Daisaku Ikeda, and Peace, Justice, and Value Creation as Curriculum

• In Event: Theorizing Nonviolence and Peace in Curriculum Studies: International Conversations on Interdependence in a Worldwide Pandemic

Abstract

Purpose
This study examines Daisaku Ikeda’s philosophy and practice of peace, justice, and value creation as curriculum. Known widely as a global peacebuilder and Buddhist philosopher, Ikeda is also an important educator (Nuñez & Goulah, 2021). While his efforts have had a global impact in practice, scholarly consideration, particularly relative to peace and nonviolence in curriculum studies, remains limited (exceptions: Chowdhury, 2021; Goulah & Urbain, 2013).

Thus, addressing Schubert’s (2009) “worthwhile question” of curriculum studies, this study examines: 1.) the scope and interlocking nature of peace, justice, and value creation within Ikeda’s educational, social, and Buddhist thought and 2.) how the intersection of these forms a curriculum of being and becoming necessary to pioneer a better age.

Methods
• conceptual inquiry (Nagourney, 1979)
• bilingual (Japanese/English) critical discourse analysis (Rogers, 2004)

Ikeda’s (1991–2011) thought is shaped by Nichiren’s (1222 – 1282) Lotus Sutra-centric teachings (Hori, 1952; Ikeda et al., 1996–2000) and by the perspectives and legacies of Makiguchi Tsunesaburō (1981–1988) and Toda Jōsei (1965–1966). Analyses thus focused on conceptualizations of peace, justice, and value creation in these works, with purposeful triangulation to Ikeda’s writings on education, peace proposals, and published dialogues.

Findings & Significance
There are three significant findings:

First, a proper understanding and contextualization of Ikeda’s thought within curriculum studies (in the West) requires viewing his uniquely non-Western perspectives on their own terms (rather than through “Western norms” that seek to separate religion and education). Ikeda’s thought stems from a pre-19th century heritage in Japan that viewed religion (i.e., Buddhism) and education as conceptually and practically twin realms under the rubric of kyō, or “teaching” (Isomae, 2013). This heritage manifests in Makiguchi’s and Toda’s work cospecifying reforms in education and religion and Ikeda’s stance that both are necessary to avoid narrowly dogmatic religion and education devoid of its fundamental purpose. This does not mean that Ikeda advocates for proselytizing or teaching Buddhism in schools. However, consideration of Ikeda’s work suggests that emerging research in education include Buddhism as a theoretical or foundational framework. That is, rather than viewing religion just as an object of research, we can also explore its possible role in conceptualizing research and theorizing findings.

Second, Ikeda defines value creation in two broad, often overlapping respects: as the essence and focus of life itself and as the central ethos of peaceful and contributive living in and beyond schooling, what he calls “value-creating human education” (Ikeda, 2021). This is the capacity to forge a character of “continuously striving for the ‘greatest good’ of peace, protecting the sanctity of life, and creating value under even the most difficult circumstances” (Ikeda, 2010, p. 246).

Third, Ikeda’s view of justice, rooted in the heritage from Nichiren to Makiguchi and Toda, is, first and foremost, a righteous spiritual commitment to correct doctrinal interpretation of humanity and its inherent capacity for unlimited, socially self-actualized becoming. This sense of justice animates his perspectives and efforts in education and what might be called social justice (Ikeda, 1991–2011).

Author

• Jason Goulah, DePaul University