This week’s reading by Patricia Clancy discusses how Japanese mothers help their young children to learn empathy and other important communicative ideals. In it, she discusses a number of important Japanese cultural values related to interaction and politeness. For this assignment, you are to write a short (600 word) paper where you apply Clancy’s analysis, including the Japanese concepts she discusses, to the video footage of Japanese preschool in the documentary “Preschool in Three Cultures Revisited” (2009). 

“Preschool in Three Cultures” was a study comparing preschool in China, Japan, and the U.S. that was published as a book in 1991. The study the book was based on was based on documentary footage and fieldwork in preschools in the three countries. The authors, Joseph Tobin (an educational anthropologist specializing in Japanese culture), David Wu (a Taiwanese cultural anthropologist), and Dana Davidsen (an American  early childhood specialist), observed preschools in each country, interviewing students, educators, parents, and teachers, and shooting video footage for later analysis. They focused their in-depth research on one school in each country: Komatsudani Hoikuen in Kyoto, Japan, St. Timothy’s Preschool in Honolulu Hawaii, and Dong Feng (a pseudonym) in Southwest China.  Because they were comparing preschool experiences in three different countries, they wanted to ensure that their footage and data of a single school was indeed typical of preschools nationwide. To verify that it was, they showed their footage to educators, administrators, specialists, and teachers in each country where they worked. In addition, they showed the footage from each country to educators in the other two countries in order to get their opinions on how things worked in the other countries.  These viewing sessions provided a wealth of additional data.  Tobin worked with two new collaborators, Mayumi Karasawa (a Japanese comparative psychologist) and Yeh Hsueh (a Chinese educational specialist) to produce an update of the original study, Preschool in Three Cultures Revisited in 2009.  The new study updated the first one by returning to the original schools as well as studying three new schools for comparison.  The new study was also released with a documentary film about the study.  For this assignment you will be watching the segment of the new documentary on Komatsudani Hoikuen.  The updated documentary includes new footage but it also includes some of the most important moments from the original study, showing both change and continuity in the methods, activities, and values of Japanese preschool.

Before you watch the Komatsudani Hoikuen segment of the documentary, make sure you have read Clancy’s article using the study questions and key terms.  . Once you are finished reading the article, watch the  segment of “Preschool in Three Cultures Revisited:”

As you are watching the documentary, think about whether Clancy’s analysis fits with what you are seeing. Treat the footage as data and Clancy’s analytical ideas and the Japanese cultural concepts she discusses as analytical tools to apply to the documentary.  Take notes as you are watching to prepare for your write up.  Once you are done, write up a short analysis in at least 600 words that addresses the following questions:

• • • • What is the Japanese communicative style, according to Clancy?  Describe it briefly, choose at least three important concepts she discusses in the article and briefly define and explain them.
      • What is the nature of preschool in Japan, according to the documentary’s discussion and footage?  Explain briefly.
      • Finally (and most importantly) where do the Japanese preschool children in “Preschool in Three Cultures” display the elements of communicative style Clancy identifies?  Identify and explain the three concepts you chose with examples.  Feel free to use the footage from the original study and the footage from the updated Revisited study.

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