THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE ROLE THAT FREE SCHOOLS PLAY FOR THE CHILDREN WHO REFUSE TO ATTEND SCHOOL: FOCUSING ON THE IMPACT OF COLLABORATION WITH THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to reconsider the role of free schools for the children who refuse to attend school by revealing the impact of collaboration with the local government.

Since the 1980s, free schools designed to meet the special needs of the children who refuse to attend school have become increasingly prominent in Japan. Although many people regarded students who refused to attend school as just lazy, free schools were founded to take them in. They adopted a confrontational approach to public education and criticized the uniformity of public schools.

However, the circumstances surrounding school refusal have changed in recent years. After MEXT acknowledged the fact that school refusal was a phenomenon that could occur in any child, some of the local governments attempted to build new relations with free schools. Free schools which decide to collaborate with the local governments get subsidies and receive official recognition. Although some researchers express concern about the danger of free schools losing their uniqueness as a result of regulations that the local governments may impose in exchange for subsidies, no survey of the collaboration between them has been conducted.

Therefore, this article analyzes how free schools are affected by getting subsidies and receiving official recognition. Data for this study were collected from fieldwork at a free school named PACE (pseudonym), which was established in 1991. Like other free schools, PACE displays distinctive characteristics, which differ from those of public schools, and it emphasizes the individuality of students rather than their uniformity. However, the local government commissioned PACE to operate a public free school, and PACE has been receiving subsidies since 2003. PACE now accepts about 100 children who refuse to attend school.

The following points became clear through fieldwork. 1. By receiving subsidies continuously, PACE built a management system that did not depend only on membership fees. So, Children who cannot pay membership fees for economic reasons have an access to PACE. 2. Because PACE increases visibility and reliance by receiving official recognition, not only schools / teachers but also children's consultation offices / municipal welfare offices introduce PACE to children from unstable home environments. 3. Therefore, PACE functions as a place for the children who are excluded from the general support system of school refusal because of their unstable home environments.

The implications of this study are as follows. 1. When collaborating with the local government, free schools may be forced to make a choice about whether to accept the children who are excluded from the general support system of school refusal. 2. When choosing to accept them, free schools have to care about not only school refusal but also unstable home environments. 3. The local governments which take measures against school refusal need to make consideration for the situation that free schools function as a place for the children who are excluded from the general support system.