Abstract
This paper charts the course of the establishment and progression of the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers（SNCT）and details its operations. In so doing, the present study hopes to attain ideas that can help appropriate authorities in Japan contemplate ways to resolve problems relating to the overburdening of teachers. SNCT was established in 2002 after a thorough scrutiny of problems that confronted similar organizations in the past. The committee comprises members representing the government, sundry local authorities , and teachers unions. Members of this body discuss, negotiate, and attain settlements on issues such as the remunerations and service conditions of teachers, using cooperative means, which include sharing of ideas and mutual understanding of circumstances. It is also posited that SNCT conceptually embodies the stakeholder democracy theory that is at present advocated by scholars as the political framework of the future. Cogitating the importance of the SNCT, the present study investigates（i）how SNCT developed, （ii）its systems and structures, and（iii）its work methods. The study reveals that SNCT is operating effectively based on the partnership system mooted by the educational administration to obtain the consensus of stakeholders, and also on the pertinent teachers union, the Educational Institute of Scotland.
