2003 年 12 巻 p. 139-149
The purpose of this paper is to clarify the problems of “experience of nursing-care and other similar activities” (hereafter nursing-care experience) as well as to present a new approach to nursing-care experience, placing emphasis on teachers' ability to provide welfare education in elementary and lower secondary schools. Also some space is lastly devoted to discussing the possibility of improving nursing-care experience.
Today social welfare institutions are closely connected with education policy particularly in the context of welfare education. For example, nursing-care experience is now a requirement for qualification as a teacher under the “Act governing the exceptions to the Teacher License Act relating to compulsory education teacher license”; welfare/health education is an option in the Integrated Study Time; and volunteer activities are encouraged by the new Course of Study.
The “Act governing the exceptions to the Teacher License Act relating to compulsory education teacher license”, which came into force in April 1998, requires that trainees going for a teacher license of elementary and lower secondary schools must have nursing-care experience for two days in a special school and five days in a social welfare institution such as nursing home.
This obligatory measure, however, has various problems. For instance, it is not clear why would-be teachers must have nursing-care experience, or what this experience should teach the students. This may result from the fact that the Act is not specific regarding the content of the experience, leading to many problems for universities, student teachers, and the welfare institutions which receive them.
Meanwhile, welfare education in schools has the same kind of problems. For example, although welfare education is recommended in the Course of Study, the aim, objectives, content, and methods to provide it are not clearly presented, being left to schools or teachers. However, at present, the teachers do not always have sufficient knowledge about welfare and are not competent to handle the subject well.
In view of this situation, this study gives a central role to the nursing-care experience as a means of developing trainee teachers' ability to provide welfare education.
