中等教育改革における「中高一貫教育」と「中高連携教育」の意義と課題 : 「特色ある学校」づくりと「効果的な学校」の視点

抄録

Previous Japanese governments have emphasised the importance of developing a wider choice of schools in the public sector and, to some extent, they have succeeded. Increasing the opportunities for post-compulsory education made everyone happy on the one hand, whilst on the other it also created some serious problems in terms of maladjustment for some youngsters, especially in secondary schools. With these newly created problems in mind, the present government therefore needs to improve the quality of the education service. Furthermore, the concept of "equal opportunity in education" will carry new meaning. The quality of education to which I refer in this paper is related to the idea of "effective schools." This is the first new development which we need to address in terms of education reform. Secondly, we face serious problems in terms of a radical fall in student numbers. Boards of education in some prefectures have been forced to either amalgamate or close down schools as a result. Moreover, as there are too many schools in some areas, most public high schools have to compete with other public schools to attract more students and, ultimately, to survive. Considering this new situation, I believe that an effective solution for survival in this competitive market lies in the creation of "characteristic schools" in the public sector. There are 3 points to consider here: 1) There needs to be continuity in curriculum content between junior and senior high schools, and a consistent standard of efficiency in learning standards. 2) In the light of falling student numbers, the role of local community schools needs to be addressed, particularly in rural areas. 3) There is a need to create "characteristic schools" in the public sector, and to reposition them in a market where competition is high. The aim of this paper is to consider secondary education with reference to two case studies of schools in Miyazaki prefecture and Kochi prefecture. I examined these two case studies based on the eleven points of "effective schools" developed by P Mortimore et al. As a conclusion to this paper, I recommend that the lessons learned from these two cases should be considered seriously across the country, and that both central and local government should support these new schools, not only in curriculum policy, but also in finance and staffing.