Creation of Education-Oriented Community and "Habitant" : A Principal as a Newcomers into a Local Community

Abstract

Collaboration of school, family and community (or school, family and community partnerships) is one of the major practical issues in Japanese education. Some research shows that the school principal is one of the key persons in the collaboration. However, most earlier studies on school principals examine the internal relationship within the school, such as the relationship between the principal and the teachers. In this study, the way to establish relationships between the school and neighborhood community was examined using the case of an elementary school and its school district in Osaka prefecture. The elementary school was established in 1971 with the development of a housing complex in the high economic growth period in Japan. The school needed some assistance from the local community because of many educational difficulties at the school. A new principal arrived at her post in 2001 at the school. She and her colleagues launched various new programs in collaboration with the community residents to create a better environment for children's development. They launched various collaborative programs with local community residents, such as a joint sports festival and Saturday activity programs. The local community is also stimulated through these activities. It is effective to apply a concept, which is proposed by Okada and Kawahara (1997) to this case study. "Habitant", the concept, is newcomers who maintain communication with the native residents of the local community and make some impact on them. The principal in the case was actually a "habitant" of the local community. We can conclude as follows: It is important that the principal communicate with the residents not as a leader, but as a "habitant" of the local community to promote collaboration between the school and community.