Philosophy of Minna and moral education: Manabi that encompasses everyone

Abstract

This paper studies the theory and practice of Minna in Manabi, as the Japanese concept of learning from the perspective of moral education. The Japanese word Minna, which means “all” or “everyone,” plays an important role in Manabi. The word “Minna” is often found in textbooks used in moral education classes, and great value is placed on “thinking about everyone.” Minna, a component of Manabi, not only makes the self (the learner) nothing and selfless, but also makes it possible to enter all, everyone, and the world. This may create possibilities for inclusiveness, reciprocal harmony, hospitality, solidarity, and cooperativeness. This Manabi of “thinking about everyone” can be found in moral classes and in all aspects of learning (educational) activities in Japanese schools. Among them, in addition to being a traditional Buddhist practice dealing with Nothingness and Selflessness, Souji (cleaning time) is also very important in schools as a Japanese moral practice of “thinking about everyone.” The moral concepts developed in the West, such as democracy, community, solidarity, engagement, and citizenship, are not only realized through the establishment of the individual, self-realization, and perfection of personality, but by “thinking about everyone,” as expressed in Nothingness, Selflessness, and Minna.

Keywords:

• Moral education
• learning
• Manabi
• Minna
• everyone

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Masamichi Ueno

Masamichi Ueno is a professor of Education at Sophia University, Japan. He currently works as a visiting professor at Shandong Normal University, China, and is president of the Institute of East Asian Education. He is the author of Democratic Education and the Public Sphere: Towards John Dewey’s Theory of Aesthetic Experience (Routledge, 2016), Manabi and Japanese Schooling: Beyond Learning in the Era of Globalisation (Routledge, 2020), and School Reform and Democracy in East Asia (Routledge, 2021). Email: [email protected]

Kayo Fujii

Kayo Fujii is a professor of Education at Yokohama National University, Japan. Her current research interests include German philosophy and critical pedagogy, self-formation and education, communication and recognition. Email: [email protected]

Yasunori Kashiwagi

Yasunori Kashiwagi is a professor of Early Childhood Care and Education at Chiba Keizai College, Japan. He is the author of Manabi and Japanese Schooling: Beyond Learning in the Era of Globalisation (Routledge, 2020), Babyklappe and Women in Need (Kitaohji Shobo, 2013), The Praktike of Manabi (Ikkei Shobo, 2015), and Gazing at the Nameless Mothers and Babies (with T. Hasuda,Kitaohji Shobo, 2016). In addition, his works include ‘Child-Rearing Support and Babyklappe: The New Anonymous Support for Mothers and Their Children in Germany’ (Research on Early Childhood Care and Education in Japan, 52[3], 2014) and ‘The Early Childhood Education of Jürgen Moysich before Babyklappe’ (Research on Early Childhood Care and Education in Japan, 56[3], 2018). Email: [email protected]