A

Final Report for "Study of Japan" Course

ADAPTING JAPANESE EDUCATIONAL PRACTICES FOR

EDUCATING INDONESIAN MUSLIM CHILDREN

JUMAIDIL AWAL

OKAYAMA UNIVERSITY
2017
 CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Background
Modern Japan's school system might not be the most freedom-friendly education system one
would ever encounter on Earth but it is undoubtedly one of the most successful ones. Tens of
Nobel Laureates are of Japanese origin. Every year, thousands of foreign students come to Japan
for the sake of pursuing higher education. On every PISA test conducted by OECD, Japanese
students are always among the top performers. It is not an exaggeration to say that Japan's
education system is indeed successful.

On the other hand, as someone coming from a Muslim-majority country at the "developing" part
of the world, Indonesia, the author nds a signi cant number of relatable practices and
experiences within the Japanese education that might be suitable for application in his home
country. These practices and experiences come not only from the formal education but also from
the traditional ones. As an example, despite sharing no similar root, the author nds a similarity
between Islam and Japanese Zen in their perception of reality.

This report was written in hopes of giving the readers--and rst of all the author himself--a new
insight on how Muslims in Indonesia can improve their now mostly Western-styled education by
adapting Japanese practices in the education of their children.

Objectives
The rst objective of this report is to nd the underlying roots of Japanese modern educational
practices so as to provide a framework of values that is most crucial to the successful, modern
education of Japanese children. Secondly, this report aims to elaborate where these values
might t into the current educational system of Indonesian Muslim children. Lastly, this report
will try to come up with alternatives of practical approach in adapting the important Japanese
values into Indonesian Muslim child education.
 CHAPTER 2
DISCUSSION

Modern Japan's Education System

Japanese formal education at the primary level up to the upper-secondary level has a single
track schooling system (Saito, 2011). This means that the curricula applied in schools at the same
level are largely the same, even in the upper-secondary where a minor diversi cation into
colleges of technology happens (OECD, 2010). This ensures ease of monitoring and control as
well as uniformity of achievement among the students, in a good way. Table 1 illustrates this
pattern of uniformity.

Table 1. Japan's education system organization (OECD, 2010)

This uniformity makes way for the implementation of moral education with a common standard
across the kindergartens and elementary schools. Moral education extends far beyond
elementary schools so as to suffuse even high schools with such highly moral-strengthening
activities and practices as engaging students in serving their fellow students, giving others credit
for their own accomplishment, and respecting their elders and their teachers, even when there is
no speci c moral education course (OECD, 2010).

Such a strong emphasis on moral education (shuushin) has its roots back in 1879 when the
Emperor declared the Imperial Will on the Great Principles of Education which officially marked
the return of Japan's education from the moral-declining Westernization to traditional,
Confucian ethics. This declaration was then solidi ed the year after through the revised
Education Order (Saito, 2011). Moral education has become a distinctive, vital feature of
Japanese education system in general ever since.
In high schools, such a wide space for moral-strengthening practices is partly enabled by the
relatively fewer number of core subjects that typical high school students must take, which is
only ve, i.e.: mathematics, Japanese, English, science, and social studies (OECD, 2010). Aside
from making space for smooth integration of moral education, this has at least two additional
advantages. First, Japanese students have relatively more time to study the core subjects deeper.
Second, Japanese students can more easily focus on things they want to pursue the most due to
the small amount of distractions from unnecessary subjects. Hence, the "sustained excellence" of
the Japanese students.

Edo Era Education

Tokugawa Bakufu, despite its renowned trademark as a militaristic feudal government, had
actually been giving a signi cant peaceful atmosphere to its society for about two and a half
centuries during the "self-embargo" period. This self-imposed isolation had given the Japanese
people a signi cant amount of time to develop and mature as a society (Ojala, 2014). This period
witnessed the birth and growth of several types of schools, namely: (1) hanko, (2) gougaku, (3)
terakoya, and (4) shijuku.

Hankō the Fief Schools

Hankō was the type of schools that primarily provides education in Chinese literature study
(kangaku) and Confucianism. Confucianism classics, historical works, and poem anthologies were
used as textbooks. Calligraphy, kokugaku (Japanese-breed of philosophy) and medicine were
included as well.

Hankō operated under strict control of Tokugawa Shogunate as the central government. Hankō
only provided education for the ruling class, i.e. the noble families, the bureaucrats, and the
samurai. All hankō were modeled after the rst and foremost academy of Confucianism, the
Shōheikō of Yushima Seido, which eventually became a state-run school under the Kansei Edict.
The Shōheikō was founded by Hayashi Razan and headed successively by his descendants.

Gōgaku the Provincial Schools

Gōgaku was the type of schools that, just like hankō, provides education in Chinese literature
study (kangaku) and Confucianism. However, there are two fundamental differences between
the two: (1) gōgaku were domain-run instead of state-run and (2) gōgaku provided education for
all people regardless of their social status.

Being a type of schools that provide "education for all", gōgaku had the most diverse contents,
audience, and origins among the other types in Edo era. Some gōgaku were established by the
domain lords from the beginning while some others started out as a people's initiative which
then grew and were eventually adopted by the domain lords as gōgaku.

Terakoya the Temple Schools

Terakoya was the most democratic type of schools in Edo period. It de nitely ts the jargon
"from the people, by the people, and for the people". Terakoya mainly focused on educating
people on practical life skills, especially literacy, which they needed to survive as commoners.
Terakoya provided education primarily in reading and writing as well as calligraphy. Arithmetic
came a bit later during the end of Edo period. Before, arithmetic was taught at homes. Here we
can see just how mathematically-literate the Japanese were even before the encounter with
Western civilizations.
Terakoya's history dated back to the end of medieval era when educational facilities were
founded at Buddhist temples (Hays, 2013) or お寺 otera in Japanese, hence the "tera-" element
of the name. From the middle of Edo era, terakoya started to increase in number and, by the end
of the era, terakoya became common throughout Japan, especially in the cities. Due to its
widespread existence, terakoya became the basis for elementary schools throughout Japan
which were founded after the proclamation of Education System Order (Gakusei) in 1872.

Shijuku the Private Schools

Shijuku was the most liberal type of schools in Edo period. It was free from official control. It had
no uniform pattern. Some private schools operated just like terakoya, providing education in
literacy and arithmetic. Some others chose to provide their students with education in Chinese,
Dutch, and national studies along with practical arts.

Due to its liberal nature, shijuku proved to serve as a "fertile soil" for the growth of progressive
thoughts and attitude among their students. Various shijuku became centers of discussions
among students of highly various backgrounds. Many of those who were actively engaged in
shijuku became important leaders that brought an end to Tokugawa Bakufu and made way for
the Meiji Restoration in 1868.

Characteristics of Edo Era Education

The education in Edo-jidai Japan was run in general by the following schools:

• state-organized schools with centralized curriculum planning for the ruling class,
• independent schools with speci c curriculum tailored for speci c needs of the
commoners,
• private, liberal schools with broad spectrum of curriculum; some even managed to
produce leaders of social reform, and
• not-so-common, locally-organized provincial schools which provide education for all
social classes of people.

Here, it is visible that the general characteristics of Edo-jidai education, except for the ruling
class, are as follows: decentralized, speci c, and pro-choice. This is interestingly similar to the
homeschooling trend in the Western societies that has been rising in the last few decades,
especially with publications by John Taylor Gatto, an acclaimed New York City Teacher of the Year
for three years in a row.

As for the ruling class, the characteristics are all the opposite: centralized, uniform, and
compulsory. Thanks to Edo era education and the end of Tokugawa Bakufu, the Japanese society
could consistently ourish under the succeeding governments, from Meiji Tenno onwards, due
to their maturity in terms of literacy, philosophy, and of course arithmetic.

Traditional Japanese Philosophy

Early Modern Japan was unique in that its society's ideology was built upon a combination of
Zen Buddhism and, later, Neo-Confucianism. Despite being a metaphysical belief system and a
humanistic moral guide, respectively, these two "philosophies" had brought the Japanese
society into a state of rationalism that could not be found elsewhere. It was a kind of rationalism
that helped the Japanese excel at both literacy and mathematics even before the Western
people did. The following is a brief introduction on these two philosophies focusing on their
aspects which had the most visible in uence on modern Japanese education.
Zen Buddhism
Japanese Zen is actually a variant of Chan Buddhism, a Mahayana Buddhism school which is
believed to originate in India and come to Japan via China. One of its core teachings is that
mankind should see that their true nature is emptiness, that they are actually non-existent, that
their selves are not real. This introspective view should also be manifested in the way mankind act
in their daily life.

This core teaching helped shape the collective awareness of the Japanese people. They see
themselves not as individuals but rather as a single network of people with interconnected
needs. One can only achieve one's objectives when others are given the exact same amount of
chance to achieve their own.

Through the understanding of the empty nature of reality, the Japanese had even evolved their
own unique sense of beauty called wabi-sabi. In simple words, it is the beauty of worn out and
simple things. Beauty, in other civilizations, has always been about symmetry and luxury but that
is not the case with the Japanese sense of beauty. From their gardens, mansions, pottery and
even poetry, we can see how their sense of beauty is all about asymmetry, simplicity, and
modesty.

Neo-Confucianism
Japanese Neo-Confucianism focused more on how mankind should behave among themselves
rather than toward entities outside of them. This is partly because Zen Buddhism had provided
the Japanese a kind of guidance on how to interact with those outside entities in general.
Japanese Neo-Confucianism evolved through different schools of thought; hence, giving the
Japanese their own unique brand of Confucianism teachings and interpretations.

There are at least three core teachings that shaped the face of Japanese Neo-Confucianism:

• role ful llment in society,

• unity of knowledge and action, and
• lial piety.

These three teachings helped shape what later became the Japanese sense of national identity
which was further established as an independent discipline called Kogaku.

The teaching of role ful llment came from the Shushigaku school of Neo-Confucianism which
was adopted as the official ideology of Tokugawa Bakufu. This teaching grew a sense of
responsibility for a common greater good in the mindset of the Japanese society as a whole.
Each "caste" in the Edo Japan society strove to ful ll their roles not only through professional
practices but also through education of the succeeding generations.

The unity of knowledge and action, on the other hand, came from another school, Yomeigaku. If
one looks at the Japanese people today one will get the impression that they are obsessed with
working. The core idea of this teaching is that true knowledge can only be acquired through
actual actions, not mere studies. Therefore, apprenticeship, rather than schooling, was seen as a
primary means for the working class children to acquire mastery. This tradition of working,
apprenticeship, and gaining knowledge through actions has been preserved throughout the
long history of Japanese society by their hard-working culture.
The teaching of lial piety is one of the central doctrines in Confucianism. It made its way to the
Japanese society even until today thanks to such centuries-old traditions as uchi-soto, respect to
seniors (be it in schools or in companies), and bushido. The application of this teaching in
Japanese society is so widespread, not only limited to the household context. One might even
see the (negative) re ection of lial piety in the hikikomori phenomenon. Filial piety even
managed to grow into a sense of national pride shared among the Japanese so much so that
they came up with their own brand of "counter-Confucianism", the Kogaku.

Often mistaken as a school of Neo-Confucianism, Kogaku was actually an independent discipline

that studied the ancient Japanese texts and wisdom as a source of moral guidance and
awareness of national identity. Kogaku was in fact a form of counter-Confucianism in that its
proponents tried to divert the fundamental source of wisdom from Chinese texts to Japanese
texts.

Core Values of Japanese Philosophy

From the above explanation, a number of philosophical values that directly affect the unique
style of Japan's modern education can be drawn. They are as follows:

• the true nature of human existence is emptiness,

• imperfection is meant to be accepted,
• beauty lies in modesty,
• a member of society shall ful ll his/her role for the society to move forward,
• true knowledge can only be acquired through actions,
• apprenticeship is the gate to skill mastery, and
• the sustainability of moral values in a society depends on the succession of lial piety
from generation to generation.

For these values to be adapted into Indonesian Muslim child education, there has to be a
preliminary identi cation of aspects where these values might t in.

The Face of Today's Indonesian Muslim Child Education

There are at least three types of child education that are now commonly chosen by Indonesian
Muslim parents:

• formal, general schooling (either public or private),

• formal, Islamic boarding schools (in Indonesian: pondok pesantren, all private; some are
traditional and some others are modern), and
• formal, Islamic schooling (madrasah, literally "schools", either state-run or private with a
few offering dormitories).

These three choices have been a long-standing set of alternatives ever since the country gained
its independence in 1945. There is actually another new, rising formal Islamic schooling type
called sekolah Islam (literally "Islamic schools") which somewhat tries to combine the features of
the above three older types of formal schools. So, in total, there are four actively running
pathways of Indonesian Muslim child education.

Generally, Indonesian children started schooling from kindergarten level which may take one or
two years, depending on the parents' decision. The gap of curriculum content between formal
education levels, e.g. from kindergarten to primary school or from junior high to senior high, is
one of the main reasons why kindergartens in Indonesia now focus more on providing their
students with literacy skills instead of moral values. Hence, Indonesia is now witnessing the birth
of a generation that lacks social sensitivity, let alone moral awareness.

Higher school levels do not show any sign of improvement either in terms of moral education.
All resources in Indonesian schools are generally pinpointed at pursuing the increasingly-
demanding national exam standards, or coping up with the constantly-changing national
curriculum's administrative requirements, or both. Almost no room left for any kind of moral-
strengthening routines in Indonesian schools in spite of the fact that they actually have a
speci c course teaching moral values every once in a while. Those, which somehow managed to
slip one or two moral-focused activities into the tight daily schedule, are usually forced to face
such problems as student's low enthusiasm, low rate of homework completion, or insufficient
time to fully address all learning objectives demanded in a course during an academic term.

As a quick picture, Indonesian high school students study an average of 14 subjects per week for
three consecutive years with four of them being diversi ed into "natural science major" and
"social studies major". Those subjects are as follows: mathematics, Indonesian, English, religious
studies, physical education, civics, history, arts and crafts, physics/economics, biology/sociology,
chemistry/geography, advanced maths/advanced history, and two electives which may vary
considerably from one school to another. There are too many distractions. In-depth studies are
practically impossible. Plus, there is almost no space for moral education to manifest into reality.

Islamic In uence in Indonesian Education

As one might already see from the previous section, if moral education were to be revived in the
narrative of Indonesian child education, the only room available is through religious education.
In addition, Islam has been a strong color of Indonesian child education not only in Islamic
schools but also in public schools across different regions of the country, despite the status of
Pancasila as the official ideology. The Indonesian Muslims' awareness of their religion shows an
increasing trend while the respect toward Pancasila is declining. However, the religious
awareness is not to blame since it is the political elites themselves that have been gradually
reducing the status of Pancasila through a series of amendments to the country's Constitution.

This increasing religious awareness, especially the Islamic awareness, could be a great
momentum for instilling the moral values that could be bene cial for developing a more
humane generations. However, due to lack of synergistic effort between leaders of Islamic
education (let alone between leaders of education in general) to form a uniform approach and
direction in shaping the young, Indonesian Muslim generations, this great momentum is at risk
of fading away in vain.

Learning from Japan, there has to be some sort of uni cation here. Diversity is surely taking up
much resource, especially time. The increasing Islamic awareness will only be bene cial to the
Indonesian Muslim child education when it can accommodate high moral values and instill it to
its subjects. The rst step to ensure this accommodating capability is uni cation of the "brand
images" of Indonesian Islam.

What Brand of Islam?

Long before the advent of the Indonesian state itself, Indonesian Islam has always been of one
single school of thought: the Ashari-Sha e school of thought. If Indonesian Muslims were to
unify, this is the closest direction to go. This combination of Ashari school of theology and Sha e
school of jurisprudence has at least ve winning features to be considered as the strongest
brand image of Islam to be acquired by Indonesian muslims in the future and beyond.

• It was their one single school of thought.

• It remains the school of thought of the majority of Indonesian muslims.
• The Ashari school was the school of theology that survived the storm of rationalism
during the Abbasid Caliphate.
• The Ashari school was the school of theology adopted by the Ottoman Caliphate.
• The Sha e school is the most systematic school of jurisprudence (Imam Sha e was the
rst to formulate the Islamic version of jurisprudential methodology).
• The Sha e's standard is by far the only accepted halal food standard in Indonesia.
• The Ashari teachings have so much in common with Japanese Confucianism values.

Similarity Between Zen Worldview and Ashari Theology

One of the central doctrines of Ashari school that has been studied by Indonesian muslim
children since primary school is the so-called "twenty absolute attributes of Allah". There is even
a song to help children memorize these absolute attributes. The interesting thing about these
attributes is that there exists a set of antitheses to them called, in lack of a better term, "twenty
anti-attributes of Allah". These two concepts help Ashari students to better re ect upon their true
essence as Allah's servants. The absolute attributes of Allah, the Creator, are automatically anti-
attributes of the creatures, including mankind, and vice-versa.

The intersection between Zen worldview and Ashari theology could be seen as happening at
one of these attributes, i.e. the wujud attribute. Wujud literally means "existence". Since
"existence" is Allah's absolute attribute, Ashari theology teaches that the opposite, which is
"nonexistence", has to be one of the creature's absolute attributes. In other words, the whole
perceptible reality, including mankind, is actually nonexistent. Allah is the only One who exists.
This is more or less similar to the empty nature of mankind in Zen concept.

The second attribute of Allah in Ashari theology that might relate with Zen worldview is the
baqa attribute. Baqa literally means "eternal". Its opposite is fana which means "ephemeral". This
is comparable to the concept of reality's inherent imperfection in Zen. Creatures, as an integral
part of reality, are worn out with time. They do age, break, fall, weaken, deform, and even
decease. They, including humans, are imperfect.

The Necessary Shift of Focus in Islamic Studies

Generally, Islamic studies in public schools focuses primarily on giving students the knowledge
on how to perform certain rituals in Islam. However, students may not have the necessary
convenience to actually do some of them in their daily lives, e.g. pilgrimmage to Mecca and
marriage. Instead of teaching things they cannot really do in near future, it would be better if the
focus is shifted to the values and teachings that matter the most for developing a rational,
humanistic society, e.g. historical Muslims' scienti c tradition, sel ess nature of human existence,
rational approach in jurisprudence, assimilation of Aristotelian logic into Islamic philosophy
during the Golden Era of Islamic civilization, and many more.

For the study of Prophet Muhammad PBUH (peace be upon him), there should also be stronger
emphasis on his modesty and his examples as a role model for many types of his followers.
Prophet Muhammad PBUH was a son, a father, a husband, a friend, a teacher, a disciple, a
merchant, a customer, a neighbor, a relative, a guest, a host, an employer, an employee, a
commander, a soldier, a philosopher, and even an "alchemist". It is important for his followers to
understand how he managed to take on so many roles at the same time. Just like any other
prophets before him, e.g. Moses, Jesus, and maybe even Socrates and Confucius, peace be upon
them all, Muhammad PBUH was a wholesome gure.

One last note, there also ought to be more time and emphasis on Muhammad's life as a child
and a teenager. A clear understanding on his practical examples as a young teenager will surely
shed light upon the vital importance of apprenticeship and lial piety (or birrul walidain in
Islamic terms) in ensuring the success of whatever career one wants to pursue. All Muslims have
known that young Muhammad had been engaged in apprenticeship under his uncle Abu Talib
ever since he was still very young. All Muslims have also known how much compassion and
priority he had for not only his parents but also his wet nurse, his larger family and even his tribe.
This compassion went even further so as to encompass his entire followers. The remaining job is
to make sure that the knowledge does not simply stop there, as mere knowledge. It has to be
put into actions. Just as what Imam Sha e said, "Knowledge is that which bene ts, not that
which is memorized," (Adh-Dhahabi, 2004).

Identifying Rooms for Improvement of Indonesian Muslim Child

Education
So far, there have been ve points that may serve as a potential gateway for adapting Japanese
values into Indonesian Muslim child education, i.e.:

• return and uni cation under the Ashari-Sha e school of thought,

• reorientation of focus to Muslim scienti c tradition, rational approach, and philosophical
heritage,
• stronger emphasis on Rasulullah's modesty and role ful llment,
• reviving the apprenticeship tradition,
• strengthening familial bonds and values especially between parents and children.

Improvement efforts can be made by experimenting with hands-on activities that are applied in
and/or around the above points. Hands-on approach is the way to go because this improvement
is basically about "returning to everything good about the traditional days" when people mainly
relied upon real actions in order to gain solid knowledge. We want their knowledge and skills to
be applicable and long-lasting, not only for passing the national exam.
 CHAPTER 3
CLOSURE

Conclusions
Through the ve points discussed at the end of previous section, several hands-on approach can
be rolled out to adapt the seven values from Japanese philosophy.

• Sel essness: At kindergarten up to at least primary school level, children are encouraged
to stand in line to take their food and return their nished dishes themselves. Children at
upper primary level can be tasked with more challenging routines, such as washing the
dishes themselves. The teaching of sel essness based on Ashari school can be re ected
upon and discussed explicitly later when they have reached middle school level.
• Imperfection: Holding an exhibition of students' origami models (or any other crafts) no
matter how unsatisfying the end products are to them. The message is that a good
product may be a measure of success but it is the enjoyable experience that serves as a
measure of happiness; just like when we eat something. The teaching of ephemeral
nature of human existence--again--can be discussed later at as early as middle school.
• Modesty: Lifehack is the new lifestyle. Children can learn to be (1) more creative and (2)
more thrifty by learning various lifehacks (one of the best examples out there is Konmari-
san). Lifehacks can also open the children's eyes about the possibility of living life at the
bare minimum, just like what Rasulullah practiced.
• Role Ful llment: The Japanese practice of involving students in the preparation and
distribution of food during lunch time is something not many schools in Indonesia have
tried. This can be a good starting point for truly immersing students in the sense of role
ful llment.
• Sensitivity to Take Actions: For younger children, this purpose has been catered by the
above examples but for older children, there has to be something more. As an adult, they
need a mature sense of voluntarism to t in the society. So, for older children, they need
to be encouraged to involve in a larger-scale voluntary work, not only at schools but also
at their neighborhood.
• Apprenticeship: The involvement of students in apprenticeship activities under
seasoned professionals can be introduced as an alternative program for spending their
long holiday. The school's counseling center can provide assistance to the students in
deciding what type of apprenticeship they would like to engage in.
• Good Parenting: Instead of only holding class meetings for the students and boring
meetings with their parents, schools can try inviting both students and parents to a
competitive family gathering in hopes of fostering an even better relationship within and
between the families, rather than only the classes.
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