2004 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
A Comparative Study on Meritocracy Between Japan and Singapore
| Project/Area Number |
15530550
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Sociology of education
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| Research Institution | University of the Sacred Heart |
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Principal Investigator |
HIDA Daijiro University of the Sacred Heart, Department of Liberal Arts, Prof, 文学部, 教授 (80181098)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
IWAKI Hideo Japan Women's University, Department of Integrated Arts & Social Sciences, Prof, 人間社会学部, 教授 (90114389)
MIMIZUKA Hiroaki Ochanomizu University, Department of Sociology of Education, Prof, 文教育学部, 教授 (40143333)
KARIYA Takehiko The University of Tokyo, Department of Social Sciences in Education, Prof, 大学院・教育学研究科, 教授 (60204658)
KANEKO Mariko Tokyo Gakugei University, Curriculum Centre for Teachers, Ass Prof, 教育養成カリキュラム開発研究センター, 講師 (70334464)
OTAWA Naoki The University of Tokyo, Centre for R&D of Higher Education, Research Associate, 大学院・教育学研究科, 助手 (60302600)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2003 – 2004
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| Keywords | Senior High School / Student Subculture / Tracking / Diversification / Meritocracy / Career Formation / Academic Standard / Social Involvement |
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| Research Abstract |
Japanese society in the past was a meritocratic society. Children were motivated to learn. The higher they achieved in their schools, the higher socio-economic status they attained.
But today the situation has dramatically changed. As an outcome of the Japanese "progressive" curriculum reforms in 1990s, our children find their curriculum easy and enjoyable. However they lose their zest for study and don't study hard. There are some hypotheses explaining their flagging interest in study and decreased motivation for learning.
First of all, the number of attractive full-time jobs has shrunk, making the job market unable to motivate high school students to study hard. Also, because there are wider and easier entrances to higher and further education, tertiary education fails to motivate high school students, neither.
Secondly, in metropolitan areas, one fourth of male high school graduates don't work and don't proceed to tertiary education. To them, both learning and educational qualification do not seem to be useful for getting money.
Moreover in Metropolitan areas, pupils have no time to study. They are busy getting and spending money.
However our research result shows that the percentage of students in Singapore, who agree that lessons are interesting, largely exceeds that of Japan (Singapore=64%, Japan=40.0%). The difference between the percentages is especially huge in Track 5, with Japan and Singapore scoring 37.1% and 78.8% respectively, showing that lower-rank industry-course high schools in Japan has failed in making their lessons interesting. Main factor of this difference is that strong relevance between the contents of learning and students future job exist in Singapore but not in Japan.
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