Teaching a Topic Without Presenting It In-depth: Conflicts Regarding Teaching about Kamikaze Missions Among Social Studies Teachers

Although kamikaze missions are not frequently taught in history education, plays focusing on kamikaze are widely used in school education. This study examined the conflicts regarding teaching about kamikaze missions among junior high school social studies teachers in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. We investigated why social studies teachers believe that handling kamikaze missions in social studies is challenging while handling them in other activities, such as kamikaze plays, is comparatively easy. We interviewed eight teachers in Kagoshima Prefecture who had experience teaching about kamikaze missions in social studies classes. We conducted a qualitative analysis using NVivo14. The results revealed that teachers had emotional and epistemological conflicts in teaching about kamikaze missions in social studies, whereas these conflicts were less likely to occur regarding kamikaze mission plays. Furthermore, teachers attempted to create new lessons despite their conflicts. Our findings indicated the necessity to establish an environment for teachers to discuss the implications of teaching kamikaze missions in school education. Moreover, teachers require support from the educational administration and researchers to create lesson plans on controversial issues and difficult histories.