2006 Volume 73 Issue 4 Pages 403-419
In modern society, the school education system functions as 1) transmission of knowledge and 2) socialization. Recent studies in search of the possibility of equalization via school education tend to focus on the transmission of knowledge. However, for fostering consciousness and attitude in support of redistribution of resource, we need to explore another aspect of social function, socialization of students in school education.
The purpose of this paper is to explore the socialization effects of school education which can foster a reciprocal relation, by analyzing a survey of children's social competence.
This paper is based on the questionnaire survey undertaken with about 1600 people (primary and secondary school students) chosen from 8 areas in Japan during from November 2004 to March 2005 (part of the survey was conducted in September 2005). This questionnaire was designed for comprehending "NEW" core-literacy needed in contemporary society, which consists of social competence, media literacy, and emotional literacy.
To clarify socialization effects of schools, cross tabulation analysis comparing the scale of reciprocal attitude and multiple linear regression analysis are conducted in this paper.
The result of these analyses show the following.
1) Most students sympathized with the person who fell into a difficult situation and they intend to build up reciprocal relationships.
2) However, general trust towards other people decreases as an educational phase proceeds. Sympathy and reciprocity-scale derived from the questionnaire showed that active reciprocity among students has also weakened.
3) Nevertheless, multiple linear regression analysis shows that regardless of cultural capital that students have, supportive relations in school and higher relevance to school knowledge heighten sympathy and reciprocity-scale each educational phase. These results indicate that school education can foster relations of reciprocity.
4) But in post-primary education phase, higher academic achievement lowers sympathy and reciprocity-scale. This showed that socalled "success" in school tends to segmentalize students into an isolated existence.
5) In addition, cross tabulation analysis comparing scale of sympathy to reciprocityscale and self-identity or perspectives about competition each educational phase suggests that on one hand, relations of reciprocity nurtured in school are against worsening inequality, on the other, they confirm disparities among the people.
Based on these results, this paper concludes that relations of reciprocity nurtured in school are characterized by ambiguity to possibility of equalization, for fostering equalization process via school education, We need to explore inclusion/exclusion mechanism in the classroom community and the phase of school knowledge which refers to communal ownership of knowledge.
