Research on school teachers practices when confronted by a trend local reforms

Research Project

Project/Area Number	13610205
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Section	一般
Research Field	社会学(含社会福祉関係)
Research Institution	HIROSHIMA UNIVERSITY
Principal Investigator	LEVI ALVARES Claude Okayama University, Faculty of Integrated Arts and Sciences, 総合科学部, 助教授 (80284123)
Project Period (FY)	2001 – 2003
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 2003)
Budget Amount *help	¥1,600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,600,000) Fiscal Year 2003: ¥800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000) Fiscal Year 2002: ¥800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000)
Keywords	Teachers / Educational Reforms / Zesei Shido / Bureaucratic management / Overload of work / School Autonomy / Prefectural Board of Education / School Administration / 学校文化 / 学校組織 / 教育政策 / 広島県 / 教員の自立 / 職業的社会化 / 教員文化 / 学校形体 / 学校の自治 / 教育集団 / 改革 / 学校現場 / 事例研究 / 公立中学校 / 職業社会化
Research Abstract	This research intend to know to which extend the educational and organizational reforms impulse at the prefecture level will affect the practices of teachers situated at the end of the hierarchical chain of command. This issue is sustained by two previous assumptions. The first one claims that the professional practices of teacher are for a large part profiled by a set of protocols and routines historically produced and stored in the school. The second assumption is that those protocols and routines are highly resistant to change either it comes from inside or from outside pressures. The research has investigated three distinct topics that compose the three chapters of this report. 1. The first issue deals with the so-called "zesei shido" policy that was engaged in 1998. The first chapter will summarize the objectives of the reforms and give some light on some of the factors involve in this administrative take over. 2. In order to understand some of the issue of the reforms, the second ch … More apter will cover the discussions held in the prefectural assembly between 1989 and 2003. We will check some of the "dramatic" key words of the reforms in order to understand how topics such as "lowering of scholastic ability", "teacher's assembly", "head teacher's allowance"... were approached before 1998. 3. The last chapter will examine the transformations that have occurred since 1998. A first entry will be given an analysis of the three rapports that were produced in order to clarify the reason of the suicide of a former "minkanKocho" in the town of Onomichi. The second entry will summarize results from a statistical survey conducted in January 2004 in 23 primary and secondary schools of the prefecture. According to this research, the "zesei shido" reforms conducted after 1998 have had a very strong impact on the daily practices of primary and junior high schools teachers. By stressing the "public servant" definition of teachers, the reforms have reinforced in a quite radical way the hierarchical line. As paper work has increased in a tremendous way, teachers are complaining of a structural overload of work that hindered the time they can share with theri students. As a result, early retiring has almost doubled and the number of teachers on leave for medical reason has significantly increased. Formally aimed at improving the quality of the teaching body, the reforms seem to have mainly required a more obedient and more devoted staff. School practices related to the national anthem and the national flag have been scrutinized with a luxury of details that show "suspicion" as one of the main drives of the administrative leaders, a "suspicion" that is deeply rooted in the local history of the Prefecture. Less