This paper is an attempt to clarify the tasks for the reform of the Japanese high school curriculum by paying attention to the new-type, credit-based high schools. The research the authors have conducted consists of two different approaches, a questionnaire and a series of school visits. The authors have requested the 39 credit-based high schools to answer a qrestionnaire, and have collected the answers from all of them. Questions refer to their graduation requirements, curriculum, special activities, guidance, students' sentiment, etc. Our findings are summarized as follows. Although the credit-based high schools are too diverse to be characterized in a few words, most of them offer a wide variety of courses and also give credits for learning in places other than their classrooms. The flexible management in curriculum and the individualized weekly schedule created by free course election are generally welcomed by the students. However, the schools also have the tasks they need to tackle in the special activity field, in their physical condition, and in the issue of students' dropouts. The authors' school visits are represented by Yuho High School, which appears to be most successful. In this school, students can freely organize their own daily schedule through their spontaneous combination of some of the six 90-minute class periods lasting from 8:50 am through 9:05 pm. The flexible system encourages students to learn based on their interest and on their life condition. And it requires them to be more self-controlled in everyday life. Finally, the following are the main conclusions the authors have reached. (1) The diversity and the flexibility observed in the curriculum of the school surveyed ought to apply generally the traditional high schools as well so that students can improve their self-control ability. (2) In addition, high school courses should generally be reviwed to make room for more spontaneous self-controlled learning.
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