<依頼論文>幼児期の死生観の生成・涵養--親子の対話の事例を通して.

Abstract

今日、「死生観の空洞化」という事態において、死生観を育むための「生と死の教育」の必要性が指摘されている。学校での「生と死の教育」が期待される一方で限界も指摘されており、地域や家庭での取り組みも改めて期待される。では、死やいのちの理解の発達段階に応じて、「この世ならぬ世界」「この世ならぬ存在」への理解を含む死生観はどのように形成され、そうした死生観を育むためにどのような働きかけが有効なのだろうか。筆者がFacebookに残してきた筆者と息子（6歳）の対話の事例を基に、幼児期の死生観の生成・涵養について検討した。事例からは、家庭という限られた共同体において、実生活と絵本やアニメの世界を通して、それらが互いに関連し合う形で死生の営みに繰り返し触れ、そこに含まれる価値体系が親という他者と共有されることで、死やいのちの理解の発達に応じた死生観が形成される可能性が見て取れた。その際には家庭内で共通した死生観を持っていること、それらが地域に残されている伝統的な価値体系と合致していること、子どもの死生にまつわる問いに親がごまかさずに向き合い応えられることが求められることも示唆された。 Today, views on life and death are lacking. Therefore, life and death education is needed to cultivate these views. Life and death education in schools is expected as difficulties can be easily pointed out during that stage. However, life and death education among a community and at home is also required. A major issue hindering this is that ways to cultivate a view on life and death, which includes a view of the transcendental world, according to children’s developmental stages, are unclear. In this study, dialogues between me and my 6-year-old son, which I have shared on my Facebook account as well, are examined to obtain suggestions regarding how a parent can cultivate a view on life and death during early childhood. Thus, I propose that when everyday life experiences related to life and death and those in the world depicted in picture books are connected, sometimes intentionally by one’s parents, one frequently experiences life and death issues. When one shares such experiences with one’s family, one’s view regarding life and death is cultivated as per one’s developmental stage. Considering this, I recommend that both parents share a similar view on life and death and that the view should also be similar to the traditional view of their community. Moreover, I also suggest that it is necessary for parents to respond to their children’s questions about life and death sincerely.