Study On School Education For Girls In Meiji Period Of Japan

Shakespeare had ever said: “The hand who rocks the cradle may rock the world." Thus it can be seen, mother plays a quite important role in education. Due to physiological particularity of female, which is the responsibility for bearing children, the importance of girls’ education all over the world cannot be ignored. After the Meiji restoration in Japan, the government began to implement the civilization, carrying out diverse reformation to improve education. The government began to attach importance to the school education for girls. Girls’ education was gradually brought into the national education system. The development of girls’ education during the Meiji period in a certain extent improved the knowledge and the quality of all Japanese, promoting the development of Japanese modern society. Taking the lead in development of girls elementary education, allowing girls to accept secondary education, founding the girls normal school, setting up the girls school of the church, girls special school, etc., provided an opportunity for the development of the Japanese girls’ education, which universalized the thought that girls also need education as boys, established girl’s education system and settled the development patterns of Japanese girls’ education.In the thesis, the author use literature method and historical analysis method to collect, identify and sort the literature. After obtaining the relevant books, papers, newspapers and other information about the girls’ school education in Meiji period, the author organized, classified, collected and analyzed statistics, eliminating all but the essential, from the abstract to the summary, inducting and deducting, which finally formed the theory of the thesis, “Study on School Education for Girls in Meiji Period of Japan”. The thesis expounded of Japanese developmental process, characteristics and affective factors of girls’ school education in Meiji period according to the sequence of historical development, and introduced the organization forms, course goals and course settings of Japanese girls’ school education, which thereby, discussing the experience and lessons of the girls’ school education in the process of development in Meiji period, and enlightening girls’ education in our country.The thesis is divided into four parts altogether. The first part introduced vigorous historical development process of girls’ education, from the aristocratic girls’ education, girls’ education of buke, “the temple house” civilian girls’ education in feudal society period to the girls’ school education in Japanese Meiji restoration period. The second part introduced the goal of “being a good wife and mother”, and the content as “combination Japanese and western education”. The education at Japanese girls school was all-inclusive, internally and externally, girls learning both western scientific knowledge and technology, and the traditional culture of Japan. The third part introduced the characteristics of the girls’ school education in Meiji period, using which to analyze the factors that influenced the development and characteristics formation of the girls’ school education. The last part summarized the experience and lessons of the girls’ school education in Meiji period. The author hopes we could learn from the Japanese girls’ school education study, taking the essence and discarding the dregs, strengthening education reform and innovation, to make the Chinese girls’ school education a better developing direction and a brighter future.