ポストコロナ社会に向けた公民館職員研究の展望

—社会的出来事から研究枠組みを更新するために—

抄録

The pandemic has provided an important opportunity for KOMINKAN staff members across Japan to rethink the role of KOMINKAN in their communities. This paper summarizes the experiences and findings of these KOMINKAN staff members, identifies deficiencies in previous research, and concludes by proposing three visions for research in post-covid 19 society. In order to do so, we compared the results of our study with those of KOMINKAN research that followed the Great East Japan Earthquake (2011), an event that impacted Japanese society in similar ways as the pandemic.

The recommendations are as follows: (1) To review existing studies that have focused on a unified idea of what KOMINKAN should be, and to clarify the diversity of perceptions of KOMINKAN and how current staff members identify themselves as professionals. (2) To identify what relationships should be formed by individual KOMINKAN and KOMINKAN staff in their projects and activities, and with whom. One characteristic of KOMINKAN staff is that their competence is demonstrated not only in the KOMINKAN itself, but within the context of their relationships with residents and other organizations. Therefore, it is important to understand the kinds of relationships KOMINKAN purposefully create on a daily basis with residents, community organizations, schools, government agencies, as well as community welfare professionals and specialists in other fields. (3) To improve the quality of learning created in KOMINKAN by not confining it to the local community but rather connecting it to the outside world. As a hint to reaching this end, it is important for KOMINKAN staff to understand ESD and "Learning to Transform Oneself and Society" (UNESCO World Conference on ESD 2009) and to put this into practice in their own communities.