Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to make clear the necessity of school social workers in Japan as links for collaboration between schools and community agencies to educate students with social problems. Municipal boards of education, elementary schools, and junior high schools in Fukuoka Prefecture answered questionnaires about the tasks of collaboration between schools and community agencies. The results showed the following : (1) Most of the coordinators between schools and community agencies were school staff, and they did not have enough time to coordinate the times and dates for the meetings because of school work, so, they hoped for full-time professional coordinators. (2) They felt the distinction between their own and community agencies'points of view to serve students with social problems. (3) They couldn't get professional support quickly. (4) They didn't know the professional role and staff of community agencies. (5) They couldn't consult readily because of a lack of mutual reliance. These results indicated that school social workers are necessary for schools in Japan.