We had great alteration or change of board of education system in Japan in 2014. It would be effective after April, 2015. The main part of this alteration is to change the relation among components in local educational administration, governor / mayor, board member and superintendent. Under the previous system, school board was independent from the office of governor / mayor. So governor / mayor was not available to implement educational administration directly. After alteration, governor / mayor has big authority to decide main policy on education and assign the new superintendent who is the chair and can conduct board of education. Though there have been many arguments on this alteration, it is not sure whether this alteration would decentralize the local educational administration or not. In this paper I have considered what relation would be between Ministry of Education (MEXT) and governor / mayor. Until now, MEXT has conducted boards of education and schools with its high professional situation. But after now, governor / mayor can deny the interference of MEXT to local educational administration. It should be most important for local educational administration and board of education to provide good education in school for children. So it will be the key point for good education how to combine local educational administration and school management. It is necessary to examine whether this alteration can make decentralization in educational administration or not. It is dispensable for school innovation and good school education to set up the decentralization of educational administration and school autonomy. I have also shown the elements of school autonomy under the decentralization of educational administration. They are as follows; to transfer the authority of school management from the board of education to each school, to improve the inner organizations and to enlarge the participation of students, parents and local people in school management.

View full abstract

In this paper, we try to explain the importance of school autonomy as the conditions of education for learner autonomy. We examine two research questions as the scaffolds. 1) How can we explain the relationship between teacher autonomy and school autonomy? 2) Can we explain teacher autonomy as the conditions for education of learner autonomy? 1) By examination of the theories on school management in Japan, we can say that the establishment of school autonomy is based on teacher autonomy. So teacher autonomy should be empowered and autonomy and collaboration of teachers are the key factor for school autonomy. But also in Japanese research context, theories of school autonomy don't discuss enough the contents of education for learner autonomy. 2) According to the education theories on the learning of children and teachers, we can point out "similarity" of learning between children and teachers. Also we can say that teachers' learning is the condition of learner autonomy as the archetype. In this sense, teacher autonomy is necessary conditions for learner autonomy. But at the same time, for the education of learner autonomy, teacher's role is also fostering learner autonomy by heteronomy. Finally we discuss the necessity of the integrated theory of learner autonomy and school autonomy which seems to be examined separately today.

View full abstract

This article investigates why educational administration bodies in Japan receive criticism for being highly independent from local governors or governments, when educational administrations are more dependent on governing bodies than police and firefighting administrations. Until recently, in the field of educational administration, it was regarded as axiomatic that educational administrative bodies are highly independent from local governments. However, we find the following: (1) The independence of the educational administration is lower than that of the police and firefighting administrations. A person who is appointed superintendent of education may either have teaching experience, or be an administrative officer within a governor's bureau. In contrast, only police officers may become chiefs of prefectural police headquarters, and only fire department officers may be appointed as a fire chief. Additionally, the number of personnel exchanges between governor's bureaus and secretariat of education boards is larger than those between governor's bureaus and either prefectural police headquarters or fire departments. Therefore, educational administrations are more dependent on local governments than police firefighting administrations. (2) Educational administrations have more posts for branch office heads (principals) than police administrations (chief of police station) or firefighting administrations (fire station chief). Educational administrations thus have more positions and policy resources within local governments. Though educational administrations are not actually highly independent from local governments or governor's bureaus in terms of personnel management, especially at the levels of branch office head positions within local government, they receive severe criticism from local politicians and heads of government. The notion that these bodies are highly independent may result from primarily considering educational administrations in terms of boards of education, which themselves exist as administrative committees independent of a governor's bureau.

View full abstract

This study traces the process of the establishment and transformation of university autonomy in Japan. The concept of autonomy is defined by the combination of self-governance and self-government. This study focuses on the latter, especially self-government against the power of the state, because the state has repeatedly tried to intervene in university autonomy since the Meiji era. In order to trace this process, the author divided these approximately 150 years into three periods. The first is from the beginning of the Meiji era to 1952. In this period the modern universities were established, autonomy was gradually forming as a custom before World War II, and the bureaucratic control of universities so far was eliminated after the war. The second is from the end of the occupation by the Allied Powers to the end of the 20th century. In this period the government colluded with industry to try classifying the universities into several types of higher education institutions, but they were finally forced to abandon this attempt and leave the universities to diversify themselves. The government also had to abandon the higher education policy of strictly regulating the numbers of universities and students because the number of children was rapidly declining. The last period is from the start of this century to the present. In this period the Prime Minister led deregulation and used evaluation as a tool for allocating financial resources to universities. At the start of university evaluation, the government clearly stated considering university autonomy and regarded the mission and objectives of each institution as evaluation standards. Recently the government has intensified intervening in the missions and objectives of the universities and is forcing university classification, making a distinction in financial support among the universities.

View full abstract

After the government change to FDP (Free Democratic Party) in 2012, the process of the educational policy making in Japan is changing. The educational committee of FDP shows the guidelines at first. Then the educational committee of the minister president discusses the contents of the FDP committee. After that the central educational committee in the educational ministry can make detail concepts. That means the central educational committee will have less power than in the past. After World War II, the concept of check and balances by the layman control and the professional leadership was imported in the educational administration from the U.S. to Japan. The educational committee law was built in 1948, but because of the much power of the educational board, the law was quitted and the new law was built in 1956. The change of local educational administration law in 2014 will bring a new relationship between the governors/ mayors and the boards of education in each prefecture/ city. The educational policy evaluation is developing not only in the state level but in the local level. In 2001 the Japanese Parliament regulated the mid-term policy evaluations. The educational ministry makes a report of self-evaluation and a new policy plan every year. In addition to such policy evaluation activities the cabinet must decide a five years educational policy plan. In the local level most of the prefectures and cities are evaluated by themselves every year. The educational policies must be evaluated since 2008. The problems of the policy evaluations are developing of the indicators, which must clarify the results and the effects of the educational policies. In many countries the Evidence-based policy making is a popular tendency. In the educational policies the results of the standardized tests are used for the evidences of the educational policies.

View full abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine the interactions of teachers who construct the order of a school staff meeting in and as practicing interpretations from the perspective of an interpretive approach. The main data for this paper come from participant observations in a public junior high school in 2009. This paper focuses on the teacher code that the members who participated in a preceding department meeting should keep silent in a subsequent school staff meeting during their department head proposing. The distinctive characters of using this code is as below, Firstly, teachers tell the code to make colleagues keep silent in a meeting. Telling the code divides members: the ones possible to give their opinions, the others impossible to do so. And doing so makes a sense of a department meeting as a buffer to avoid heated disputes in a school staff meeting. Secondly, whether someone's statement in a school staff meeting is inside or outside the code depends on a local interaction. The relationship between the code and statement/silent is not causal or stable but retrospective and context-dependent. Thirdly, the unwritten code emerges obviously in a school staff meeting when someone stigmatizes another's statement as a breach of the code or when someone asks about the proposal of his/her own department with an excuse for breaking the code. Paradoxically telling the breach of the code reconstructs the legitimacy of it with making a sense of silent there reflexively. Fourthly, teachers interpret keeping silent as not only a duty but also positive cooperation of organizational members from the perspective of the code. The reality of silence in a staff meeting illustrates the existence of an organization and the reliability of the code to teachers.

View full abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether engagement in non-teaching work causes heavy workloads of elementary school and junior high school teachers in Japan. Today, teachers' heavy workloads are focused on in Japan. Japanese teachers have longer hours for non-teaching work (for example, paperwork). This is policy issue in Japan. Moreover, some research of Educational Administration points out engagement in non-teaching work (paperwork, dealing with complaints from parents etc.) causes teachers' overloads in Japan. On the other hand, some studies point out involvement in instructions for extracurricular activities (for example, club activities, student counselling) causes Japanese teachers' heavy workloads. Based on the above, we can have a question: what kind of work causes overloads of Japanese teachers? In order to solve the question, several regression models are constructed whose dependent variables are teachers' senses of workloads and whose independent variables are the amount of working hours per a week of 20 each work (teaching, instruction for club activities, paperwork etc.). And then comparison among the values of 20 regression coefficients is conducted, which show how much teachers' senses of workloads rise when the teachers engage in 20 each work for an hour. Through this analysis, we can realize what work makes Japanese teachers feel heavy burdens. The results are as indicated below. 1) Workloads of junior high schools teachers are heavy who have more hours to deal with parents' complaints and paperwork. 2) Moreover, workloads of junior high school teachers are heavy who have more hours to involve in instructions for extracurricular activities. And workloads of elementary school teachers are heavy who have more hours to involve in school events and students counselling. 3) Workloads of female teachers are heavier than those of male teachers. Moreover, workloads of teachers are heavier who a familymember requiring long term care. According to above, in order to lighten Japanese teachers' workloads, we need pay more attention to the amount of teaching in schools and teachers' work-life balance.

View full abstract

The purpose of this paper, on which was based on the perspective of the problem and challenges and overcoming those management by objectives, is to clarify the operational realities and effect and its impact factors of management by objectives in teacher evaluation. The following results were obtained: 1. While actual situation and the effect that captures the management by objectives as a means and opportunities of communication with its own look back and managers could be seen, teachers and the collective-cooperative life remained in individual pursuits of the management not yet up to reality and effects to capture. And, this trend was particularly strong in high school. 2. I found the following things about the impact factor for the effect recognition of management by objectives: 1) Each school stage, "advice and sharing and collaboration from managers and colleagues", "positive relationship with the principal" positive affected. In addition, it was not seen the impact of basic attributes, interviews, classroom observation. 2) In elementary school, "contemplation of the goal item" positive affected. 3) In junior high school, "integrally and growth atmosphere" positive affected. 4) In high school, "ingenuity of sharing and collaboration with colleagues in the management by objectives" positive affected. I make the following proposal for the effective operation method of management by objectives. 1. For teachers to understand the meaning of management by objectives and significance, images and specific method of approach, managers do compelling description through an appropriate scene and materials. 2. For management by objectives it becomes associated with the day-to-day practice is not formal, mandatory, managers achieve daily communication on which is based on the self-target faculty. 3. In particular, in the strong high school of individual business property, and to practice the ideas and initiatives that require the involvement of a colleague teachers, including the management.

View full abstract

Many disadvantaged youth in the United States are suffering not only from an academic achievement gap, but also from a profound civic empowerment gap- a widespread marginalization of those youth from civic engagement. Those who are in the low socioeconomic status are much less likely to be civically or politically engaged. The purpose of this study is to explore the significance and possibility of school-based citizenship education to empower youth in poverty and to overcome the civic empowerment gap. Specifically, a case of an urban school which has implemented Public Achievement is investigated. Public Achievement is a grass-roots, project-based citizenship education program, in which teams of young people discuss and solve problems in schools, neighborhoods, or broader communities. Poor neighborhoods tend to shape a hidden curriculum that instills powerlessness in youth and keeps them away from civic engagement. Schools, on the one hand, may reproduce and reinforce the disempowering hidden curriculum in the surrounding community; by not providing adequate civic learning opportunities, schools would send a message to students that they are not expected as productive citizens. On the other hand, the case in this study also suggests the strong possibility of school-based citizenship education; by providing an authentic civic learning opportunity like Public Achievement, schools may be able to empower students, teachers and community members by showing "the world they have never seen", and thus transform the hidden curriculum. Since most poor neighborhoods have many obstacles and very few resources to combat civic empowerment gap, it is significant that schools in such neighborhoods actively promote school-based citizenship education.

View full abstract

At school, it is very important to create good relationships between parents and homeroom teachers. However, parents sometimes concern only about their own children, while teachers are more interested in managing the whole class than in individual children. In some cases, this difference of interest leads to serious dissensions and troubles between the teachers and parents. "Handling the problems with parents" has thus been a core theme in teacher training over the last decade. This study presents a format of workshop for teachers, where I adopt the ecological-map for them to cope with such difficulties, and report its effectiveness. The ecological-map is a method to share understanding among the teachers not by discussing but by illustrating the problem with a diagram (Assessment). On the diagram, the teachers summarize accurate information about the parents in question, and draw the interrelationship among the persons concerned. Through making diagram, they explore the characteristics of claims and actions of the parents, and identify the cause and the structure of the problem. Based on the ecological-map, they make an action plan such as what each of the teachers do (Planning). The workshop that I developed proceeds as follows: (1) as a topic of the workshop, provide a concrete example of the parent-teacher problem that one has experienced; (2) in a group of 4-6 persons, discuss the case and draw an ecological-map; (3) consider a solution based on the map, using a white board to make notes and experiment. The ecological-map is originally used in fields such as family nursing, psychology and social work. The method, applied to school management, can contribute to building a better relationship between teachers and parents. Since 2010, I have been practicing the ecological-map workshop at over 90 places across the country. According to the questionnaire after the workshops, about 80% of the teachers who participated felt that the method will be highly useful to solve the problems with parents.

View full abstract

By noting the process by which a school principal and teachers employ collaboration characteristics to establish and manage a new, specialized course in a public high school, this paper examines ideal school principal leadership and collaboration characteristics with teachers. Below are methods to make progress in autonomous school improvement based on the establishment of a course for students wishing to enter a faculty of education in a public high school: 1. The will to improve problems based on recognition of current situations; 2. Deciding on an improvement goal and drawing a outline map toward fulfilling it; 3. Preparing materials to strengthen common awareness among teachers and offering explanations to convince them; and 4. Paying attention to the division of labor and handing over of responsibilities. What is important in this series of processes is that the principal must have a conviction for improvement while exercising leadership. Next, concerning collaboration characteristics with mid-level leader, the principal should strengthen communications with mid-level leader and should guide them so that a core of teachers with a high degree of expertise and awareness can exercise leadership in those aspects. Also, in terms of collaboration characteristics with teachers not in mid-level leader, the principal should take advantage of communication opportunities to listen to thoughts about school improvement and actively use them toward this end. Using the opinions of young teachers is also particularly important from their development perspective.

View full abstract

Drawing on existing phase models, authors Tobias Feldhoff and Stefan Brauckmann outline the change of topics and priorities in German-speaking countries' school improvement research. In their contribution, they also look at practices of school improvement, which in many cases represent a reciprocal relationship with school improvement research activities. Regarding the genesis of school improvement theories, a focus is particularly placed on reference to school organizational, school quality and educational governance research. Moreover, the authors highlight the extent to which school improvement research in German-speaking countries has recognized, adapted or overlooked findings from international research. It is thus possible to investigate parallels and/or unique features in phases of international respectively German-speaking school improvement research and school improvement practice, and finally discuss them.

View full abstract