The taught curriculum of moral education at Japanese elementary school: the role of classtime in the broad curriculum

The school curriculum in Japan provides for moral education. Teachers’ educational practice is influenced by the written curriculum, and must be organised around its audited requirements. However, it may diverge from aspects of what the curriculum prescribes. Though previous studies have explored pedagogic beliefs and spontaneous practices, few have considered pedagogic planning in the context of the written curriculum. Drawing on classroom observations and interviews with teachers and educators, this study seeks to understand the taught curriculum of moral education in Japan: how it is structured “on the ground” and how schools and teachers plan moral education. Moral education classtime (moral education in the narrow sense) emerges as a site for reflection and pre-learning which supports the learning of prosocial behaviour (moral education in the broad sense), which is planned primarily through other educational activities. Understanding these intra-curricula relations addresses long-standing questions in the study of Japanese education. It also holds significance for the development of theory in pedagogy for moral education, suggesting new directions for moral education in intra-curricular connection and planning incidental learning.