Rethinking Schooling for the 21st Century

the country’ (Mochizuki, 2017, p. 4), but ESD initiatives have resonated with local
stakeholders because of their emphasis on the need to recognise and encourage
grassroots agency.
Definitions of ESD also appear to have taken an unusual twist in the Japanese
context. A 2014 ministerial report on the DESD claimed that ‘education placing
emphasis on building a sustainable society’ has been promoted at all levels
of schooling ‘under the philosophy of developing “zest for life” with ability on
thinking, decision-making and self-expression in addition to acquiring knowledge
and skills’ (Japan, 2014, p. 6). The invoking of ‘zest for life’ seemed to imply
that, for Japanese policymakers, psychological health — curbing the supposedly
heightened propensity of Japan’s fragile youngsters to succumb to bullying or
depression — was seen as one key element of the ‘sustainability’ or vitality of
Japanese society. Ministerial documents (e.g. Japan, 2014) have also highlighted
the role of Japan’s UNESCO Associated Schools Project Network (ASPNet) (929
as of October 2016 22 ) as ‘hubs’ for the promotion of ESD, along with the use
of Periods of Integrated Study (sougoutekina gakushu) to encourage relevant
learning.
Treatment in subject curricula and textbooks
It is, however, individual subject curricula and, more especially, textbook content
and classroom observation data (where available) that provide a more meaningful
indication of the ways in which ‘sustainability’ is actually interpreted in schools
(see Box 3.1). ESD (and GCED), as encountered by most East Asian students,
is embedded in specific subject curricula rather than taught as a stand-alone
subject (except, for example, in the case of Korea’s ‘Environmental Studies’
elective).
Box 3.1 Main textbooks consulted for the present study
Japan (all current editions as of January 2017):
- Teikoku Shoin. 中 学 生 の 歴 史 (History for Middle School Students)
- Teikoku Shoin. 中 学 生 の 公 民 (Civics for Middle School Students)
- Tokyo Shoseki. 新 しい 社 会 歴 史 (New Society: History) (Middle School)
- Tokyo Shoseki. 新 しい 社 会 (New Society), Primary Grades 3 and 4, Volume I
- Tokyo Shoseki. 新 しい 社 会 公 民 (New Society: Civics) (Middle School)
China:
Various textbooks published by the People’s Education Press ( 人 民 教 育 出 版 社 ), Beijing,
including:
- 语 言 (Language i.e. Chinese) (Primary School)
- 品 德 与 社 会 (Morals and Society) (Primary School)
- 地 理 (Geography) (Secondary School)
- 中 华 优 秀 传 统 文 化 (China’s Splendid Traditional Culture), Grades 6-9, six volumes
22 See http://www.unesco-school.mext.go.jp/aspnet/.
Rethinking Schooling for the 21 st Century:
The State of Education for Peace, Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship in Asia
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