[转帖]Playing with fire(转自经济学人杂志)

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<P>Playing with fire
Jan 20th 2005 | TOKYO
From The Economist print edition

Japan's ruling party wants to inject patriotism into schools
THE timing struck some as particularly unfortunate. This week, ten years after an earthquake killed 6,433 people in Kobe, a worthy international conference there drew lessons from natural disasters in Japan and elsewhere. Meanwhile in Tokyo, a rather less worthy gathering of members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) assembled to ignore the lessons of another terrible disaster—this one man-made, and the cause of far more death and destruction. In the course of approving its policy agenda for 2005, the LDP decided that it would revise the country's basic law on education. The current draft revisions include a plan to make pupils more patriotic. Because patriotic-sounding educational “reforms”—following the Imperial Rescript on Education in 1890—also preceded Japan's 20th-century descent into militarism, this is an inflammatory idea.
The draft revisions, which include platitudes about modern learning and better teaching, say that Japanese schools should foster a sense of aikokushin among pupils. This word could be translated as “love of country”, but to most Japanese it has other—and liberals would say darker—connotations. Many Japanese are indeed discovering things to love about their country these days, but aikokushin, say worried liberals, implies devotion to a particular idea of Japan: as a uniquely entitled nation supported by hard-working but unquestioning citizens. And although a return to militarism and rampant chauvinism seems hugely unlikely, the LDP's latest ideological games risk antagonising Japan's neighbours and reopening deep domestic wounds.
Start with the neighbours. Junichiro Koizumi's annual visits to the Yasukuni shrine, where the souls of Japanese war criminals are enshrined along with fallen soldiers, have infuriated many Chinese, South Koreans and other Asians. The prime minister says that he will keep going there, and that neighbouring politicians should calm down. They might find this easier, however, if some Japanese history textbooks did not gloss over Japan's imperialist past. Now the LDP wants to teach patriotism as well as revisionist history.
The LDP's educational revisions could do even more damage at home. During the cold war, many left-wing teachers embraced extremist notions about Japan's government and its alliance with America, and they were fond of using war guilt as an ideological weapon in classrooms. Over the past 15 years, however, those divisions have faded from politics, and from many classrooms as well. Enacting the patriotism clause now could erase that progress and reignite the ideological wars. Many teachers are already upset with the nationalist governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara, for pushing devotion to the national flag and anthem in the capital's schools.
The proposed patriotism clause also distracts attention from the serious need for real educational reforms in Japan. The quality of teaching varies greatly. Discipline is a huge problem. Unpopular pupils stay at home for fear of being bullied, and many classrooms are unmanageable. Meanwhile, Japan is also trying to transfer more power towards local governments, while trimming its huge national deficit and debt. There is plenty to debate, especially ideas for getting teachers to perform better. Yet if it presses ahead with a controversial law, the LDP will give teachers the perfect excuse to avoid doing so.

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[此贴子已经被作者于2005-1-21 13:49:40编辑过]
<P>Playing with fire
Jan 20th 2005 | TOKYO
From The Economist print edition

Japan's ruling party wants to inject patriotism into schools
THE timing struck some as particularly unfortunate. This week, ten years after an earthquake killed 6,433 people in Kobe, a worthy international conference there drew lessons from natural disasters in Japan and elsewhere. Meanwhile in Tokyo, a rather less worthy gathering of members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) assembled to ignore the lessons of another terrible disaster—this one man-made, and the cause of far more death and destruction. In the course of approving its policy agenda for 2005, the LDP decided that it would revise the country's basic law on education. The current draft revisions include a plan to make pupils more patriotic. Because patriotic-sounding educational “reforms”—following the Imperial Rescript on Education in 1890—also preceded Japan's 20th-century descent into militarism, this is an inflammatory idea.
The draft revisions, which include platitudes about modern learning and better teaching, say that Japanese schools should foster a sense of aikokushin among pupils. This word could be translated as “love of country”, but to most Japanese it has other—and liberals would say darker—connotations. Many Japanese are indeed discovering things to love about their country these days, but aikokushin, say worried liberals, implies devotion to a particular idea of Japan: as a uniquely entitled nation supported by hard-working but unquestioning citizens. And although a return to militarism and rampant chauvinism seems hugely unlikely, the LDP's latest ideological games risk antagonising Japan's neighbours and reopening deep domestic wounds.
Start with the neighbours. Junichiro Koizumi's annual visits to the Yasukuni shrine, where the souls of Japanese war criminals are enshrined along with fallen soldiers, have infuriated many Chinese, South Koreans and other Asians. The prime minister says that he will keep going there, and that neighbouring politicians should calm down. They might find this easier, however, if some Japanese history textbooks did not gloss over Japan's imperialist past. Now the LDP wants to teach patriotism as well as revisionist history.
The LDP's educational revisions could do even more damage at home. During the cold war, many left-wing teachers embraced extremist notions about Japan's government and its alliance with America, and they were fond of using war guilt as an ideological weapon in classrooms. Over the past 15 years, however, those divisions have faded from politics, and from many classrooms as well. Enacting the patriotism clause now could erase that progress and reignite the ideological wars. Many teachers are already upset with the nationalist governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara, for pushing devotion to the national flag and anthem in the capital's schools.
The proposed patriotism clause also distracts attention from the serious need for real educational reforms in Japan. The quality of teaching varies greatly. Discipline is a huge problem. Unpopular pupils stay at home for fear of being bullied, and many classrooms are unmanageable. Meanwhile, Japan is also trying to transfer more power towards local governments, while trimming its huge national deficit and debt. There is plenty to debate, especially ideas for getting teachers to perform better. Yet if it presses ahead with a controversial law, the LDP will give teachers the perfect excuse to avoid doing so.

</P>
[此贴子已经被作者于2005-1-21 13:49:40编辑过]