Abstract
The reform of Educational system in Japan after World War II was made as one of SCAP's policies to democratize Japan. It involved not only the reorganization of educational system but also the content and idea of new education, such as the 6-3-3 system, the board of education system, and social studies course. Although the new measures were set in operation formally, they could not help facing many problems on the way. In the years following the signing of the Peace Treaty, a trend to swing back to the old system is beginning to be noticed. And this switch back is being made under the name of correcting the Occupation Forces' policy which over-burdened us.
In the future the two movements will determine the direction in which Japanese educational system will develop : One of them is the movement of realizing the new idea which lies behind the postwar educational reform, and the other is the trial to oppose and amend the spirit of occupation-sponsored system of education.
This paper attempts to analyze these problems from the following aspects :
1) Teachers
In the early stages of the establishment of the 6-3-3 system, the shortage of teachers, economic uncertainty and the change in teacher-training institutions, such as the abolishment of the normal schools, brought about the alteration of teachers' social status, and the teachers are inclined to come of various class families like civil servants and merchants while before the war the most teachers were of the lower agrarian descent. Women teachers, who have traditionally contributed greatly to the elementary school education, are gradually decreasing-that is especially so with the lower secondary schools. Teachers' unions were admitted to form after the war. They are now so well organized that teachers can enhance their social and economical conditions, democratize education along with the line of the new idea, and even promote the movement for peace through the unions.
2) Community and Education
The democratic ideas of decentralization of educational administration and those of equality of opportunity for all have increasingly convinced us of the importance of the relation between community and education. But it is regrettable that the poor and unbalanced local budget and Japanese poverty as a whole are oppressing the national educational finance and the difference of educational standards existing among districts remain as great as ever. Recently local boards of education were reorganized before they could function effectively, and a centralized controlling administration is going to regain its lost educational territory. A series of these phenomena are seen to represent the pre-modern social structure characteristic of Japanese districts on one hand, and the excessive bureaucratic system characteristic of a whole society in Japan on the other. Teachers' movements centering about the J. T. U., which attempts to democratize education, will be confronted with many difficulties in the future.
3) Education and Public Opinion
The importance of the social function of Public Opinion in the educational framework is increasing after the the war. Many discussions have been animated with regards to the new educational idea and institutions, especially the 6-3-3 system, moral education, the inspection system of textbooks, political activities by teachers inside and outside the school and the boards of education. These problems are being discussed among civil groups and intelligentsia as well as the National Diet and the Government. We can see, through the public opinion research, that the attitude of the general public toward the new education system is much complicated.
