This paper illuminates dilemmas of achievement policy in the national curriculum as revised in 2008. During the past ten years, curriculum policies in Japan have been dominated by mass hysteria about a serious decline of ranking in the international achievement tests of PISA2000, 2003 and 2006, and TIMSS 1995, 1998 and 2003. The responces of policy makers to the decline of ranking competitiveness are restricted and even superficial under globalization, decentralization and deregulation. The revised national curriculum responds to the "knowledge-based society" merely by introducing the conception of "competence" in the PISA survey, while it misses such significant aspects of curriculum policies under globalized age as autonomy of teachers, equity of educational opportunities, quality of educational experience, multicultural education and citizenship education. These failings are derived from neo-liberal and neo-conservative policies in Japan. This paper explores policy analysis of the revised national curriculum, focusing on achievement policy and its dilemma between globalism and nationalism.

View full abstract

International student assessments such as PISA and TIIVISS have been widely conducted in recent years and educational policy tends to be based on the result of the assessment. However in order to make the policy effective, it is important to understand international student assessment deeply. First, it is necessary to know what each assessment measures, and what the methodological issues are. Second, as for league table, it is important to pay attention to the number of countries participating, sampling error, and variance. Third, regarding the low motivation among Japanese students, it is common among developed countries for many students to go to higher education. In addition, there are some factors that are unique to Japan. Fourth, analysis from the viewpoint of gender may be effective for policy-makers and teachers. The international student assessments, although they have some limitations, can give us important messages. So it is necessary to give policy-makers and teachers feedback based on research and analysis.

View full abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the national achievement test conducted in the compulsory education system starting in 2007. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) has undertaken complete enumeration survey throughout public school (6th grade and 9th grade students) and many private schools participated in this survey. To understand the characteristics of this New National Test Regime, this paper compares the background of first-time National test in 1960s with the recent one. It was found that the recent National test regime is framed by increasing pressure of financial reconstruction, conflict between centralization and deregulation, a "low trust model" which evokes external evaluation, and a transformation of pedagogic model from one of competence to one of performance similar to the "generic mode" that Bernstein argued against. In conclusion, regulative discourses that underlie the new test regime consist of three most important components: equality of opportunity, encouragement of competition, and heralding of hyper-meritocracy. To grasp the consequence of that regime, we need to examine the relationships to/within these regulative discourses through theoretical and experimental studies.

View full abstract

Against a new social stratification by globalization and structural reform, one of the focuses of today's education policy is to seek social equity in education more than ever. This article, as a keynote presentation of the symposium, aims to organize the trend of the modem educational policy promoted under the structural reform. Today's public education policy is remaking the education of Japan into one corresponding to globalization with meritocracy, the market principle, and the morality principle. Japanese education, children and young people are strongly influenced not only by the narrowly-defined education policy but also by various policies of other areas, especially the self-support social policy of integrating people left without enough public service, and local administration and finance policies which put the national finance reconstruction. It is indispensable to understand these policies structurally to secure fairness in education and society and to attempt a new Japanese education policy on the basis of egalitarian principles.

View full abstract

Yubari City (Hokkaido), which shifted to a municipality under fiscal rehabilitation in March 2007, fears deterioration in educational conditions because its educational budgets were greatly cut and because elementary and junior high schools were to be integrated to resolve a deficit of 35.3 billion yen swollen by accounting fraud. But what is not clarified is the extent to which the integration of schools will contribute to the fiscal reconstruction. The possibility of continuing additional schools should be considered from an educational viewpoint after fully disclosing to residents information on the additional fiscal burden if two or more schools are continued. And it is also necessary that bodies presumed to be concerned in the accounting fraud-including the national government and Hokkaido-should bear responsibility for it, and reduce the amount of the deficit to be paid by Yubari City to a just and practicable level.

View full abstract

This report discusses equality in education and role of schools from the viewpoint of child poverty and social exclusion. In particular, we examine the hardships and the disadvantages of children in care, and emphasize the role of the schools to tackle these issues. Schools have an important role to build a supportive human network for children in poverty.

View full abstract

Nishiokoppe-mura is an autonomous village with a population of 1,224 (2005). The village provides many of the modern services and facilities found in larger communities. It is often said that Nishiokoppe "shines even if it is small". The general account budget for the 2007 fiscal year is \1.9BN. Expenses for education are approximately \142M, which is 7.4% of the total budget. One elementary school received a national grant of \21.26M. The working expenses of one elementary school are approximately \9M. The school does not represent a large financial burden for the village. It currently has five students, and each is given the chance to shine. In partnership with a local resident, the school is putting a mountain village overseas education system into effect. Having a school in the community has helped its adult residents learn about self-government.

View full abstract

This article examines the revision of the School Education Law in June 2007, and takes a critical view of contemporary curriculum policies which would revise that law, although there were many objections about it. In a sense these policies must reveal the situation that the Japanese schooling system had to face after the revision of the Fundamental Law of Education in 2006. For about ten years, educational reforms have been constantly carried out. There have been two major ideological currents: neo-conservatism or neo-nationalism, and neo-liberalism. But in this revision of the School Education Law, it appears that neo-conservatism or neo-nationalism was more dominant than neo-liberalism. The curriculum policies embedded in the 2007 revision seem to be characterised as neo-conservative. The policies would promote moral education and would enable the schools to teach pupils and students conservative or nationalistic values. Evidently the aim of the policies was directed to reinforce governmental control of education and school curriculum. These facts are indeed very important, but this article draws the following conclusions. First, contemporary educational reforms are led by the powerfully bound combination of neo-conservatism and neo-liberalism. The neo-conservative aspect which dominantly veiled the curriculum policies in the revision of the School Education Law is just one side of the whole process of educational reforms now. Secondly, curriculum policies these days are interpreted as the result of the mixture of two means. One is direct governmental control of the curriculum as suggested in the revised School Education Law in 2007. The other is the indirect one such as the national achievement test started in 2007. For a while both will be exploited occasionally by curriculum policies.

View full abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the teacher control policy trend after the revision of the Fundamental Law of Education. The phrase 'servants of the whole community' was deleted in the new law. It is thought that there are two reasons of the deletion; first, the regulation of the law for all teachers (not only public schools but also private schools); secondly, a legal route to the personnel management of non-public employees. That is to say that the nation is urging to revise the guarantee of status system and rule of teachers even if not/public employees. This teacher policy is linked to administrative reform. With revision of this law, the Law for Certification of Educational Personnel and the Law for the Special Regulations Concerning Educational Public Service were revised in 2007. By the laws, a personnel management system for teachers with insufficient teaching ability was systematized and a teacher qualification renewal system was introduced. MEXT has urged the appropriate operation of a demotion and dismissal system (bungen). The appropriate operation of this system means the exercise in the administrative discretion disposal.

View full abstract

This paper analyses the effects of decentralization on the educational policymaking process where the transition to planned administration is under way. Through the amendment of the Fundamental Law of Education in 2006 and enactment of 2007 Educational Reform Acts, some policymakers pursued the introduction of management by objective into educational policy and the erosion of the independence of educational administration. Compared with other policy areas, transition to well-planned administration has not made progress in education. The formulation of the Basic Promotional Plan for Education is most representative policy for a well-planned administration. The Plan intends to centralize policymaking in education and to promote bureaucratic-oriented policy. On the other hand, a well-planned administration requires educational bureaucrats to adjust their own plans consulting with legislative section or other policy areas through policymaking process. The amendment of the Local Educational Administrative Organization and Operation Law goes against the recent policy trend to weaken the autonomy of educational policy area. Rather, it gives more power to educational administration such as the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and local educational committees. Under the wave of promoting well-planned administration, there are struggles between educational bureaucrats and other policy actors to take the initiative in policymaking and keep independency of educational administration.

View full abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the characteristics and prospective function of the academic juridical person during the Occupation era after World War II. The paper focuses on managed regulatory body such as the board of directors and the board of trustees. Despite the epoch-making nature of this scheme, academic juridical person distinguished from foundational juridical person, with the aim of justifying public nature of private school, most previous research has not identified the legislative process of the Private School Law. This paper offers the following clarification. First, the Education Ministry planned the system of academic juridical person considering the peculiarities of school education. Secondly, the new concept of the board of trustees was to increase the openness and democratization of school administration, to prevent self-assumed management by the board of directors, to adjust problems raised between autonomy and publicness. And the system of the board of trustees could function as not only a consultative body but also a decision-making body. Also the Private School Law required that an academic juridical person must have the board of trustees. Thirdly, we should understand the board of trustees as essential to the scheme of academic juridical person.

View full abstract

This paper focuses on the policy for successful academic achievement and the plan for school improvement in Chicago Public Schools, in order to clarify the significance of school autonomy and teachers' leadership practice in school. Distributed leadership-the theoretical approach to improve educational practice and to constitute education governance from the bottom-is the key to reach this goal. In Chicago under the integrated governance, the mayor wields enormous power to control school improvement, reconstructing schools or firing personnel. That is less concerned of educational and pedagogical ideas by educational professions. The district office has recently supported school improvement planning, but it has not been enough yet. At school, teachers collaborate with principal and colleagues to make school improvement plan, based on their research on any stakeholders and legitimacy of its local school council, the governing body. In conclusion, to advance academic achievement in an entire district, it is significant to build up a reciprocal system to support and enrich such a school governance system, based on distributed leadership. It is important for the school district to provide support that schools need for their improvement planning, based on a reciprocal relationship among them.

View full abstract