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The Journal of the Asian Conference of Design History and Theory. 2016, 1, p. 95-103

The Development of Design Education for Children in Japan

Takayasu, Keisuke

Osaka University Graduate School of Letters

English

Text

2016-03

Theme III : Design Education after the Bauhaus

This study overviews the historical development of design education for Japanese children and considers the meaning of non-professional design education. There are two significant historical events that have influenced the development of design education in Japan. First, during the first half of the 1930s, with the introduction of the Bauhaus practice, the modernist method of art education began to attract schoolteachers who were dissatisfied with merely sketching objects. Kōsei education, which Renshichirō Kawakita established, played a pivotal role in this movement. Second, during the late 1950s, the word “design” became widespread in the Japanese language. It was in 1958 when the Ministry of Education first included “design work” in the new Course of Study for school art curriculum. This binding requirement encouraged public discussion on design education for children; however, the fundamental ambiguity of the concept has been a constant bone of contention. What does children’s design imply when the children are not professional designers? What is the purpose of design education for children who will not necessarily become professional designers? The design boom was witnessed from the late 1950s, and it peaked during the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Consequently, during this period, there were numerous discussions about design practice for children. However, design practice in school, which was originally introduced with modern movement, has gradually lost its charm since the 1970s. Instead, the new concept of zōkei play has gained a stable position in the art curriculum for elementary school. Zōkei play is children’s physical involvement in the outside world characterized by joy. It encourages site-related creations as well as the amusing treatment of materials. Zōkei play, comprising the essence of contemporary art, adequately took over the fundamental plastic work for younger children. What was once referred to as design practice has dissolved into the free composition of esthetic elements or the arrangement of useful things. In general, as part of children’s art curriculum, design practice has been content with its obscure position. Today, the concept of design has been incorporated in all social activities such as rebuilding lost communities. We should now move past the current standards of art education to rethink the possibilities of design education for children.

10.18910/90888

90888

The Development of Design Education for Children in Japan

Takayasu, Keisuke

Osaka University Graduate School of Letters

English

2016-03

The Journal of the Asian Conference of Design History and Theory

1

95

103

https://hdl.handle.net/11094/90888

10.18910/90888

https://doi.org/10.18910/90888