ABSTRACT
The second Education Rebuilding Council initiated the reform of moral education under the prime minister. The council sought to drive policy through the Ministry of Education. Whilst, historically, the Ministry of Education held the lion’s share of the prerogative to make education policy, especially in curriculum matters, the Council made declarations on curriculum structure and content. Rather than supplanting the policymaking role of the Ministry, however, it overlaid the existing system, resulting in a dual system of education policymaking. Whilst the prime ministerial executive moved to ‘strengthen’ moral education, the Ministry was concurrently deliberating a full curriculum revision. The new curriculum would be based on active learning and assessment for growth. As such, there is a rift between the interests of the central government and the Ministry in relation to policy intentions for moral education. Simultaneously, MEXT is not a monolith, but it is both a multi-layered and a multi-dimensional organization. Whilst the top of the Ministry is now configured to realize cabinet policy, other departments further down its echelons prioritize consistency and other strands of policy, some of which are informed by knowledge of practice. This chapter discusses how policy ‘evolves’ as it moves through the Ministry of Education. It also reveals how some quarters of MEXT are permeable to education practitioners, bringing in career educators to its policymaking process. It brings into focus some of the actors who work through the Ministry to interpret the moral education curriculum.
