Since the first edition of Yardsticks: Children in the Classroom, Ages 4-14, was published thirteen years ago, it has captured the interest of educators in other countries and been translated into Mandarin Chinese and Arabic, and pamphlets based on the book have been translated into Spanish (www.responsiveclassroom.org/bookstore). This wonderful around-the-world journey continued this week when I received a copy of the recently published Japanese translation of Yardsticks (Toshobunkasha Co., Ltd., Tokyo, 2008) based on the 1997 edition of my book.

It’s wonderful to see the final fruit of a project I’ve been working on for several years with Professor Tadahiko Abiko, a respected Japanese educator who has done extensive research comparing schooling in Japan and America, particularly in the middle school range. Professor Abiko has a deep appreciation and understanding of the relationship and importance of child development theory to educational practice in schools, both in Japan and in the United States, where he has studied and conducted research.

It’s been a privilege to have met and visited with Dr. Abiko in this country and to have corresponded over the course of his work on this project. Dr. Abiko’s theory of developmental stages based on children’s shifting interests is of great interest to me and correlates with my own observations of classrooms and life in the United States.

Though I have never been to Japan, I am an admiring student of Dr. Catherine Lewis’s study of Japanese primary school approaches as detailed in her 1995 book, Educating Hearts and Minds. I’m intrigued by her continued interest in the lesson study (“kenkyuu jugyou”) approach to teaching. Much of my work over twenty-five years has been to co-develop an approach to elementary education that fosters a similar style of teaching and learning.

In the Japanese translation (and other translations), Yardsticks does not speak for what might be appropriate practices universally, but, rather, to the particular cultural context of American schools. American classrooms have become more culturally diverse over the last thirteen years, but it’s still important to remember that no two countries or cultures offer the same educational context to their children. Thus, even though, broadly speaking, children the world over share may share common developmental stages, the schooling implications of these stages will vary from country to country and culture to culture. Yardsticks, in its English editions, suggests the implications of child development stages for the teaching taking place in American classrooms.

As more cross-cultural interest in classroom implications of child development emerges, I’m eager to learn of books similar to Yardsticks, published in other countries in their home languages. I’d love to find books that are as descriptive of children’s worlds as they learn and grow–and as accessible to parents and teachers. We have much to learn from each other. Perhaps some other blog readers will discover some books along these lines. If so, please pass them on!