抄録
(1) The Aim of this Study The main aim of the study in this book is clarifying the actual facts in the history of higher elementary school system in Japan. In Japan, though higher elementary education had been legally distinguished from secondary education, the majority of children aged from 12 to 14 years were taken in higher elementary schools. But since World War II, this school system was abolished, and we have been scarcely concerned for studying or researching on this school education. In consequence of this ignorance, it has been difficult for us to get a clear understanding of Japan's modern national school system. So in this book, I made up the intention of this study to show a more realistic image and a more essential understanding of the Japanese school system through studying the higher elementary school system. (2) Contents Introduction :The theme and method in this study Part I : The System and the Actual Condition of Higher Elementary Schools in their Starting Age Part II : The Popularization and the Contradiction of Higher Elementary Schools Part III : The Reform and the Potentiality of Higher Elementary Schools Conclusion :The Educational Reform after World War II and Higher Elementary Schools (3) The Summary of the Conclusion Although higher elementary schools had been legally distinguished from secondary schools, many of higher elementary schools had the function of secondary education in the early Meiji era. But at the beginning of the twentieth century, higher elementary schools turned into the popular education. In 1926, however, some provisions in the Elementary School Order was revised, and afterward, in many large cities, the school authorities or the administrative authorities tried to improve or reform higher elementary school system. Through these reformations, higher elementary schools became similar to lower secondary schools (new chugakko) in the post-World War II period. We may conclude, therefore, that improvement and reform was a process in the formation of the new popular secondary education in Japan.
