| Budget Amount *help |
¥1,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000)
Fiscal Year 1995: ¥500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000)
Fiscal Year 1994: ¥600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000)
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| Research Abstract |
70% of the city boards of education in Japan have had the experience of having consolidated elementary or middle schools or the expectation of consolidating elementary or middle schools in the near future. The background for it is explained as the decline of pupil population in most cases. The reorganization and consolidation of cities or towns or villages could not clearly explain the phenomina of school consolidation after World War II as researchers in this field have often pointed out.
Concerning the positive effects of school consolidation on the improvement of school education, improvement of school building or facilities is the first choice, and balancing of school size among elementary or middle schools in each city, activating group work by pupils comes after it. Effects on the improvement of teaching methods and curriculum are not so often pointed out by the city boards of education. On the other hand, concerning reverse effects of shcool consolidation on school education itself, for example on the organizing of pupil groups are rarely pointed out.
Most of the city boards of education seem to consider school consolidation as the improvement of the environment of shcool education. They consider the task of consolidating schools as their own obligation as policy-makers. For that reason, the participation of teachers in the decision-making process of school consolidation is very limited. The lack of conciousness on the part of teachers on the improvement of school education by taking advantage of school consolidation could be considered to be sought in the factor of teacher participation. But even if teacher participation could be realized, whether school improvement could really happen or not must be researched empirically, of course.
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