Dismantling Achievement Gap Narratives in Japanese Early Childhood Curriculum Reforms

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable Session 1:15 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Decolonizing Teaching and Learning in the Early Years (Table 7)

Abstract

In this paper, we share a story from an international context of how achievement gap narratives permeate curriculum reform efforts in early childhood education. Data is shared from a multi-sited network case study of three Japanese schools, focusing on recent curriculum reforms intended to mitigate a perceived gap some children experience in the transition from pre- to primary school. Findings led us to reframe what was coined, “the first-grade problem” to a problem of decentering children from being active agents of curriculum enactments in primary school. We close by advocating for more student-centered curriculum networks as one pathway for addressing issues with achievement gap narratives in other schooling contexts.

Authors

• Daniel E. Ferguson, George Mason University

• Satoshi Takahashi, Osaka University