| Abstract;The purpose of this research was to clarify how the dan-i (grades of kendo expertise) and ages of kendo instructors are related to their instructional principles or values about kendo. The subjects of this research were kendo instructors at schools. Responses were received from a total of 1,882 instructors and the response rate was 53.4%. Six factors were extracted by factor analysis and they were interpreted as follows. The first factor: "traditional drills", The second factor: "improvement of instructional situation", The third factor: "the value or pressure placed upon winning", The fourth factor: "popularization of the sport overseas", The fifth factor: "negative perception of pupils", The sixth factor: "eagerness to improve skills". When comparing factor scores those instructors who own less than a fifth-dan (grade) and/or the group of instructors who are older than fifty years old were found to be distinctly different from other groups. 1) The groups of instructors who have lower dan-i or younger instructors tend to have little concern for the improvement of the current instructional situations or conditions. 2) In the group of instructors who own lower than fifth-dan, negative perceptions about their pupils occur. Instructors maintain high standards or expectations for their pupils but they show a negative attitude toward improving their own ability or practicing daily. Their concern about being a good influence on their pupils is poor. 3) In the group of instructors who are older than fifty, quite a few give strict traditional drills which are based in disciplinarism or training with an old-fashioned way of thinking. They attach less importance to winning games, and their perception on this aspect is different from the youth. (author abst.) |
