Budo or sport?: competing conceptions of Kendo within the Japanese upper secondary physical education curriculum

Honda, Sotaro (2003) Budo or sport?: competing conceptions of Kendo within the Japanese upper secondary physical education curriculum. PhD thesis, University of Gloucestershire.

[img]
Preview
Text
413876.pdf
Available under License All Rights Reserved.

Download (23MB) | Preview

Abstract

Kendo is one of the Japanese martial arts (Budo). Kendo within the Physical Education( PE) curriculum at upper secondary schools is taught with the aim of learning the traditional etiquette of Budo, to learn skills and to lay the foundation for lifelong sports participation. The Japanese Ministry of Education, Science and Culture expects school Kendo teachers to achieve these aims within a child-centred approach, not in a traditional drill-type approach to teaching. This thesis aims to explore school Kendo teachers'views of Kendo within the PE curriculum as sport and / or as Budo, and the teaching of tactics and strategies in their Kendo lessons. It also attempts to develop and present a new approach to the teaching of Kendo making use of tactical and strategic ideas. The thesis IS multi-layered in methodological terms. The research was conducted by the use of two rounds of semi-structured interviews with seventeen and then fifty-three upper secondary school Kendo teachers respectively. The final phase of the research was a practical action research project carried out in a Japanese Secondary School. A range of methods was employed, comprising: participative observation, documentary analyses, a written test and a skill-related test. The data from the interviews revealed that school Kendo teachers wish to have their lessons aimed at character building such as learning the traditional etiquette by following the traditional approach to Kendo as Budo. The results of the interviews also revealed that most teachers were reluctant to teach sport tactics as it was counter to the dominant ideology of Budo as "real Kendo". These teachers believe that teaching tactics was inconsistent with the traditional etiquette of fighting fairly, and that would only help pupils to understand "Kendo as a competitive sport" as opposed to "real Kendo" as Budo. The results of the action research at an upper secondary school in Fukuoka Prefecture show that pupils developed their skills and understanding of competitive, cultural and attitudinal domains of Kendo as Budo through a tactical approach. They also expressed pleasure in this planning and execution of their own learning goals. I conclude, then, that the tactical approach to the teaching of Kendo can be incorporated into the PE curriculum without compromising the essential philosophy of Kendo as Budo.

Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
Thesis Advisors:
Thesis AdvisorEmailURL
Nutt, Garethgnutt@glos.ac.ukUNSPECIFIED
Mcnamee, Michaelmmcnamee@glos.ac.ukUNSPECIFIED
Uncontrolled Keywords: Secondary education, Japan; Physical education curriculum, Japan; Budo; Martial arts, Japan
Subjects: G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GV Recreation Leisure > GV557 Sports
L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB1603 Secondary Education. High schools
Divisions: Schools and Research Institutes > School of Education and Science
Depositing User: Phil Davis
Date Deposited: 18 Feb 2016 13:48
Last Modified: 01 Aug 2021 21:34
URI: https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/3096

University Staff: Request a correction | Repository Editors: Update this record

University Of Gloucestershire

Bookmark and Share

Find Us On Social Media:

Social Media Icons Facebook Twitter Google+ YouTube Pinterest Linkedin

Other University Web Sites

University of Gloucestershire, The Park, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL50 2RH. Telephone +44 (0)844 8010001.