抄録
This paper aims to clarify the problems of school facilities administration through a follow-up of the utilization of a "school building with fully departmentalized classrooms", one of the new types of school buildings in Japan. In most senior high schools in Japan, some regular, self-contained classrooms are usually retained while others are specialized. A group of students composing a class is assigned to a regular classroom, namely a homeroom, where they have lessons in fundamental or academic subjects. On occasion, they move over to a specialized classroom for a practical subject (special educational activities). This conventional system is called the "Homeroom-Based Classroom System". I wish to discuss, in the present paper, the idea of another type of classroom system, the "Departmentalized Classroom System", in which teachers are assigned to a given classroom and students move from one room to another under their respective timetables. The term "school buildings with fully departmentalized classrooms" is defined as school buildings in which every classroom has been built for the use of a particular subject under a plan for a departmentalized classroom system. Major findings are as follows: 1) From a survey of four public senior high schools built around 1975 with the intention of carrying out the plan for this new system ("Departmentalized Classroom System"), it was found to have been given up for a "Homeroom-Based Classroom System" in all cases. 2) The reasons why the original classroom system was switched include the difficulty of guidance in students' migration, the absence of a "homeplace" for students, and the inadequacy of some departmentalized classrooms. 3) In every case, some parts of the buildings had to be renovated to adapt to the current system. Thus, those school buildings with fully departmentalized classrooms have not only turned out to be white elephants but also caused some inconveniences for the present utilization. 4) According to these case studies, the hypothetical conditions with which the "Departmentalized Classroom System" may successfully function are the existence of autonomous students, a wide variety of elective subjects and an improvement in the situation for facilitating effective school management policy. 5) Some implications from the analysis are as follows: (a) It is important to check the feasibility of a new school building plan carefully from the viewpoint of school management. Therefore, the administrative section in charge of the improvement of school facilities should cooperate with not only the school but also with other sections of the Board of Education. (b) To accumulate the planning know-how and experience of practical use, the pilot-model of school buildings should occasionally be monitored and surveyed after launching. (c) School buildings require maintenance and renovation after their completion. Financial resources to cover expenses for such further treatment should be secured.
