The Happiness in Child-Raising

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Dr. Hanns Stekel

Preface

This book is first and foremost a text written by Tatsuo Yamamura. For the English edition, we have added a description of a project developed by the Johann Sebastian Bach Music School in Vienna in cooperation with the author.¹

During the course of this project, there were numerous opportunities for interaction, discussion, and deep thought which made it possible for us to gain a better understanding of the Japanese approach to teaching music and the overall education of children. Along the way, a number of open questions arose for which there was a strong desire to have answers.

One day, when the project was in a serious crisis due to the catastrophe in Fukushima, Tatsuo Yamamura presented this text, which he saw as an introduction to and an inspiration for teaching and learning,² a book intended to be given as a handbook to the parents of kindergarten and school children. We had previously attended lectures given by the author to parents in Japan, and thus were better able to understand what he hoped to achieve with this text.

The fact that a book about the day-to-day teaching of music in Japan has now become available to us in translation is remarkable enough. But, in addition, the author is not only a teacher of music, but also an expert in the field of education in general and a man with a great deal of experience. Both of these traits are perceptible in the lectures and make the book especially valuable for those of us who are not Japanese. ← 7 | 8 →

The framework of this project continues to have an important influence because our music school learned a great deal during the years of its operation.

A primary insight is that international exchange programs in education should never operate simply on a superficial level; cultural exchange is not a marginal note, but rather it lies at the very heart of such undertakings. There is much to be gained from the sharing of knowledge and experience about how human beings learn and can be taught.

Cultural exchange only works when there is a true dialogue and when the strengths and unique characteristics not only of the other culture but also of one’s own can be grasped.

This book is a landmark and also a guide for this and future projects.

Dr. Hanns Stekel

Vienna, April 2015

1 The Johann Sebastian Bach Music School in Vienna was founded in 2000 under the aegis of the Diakonie of the Austrian Lutheran Church. With almost 2000 students, it is one of the largest private music schools in Vienna. International exchange projects constitute a core component of the school’s profile, alongside music programs carried out in cooperation with schools in the Lutheran school system, the promotion of music as a lifelong pursuit, and the preparation for university studies.

2 Tatsuo Yamamura.