The aim of this study is to clarify the process of development and expansion of the High School Division of public special needs schools in Hokkaido. In this study, this process was divided into five periods: "creation period", "expand period", "development stage I", "development stage II", and "fulfillment period".
A system called "Hokkaido method" was confirmed during the "expand period". In this system, people with mild disabilities are given educational opportunities, while people with severe disabilities are housed in colonies. This system was born from the characteristics of Hokkaido, such as "having a vast administrative area" and "low population density". This system was dismantled by expanding upper secondary education for children with disabilities in "development stage I" and "development stage II".
This example shows that the education policy for upper secondary education for children with disabilities was established through coordination between national policy and regional reality.
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