with overnight service
or sleeping trains.
Participant E: Through your long teaching career, I think you have also met
unmotivated teachers. How did you associate with them?
Mr. BANMOTO: That is a very difficult problem. Certainly there are unmotivatedteachers, but I believe all teachers have the capability of doing something superb.
When some were unmotivated, I tried to tell them about their good points so that I
could boost their morale; however, it was not always very easy to do so.
For instance, I encouraged the teachers to contribute a report with theireducational practices or views (ideas) to a prize-awarding competition. In
Japan, there are several organizations which offer a reward for prize winners ofeducational papers. We call it ‘we fish for someone with money’ which results inteachers to be tempted, and I have actually fished them. (He laughs.)
Participant F: In your school, do you implement in-service teacher training? If so,
how do you do it?
Mr. BANMOTO: Compared to other schools, we organize in-service trainings
more actively in my school. All the teachers in all subjects are scheduled to do anopen research lesson once or twice a year.
Participant G: What is the role of the principal when the school-based training is
conducted?
Mr. BANMOTO: The principal does not directly guide the teachers. In my school,230

My basic stance towards education・My steps taken as a managerial staff
there is the Department of Educational Planning, and the member teachers draw a
training scheme; the principal approves it before implementation. In some cases,
we invite the teaching consultant from the Board of Education as an instructor.
Participant H: Mine is not a question but I would rather ask for your advice. I am
also a teacher, and when I come in contact with pupils, I sometimes become too
emotional in my daily work. I wish to stop this, and I want to know how I should,
so that I can help children have hopes.
Mr. BANMOTO: From time to time I also become too emotional, so it is very
difficult to answer your question; however, I think one thing is that we shouldpause for a while before making emotional remarks or giving guidance.
Also, if you want to help children have hope, I think you should interact withchildren while keeping the same stance with other teachers. Specifically, you
should never forget that each and every child potentially possesses excellent
talents and potential. Each child is unique and has both strong and weak points, so
we teachers must focus on their strong points so that they will be motivated. For
instance, I invite alumni of our school to give lectures on their experiences of both
success and failure, so that our pupils can think of their future.
Participant I: How do you make pupils comply with the regulations?
Mr. BANMOTO: Teachers belonging to the Department of Student Guidance
have taken the lead in giving guidance to pupils. The school assembly where the1200 pupils attend is held in a hall every month, and I give talks and guidance topupils; also, a teacher from the student guidance department does give talks andguidance following the principal. In addition, all the first graders attend overnighttraining camps, so while camping, they learn the importance of complying withregulations and being responsible social members.
Participant J: I was quite impressed with the idea of international exchange
programs which you introduced to us in the lecture. I think mutual communication
beyond borders are quite important.
Participant K: What can we do to make science lessons easy to understand for
pupils?
Mr. BANMOTO: Depending on the school, the ability and scholastic achievementof pupils will vary. When the average academic attainment is high and the
distribution of pupils’ scores is not wide, if 80 % of pupils could understand thecontent, that lesson can be regarded as a success. For the rest of the 20%, they will231

need individual instruction after school to supplement the content.
I often utilized my self-made materials in the Science class. Also, as often seen
in elementary school, I used my body movements quite often to explain about thescientific phenomena. I mimicked the wind, or a star.
Furthermore, in these days in Hiroshima Prefecture as well as other parts ofJapan, when the gap between quick learners and slow learners is large, a tracking
system based on the achievement is introduced, and careful attention is provided to
all the pupils.
Participant L: You have mentioned that you have obtained many certificatesthrough having a wide interest and concerns in various fields. I wonder how you
utilize such a variety of qualifications?
Mr. BANMOTO: First of all it was aimed at demonstrating to the pupils that I
myself also had a goal to achieve every time. It was solely aimed to obtain thequalifications; therefore, they are no longer in good use. For example, as a qualified
amateur radio operator, I have installed a radio in my car and enjoy receiving
various waves. The qualification of a hazardous substance operator may be revived
after my retirement, so I might establish a chemical plant (He laughs).
Participant M: Through your long teaching life, you met a lot of teachers andpupils, and experienced various ups and downs, I imagine. If you have overcome
any difficulties, could you tell us how you went through them?
Mr. BANMOTO: I am not sure if I can answer your question perfectly, but I
believe there are four seasons in school. In April, you will be assigned to be ahomeroom teacher and start the year in high spirits, saying “I am going to work
hard for this coming year”. However in every class, there will be pupils who do
not listen to our instruction, or who repel and rebel against us. Then, one may
regret becoming a teacher. By the time when such pupils graduate, they may give
you words of gratitude like “Teacher, I am so sorry for causing troubles, but you
looked after us patiently. Thank you very much.” Their words can easily change
our minds, and once again you feel it was right to be a teacher. There are four
seasons in school, and you experience all the seasons. There will always be winterwith hardships but spring will surely come after winter, this is what I believe.
This chapter is based upon a lecture conducted by Mr. BANMOTO for JICA participantsof the Republic of South Africa as part of a JICA training course on Science and Math
Teacher Education. His lecture was in November of 2002, at Hiroshima Prefecture Gion-kita
Upper Secondary School. Mr. BANMOTO was then the principal of the Gion-kita Upper
Secondary School.

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To foster the treasure of our society and the school management vision

To foster the treasure of our society and the school management
visionYASUMORI Yuzuru
YASUMORI Yuzuru was born in 1945 in Kure city,
Hiroshima Prefecture.
After graduating from university, he became an
English teacher of upper secondary school in Osaka
prefecture, and served there for five years. After 1974 hestarted to work in Hiroshima Prefecture, as an English
teacher of upper secondary school. In 1994, he wasappointed as vice principal of Hiroshima Prefecture Yukiminami Upper Secondary School, and was promoted to be
the Principal in 1996. In 1998, he became the principal of
Hiroshima Prefecture Inokuchi Upper Secondary School.
In 2001, he was assigned as principal Hiroshima Kokutaiji
Upper Secondary School. He retired in 2006, and since April of the same year, he
has been a permanent advisor at the Hiroshima YMCA (current position).

1. Path to the teaching career―power of words, foretold prophecy―
I have four elder brothers, and two of them became school teachers. One
served at the educational administration office for many years after working as
an English teacher of upper secondary schools. The other retired as a Japanese
language teacher of upper secondary school in another Prefecture. The reason why
I started to talk about my brothers is because when I think of the reason I chose ateaching career, I have been largely influenced by them. When I enrolled in upper
secondary school, my brothers had already left home, one was teaching at school
and the other was studying in the education faculty. Whenever they came backhome during holidays, they proudly talked about what they had been doing. They
told me their experiences of being a young male teacher, or the experiences of wild
and free college life, and these were unconsciously instilled in me and influenced
my choice. Or, it could have been jealousy that I probably wanted to better them.
Consequently, I chose to study in the faculty of education.
To be honest, I was not fond of schools so much all the way from elementarythrough upper secondary schools. In a sense, I could not get along well withteachers and adapt myself to a school life. However, I have some teachers
somewhere in my memory. For example, I remember my elementary school
homeroom teacher who enduringly and gently stayed close to me though I hardly
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opened up my heart to anyone. I also remember a lower secondary school teacher
who led me to have an interest in studying English, and an upper secondary school
teacher who praised me in the presence of my classmates when my scores in mathwere a little bit elevated. One of the subjects I was not good at was math. Thoseteachers might have sown seeds towards my future deep in my heart. Various
possible causes have oriented me to choose the teaching career. Life is indeed
unpredictable.
Educators at college have also inspired me by sharing various teachings. For
instance, I was told that “the disparity between the students and educators depends
on the amount of time spent for teaching/learning preparation. If you students
have taken one hour to be ready for the class today, we have had done three times
or even ten times more preparation.” When I heard this I was dumbstruck andfelt myself straighten up. Furthermore, after my teaching practice, I was given
the following comment from my supervisor, “Teachers can be classified into two
types. One is “Sunshine & Spring Drizzle Type”, and the other is “Scorching
Sun & Autumn Frost Type.” I think you belong to the latter type.” Actually, he
had observed my lesson only once so I had not taken it so seriously. However,the power of the words given by my mentor or the Pygmalion effect in otherwords was indeed greatly effective. Just as he told me so, I became a teacher
of “Scorching Sun & Autumn Frost Type” and never admitted a compromise inclass, and exercised students tremendously hard so that they were all struck withawe. I also insistently persuaded the students as well as fellow teachers that “Prestudy of the lesson must be thoroughly done taking sufficient time. Lessons
must be conducted in “Scorching Sun & Autumn Frost” style, and occasionallyallow “Sunshine & Spring Drizzle” style. I believe teachers must be aware of the
responsibility of their words in that they have power and prophecy. In addition,
words spoken by highly trusted teachers penetrate the students mind. Contrary
to this, despised teachers’ words exhibit no meaning at all. What the students do
is superficially pretend as if they have agreed with the teachers but in actuality,
they hold contempt. I have every confidence that teachers have to be involved in
education with all their spirit and body.

2. Expectation and desperation in teaching―the horrifying transformation of people―
I took the teacher recruitment exam in 1968 when I was a senior student.
The number of recruits at that time was quite low, so I took exams held in three234

To foster the treasure of our society and the school management visiondifferent prefectures, Hiroshima Prefecture, Osaka Prefecture and Nagoya
City. Fortunately, I passed all of them. I had a strong desire to be independent
staying away from my family, so I chose to work in Osaka Prefecture. Three tofour months prior to my graduation, in around December, the principal of Nose
Upper Secondary School of Osaka Prefecture contacted me and I was invited to apersonal interview. We met at a coffee shop beneath the railroad bridge of Osaka
Station. One month later, the principal of Sano Upper Secondary School of Osaka
Prefecture came to visit me in Hiroshima, and then I was invited to work in his
school. As I honestly confessed about my prior engagement, he said to me. “Youwere too hasty in making an engagement. There must be something wrong to sucha hasty offer.” Nose Upper Secondary School is located in Nose Town in northern
Osaka Prefecture, and it is a small scale school with two courses, the General
Course and Agricultural Course. I started lodging very near to a private railway
station called Kawanishi-Nose-Guchi Station of the Hankyu Line. However, it
was quite inconvenient to access the school. So every morning and evening, theschool sent a taxi to my nearest Station, and I got into it with other teachers to go
to school. One day I missed the morning taxi and took a train and a bus to get toschool, and it took three hours to do so. Since then, I went to bed wearing a shirt,
trousers and a tie, without the suit jacket, so that when I got up in the morning I
just needed to put on only the jacket, and jumped from my room to the taxi forschool. Every night I lay frozen in place so as not to create any wrinkles in myclothes. It is quite funny when I recall myself, but at that time I was indeed serious.
Lodging was my first experience. The owners were an old couple, and I also
learned a lot about the hardships of living from the way the couple were living.
One day, unexpectedly, I had a high fever and did not go to school for a couple ofdays. One evening, I heard the sound of the shutter door at the porch opening andI felt suspicious as if someone was intruding into my residence. To my surprise, I
saw my parents who came far from Hiroshima worrying about me. The owner of
my lodging had informed them of my sickness. I still remember how delighted
I was to see them, especially my father whom I had believed was a man only atwork. My parents stayed with me one night and went back home. My parents haveboth passed away, but even now, I do appreciate their deep love for me.
In spring when the next academic year was approaching I was planning to renta house in Nose Town, because the school was in the pastoral environment andinteresting to me. Also I was planning to get married. However, suddenly theprincipal of Sano Upper Secondary School contacted me, and asked me to meet the235principal of Higashi-Sumiyoshi Upper Secondary School. “You know, last year,
I missed the chance to recruit you. I think it will be OK for you to change yourschool as one year has already passed now. I myself will speak to the principal of
Nose Upper Secondary School to transfer you.” This is how I changed my assigned
school after only one year. Higashi-Sumiyoshi Upper Secondary School was alarge school with a fifteen year history since establishment, and it was prominent in
its particular activities including Kirigamine Educational Camp in which students
sleep at a floriculture farm, and Sports Day for which students make stands byfabricating the logs. In those days, at Higashi-Sumiyoshi Upper Secondary School,
only homeroom teachers had to keep official working hours in order to attend themorning and evening assemblies in class, but the rest of the teachers were allowed
to go to school only for the assigned lessons, and they could go home after giving
the required lessons. After the term-end exam, we teachers had to attend only thegrading meeting, and could stay home for self-study. The summer holiday was
50 days, and everyday we could stay home for self-study if we wanted. I was not
assigned a homeroom in my first year, and I was in charge of the overall guidance
section of the Life Guidance Department as well as a martial art club Judo. Whenthe school assembly by each grade was held in the ground, teachers in the overall
guidance section took turns weekly, and stood on the stage, and pointed out thestudents who were not behaving well so that they straightened up. I also played thisrole, but later, this type of school duty began to assume a serious meaning.
I became a homeroom teacher in my second year. When I think of myself atthat time, I think I was too young and daring, but I believed we should firm thebase, so before anything I strongly demanded of the students to comply with theschool regulations, even picking up on any trifle matter. The influence of thecampus activism was still lingering on, and the activist students of the City-run
University wearing helmets were distributing flyers in front our of school gate. One
time, in an article of those flyers, I found one of the students who had dropped out
from our school due to a personal reason. Under such a circumstance, in around1973, the School Uniform-Free Campaign occurred at quite a few public upper
secondary schools in Osaka Prefecture. It led to frequent boycotts of lessons, andstudent assemblies were held. Teachers, particularly in charge of life guidance,
which related to the compliance of the school regulations, were targeted and caught
up in the severe disputes with the students.
When the school environment fell into disorder, teachers who agitated thestudents appeared, and caused unfavorable situations. They leaked the confidential236

To foster the treasure of our society and the school management vision
information of the faculty assembly to students, and placated the students to attack
the antagonist teachers or utilized the students as puppets. I was in charge oflife guidance, and a homeroom teacher of the third grade. I had devoted myself
passionately to my class, but some of my students were tempted by the agitatingteachers, and they bared their fangs at to me. It was indeed a nightmare to me,even now. I was driven to despair by knowing that “Students can easily be brain
washed by malicious adults.” This incident pushed me to decide to go back to myhometown, and I sat the recruitment exam again. I was employed by Hiroshima
City, so I resigned my post in Osaka by the end of March in 1974. I was stillplanning to attend the Leaving/Retiring Ceremony because I felt an obligation that
I should be present, however I was not able to attend it due to the delay of a traincaused by bad weather, even though I had already bought my train tickets to go to
the school.

3. Recovery of a pride as a teacher―Students were my saviors―
After coming back to my hometown, I started to serve at Hiroshima Cityrun Technical Upper Secondary School. Homeroom assignments were given
mainly to the teachers who specialized in Industrial Arts, so during the first two
years, I was only in charge of English lessons and had duty in the Department
of Curriculum and Instruction. The school had five specialized courses such as
Mechanical engineering, Electric engineering, etc. I went through ups and downs
and experienced some difficulties in delivering my lessons in some Courses, but I
admit I also learned a lot.
In April 1976, I was transferred to Hiroshima City-run Motomachi Upper
Secondary School which was located right in front of Hiroshima Castle [At thattime the school was called Hiroshima Prefecture Hiroshima Motomachi USS].
It was one of the five schools in a group of Integrated Selection System [later
Inokuchi Upper Secondary School joined and the total of six schools formed
the group. This Selection System based on schools’ grouping was abolished in1997]. The school had a General Course and the atmosphere was liberal with themotto of “Spontaneous and Independent.” From my first day, students cheerfully
greeted me when I encountered them in the hall. I was struck and moved by thatsince I had lost my trust in humans. The level of English education was famous as
the best in the Prefecture, and I was trained hard by competent and experienced
fellow teachers. The content of the school-based term exams was unified, and all237

the teachers marked simultaneously, and then we shared the result information. It
meant that if I had not taught correctly, it was revealed by the exam results, andthen I had to apologize to the assigned classes and needed to correct my mistakes.
The results of the term exams, and nation-wide exams were made open, and theaverage scores of each class were released announced. Therefore, every time I
was scolded and encouraged by senior teachers, so I had to indeed be serious inteaching. The teachers’ workshop of English book reading was held periodically.
Each teacher took turn and had to explain the outline/meaning of the assigned
chapter and then long experienced teachers raised questions to the members in
the group. I felt embarrassed by always being questioned on the part with which I
was not confident. When I mistakenly pronounced a word, a fellow teacher softly
pointed it out and commented “Oh, is there such a way of pronunciation? If I wereyou, I would have pronounced it this way.” I felt ashamed of my being inept, thus
I was really motivated to study harder. I instilled their methodology “teamwork”
such as “to make an annual scheme, and educate students organizationally”, or “tomake each small quiz in large quantity and share them with other teachers to be
used for all the classes” as well as “to prepare handouts for pre-study and self-madehandouts, and share all of the information among the teachers”, and thus everything
was done in a team.
From the second year, I was assigned a homeroom class. When I was a teacher
in Osaka Prefecture, I had met terrible experiences caused by the students. It
usually happened after students had a group meeting alone after school untillate. Therefore, I was still affected even at this school in Hiroshima. When myclass students did not come in due time to tell me about the completion of theschool cleaning program unit, I was scared expecting something wrong might
have happened. Little by little, I found my fear was groundless, and gradually theice in my mind started to melt. Let me give you a couple of examples. In thosedays, hour-long homeroom activities were frequently held at Motomachi Upper
Secondary School spontaneously by the students, and students had to prepare
the program in advance taking sufficient time, and every time, I was astonishedat their diligence of making a thoughtful plan. One time, they asked me to rent
two-wheeled carts, and I wondered why. I was amazed to know the reason as
they were planning to clean around Hiroshima Castle as part of their homeroom
activity. Before the school excursion to Etajima Island town, I saw some students
making appointments at the Self-Defense Forces Office and the Town Office. It
really made m wonder why they needed to make contact with the Town Office. In
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To foster the treasure of our society and the school management vision
actuality, on the day of the outing, some classes visited the Museum of Educational
Reference belonging to the Training School of the Maritime Self-Defense Forces,
and we headed to a pier after lunch. On the way to the pier, our class representative
suddenly told me that our class was going to stop by at one more place. I didn’tknow what was going on and why only my class was going to separate from therest of the school. Our destination was a Town-run Sports Ground. My students,
while they were planning the excursion program, had fit in a volleyball tournament.
It was a joyful surprise to me to know that they had prepared everything and hadbrought the necessary volleyball kit secretly. The day was fulfilled perfectly thanks
to their programming. There are many more episodes which helped recover mytrust in students, and I once again recalled the words of my senior fellow teacher;“Trust and future prospects are most important.” There is no need to say thatteachers educate students, but I can’t deny another fact that students also foster
us teachers by influencing us visibly and invisibly. To my class, I requested thestudents to strictly observe the rules of “Greeting, Cleaning and Punctuality”. Whenthe turn came to our class for cleaning of toilets, first of all I demonstrated how to
do it. I instructed them to completely clean thus not to leave any colors of yellow
and brown, and together with my students, I wiped the toilet stools with a dust
cloth in my bare hands. Including the classroom cleaning, every time I visited all
the allocated sites of cleaning, and every time I wiped the blackboard and the desks
with my fingers to check if there was any dust left. Whenever I found some dustor chalk powder on my finger, I demanded that they clean up again. I always kept
my words and never tolerated violations. As if proving myself as “Scorching Sun& Autumn Frost Type”, I was very strict in class teaching, and I ordered pre-study
and post-study of every lesson, and reprimanded any lazy students. I was in chargeof the baseball club. The club had financial difficulty, so the members could notrenew their uniforms for a long time. The playground was covered with sand, so
the balls deteriorated very easily, and the club manager (student) was always busy
sewing the torn balls to repair them. I felt sorry that it was not an ideal environment
for the baseball club members.

4. Having pride to take responsibility for my work in school―being appointed as a head teacher―
I worked at Hiroshima City-run Motomachi Upper Secondary School forseven years, and in 1983, I was transferred to Hiroshima Prefecture-run Inokuchi
Upper Secondary School which was one of the schools belonging to the Integrated
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Selection Group. In this year, Hiroshima City was officially approved as an
ordinance designated city, and became independent to have school administration
authority. My official recruitment was restricted within Hiroshima City, so I
resigned my post to be newly recruited to Hiroshima Prefecture. It was not aneasy procedure to change my employee, but because English education had beenfloundering at the lower level in that school, the principal entrusted me to recover
the level of English education. Hiroshima Inokuchi Upper Secondary School
was established in a Commerce-Industry Center which was built on reclaimed
ground from the sea. Some hundred thousand citizens in the area petitioned thegovernment to establish an upper secondary school, and six years had alreadypassed after its establishment. The school building was built with pre-fabricatedmaterials, and the water pipes were installed to pour water on the roof to reduce
the heat during the summer. The school ground was once nicknamed “the Inokuchi
Desert” as it was filled with harsh rocks and rough gravel. During the first years
after the establishment, both students and the faculty cooperatively worked hardto smooth the ground, and their labored work was famed as the spirit of Creation.
Though the school was new, it achieved a high percentage of graduates going touniversities, which was the highest among other schools in the same Integrated
Selection Group, and this accomplishment was called “the Inokuchi Mythology”.
This has been maintained for the past six years. The reclaimed ground was not
hard enough for the construction of a building so beneath every pillar of the schoolbuilding, square holes the size of 1-meter each were drilled until reaching thesteady mother rock bed, and then reinforced concrete was poured into the hole.
This construction method of making the firm foundation can actually also bereflected to nurture humans so I have quoted this story several times when I wanted
to explain about human development.
Right after my transfer to this school, I was assigned a homeroom class in myfirst year. My class management policy is “Greeting, Cleaning, and Punctuality”
and I strictly requested the students to obey these. As usual, I cleaned and polishedthe toilet stools with bare hands together with students and repeatedly told them, “Ifyou are sincerely faithful, you can also achieve higher academic ability.” Students
were terrified with my lesson and nicknamed it “Mr. YASUMORI’s English”(instead of calling it simply ‘English’). If some students had not done pre-study
at home, I made them copy all the new words of the unit from a dictionary. If theresult of a small quiz did not meet the expected level, I made them write down the
mistaken words many times in a notebook exclusively used for corrections only. If
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To foster the treasure of our society and the school management visionsome failed to memorize and recite the assigned textbook dialogue, I made themmemorize the chapter completely. Thus, I never changed the nature of my teachingstyle as “Scorching Sun & Autumn Frost Type.” I always went to the classroom
before the beginning of the lesson period (during the recess time), and also mylesson ended in the recess after the lesson period so the official 50 minutes’ lesson
always ended up taking 60-70 minutes. I have heard my students say that theyfelt that the whole day was over when my lesson was dismissed. I nicknamed mysupplemental lesson as YY Juku School which is copied from a famous private
cram school, and I put 90 students in one class, and taught two classes of 180
students until late at night. During the summer holidays, I zealously conductedfour lesson periods intensely for the consecutive days of one week. It was at
the time when air conditioning was not popular in general, and in summer, thetemperature in the classroom soared high because of too many students, and someof them became sick. Furthermore, when I requested my fellow English teachers
to do teaching management in a team, all the teachers were very cooperative to it,so we could achieve the goal rapidly. Actually in that time, the level of the Math
Department achievement was indeed superb, and it was the best in Hiroshima
Prefecture due to their use of the Sparta method. When I was transferred to thisschool, I made an announcement that “our English Department will soon go aheadof the Math Department.” Math teachers responded saying “the devastated English
Department could never be able to excel us, ever,” as if turning their noses up at us.
However, when I was in my second year, our English Department had gone aheadof the Math Department and the English level of students ranked first among theschools of the Integrated Selection Group.
During my eleven years at Inokuchi Upper Secondary School, I served as
homeroom teacher for six years, and thus sent off the graduates twice. In thedivision of school duties, I was in charge of the Student Council for three years,
and in the Students Guidance Department for eight years in which I was the headteacher of the Department for four years so I was always at the frontline withstudents. The student Council of this school was quite autonomous and active.
Students strongly made several requests to change the attire regulation, etc., andmade some improvements. For instance, the uniformed black-leather school bag
was abolished, and also the school uniform was renewed. When I became the headof the Student Guidance Department, six upper secondary schools of the Integrated
Selection Group were divided into two groups; West and East, and the entrance
exam was held in each of the two groups. The number of applicants between
241the two groups was compared at every exam. The west group won every otheryear, and the east group won also every other year, thus they biannually repeatedwinning in terms of the application percentage. The entrance exam system wasthen modified, and a secondary step or screening exam was introduced. As aresult, the scholastic level of enrollees in this school went down and at the sametime, the cases of special guidance for misbehavior started to increase. The school
management system gradually deteriorated as time passed by compared to the ideal
environment in the past at the time of its foundation. Teachers also started to be
influenced by the ideology of the teachers’ union organization. However, I stuck to
my own ideology “Even if there is no one to trust, I myself will surely assume full
responsibility for the school” and thus devoted myself to my daily work as a headteacher.

5. School Reform is the best student guidance―Students are the treasures of our society―Any reform will meet resistanceIn April, 1994, I was appointed as vice principal of Yuki-minami Upper
Secondary School. It was a small scale school with three classes in each gradein the general course. It is located in Yuki Town, Saeki County [now this county
is merged into Hiroshima City], which took about 30 minutes by car from mypreviously assigned school area, the Saeki Ward of Hiroshima City. At that time,
only about 30% of enrollees were coming from the two lower secondary schools in
the town, and the rest were commuting from outside areas. In particular, those who
were coming from out of town had no motivation, and the lessons were delivered in
an unfavorable environment with lots of disturbances. I had accumulated quite a lotof experience in the matters of student guidance, but still I faced great difficulties
with hot-tempered students who often flew into a rage. There is a common catchphrase in the educational world, that “Students loaded with big problems are
educational treasures”, which actually gets at the heart of the truth, but I don’t
appreciate it and I myself object to this phrase. Through hundreds of interactions
with students, I have understood that the students during the upper secondary life
stage show merely one aspect of themselves. I knew once they graduated fromschool, they would transform themselves depending on how much they would
adapt and devote themselves to the new social environment, which was always
beyond our expectation. Needless to say, all of the students will be those who willbuild our future so the destination of our society depends on the sound growth of242

To foster the treasure of our society and the school management visionthese youths. Therefore, regardless of the status quo, all the younger generationmust be protected by an idea that “Youths are social treasures.” “Youths MUST
be social treasures.” One time, I told them that “You are our social treasures.
Our future relies on you.” Then, one student said, “I have never been told I was atreasure. Are we really treasures? How glad I am to hear that!” The comment truly
pierced my heart. Since then, I repeatedly talked to them about being a “Social
Treasure” at all occasions, whenever I had a chance.
Around July when I was getting accustomed to work as vice principal, theprincipal sounded me out about applying for the designation of a “New Curriculum
Research School.” In fact, I was firmly convinced that “strengthening the student
guidance function in school would be the most important, and research of new
curriculum could be nothing useful for our school.” So I rejected the proposal.
However, after I thought about it over and over again, on the following day I hadchanged my mind. I thought of the status quo of our school. We had students
who took no notice of the teachers and school regulations. One girl student once
appealed to me saying “I wish to attend a lesson in a quiet and calm classroom
even once.” Then I came to the conclusion that “Without the reform of the entire
school environment, there will be no future for us.” If I had not made this decision,nothing could have been improved. Certainly, the day you made a decision is theroot of all luck.
The faculty members were up to their ears in daily work, so few of them agreed
to this idea, and we often reached a total deadlock in the process. However, in
September, we launched “the Vision 21 Committee”, of which the principal andthe vice principal had the initiatives, and the committee covered all the subject
areas and division of duties in school. It aimed to reform the entire school inten fields such as curriculum, student guidance, career guidance, educational
environment, PR, cooperation of community, etc. Based on the basic belief, “Takeaction immediately”, first of all, we conducted rush work in order to complete theplanning of the curriculum by April so that it would be implemented in the coming
academic year.
Firstly, we analyzed the outcome of “Needs Research” conducted at lower
secondary schools. Then, we set up the reform concept as “First we let the students
find their dreams, and then we provide them the widely arranged curriculum
to support their dreams”. For the first grade, it was made compulsory, and weincorporated some subjects which would help them find a dream. The second andthe third graders studied electives according to their dreams. As a new subject
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which helps to look for a dream, “Industrial Society and People” was introduced in
the general course for the first time in Japan. In 1995, a nation-wide presentation
was held at our school, and a large number of people came to participate.
Three courses such as “International Understanding”, “Information & Culture”,
and “Life & Culture” were established. However, it was still before the correctional
guidance from the Ministry of Education was undertaken, and almost all of theteachers were influenced by the teacher organization and activists groups to acertain extent. Most of them opposed the idea of establishing separate courses, andvery few were standing on our side, so we strongly encouraged and supported our
advocates. I told the teachers, “If we try to do it, something must become betterin any case, and nothing could possibly be worse than now”, and thus persuaded
the opposing teachers. The number of subjects prepared doubled to sixty-five, so
logically the class size became smaller, and teachers could pay careful attention to
all the students. As a consequence, we could realize our students’ desire, to study ina quiet environment with a small-size class. Furthermore, they could study subjects
relating to the realization of their dreams, with classmates who have a similar
desire.

6. School Rebuilding as the principal―The worst pinch can be the best chance―
In 1996, I was promoted to be the principal in the same school. We were in thesecond year of the school reform which was almost at the final stage. Suddenly,
the official school attendance district was re-organized, and we thought that could
be a fatal disaster for us. Still, around 30 % of students were town residents, andthe rest were coming from the 2nd School District, mainly from Saeki Ward ofHiroshima City. This 2nd District was going to be merged into the 4th District from
April of 1998, so we had no more hope to have applicants from there. I was deeply
disappointed, but I had to think of a solution, and decided to increase the number ofapplicants within the town. To achieve this, we set up several countermeasures suchas to enhance the PR to let the local residents know about the improvements of ourschool reform, to establish a task force group in the community which supports theschool, and to create an attractiveness which would surprise town residents andcause them to rejoice. I determined myself “to change this worst condition into thebest chance.”
We strengthened the PR in particular. I contributed articles to the Town
Newsletter for four consecutive months, and introduced our school with our unique244

To foster the treasure of our society and the school management visioncurriculum, courses taken after graduation, situation reports of students’ guidanceand club activities. I made a special request to the Town Office to publicize
these articles, and I myself wrote all those articles. Plus, I asked the educational
superintendent of Hiroshima Prefecture as well as the Town Mayor to contributearticles to our school bulletin printed in color, and we made from volume one tovolume three with those contributions. The colorful school bulletin was distributed
to all the households together with the Town Newsletter. I also formed a schoolsupporting group whose members were the Town Mayor, all the members of
the Educational Committee of the Town Assembly, principals of all the local
elementary and lower secondary schools, and their PTA chairpersons, autonomous
town association heads, in total 32 people, and the group was named as “the Groupto think of the vision of Yuki-minami Upper Secondary School”. To increase theattractiveness, we linked a sister school tie with a secondary school in the UK, andas I expected, this movement was greatly welcomed by the whole town. We also
negotiated with the universities and junior colleges to set a special admission quota
for designated schools on the recommendation system, so that the graduates from245

our school can have some advantage in entering the higher educational institutions.
As a result of all of those efforts, in 1998, we had a surprising achievement.
A total of 80 students enrolled from the lower secondary schools in town, which
was twice that compared to the past. Furthermore, the accomplishment made by
our graduates became greater, with one graduate passing the entrance exam to anational university and the other succeeding in enrolling in a municipal university.
Sending graduates to either a national or municipal university was a first for ourschool since it became independent 12 years ago, and this made the local people
rejoice.

7. Reform and Revival of Hiroshima Prefecture Inokuchi Upper
Secondary School―Along with “the correctional measures” under the Ministry of
Education―
In April 1998, I was transferred to Inokuchi Upper Secondary School in
Hiroshima Prefecture as principal. The Superintendent of Education at that timestrongly encouraged me to “create the school as the stronghold of the westernregion of the Prefecture.” In accordance with the prefecture-wide educational
reform, the Integrated Selecting System was abolished. Four years had passed
since I had left the school. The school situation was quite deteriorated in that theadvancement rate to higher education was lowered and the cases of misbehavior
which required special guidance had increased, besides the disorganization ofschool management system. Parents and local lower secondary schools had lost
trust in the school, and as a result, even possible applicants had flown away toapply for other neighboring upper secondary schools. I immediately analyzed thepredicament and came to the conclusion that partial reform would no longer help
rebuild the school. Therefore, I decided to reform the entire school on a large
scale. I set up the basic vision “Revival of Inokuchi Myth” which meant to realize
each and every child’s dream. The concrete vision was to “produce a school withcharm, to deliver the best lessons to elevate academic ability, and to strengthen
the advertisement system for new applicants. Together with these three pillars,
12 basic policies were drawn up and the “Hiroshima Inokuchi Upper Secondary
School Renaissance Project” was commenced. At that time, the staff organization
was handling the personnel, money and materials, which included the Personnel
Committee, Financing Facility Committee and School Duties Committee. It wastime that the Principal’s right was no longer infringed upon and therefore I formed246

To foster the treasure of our society and the school management vision
an execution force “Vision Committee” which was directly controlled by theprincipal.”
One month after embarking upon our school reform, the correctional measuresby the Ministry of Education was launched to reform the malpractices in school
and correct the management and administration function according to the law. I
was tried in the furnace on all fronts, but consequently, all the challenges paid
off. The graduation enrollment ceremony was held under the Course of Study, theworking hours were properly managed, the faculty meeting was administered by
the principal, and the appointment of the head teachers was properly conducted aswell as having the education research organs and groups reorganized. We assumed
the offensive and it seemed all the faculty members were ready to join the reform.
In particular, we strengthened the advertisement for applicants. For example,
we published the School Bulletin printed in color three or four times a year, andmade 20,000 volumes of each, and distributed it to lower secondary schools. We
also launched new programs to refresh the educational activities, thus in 1998 we
became a sister school of Elizabeth College, Australia, and in 2000 with the Aiea
High School in Hawaii, as well as the University of Hawaii. Plus, a scholarshipprogram sponsored by the Alumni Association was founded to send the students
abroad for a short period.
Thanks to the reform of the entire school, the academic achievement of thestudents rapidly skyrocketed. We always encouraged the students to modify theschool atmosphere with the motto “Proudly and with good conduct, we do what
we must do.” Since 2000, the school has been nominated as “a focused school for
improvement of scholastic ability”. As a result, greater attention has been paid tothe responsibility to the outcome of the lessons. The consequence of these actions
was that in the third year after the embarkation of the reform, in 2001, a total of 93
students including some of the former-year’s graduates passed the entrance examof national and public (municipal) universities. The number was twice that of theprevious year, and I was convinced that “the Inokuchi Mythology” had revived.

8. Reform of Kokutaiji Upper Secondary School and Revival of thereputation as a prestigious school―Making the best of the history and tradition since theestablishment of the prominent Hiroshima No.1 Middle School
When I was plotting to take the next step in strategies for making the Inokuchi
Upper Secondary School better and better, in April 2001, I was transferred to247

Hiroshima Kokutaiji Upper Secondary School. The superintendent of education
honored me with his words saying that “I expect you will bring in the alumni’s
association to support the school, and rebuild the reputation of the school with sucha long history and tradition, as the former Hiroshima No.1 Middle School which
was the best school in the pre-war system.” My limited knowledge about theschool was that, it was once the most prestigious school in Hiroshima Prefecture
but currently it had been lingering in a despairing situation. Plus, besides theordinary full-time course, there were night courses and a correspondence course
congested within the same school premise. Furthermore, after the abolition of theIntegrated Selection System, under the new free competition, this school stood left
behind compared to other schools which were in the same group. So I inwardly
said to myself, “What chaos I am going to now. Rebuilding the devastated fame ofthe school will be the biggest task that anybody has ever done before” and thus I
resolved to carry it through. The former principal gave me the advice that “First of
all you’d better conduct interviews with the head teachers, and it is you who will
decide on what to do.” As s/he told me to do, I scheduled the interviews in the firstweek of April and at the same time I carefully read the school history book of the
124 years since its foundation in the Meiji Period. I was deeply touched with all thehead teachers’ “sincere wish to change the school”. Also, I was strongly impressedwith the school history, as I truly admired the great history and tradition, and once
again, I felt tense at this heavy mission to revive the distinguished status of theschool. By mid April, I drew up a summary plan, entitled “Hiroshima Prefecturerun Kokutaiji Upper Secondary School Phoenix Project.” The mission was the“Development of the greatest treasure (=valuable national asset) with a promising
future” which was also the spirit of the school foundation. The visions were“Realization of the truly perfect balance in both study and sports”, and “Embodimentof the school motto, ‘simplicity and fortitude & good manners with dignity.’” Inmaking it, I asked the help of more than 40,000 alumni, and I had the reform plan
cover all areas such as the management system, educational condition, educational
content, guidance (teaching) system and support system. I divided it into twophases; the first phase of three years as foundation building, and the second of three
years as concrete content forming.
The flow in detail towards the revival of a prestigious school is as follows. At
first, collect the students who have high academic ability through intensive andactive PR. Secondly, uniform the power and direction of all the faculty members,
then provide the students the best lessons in quality and quantity. Thirdly, enhance248

To foster the treasure of our society and the school management vision
the potential energy of the students by promoting a good balance between study
and sports. We have already established the fundamentals, and now “the New
Phoenix Project” is in the final stage towards completion.
At every occasion, we instilled the students with “the long history and traditions
handed over since the establishment of the former Hiroshima No.1 Middle School”
as well as a slogan, “DNA simplicity and fortitude, good manners with dignity.”
We expected our students to have an inner pride, and they have been certainly
responsive to our expectation. In 2002, a new Science and Math course wasintroduced, and fortunately our school was selected as “a Super Science HighSchool” designated by the Ministry of Education. The first designation lasted forthree years, and after completing the first phase, our school was again selected foranother five years until the year 2009. We have been working on the “Developmentof human resources in Science and Technology to play active roles internationally.”
We have implemented several activities including the presentation by students at asister school in the U.K.
One of the main reasons which caused the deterioration in the reliability ofthe school was the lowered advancement to tertiary education. However in thespring of 2004, right after the first phase of the reform, the enrollment rate tonational or municipal-run universities was 2.5 times more than in the year 2003 [91graduates as well as 13 who had graduated in the past years]. In 2005, (comparedto the year 2003), 3.6 times more passed, of which 130 graduates and 19 who had
already graduated (in the previous years) passed, thus all went on to progress.
About 80 % of the students belonged to clubs (though the participation is their freechoice). With the traditionally handed down spirit of “stick-it-out” both the soccer
club and baseball club remained among the best four teams in the Prefecturewide tournament, and also the badminton club and broadcasting club obtained
satisfactory results remaining in the upper rank in the nation-wide competition.
More cases worthy of mention are the outcomes made by the students belonging
to the Science and Math seminar group, of which the Biology section group won
the Ministry of Education Prize in DNA analysis of giant salamanders, also the
Solution section group remained in third in JSEC 2004 at the national competition.
The school is located right in the middle of a metropolis, so students severely
suffered from the heat in summer. After many complications in August of 2002,
air conditioners were leased and installed for the first time at a Prefecture-run
school, thanks to the cooperation from the Alumni Association and parents. In
the beginning it was only for the third grade classrooms. But as of today, air249

conditioners are installed in all of the classrooms including the first and the second
grades, and all the expense is borne by the parents. Since the start of a 5-day school
week, we have launched Saturday sessions of supplemental lessons by inviting
lecturers from outside. That was also the first attempt of a Prefecture-run school,
so we faced a lot of criticism in the beginning. To promote the international
exchange, in 2001, we entered into a sister school tie-up with Moanalua HighSchool of Hawaii, and since 2002, Hawaii became the destination of our annual
school trip. We also became a sister school with Tasker Milward High School in
the UK, and the Kalamazoo Area Mathematics and Science Center in the USA, so
we tried to establish a system to meet the diversified needs of our students. Alsoa new style of advertisement was conducted to increase the number of applicants.
The reputation has been restored and due to the abolition of school enrollment
district, we have almost achieved the targeted goal to revive our prestigious school.

9. Concluding Remarks―School reform and the knowledge of rebuilding―
I have rebuilt three upper secondary schools in my life as principal, and I would
like to tell you one of the attitudes needed for rebuilding. That is “vocation withpride.”
This vocation means that we do whatever we must do for the students at thesacrifice of ourselves. If we think we can not leave it as it is, then we take action
immediately. If we think it is dirty, right away we clean it with all our heart
attached. If we find a child who is desperate to understand a subject, we just throw
away everything and teach to make that child understand. If students say they
are not comfortable to study at school, or if the parents do not trust the school,
immediately we take countermeasures to reform the school. If a student wishes toenter XX University, then you teach her/him thoroughly so that s/he will pass theexam. Cleaning, improvement of academic achievement, school reform, all of thosewill be dependent on the teacher’s vocation. If the principal does not care about
litter in school or if the principal does not pick up the trash, I think there will be nohope for the school to be rebuilt.
In addition, though the principal thinks nothing was his/her fault still he will bequite often in a situation where it is necessary to make a humble apology on behalfof the students, the faculty members and the school. You may find it difficult toapologize when you are not at fault, but if you have someone whom you must
protect, you can unperturbedly apologize for them. This is real pride. In fact, I
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To foster the treasure of our society and the school management vision
could have given you many more such episodes. However, I myself have suffered
a lot from those past incidents and, to tell you the truth I tried to forget them as
I personally didn’t want to recall them again. Another reason is that I had betterrefrain from disclosing any more details of such experiences, because the people
who were actually involved, also have their own life now. For instance, I have had
the experience of being isolated and surrounded by enemies on all sides, because
I failed to properly negotiate the issue of subsidy for students, therefore I boldly
apologized to solve the issue. Also, when a financially-disadvantaged student
wanted to enter a university by applying for a full scholarship, the homeroom
teacher kept the application forms beyond the deadline, so I alone had to handle thecomplaints from the institution. Another case is that parents who were dissatisfied
with our student guidance approach for their child, brought in a third party (outsider)to the school, and the school was thus coercively intervened upon by this heavyhanded measure. All of the incidents occurred unexpectedly and it was always
an abrupt attack. In the initial stage of my career, I could not straightforwardly
apologize but kept being too stubborn and as a result things turned worse, and I
caused students and the school troubles for a very long period. When I could calm
myself down, I went ahead and apologized, and things took a turn for the better.
Last but far from least, I would like to mention one more thing. The principal’s
duty is heavy, but it is indeed enjoyable. If I want to do something, I can doanything. Almost nothing is impossible. No matter what situation the school is innow, if you work hard putting forth all efforts with your body and spirit in unison, I
am sure within the period of three years, any school can be rebuilt!

251Children are treasures of our society“When we (project members) visited Mr. YASUMORI, he was the principalof a prestigious school whose percentage of university enrollment by graduates
was the best in Hiroshima Prefecture. “He must be a very strict educator.” We had
imaged him selfishly and we were scared to death while heading to the Principal’s
Office. In reality, he turned out to be a very nice teacher who possessed bothstrictness and kindness.
In the interview with Mr. YASUMORI, he shared the following episode:
When I was appointed as vice principal at one of the most corrupt upper secondary
schools, on my first day I aired an announcement, and requested the students
saying, “Ladies and gentlemen, please do ……….” Bad acting students came totell me something then. “Mr. Vice principal, it was the first time we were called‘gentlemen’. I think you are the only person in the world who would call us
gentlemen!” How pleased I was by their words. One day when a group of 14-15
students who were illegally smoking cigarettes were forcefully taken to me, at first
they went wild in a bad temper and said; “What’s going on here! Why in the hell
did you watch us and get us arrested!” Then I told them, “You are our treasures,aren’t you? You are treasures of our society. Please stop saying such words andplease grow up so we feel proud of you. Our future depends on you, you know.”
Then they replied, “Oh, no. Are we also treasures?” I thought we shouldn’t forget
to tell every child that “they are treasures of the society.” When I was at that
school, I always kept the spirit to respect everyone with the philosophy, “Children
are the treasures of the society.” That is why, I myself had never experienced thefull antagonism of the students [from the interview with Mr. YASUMORI].
When I interviewed Mr. YASUMORI, I was very impressed with the phrase“Children are treasures of the society.” He admitted he had not carried this ideafrom the outset of his career. The first place he served as teacher was not in
Hiroshima Prefecture, but Osaka Prefecture. It was right in the middle of the timeof upper secondary schools students’ rioting, so his circumstances were indeed
trying and full of hardships. During those days, he had strongly advocated an
idea that students should be forcefully bound by the school regulations, so hedidn’t want to tolerate any trifle violations. However, the stricter he instructed
his students, the stronger they resisted. Ever since he came back to Hiroshima
Prefecture, he himself was gradually transformed into a different person thanks to252

To foster the treasure of our society and the school management visionvarious favorable interactions with students.
Through the entire process of this project, we have constantly questioned
ourselves, “What are good educators? What are good principals?” And as we
met one principal after another, we felt the indistinct images we had before were
gradually solidified into one stream.
From among all the principals we met, particularly from Mr. YASUMORI, we
strongly felt the importance to keep a deep love for children, which is the eternal
fundamental in education. This affection must be kept even when he reprimands
students strictly.
Mr. YASUMORI was once in Osaka. And now he is in Hiroshima. In both
places he was a very strict educator [he describes himself as “Autumn Frost &Burning Sun Type”] however, I clearly see a big gap between the two. That is,
now at the bottom of his heart, he has a strong thought “everything must be done
for students.” What I can see in his episodes is his strong love that is described in
the idea, “Children are treasures of the society” and is also represented in various
reforms he conducted in schools for the sake of children.
Mr. YASUMORI told us, “All the answers we need, can be found in(side) the
school.” From these words, I can feel every bit of his pride has been formed byhis efforts from his daily practices in school, as well as from the experiences ofovercoming all the difficulties in school one by one by making his own decisions.
The educational experiences of Mr. YASUMORI are full of the actual practices
in school.
Project Member A

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Courage to take a leap

Courage to take a leap
“Principals of Hiroshima” Editorial Committee
This book is a collection of essays from school principals in Hiroshima
Prefecture. Thirteen principals freely wrote their stories based on their personal
educational philosophy, professional viewpoints and outlook on life. All of themare phenomenal educators as they chose to take the road less traveled in the journeyof school education.
Some of them spent their whole life dedicated only to schools beginning
as a humble teacher. One principal came from the private business sector. One
devoted her life to education in the remote mountain areas. Others successfully
accomplished the mission to rebuild devastated schools immersed in various
problems.
Indeed, their experiences are diverse but all of them share the same intense
sincerity in attitudes towards educating the children.

1. Reason for this Project
When Prof. NAGAO informed us about this project the ‘Principals of
Hiroshima’ for the first time, we had ambivalent feelings. On the one hand, we
appreciated the project as it is a mesmerizing and fascinating attempt; however,
we did not have the self-confidence to do so because we were still university
students of about twenty years old. We asked ourselves if we could fulfill the task
as members of the project - to listen to the stories of the principals, ask them towrite their experiences, and compile them into a book. In fact, our anxiety was
bigger than our confidence. As if sensing our concerns, Prof. NAGAO told us thefollowing words.
“Whenever we start something new, we must set our first step bigger than usualand have the courage to take a leap. I’m convinced you’re able to do so.”
Encouraged by his words, we decided to take the very first step.

2. Passion for Education, Love for Children
The project was commenced, and we visited and interviewed the principals.
Upon personally hearing their stories, we were deeply touched by their great efforts
in education as well as their educational philosophy and professional viewpoints
to always prioritize children and take action in favor of the children. Although
there seems to be nothing dramatic or shocking about their stories, we were very255

impressed with their deep concern for children. Their life histories were basedon their feelings in daily educational practices, and on their dreams to becomea teacher. In one interview, a principal ardently talked about her /his feelings
towards children, occasionally shedding tears. Another principal used a frank
expression that she loves children very much. Their ways of expression varied, but
all of them demonstrated the same sincere feeling of affection for children.
Besides the interviews, we also listened to lectures delivered by some of theprincipals. Their lectures were part of the JICA courses conducted by CICE forforeign educators from developing nations. All the foreign participants were
impressed by the enthusiasm of the principals for education. Attending the JICA
course lectures, we confirmed that Japanese educators are honorable professionals
whom we can be proud of in the world.

3. Changes in ourselves as Project Members
Nowadays, issues about teachers are often the target of criticism due toscandals or incompetence. With these problems and issues plaguing and disgracing
the teaching profession, university students of the Faculty of Education, who once
dreamed of becoming a school teacher, gradually lose their hopes and interests.
We often hear this kind of sentiment among other students. Even some of our
project members had once almost lost their initial dream of becoming a teacher.
Through this project, we met praiseworthy educators, and learned aspects ofJapanese education that made us proud. Those project members who almost losttheir interest in the teaching profession are now actually teaching at elementary or
lower secondary schools.
This book is filled with the educational philosophy, professional viewpoints
and outlook on life of the principals. The book may have the same effect on those
who wish to work in the educational world and to those who are about to abandon
their hopes for education. It will be our great pleasure, if this book provides theopportunity to know and appreciate the good and impressive aspects of educationin Japan.
Through this project, we the committee members learned that “If we challenge,
we can do the job even though we are just students.”
We started by determining what kind of principals are here in Hiroshima
Prefecture. Then we made an appointment and interviewed them. Afterwards we
asked the principals to write their stories. Everything was new to us. In particular,
we felt quite nervous when we phoned them asking for an appointment. We
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Courage to take a leap
wondered whether the principal would give us their time and attention to talk tomere students. Contrary to our concerns, all of them were kind enough to listen
to us and gave us their time in spite of their tight schedule. Making the very firstphone-call to a principal and requesting to write an essay about his/her professional
experiences, proceeding through the different stages of this project seemed almost
impossible for students like us to fulfill. However, once we started everything was
possible. We were able to overcome every hurdle at a time, one by one. “Evenstudents can do it!” We realized this as we progressed through the different stagesof the project.
“Principals of Hiroshima” gave us many insights which we would not havegained through university lectures alone. After reading this book, we hope you will
also have the courage to take a leap and have a wonderful adventure, as we did.
Lastly, we would like to acknowledge several individuals who cooperated in
the publication of this book. First in the list, we would like to thank the thirteen
principals who contributed their experiences, for their kindness in accepting ourrequest in spite of their crowded daily workload. Publication of the book would
not have been possible without even a single principal amongst the thirteen. Thankyou very much.
We also give our thanks to Mr. TAMAGAWA [former principal of Hiroshima
Prefecture Kake Upper Secondary School] for his precious advice and guidance asa project adviser; to the Staff of CICE who assisted us especially in clerical works.
Thank you very much.
In the end, we appreciate this significant opportunity of working with the
project members, who helped develop our mind and character by working hard
together towards the completion of this project.

257

Photos and diagrams used in the book
Photos and figures used in the book have been provided by the writers of different
chapters. The photo and the figure on p. 13 have been provided by Mr. Kazuki
Sakai.

Principals of Hiroshima Public Schools
Original publication in Japanese: February 28, 2007
Printing of English version:
July 15, 2020
Editors:
Masafumi NAGAO and “Principals of Hiroshima”
Editorial Committee
Translators: Ms. Naomi Nakagoshi
Dr. Amelia C. Fajardo
Dr. Robin Sakamoto
Design:Mr. Kazuki Sakai
Publisher:
International Development Center of Japan
Shibaura Crystal Shinagawa 12th Floor
1-6-41 Konan, Minato-ku,
Tokyo 108-0075, Japan
Phone: +81-3-6718-5931
Fax: +81-3-6718-1651
URL: https://www.idcj.jp/english/
Printing:
Mihara Print Corporation
Copyright © International Development Center of Japan 2020