Integrated arts curriculum for Japanese students and plans for future models : cultivating communication skills

To meet the increasing demands of the twenty-first century, Japanese students must acquire a variety of talents. However, the first priority at Japanese schools is to increase children\u27s communicative abilities. In order to help solve this problem, Japan\u27s current curriculum requires music and other arts to be integrated with other subjects at various elementary and junior high schools. The author is going to report on one such program at a junior high school attached to Joetsu University in Niigata Prefecture where students perform in musical productions. The author, who has participated in the program from its inception and throughout its ten-year history, will use the results of student questionnaires to help evaluate its effectiveness. Furthermore, dance and drama are currently compulsory subjects in many developed countries. One such program in the United States of America is the "Blueprint for Teaching and Learning the Arts, Grades K-12" published by New York City Department of Education (2004) which the author thinks should serve as a model for Japanese schools. The author further proposes new criteria and evaluation methods to expand this approach throughout Japan