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Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at The Window: Name: Rifal Iriansyah

Totto-chan tells the true story of the author's childhood at an elementary school led by the kind and humanistic principal Mr. Kobayashi. The book describes the vibrant atmosphere of the school through the eyes of a child, where students were free to learn and play, unaware of the troubles of World War 2 happening in the outside world. However, the school is eventually bombed and never rebuilt. The book highlights Mr. Kobayashi's understanding of children and emphasis on developing their minds, bodies, and hearts through enjoyable activities rather than pressure, in contrast to more test-focused education systems today. It argues the book should be required reading to inspire a more humanistic approach in schools.

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Risyah Iriansyah
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522 views1 page

Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at The Window: Name: Rifal Iriansyah

Totto-chan tells the true story of the author's childhood at an elementary school led by the kind and humanistic principal Mr. Kobayashi. The book describes the vibrant atmosphere of the school through the eyes of a child, where students were free to learn and play, unaware of the troubles of World War 2 happening in the outside world. However, the school is eventually bombed and never rebuilt. The book highlights Mr. Kobayashi's understanding of children and emphasis on developing their minds, bodies, and hearts through enjoyable activities rather than pressure, in contrast to more test-focused education systems today. It argues the book should be required reading to inspire a more humanistic approach in schools.

Uploaded by

Risyah Iriansyah
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Name : Rifal Iriansyah

Totto-chan : The Little Girl at The Window

Totto Chan - The Little girl at the window written by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi is a
recollection of the author’s formative experiences at this wonderful school. In
the book, she recounts the story of her own life and the lives of many children
and how each one of them who survived, created a future for themselves and
their country during the darkest of times. She attributes it to the headmaster,
his love for children and his educational philosophy.
The book begins with Totto-chan's mother coming to know of her daughter's
expulsion from public school. Her mother realizes that what Totto-chan needs
is a school where more freedom of expression is permitted. Thus, she takes
Totto-chan to meet the headmaster of the new school, Mr. Kobayashi. From
that moment a friendship is formed between master and pupil.
The book goes on to describe the times that Totto-chan has, the friends she makes, the lessons she
learns, and the vibrant atmosphere that she imbibes. All of these are presented to the reader through
the eyes of a child. Thus the reader sees how the normal world is transformed into a beautiful, exciting
place full of joy and enthusiasm. The reader also sees in their role as adults, how Mr. Kobayashi
introduces new activities to interest the pupils. One sees in Mr. Kobayashi a man who understands
children and strives to develop their qualities of mind, body and heart. His concern for the physically
handicapped and his emphasis on the equality of all children are remarkable. In the school, the children
lead happy lives, unaware of the things going on in the world. World War 2 has started, yet in this
school, no signs of it are seen. But one day, the school is bombed, and was never rebuilt, even though
the headmaster claimed that he looked forward to building an even better school the next time round. It
was never done and this ends Totto-chan's years as a pupil at Tomoe Gakuen.

Very interesting and turned another version of the story of "Laskar Pelangi". This was my first
impression after reading the book contains true stories of childhood Tetsuko Kuroyanagi at an
elementary school led by a principal who is very humanist. This book is filled with meaning education.
This book is more interesting because it uses the viewpoint of an elementary school child who was
innocent of seeing the world his childhood, his parents, friends, teachers, and neighborhood
playground. In contrast to Andrea Hirata, this book uses a style that is more simple that at first glance
looks like a children's story book.

In Indonesia, the government and the hard to find knowledgeable teachers like Mr. Kobayashi. UAN as
graduation standards are controversial subjects while the system is too focused on IQ too often lead to
sharp criticism. Although the facilities are far more advanced than the 1940s era, schools today still do
not show the face of a humanist. Education makes a child learn because they feel happy - not because of
pressure, which is not glued to the educational theory. To that end, this book should be required
reading for all actors involved in the world of education. It has become mandatory teaching materials in
Japan, so do not be surprised if at this time we see how rapidly education in Japan is not only hone
aspects of IQ but also EQ and morality. The more important of all, it's time we heard the sound of a
child's heart honesty like Totto-chan rather than busy themselves designing educational system that we
think is "best" for the child. If not, our children certainly will only become victims of "forcible touching"
adults. Happy laughter like Totto-chan would be rare to hear.

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