The evolution of ESD in Japan

Today the Moriko Sasaki from the ACCU, (Asia Pacific Cultural Center for UNESCO), described the three towns that we would be visiting in Japan to study ESD in schools. She explained that the schools that were chosen were selected not because they were "special" but because the schools were "doing what they can". After we had a brief overview of the towns of Kesennuma, Matsuyama and Tobetsu, we recieved two lectures from prominent educators on the state of ESD in the Japanese School system. Dr. Laurence Macdonald from Soka University helped us to understand the cultural background behind educational reform in Japan, while Professor Shinnosuke Tama from Iwate University provided the historical context of ESD in Japan. There are two underpinnings to the success of integrating ESD into Japanese education. The first is that in Japanese education, the federal government directs curriculum and makes decisions, and therefore education reform occurs throughout grade levels and subject all across Japan. The second is that the Japanese government adopted the 1972 UN resolution which focuses on the triple bottom line of economy, social equity and environment to address Sustainable Development in its educational reform. Professor Tama listed the challenges still facing the integration of ESD into Japanese education, many of which mirror the challenges we face in the US: Teachers perceive that the curriculum is already too packed, How to network curriculum to link all subjects to ESD, How to get teachers to transition from knowledge transmission to teaching students how to learn, and how to provide time and money for teacher collaboration.