敗戦直後の文部省における教科書改訂構想 : 1946年1月公布の教科用図書委員会官制の検討過程に焦点を当てて

抄録

The purpose of this study is to explore the textbook revision plan carried out by the Japanese Ministry of Education following the defeat in World War II through an analysis of the investigative process of the organization and personnel selection of the Textbook Committee officially organized on January 9, 1946. The results of this analysis reveal that by making the Textbook Committee central to the textbook revision plan, the Ministry assumed the responsibility for post-war educational reform. The Textbook Committee ordinance was passed by the Japanese cabinet after consultation with Allied occupation forces. Before the ordinance was officially issued, however, the text was revised after further input from SCAP. In the end, this revision reduced the Ministry's influence over the Textbook Committee. Nevertheless, the Ministry retained the power to issue regulations regarding the ordinance as well as control over the selection of committee members. The textbook selection process followed these steps : first, the draft was written by a committee of specialists to create a work with academic prestige. Second, the draft is approved for publication by a full-time and temporary committee who were not only democratically selected but also held authority and the ability to persuade both Japanese and American people. Third, in addition to the investigation of textbook drafts, the committee also had the responsibility to systematically investigate textbook editorial policies. Fourth, the members of the committee were those who understood and agreed to the policies of the Ministry. In summation, under the plans stated above, the Ministry sought to revise existing textbooks and edit new ones in an effort to create a "democratic" government-designated textbook system more suitable to the postwar era. However, the Ministry failed to regain final decision-making authority over textbook drafts, authority the occupation forces kept to themselves. Several requests by the Ministry were definitively rejected by an official SCAP order issued on January 17, causing the failure of the Ministry's textbook revision plan.