Abstract
The aim of this paper is to investigate recent debates and issues of reform about the "Professionalization" of educational administration. There is a certain tendency to emphasize professionalization and independence of educational administration differently from general administration among the people engaged in education. The intention of emphasizing this difference is to distinguish the character of educational administration from general administration and maintain the autonomy of educational administration. This paper insists that it is not reasonable and realistic to over-emphasize such professionalization and independence of educational administration in the current situation of general administration in Japan - for example, to get all employees in the board of education, including superintendents, certificated and so on because advanced professionalization and independence of educational administration would make the relation between boards of education and schools more bureaucratic and break unifying policies in local government with a centralization between the Ministry of Education and the local board of education. The main difference distinguishing educational administration from general administration is the existance of schools. There is a principle that management of teachers and schools based on the system of teachers' certification should be done by professional autonomy and advice, not under the authoritative supervision of the board of education. This is the reason why many people engaged in education emphasize and ask for professionalization and the independence of educational administration. This paper insists, though, that the function of schools shouldn't be enlarged to a level of an administration but be performed fully at the level of schools because advanced professionalization of educational administration would make the relation between the board of education and schools more bureaucratic and weaken the responsibility of schools to parents and communities. It is better that the tense relations between educational administration and general administration should be mediated by conceding more professional autonomy of the curriculum and personnel and budget to schools. It is a point that we should learn from school-reforms called "school-based management" and "collaborative management" from other advanced countries like the U.S. and the U.K.
