0. General Information
Dear readers,
The Kindergarten in Japan by Tsunekichi Mizuno was published in 1908.
This book has been digitalized and made available on Archive.org. The scanning process resulted in many strange characters, spelling errors, poor quality pictures, and other problems in the file. I have tried to correct as many errors as I could find, but you may still find other issues occasionally. I hope you'll accept the imperfections but still find value in reading this story.
The title image on this website is taken from http://openclipart.org/detail/153973/japanese-kokeshi-doll-by-lil_mermaid_girl.
K. C. Lee
Mobile Story Enthusiast
Preface
IN how far are the assumed virtues and promises of educational theories and doctrines actually realized when these theories and doctrines are put into operation? This question is typical of the most important problems that educational science is today resolutely facing and attempting to solve. Just as no educational doctrine is so old or so well established as to be immune to unbiased investigation, so no proposal for reform should be looked upon as so plausible as to claim immunity to the acid-test of measured results. The ultimate effects of certain proposals may be difficult to predict; the immediate effects may be difficult to determine and evaluate ; but these are assumptions neither to be made lightly nor to be used as a cloak for mental inertia. The very difficulty should rather be a spur to the devising of means toward accurate prediction, exact measurement; and just evaluation.
Mr. Mizuno's book records the results of an investigation into the influences of the educational theories and doctrines underlying the kindergarten. It would not be the part of wisdom either to condemn or to approve a highly involved theory upon the basis of a single investigation necessarily so limited as this ; but such investigations may well point the way to more extended studies and suggest a method through the gradual refinement of which the basic facts may ultimately be revealed.
W. C. Bagley. School of Education, University of Illinois.