Citation

Haraguchi T. Jpn. J. Educ. Res. 2010; 77(1): 15-24.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Japanese Educational Research Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to clarify the role and position of education within the "Transitional Justice" mechanism through an examination of the Facing the Past-Transforming Our Future (FTP) project, which has been developed in South Africa and supported and guided by Facing History and Ourselves (FHAO), the international education and teacher training organization based in Boston, US. "Transitional Justice" refers to a range of approaches that states may use to address the past legacy of mass violence in order to establish and develop democratic society, including judicial and non-judicial approaches. It has captured much attention and has been developed rapidly in recent years. However, there has been little discussion about how history education contributes to "Transitional Justice" and, if any, they do not consider what kinds of effects the methodology of teaching history would have. The author examined the FHAO and FTP project, which mirrored the FHAO's approach. The FTP introduced three innovative elements in South Africa: the use of interactive, participatory methods for learning history; a focus on human behavior and universal themes; and the application of these other innovations within the case studies of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust and South Africa under Apartheid. Then, the author considers the role and position of education through an examination of the meanings of the project and points out that education could contribute to the aim of "Transitional Justice" for itself as well as in a way of strengthening deeply the work of the Truth Commission, which has been one of the crucial approaches of the "Transitional Justice" mechanism, especially after the South Africa Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Finally, the author points out the importance of confronting the past related to human rights violations and suggests that the FHAO's approach would be effective even in Peace Education in Japan.

Language: ja