[Special Feature: 125 Years Since the Establishment of Integrated Education] Tadamune Okubo: 125 Years Since the Establishment of the Integrated Education System—Embodying a Unique Spirit

This summer, at Koshien, where clouds billowed and light overflowed, the crown of the National High School Baseball Championship shone upon the players of the Keio Senior High School baseball team. It was their first victory in 107 years. As the team advanced, it was impressive to hear the announcers repeatedly use phrases like "since their appearance as Keio Futsubu School" and "the great Keio cheering squad."

By the way, these words seem to reflect the individuality of the group known as Keio University. Behind the fact that the current Keio Senior High School baseball team inherits the baseball achievements once established under the name of Keio Futsubu School lies the history of Keio, which has undergone many transitions. Furthermore, the "great cheering squad" that the world watched with amazement is a manifestation of a characteristic of this school pointed out by Yukichi Fukuzawa more than 140 years ago. That is, a "unique spirit" where "there are no commanders, yet the actions of the whole are unified, and there are no encouragers, yet the joys and sorrows of the many are shared," taking shape in the special setting of Koshien.

The long and rich history since the founding of the school and the unique spirit born and inherited within it both constitute major characteristics of Keio University. In considering these characteristics, the structure of its unique integrated education holds particularly important meaning. This year marks the 125th anniversary since May 1898, when the integrated education system was established. On this occasion, I would like to reflect on the characteristics of this private school while leafing through the history of the Juku.

When we speak of "integrated education" at the current Keio University, it refers specifically to the overall system in which children and students who enter each school from elementary to high school level learn and grow within their respective school cultures and environments, advancing through the stages of education, and finally completing their studies at the university or graduate school before entering society.

Currently, Keio University has two elementary schools, two junior high schools, three senior high schools, and one combined junior and senior high school in Japan, as well as the Keio Academy of New York (High School) overseas (see figure).

Since May 2002, Keio University has used the collective term "affiliated schools" for schools at the primary and secondary education levels, and continues to use it today. However, for those who enter at the elementary, junior high, or high school level, the completion of that integrated education is at the point of finishing higher education, with the university and graduate school being the final stages of integrated education.

In Japan today, there are many schools that provide "integrated education" spanning multiple stages from pre-school to primary, secondary, and higher education. How does Keio's system differ from these?

When discussing the characteristics of integrated education at Keio University, the phrase "diversity within identity" is often used.

I understand this through the following four characteristics as a whole.

First, Keio University has a diverse range of schools, including boys' schools, girls' schools, co-educational schools, combined junior and senior high schools, and overseas schools, and further offers many options with 10 undergraduate faculties and 14 graduate schools. Second, the independence and freedom of each school are well respected, and each provides education according to its own policies based on the characteristics and developmental stages of the students within its unique educational climate. Third, while the university and graduate school are the final stages of academic education, the schools at the primary and secondary levels are not merely preparatory or experimental schools for the university; rather, all levels from elementary school to university respect one another. Fourth, the entirety of this school shares a Juku spirit summarized by the words independence and self-respect at its core, existing with a sense of unity.

The fact that each school aims for a Keio-style education while maintaining autonomy and independence without losing a sense of unity as a whole today is the result of historical circumstances and various efforts made in each era. I will describe the process in order below.

As mentioned earlier, Keio University established its integrated education system in May 1898.

Prior to that, the Yochisha Elementary School, Keio Futsubu School, and the college already existed within Keio. However, each had such strong independence that coordination between them was poor. The Yochisha, which originated from Yoshiro Wada's private school, was a school for ages and levels spanning elementary to junior high school. When the college was launched in January 1890, the existing curriculum was collectively named the Keio Futsubu School. From 1896, it was divided into a five-year general course (middle school level) and a three-year higher course (junior professional level), with a seven-year term for those studying through both courses. In other words, the curricula of the Yochisha and the Keio Futsubu School completely overlapped at the middle school stage.

The college (consisting of three departments: Literature, Economics, and Law), which was the course above the Keio Futsubu School, was a three-year program. It invited lead professors from the United States and gathered many experts, achieving the highest standards among private schools. However, the number of enrollees in the college did not grow, and the advancement rate from the Keio Futsubu School was particularly low at around 14%, leading to management difficulties. This was because at the time, one was recognized as a Keio graduate whether they finished the Keio Futsubu School or the college. Furthermore, while the college only had one entrance period in January, the Keio Futsubu School had three graduation periods a year: April, July, and December. Under these circumstances, it was only natural that the number of students advancing to the college, which required high tuition fees, did not increase. The capital collected at the time of the college's establishment was also dwindling, and by the late 1890s, its continuation or abolition was being debated.

Looking outward, the development of national education had progressed significantly since the School Ordinance of 1886. The old-system high schools born in 1894 were able to establish preparatory courses for the Imperial Universities, which threatened to affect the recruitment of Keio students.

In this situation, from August 1897, Keio University decided to ask Yukichi Fukuzawa to take overall charge of Juku affairs to solve the problem of the college's survival and the management issues of the entire Juku, and to reform the system across the whole institution to cultivate more excellent talent.

The form of integrated education was created through this reform. Specifically, the Yochisha first became a six-year elementary school. Next, within the Keio Futsubu School, the general course was made to correspond to a five-year middle school curriculum and renamed the General Academic Department. Additionally, the higher course of the Keio Futsubu School and the college were merged, a new Department of Politics was added, and it became a five-year university program. From then on, the main trunk of Keio's education was placed in the Yochisha, Keio Futsubu School, and the college, and only those who completed the college were recognized as Keio graduates (the General Academic Department and university program were renamed Keio Futsubu School and college in 1899). On the management side, the "Purpose of Raising the Keio University Endowment" was announced in August 1897 to strengthen the financial foundation, while the complicated accounting systems were unified. As a result, the number of Keio students advancing to the college increased, and the immediate crisis was averted. Incidentally, the predecessor of this journal, Mita-hyoron, called the "Keio Gijuku Gakuho," was also a house organ born during this reform to widely publicize the principles and spirit of Keio and to maintain close contact with stakeholders.

By making the Yochisha through to the college "linked and integrated" (Keio Gijuku Handbook), the form of Keio's education changed significantly. However, it must not be forgotten that this new system was also intended as a mechanism to inherit Keio's education.

On September 18, 1897, when the basic policy for the reform was set, Yukichi Fukuzawa gathered faculty, staff, and Keio students at the Enzetsukan (Public Speaking Hall) to announce the policy, where he explained the significance of this linkage and integration as follows:

...That is to say, by the calculation of entering the Yochisha at the age of six and leaving the school gates at twenty-two, the graduates will not only not yield to other students in terms of scholarship, but during their sixteen years of hard study, they shall embody a unique spirit. That is the Keio University spirit, and whether that Juku spirit is useful to people or not, if one analyzes it, one shall find that it consists of independence and freedom, and moreover, a practical spirit. This is the characteristic of the Juku, and it is primarily here that it differs from others. ("Essentials of the Improvement of Keio University Academic Affairs")

By being part of Keio for up to sixteen years, Keio students can receive into themselves not only scholarship but also a unique spirit consisting of independence and freedom and the spirit of jitsugaku (science). This spirit is the characteristic that makes Keio different from others—this was the teacher's explanation.

The spirit of independence and freedom, the spirit of jitsugaku (science) that values scientific and rational thinking, and the practice of these have all been necessities that Yukichi Fukuzawa and Keio have consistently advocated. However, the teacher himself was already 65 years old by the traditional count.

The public speaking known for the phrase "source of honorable character and a paragon of intellect and morals" took place the previous year, in November 1896. Before the gathered alumni of the Juku, the teacher revealed his inner thoughts, saying that while it is our responsibility to maintain and transmit the unique spirit and character (dignity) of Keio, he feels "infinite pain" alongside his joy at the progress of the world when he wonders if that responsibility can truly be fulfilled. He then stated the words of "The Mission of Keio University" and concluded by entrusting this to them as if it were his last will and testament. The teacher also said that character is originally intangible, like "filling the air." It was the teacher's wish embedded in integrated education that students embody that character during their long student life and inherit it well.

What is interesting is that a movement as if in response to this wish immediately arose from the Keio students. In the autumn of 1898, volunteers among the students established the "Keio University Student Self-Government Regulations" and began a movement to improve the Juku spirit. Meanwhile, Yukichi Fukuzawa wanted not only to make Keio a source of honorable character and a paragon of intellect and morals but also to "gradually lead the character of the nation's men and women to a higher level, so as not to be ashamed of the name of true civilization" (The Autobiography of Fukuzawa Yukichi, completed in May 1898). Therefore, he commissioned Tokujirō Obata and others to compile a moral code that Keio should show to the world today. That was the "Shūshin Yōryō: Fukuzawa's Moral Code," announced in February 1900. With the four characters for "independence and self-respect" as the slogan running through the whole, this moral code, summarized into 29 articles based on the teacher's daily words and deeds, remained an important foundation for the moral standards of the Keio Gijuku Shachu and for inheriting the spirit of the Juku long after the teacher's death in February 1901.

Subsequently, Keio University would significantly change the form and content of its education due to the effects of war and war damage, and further in the post-war period due to the transition to the 6-3-3-4 system, the making of junior high school education compulsory, and the movement toward co-education.

Keio Futsubu School converted to a three-year boys' junior high school from 1947, and in the same year, the co-educational Chutobu Junior High School was also established. The following year, the Yochisha became co-educational, and Keio Senior High School (procedurally converted from the Keio Futsubu School and the School of Commerce and Industry; at the time of launch, the First and Second Senior High Schools, renamed after merging in 1949) and Keio Shiki Senior High School (at the time of launch, the Agricultural Senior High School, renamed after converting to a general high school in 1957) opened. Furthermore, the new-system university was launched in 1949, and in 1950, the Girls' Senior High School was opened as the first girls' school, and the Jukukan-kyoku (Keio Corporate Administration) also significantly reformed its organizational structure.

By the way, the term "integrated education" that we commonly use only came to be widely used within Keio after the war. Leafing through the Keio University Yearbook, published from the late Meiji era until 1959, surprisingly, the term integrated education is not seen in those from the old-system era. It first appears in the 1951 edition, the first after the war, with the description: "This integrated education from elementary school to university is something that this Juku alone takes pride in." Moreover, in the next 1954 edition, an article titled "On Integrated Education" was placed within the overview of the schools, going so far as to emphasize this system as an educational characteristic of Keio. Regarding the nature of Keio's education, research and studies had already been conducted under President Shinzo Koizumi during the war, so the term integrated education might not have been abrupt. However, as post-war educational reforms progressed, while Keio established many new schools and courses, it was making efforts to maintain its unchanging and unique principles. It is certain that during that period, the term "integrated education" was widely shared within Keio as a slogan for proactively conducting education.

With the 100th anniversary of its founding in 1958 as a major impetus, Keio University made efforts to expand its facilities and equipment. Also, the number of Keio students increased significantly after the war. Around 1932-1933, there were about 10,000 students, but by around 1965, the number had reached about 40,000, including the university's correspondence courses. Furthermore, during the period of high economic growth, society and the content of education and research changed significantly.

In this context, Keio took the bold step of creating a Juku-wide committee to analyze the actual state of education and research and perform a self-evaluation looking toward the future. This took place from 1965 to 1968 during the presidency of Kunio Nagasawa, and Keio's characteristics, problems, and directions came to be considerably shared here.

What is historically important for integrated education is that this "Research and Education Planning Committee" conducted thorough analysis and discussion on the nature of Keio's integrated education and summarized it into a report containing much content that should still be reflected upon today. First, the report of the First Subcommittee, "Basic Philosophy Regarding Research and Education at the Juku," organized the direction the Juku should take into ten items, the tenth of which was "The advantages of integrated education should be demonstrated and made the core of forming a good Juku spirit." Furthermore, the report of the Fourth Subcommittee, which discussed Keio's educational system, began its findings from "examining the 'ideal' educational system for Keio University in the near future and over the next 100 years" as follows:

Keio University's raison d'être in terms of education lies in its integrated education and Juku spirit. That is to say, the uniqueness of Keio University lies precisely in the integrated education conducted under the Juku spirit, and it can be said that Keio University's significance of existence lies in effectively demonstrating this uniqueness. (Fourth Subcommittee Report, "Introduction")

Under this premise, it showed the strengths and weaknesses of integrated education and, dividing it into the university and the schools below high school, discussed in detail measures to permeate the Juku spirit, measures to correct various harmful effects, measures to improve the environment, and from the study of appropriate scale to measures to improve the entrance examination and recommendation systems.

This committee report has had many influences to this day. In particular, Tadao Ishikawa, who was a Vice-President at the time, later became President and inherited the position that the significance of this school's existence lies in the philosophy of Keio's founding, its unique Juku spirit, and its integrated education, and continued to preach their importance. Furthermore, in his 1986 New Year's address, he mentioned the current situation where the proportion of university students from within Keio had dropped to about 20% after the war, saying that this could not be allowed to drop further. He explained that "the most appropriate form for a private school is for people with various qualities to gather and, within the unique spirit of that school, influence each other, study, and form their characters," and that it is necessary for students with diverse qualities to enter through diverse entrances, showing his idea to create another series of schools from elementary to high school. It is clear that this positive evaluation of the role of affiliated schools bore fruit in the opening of the Keio Academy of New York (High School) in 1990 and the Keio Shonan Fujisawa Junior and Senior High School in 1992.

Furthermore, in 2007, the report of the "Integrated Education for the Future" Advisory Committee, which re-examined integrated education during the presidency of Yūichirō Anzai, added many new points of discussion while being largely conscious of and based on the report of the "Research and Education Planning Committee." And it was the Keio Yokohama Elementary School, which celebrated its 10th anniversary this year, that was conceived based on this foundation. The youngest school never tires of explaining the philosophy of Keio's founding and the significance of integrated education alongside its new education, and one can glimpse a sense of pride there that "we too will carry the history of this characteristic Keio."

Keio has a unique spirit, and a rich history, language, and form of education that convey it, in a place deeper than the superficial appearance one can see at a glance. Let us cherish these as we create the next era.