ABSTRACT
This chapter provides observational data from 15 Japanese nursery schools. In the framework of learning theory, cooperation may be viewed as a behavior that is elicited and reinforced within the classroom. A shortcoming of experimental studies of cooperation is the questionable ecological validity of the tasks (e.g., board games) used to study cooperation, particularly with respect to cross-cultural comparisons. The chapter also provides some data on the natural contexts in which cooperation may be socialized in the classroom. The nursery school observations reported in this chapter were designed to stimulate American thinking about firm control by providing preliminary data on Japanese teachers' control strategies and beliefs regarding control. The chapter also identifies, from the observations, aspects of early education worthy of future systematic comparison in Japan and the United States and perhaps in other countries as well.
