A Cosmopolitan Curriculum of Value Creation: Examining Daisaku Ikeda’s Philosophy of Education

Session Submission Type: Symposium

Abstract

Five international scholars theoretically and empirically explore Daisaku Ikeda’s cosmopolitan curriculum of value-creation (Soka) in a global context. Specifically, they examine Ikeda’s ideas in elementary education in Brazil, in post-conflict education in Sierra Leone, in higher education in the U.S., in research institutions in China, and in learning across generations in Japan. This session breaks new ground by providing empirical studies on Soka education in praxis in numerous contexts and educational levels. The five presentations provide diverse critical perspectives on ideas coming from outside traditional, Western, academic disciplinary discourse. In exploring complexities and tensions, what emerges is a vision of a curriculum that prizes dialogue across difference, compassionate engagement with people and communities near and far, and value creation.

Sub Unit

• Division B - Curriculum Studies / Section 2: Globalization, Decolonization, and Liberation

Chair

• Nel Noddings, Stanford University

Papers

• Daisaku Ikeda’s Cosmopolitan Curriculum of Value-Creation - Gonzalo Obelleiro, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Soka Education in Brazil: Daisaku Ikeda’s Value-Creating Pedagogy in Escola Soka do Brasil - Jason Goulah, DePaul University

• Daisaku Ikeda’s Philosophy of Soka Education in Japan: A Narrative Analysis of Culturally Specific Language in Practice - Julie Nagashima, University of Pittsburgh

• Education and Society in Postconflict Sierra Leone: Considering Daisaku Ikeda’s Curriculum of Value-Creation - Mitsuko Matsumoto, University of Oxford

• Ikeda Research in China and Taiwan: Possible Contributions of Soka Education to Educational Reformation in China - Nozomi Inukai, Soka University of America

Discussant

• Nel Noddings, Stanford University