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Soka School System

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The Soka School System (Japanese: 創価学園 Hepburn: Sōka Gakuen) is an educationnal network created and funded by the japanese Soka Gakkai religious organization.

It oversees a series of schools in Japan and several other countries, and includes Soka University of Japan, Soka University of America, and Soka Women's College.[1] In addition, it has a supportive relationship with several non-affiliated schools and research associations in countries outside of Japan.[2][3]

The founder of the Soka School System is Daisaku Ikeda. The Soka School System receives financial support from the Soka Gakkai Buddhist society. The majority of students enrolled are members of the Soka Gakkai although no priority is given to members in admissions decisions. Its educational program is non-sectarian despite the Soka Gakkai's relationship to Nichiren Buddhism. Its buildings and campuses have been noted as architecturally supportive of the schools’ stated philosophy, designed to be bright and expansive with scenic views.[4][5][6][7]

Educational philosophy, curriculum, and methodology[edit]

The Soka School System's educational philosophy, labeled “Soka education” or “value-creative education,” sets the goal of education as the realization of students' happiness. Realizing this vision on a broader scale, according to Ikeda, requires a paradigmatic shift from education being seen as supporting society to a vision of society serving the essential needs of education.[8] The mission of schools, according to Soka education, should be to protect the dignity of human life and human rights. Its methodology is based on “human education” rather than the more popularly used term “humanistic education.” The curriculum has a strong focus on peace, human rights, sustainable development, and environmental education.[9][10]

History[edit]

The roots of the Soka School System is traced to the pedagogical work of Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, a Japanese educator and geographer in the early 20th century whose first published works were books about geography and community studies education. He further developed his theories in praxis as a principal of five elementary schools in Tokyo. Makiguchi's final book, ‘’The System of Value-Creating Pedagogy’’ (Jpn: Soka kyoikugaku taikei), was published in 1930. Here Makiguchi wrote about happiness, defined as the ability to create personal and social value, as the goal of both life and education. Josei Toda, Makiguchi's colleague and disciple, experimented with Makiguchi's theories in an afterschool tutoring center he operated and also edited Makiguchi's comments and notes into publishable form.[11][12][13] In founding the Soka School System, Ikeda modernized and broadened Makiguchi's vision of Soka education[14]

Education Institution List[edit]

Kindergartens

Elementary schools

  • Tokyo Soka Elementary School - Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan, founded in 1978
  • Kansai Soka Elementary School - Hirakata, Osaka, Japan, founded in 1982
  • Fang Zhao-ling Soka Elementary School - Guangdong, China, founded in 2001
  • Xuan-tang Soka Elementary School - Guangdong, China, founded in 2003[20]
  • Brazil Soka School - São Paulo, Brazil, founded in 2003[21]

Junior and senior high schools

Junior colleges

  • Soka Women's College - Hachiōji, Tokyo, Japan, founded in 1985
  • Soka Ikeda College of Art and Science for Women - Tamil Nadu, India, founded in 2000[23]
  • Soka International School Malaysia - Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia, founded in 2022

University

Research[edit]

One of the first western scholars to research Soka education and its applications was Dayle M. Bethel who wrote a biography of Makiguchi and who edited and translated his “Geography of Human Life” and “Value-Creating Education.”[24][25][26] This was followed by Carl H. Gross’ anecdotal report on his visit to the newly formed Soka High School in Tokyo.[27] Research has emerged in the form of books, articles, and dissertations. Considerable textual analysis of the Ikeda corpus is taking place at the Institute for Daisaku Ikeda Studies at DePaul University's College of Education.

The Soka Gakkai sponsors some research institutes:

  • The Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning and Dialogue - Boston, United States, founded in 1993
  • The Toda Peace Institute - Japan, founded in 1996

References[edit]

  1. ^ Storch, Tanya (2015). Buddhist-Based Universities in the United States: Searching for a New Model in Higher Education. pages 63-80. Lexington Books. ISBN 9780739184097
  2. ^ Inukai, Nozomi (2016). Ikeda Research in China and Taiwan: Critical Analysis of The Chinese Language Literature (2016), pp. 60-79. In Goulah, Jason. Daisaku Ikeda, Language and Education. Routledge.
  3. ^ Dobbelaere, Karen. Soka Gakkai: From Lay Movement to Religion. Torino, pp. 60-65. Italy: Signature Books (1998)
  4. ^ White, James William (1970). The Sokagakkai and Mass Society, pp. 103-104. Stanford University Press. ISBN 9780804707282.
  5. ^ Gross, Carl H. (1970). Soka Gakkai and Education. Michigan State University Press: East Lansing, MI.
  6. ^ Metraux, Daniel A. The Soka Gakkai Revolution (1994), pp. 102-104. University Press of America. ISBN 9780819197337
  7. ^ Metraux, Daniel A. (2016). Soka Gakkai International: Nichiren Japanese Buddhism, p. 94. In Cherry, Stephen M. & Ebaugh, Helen R. (eds). Global Religious Movements Across Borders: Sacred Service. Routledge. ISBN 9781317127338.
  8. ^ Nieto, Sonia (2016). Media Review of Daisaku Ikeda’s. Soka Education: For the Happiness of the Individual (Rev. ed.). Middleway Press: Santa Monica, CA ISBN 978-0-9779245-5-4, in Goulah, Jason (2016). Daisaku Ikeda, Language and Education, pp. 152-153. Routledge.
  9. ^ Jason Goulah (2011). Environmental Displacement, English Learners, and Value Creation: Considering Daisaku Ikeda in the East-West Ecology of Education” in Jing Lin and Rebecca L. Oxford (eds). Transformative Eco-Education for Human and Planetary Survival:Transforming Education for the Future, p. 54. IAP. ISBN 9781617355042.
  10. ^ Joffee, Monte (2006). Value-Creating Education: A Nichiren Buddhist Perspective, p. 318. In Karen-Marie Yust, Aostre N. Johnson, Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, Eugene Roehlkepartain (Eds). Nurturing Child and Adolescent Spirituality: Perspectives from the World's Religious Traditions. Rowman & Littlefield, ISBN 9780742544635.
  11. ^ Heffron, John M. The Transnational Context of Schooling (2015), pp. 180-192. In Papa, Rosemary & English, Fenwick W. (eds.). Educational Leaders Without Borders: Rising to Global Challenges to Educate All. Springer. ISBN 9783319123585
  12. ^ Heffron, John M. (2017). In the Shadow of Totalitarianism: Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and the Struggle for Value-Creating Educational Leadership. In Brooks, Jeffrey S. & Normore, Anthony H. (eds). In Leading Against the Grain: Lessons for Creating Just and Equitable Schools. Teachers College Press, New York. ISBN 9780807758717
  13. ^ Gebert, Andrew & Joffee, Monte (2007). Value creation as the aim of education: Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and Soka education, pp. 65-88. In Hansen, David T. (Ed.), Ethical visions of education: Philosophies in practice Teachers College Press, New York.
  14. ^ Goulah, Jason (2016). Daisaku Ikeda, Language and Education. pp: 2, 46, 52, 61. Routledge
  15. ^ "sapporo soka kindergarten". Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  16. ^ "Hong Kong Soka Kindergarten : HKSGI". Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  17. ^ "Soka Kindergarten". Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  18. ^ "Tadika Seri Soka". Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  19. ^ "Soka Happiness Kindergarten Opens in South Korea - Daisaku Ikeda Website". Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  20. ^ "Hope Primary Schools".
  21. ^ "Brazil Soka School's First Entrance Ceremony - SGI Quarterly". Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  22. ^ "Soka International School Malaysia".
  23. ^ "Soka Ikeda College of Arts and Science - Chennai". Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  24. ^ Bethel, Dayle M. Makiguchi, the value creator: Revolutionary Japanese educator and founder of Soka Gakkai (1973). Weatherhill. ISBN 9780834800779
  25. ^ Bethel, Dayle M. (ed) A Geography of Human Life (2002). Caddo Gap Press. ISBN 9781880192429
  26. ^ Bethel, Dayle M. (Ed.), Education for creative living: Ideas and proposals of Tsunesaburo Makiguchi (1989). Ames, Iowa: State University Press: Ames, Iowa. ISBN 0813803918
  27. ^ Gross, Carl H. Soka Gakkai and Education. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press, 1970

External websites[edit]

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