The Current Status of Alternative Schooling in Japan

オルタナティブスクール　ノ　ゲンジョウ　ト　カダイ　ゼンコク　レベル　ノ　シツモンシ　チョウサ　ニ　モトヅク　ブンセキ　カラ

フジネ, マサユキ

Fujine, Masayuki

橋本, あかね

ハシモト, アカネ

Hashimoto, Akane

オオサカ ダイガク ダイガクイン ニンゲン カガク ケンキュウカ キョウイクガクケイ

Department of Education, Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University

Recent qualitative research conducted in Japan has revealed that there are a variety of different kinds of alternative schools that stand outside the current legal educational system. On the other hand, quantitative research on alternative schools in Japan has not been conducted since the studies by Kikuchi and Nagata (2000, 2001). The purpose of this paper is, therefore, to provide a comprehensive survey of alternative schools in Japan in order to clarify their characteristics, based on a nationwide quantitative study of such schools. The findings of the study are as follows: (1) Alternative schools in Japan tend to increase in number under the impact of changes in social values associated with major events such as great earthquakes. (2) Half of the alternative schools in Japan prefer to be governed by current or new laws, while twenty percent of such schools do not wish to be governed by such laws. (3) It is possible to divide alternative schools in Japan into different kinds of groups that share common characteristics. Based on the results of this study, it is recommended that a flexible educational system be designed that will be capable of offering various forms of alternative schooling in response to users’ different needs.

橋本, あかね