教員のカリキュラム・マネジメントの捉え方の実態と変容

―教職大学院の授業受講者のポートフォリオの分析―

抄録

The concept of “Curriculum Management” gained prominence in Japanese academia following the 1998 revision of the Course of Study and received significant emphasis in the 2017 revision. Despite this, its practical implementation has often been met with skepticism by educators, who view it as a mandatory but superficial task. This perception raises questions regarding the genuine integration of curriculum management within schools.

This study addresses these concerns by developing and analyzing a curriculum aimed at professional teachers enrolled in a graduate school of teacher education. The objective of the curriculum was to enhance the participants’ understanding and appreciation of curriculum management, thereby fostering a deeper conceptual comprehension, increasing their motivation, and raising their awareness. Our research sought to evaluate the current state of curriculum management understanding among teachers, assess how this understanding evolved through our specialized curriculum, and identify design principles that could effectively invigorate curriculum management practices.

Incorporating Tetsuo Hori’s “one-page portfolio analysis” for reflection, our 15-lesson course engaged students in critical thinking through “essential questions” and “self-evaluation.” Through this methodology, we sought to verify the “learned curriculum” of the students.

Analysis of 154 student portfolio entries over three years revealed an initial limited understanding that significantly transformed as the course progressed. Methodologies included a quantitative assessment of responses, instructor evaluations, detailed textual analysis, and text mining to elucidate the changes in the structures of participants’ comprehension and their reflective insights into personal growth.

Findings indicated substantial deepening in participants’ understanding of curriculum management, marked shifts in perspective and emotional engagement, and a notable increase in motivation. Importantly, evidence of behavioral change was observed, with some participants implementing new strategies in their teaching and management contexts. Key to these transformations was linking curriculum management to student learning; recognizing that actors in curriculum management can extend beyond teachers to encompass community agencies or administrators of educational boards; and the anticipating enhanced student engagement. The curriculum we implemented showcased practical examples and theoretical model analysis, and exemplified effective curriculum design and management practices to serve as a model for teachers.

This study provides valuable insights into curriculum design strategies effectively promoting understanding, perspective shifts, and practical applications of curriculum management. Although focused on a long-term curriculum, which may limit the direct applicability to short-duration teacher-training programs, the findings offer foundational knowledge that is beneficial across educational contexts. Limitations include potential self-reported data bias and a lack of long-term impact analysis and comparative evaluation with similar programs at other institutions.