Exploring kyoiku: Children's educational experiences in Japanese kindergartens

Karen Guo
Deakin University, Australia
Kiyomi Kuramochi
Tokyo Gakugei University, Japan

This study addresses children's Kyoiku (education) as it is explored by two kindergartens in Japan. It reports how the teachers, parents and children defined and experienced children's education. The focus on children's education in this study enables the threads of different perspectives within the fabric of the kindergartens and Japanese contexts to be shared. The findings reveal that theorising about children's education invites scholarship that takes as axiomatic the complexity and distinctiveness of individual children, their families and the Japanese social and cultural dynamics.
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Authors: Dr Karen Guo is a senior lecturer in Early Childhood Education at Deakin University, Australia. Karen has worked as an academic in the field of early childhood for 16 years and her research has focused on cross-national studies, multicultural education and children's language and communication. Email: karen.guo@deakin.edu.au Professor Kiyomi Kuramochi is working for the Faculty of Education at Tokyo Gakugei University, Japan. Kiyomi has a broad research base in behavioural science, educational psychology and developmental psychology. Her recent studies focus on supporting strategies for the parents of infants. Email: kkiyomi@u-gakugei.ac.jp Please cite as: Guo, K. & Kuramochi, K. (2019). Exploring kyoiku: Children's educational experiences in Japanese kindergartens. Issues in Educational Research, 29(1), 89-105. http://www.iier.org.au/iier29/guo.pdf