学校を活性化させる部活動改革－品川女子学院の事例から－

抄録

An extra-curricular activities reform was the key to rejuvenating the Shinagawa Junior and High School for Girls (hereafter “the School”), a private school in Tokyo, Japan, whose management has been revitalised through this reform process. The study was conducted by analysing data sourced from the School’s records, media articles, and interviews. The reform was implemented mainly in the following three areas:
　a) revised days and hours of extra-curricular activities ;
　b) build “Multi-tasking Program” enabling students to balance their hours better ;
　c) streamlined teachers working hours, roles and responsibilities based on extensive consultation ;
While teachers remain primarily responsible for the extra-curricular activities at the school, changes in working shifts and hours improved clarity about what is expected of them. Additional external coaches were employed for the majority of the clubs. The reform resulted in better learning at the School, and consequently, increased the performance of the clubs, some of them winning national games, while the academic deviation score advanced by 20 points, from 33.0 in 1989 to 52.8 in 2018. The number of graduates proceeding to higher education increased from 50% in 1998 to 91.9% in 2018. The study suggests that three key actions made the School’s renewal possible:
　1. Setting detailed and practical rules, as well as appropriate and easy ways to measure hourly performance. This has proved to be an important indicator over the 20 years of trial-and-error.
　2. Having a support system for the students’ effective academic and extra-curricular schedules. Designing the academic year based on the “school biorhythm” and regular 1:1 teacher-student meetings helps students achieve an efficient “multi-tasking” learning process.
　3. Higher emphasis on teachers’ working environment. Reducing not only their working hours, but also their psychological pressure, leading to increased effectiveness in their performance.