General Education in Prewar and Postwar Japan -Impact of Higher General Education on General Education-

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K23349
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: :Education and related fields
• Research Institution: The Graduate School of SocialDesign
• Principal Investigator: Yoshioka Mieko 社会構想大学院大学, 実務教育研究科, 助教 (80844919)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-08-30 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 高等普通教育 / 一般教育 / 新制大学 / 教養教育

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this study was to verify the assumption that general education, which was considered to have been newly introduced in the new postwar university system based on the U.S. education model, had some points in common with higher general education in the old system high schools and university preparatory courses. General education in the new university system was mainly provided by prewar institutions of higher general education, such as the old system high schools and university preparatory courses. Both higher general education and general education were set up not as subordinate to specialized education, but as education to train people for the society. In reality, however, both were abolished due to the divergence between their ideals and actual conditions. Focusing on the period before and after the institutionalization of general education and higher general education, this study examines these issues based on historical facts.

Free Research Field

日本教育史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究成果の学術的意義や社会的意義は、これまで戦後の新制大学に「新たに導入」されたと位置づけられてきた一般教育を、戦前の旧制高等学校や大学予科における高等普通教育との共通性に着目して検討したことである。両者はこれまで全く異なるものとされてきたが、高等普通教育も一般教育も教養教育と専門の学問との狭間でこれら教育と学問の橋渡しが期待されていた。本研究の視点により、一般教育が結果として定着しなかった要因や、現在まで続く一般教育に関する諸問題を解決するうえで新たな視点を提示することが可能となる。