著者
井上 好人
出版者
東洋館出版社
雑誌
教育社会学研究 (ISSN:03873145)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.74, pp.229-247, 2004

A "boom" among upper-middle-class families of sending their girls to junior high school began after the establishment of an education law for girls' junior high schools in 1899. During this boom, a considerable number of female students left their schools before graduation. This paper presents further research on this phenomenon. The factors that caused female students to leave high school before graduation are analyzed using the data (school register) of students at Ishikawa Prefectural Daiichi Girls Middle High School. The school register lists students who left school before graduation and who came to the school from other schools. Below are some of the concrete points that were found. 1. The students were classified by class background (such as nobility, samurai, and commoner), hometowns and parents' occupations, and analysis was conducted on the reason they left their high schools before graduation. The answers were divided into insufficient family income, lack of family interest in education, low academic grades, and evaluation of school behavior, for each family class. It is discovered that for each of the major classes, behavior evaluations were responsible for the greatest number of female students leaving high school early. This implies that they withdrew early due to their inability to adapt to the school's policy of conduct and behavior, leading them to give up on their studies. In other words, their withdrawals were caused by the relationship between the students and school regulations, teachers and classmates. 2. The behaviors or habits that the schools evaluated as improper were analyzed to look at differences in student adjustments among family classes. It was discovered that the needlework course was an important factor in connecting school lives to family lives. It also allowed the students to validate their own ideas of education in their families and to reconfirm their identities. At that time, perspectives on education varied among family classes. Samurai families and typical new middle-class families placed heavy emphasis on studies and education. The students from these families found the needlework course discouraging, and it made them feel insecure about their abilities in their school lives. Students from commoner families, whose families mainly ran businesses in commerce and industry, possessed a cultural ethos that placed an emphasis on home economics, as well as education. For these students, the needlework course was meaningful in helping them to adapt to their school lives. They had the greatest adaptability in dealing with school life.
著者
耳塚 寛明 Hiroaki MIMIZUKA お茶の水女子大学 Graduate School of Humanities and Sciences The Ochanomizu University
出版者
東洋館出版社
雑誌
教育社会学研究 = The journal of educational sociology (ISSN:03873145)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.80, pp.23-39, 2007-05-31

The measurement of children's academic achievements and the explanation of differences between social classes should not be dismissed by sociologists of education. Although inequality is a major theme of the field, the sociology of education has lacked empirical evidence on the structure of disparities in academic achievements. This is partly due to the difficulties involved in collecting sufficient data on academic achievement through schools. In and after 2002, studies were begun on the relationship between academic achievement and social class in Japan. At the time, schools were being heavily criticized within the context of the debate over falling children's academic achievements. Some significant surveys were administered at that time, though they were small in number. However, they left some important issue to be solved. The first is that analyses of the determinants of academic achievement are inadequate for clarifying what factors will diminish class differences in achievement. The second concerns the reliability and validity of the variables collected. In particular, variables on the economic conditions of households are lacking. Finally, the surveys were conducted only in large cities. This paper examines the factors that affect children's academic achievements, and the extent of the effect of such factors, through an analysis of the data of the Japan Education Longitudinal Study 2003 (JELS2003). JELS2003 was conducted in two areas: one a middle-sized city within the capital metropolitan areas, and the other a small local city. It also contains variables about the economic conditions of households. The major findings of the paper are as follows. 1. In the small local city, the differences of academic achievement between social classes were relatively small. 2. In the middle-sized city within the metropolitan area, children's academic achievements were affected by the level of monthly educational expenses, level of educational expectations of the child, and income level of the family. Inequalities in children's academic achievements in our society should be grasped in the context of the substitution of "parentocracy" for meritocracy.
著者
岩田 弘三 Kozo IWATA 武蔵野大学 Musashino University
出版者
東洋館出版社
雑誌
教育社会学研究 = The journal of educational sociology (ISSN:03873145)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.82, pp.143-163, 2008-06-15

The entry rate into the elite of university graduates who graduated with honor was higher than that of other graduates in Japan in the pre World War II period. What kinds of effects can explain this phenomenon? Three possibilities can be considered to explain it: first, honor graduates may be more successful in any job, so that there would naturally be a correlation between the university adaptability indicated by high grades and vocational success; second, they might have found it easy to gain sponsorship from established elite groups because of their honor grades, even if there were no necessary correlation between college grades and vocational success through severe competition; third, they may have found it easier to enter vocational sectors which were more accessible to the elite. The aim of this paper is to clarify how these three possibilities worked to create elites in the pre-war period, sampling mainly Summa Cum Laude graduates from Tokyo Imperial University. The main findings are as follows: (1) it is clear that Summa Cum Laude graduates entered jobs which were more accessible to the elite, such as Imperial University professorships or prestigious government positions; (2) they were more successful in whatever job they entered; (3) however, it is obvious that the Summa Cum Laude graduates received some special treatment in becoming Imperial University professors and were sometimes given advantageous positions and experiences as government officers, despite the fact that the competition for high elite positions in private companies was based on merit.
著者
古田 和久 Kazuhisa FURUTA 大阪大学大学院 Graduate School Osaka University
出版者
東洋館出版社
雑誌
教育社会学研究 = The journal of educational sociology (ISSN:03873145)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.80, pp.207-225, 2007-05-31

This paper examines the impact of social class and a variety of attitudes regarding society and education on attitudes toward educational expenditures. In Japan, the rapid rise of educational participation rates has been strongly supported by household expenditures. The scale of private funding is very large in comparison with other countries, and not only high income parents, but also low income ones, make expenditures for their children's education. Therefore, the following question arises: what motivates Japanese people to give education to their children? Previous research on economics and the sociology of education has focused on investment and consumption. However, considering that the motives for educational expenditures are complex and are influenced by a variety of characteristics of parents, including attitudes on society and education, this paper investigates attitudes toward educational expense using data from the 2003 National Survey on Work and Daily Life. In order to identify significant patterns in many variables, decision tree analysis is used as a data mining techniques. Following a brief introduction of decision tree analysis, the technique is applied to delineate the key features that distinguish between people who are eager to pay their children's educational expenses and those who are not. First, the data indicate that many people believe that parents should pay for nearly all of their children's educational costs. Second, decision tree analysis reveals that the most important factor influencing the payment of educational expenses is not the benefit of education, but rather the recognition of educational inequality in contemporary Japanese higher education. People who perceive educational opportunities as being equal are more willing to pay for their children, because they believe that there is stiff competition for educational credentials. Third, investment and consumption are important factors for people who believe there is educational inequality. As a result, the motive for making educational expenditures depends on attitudes toward society and education. On the other hand, the group that showed most strongly negative attitude is people who believe that educational opportunities are closed by family income and that their own subjective social status is low, and that education does not play a central role for achieving high income and social status. This finding suggests that at present, educational costs are very heavy, and that if the burden of tuition fee and other educational expenses clearly brings an awareness of educational inequalities according to family income, many people will perceive education as being meaningless for them.
著者
川口 俊明 前馬 優策 Toshiaki KAWAGUCHI Yusaku MAEBA 大阪大学大学院 大阪大学大学院 Graduate School Osaka University Graduate School Osaka University
出版者
東洋館出版社
雑誌
教育社会学研究 = The journal of educational sociology (ISSN:03873145)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.80, pp.187-205, 2007-05-31

The aim of this paper is to discover a route for the resolution of "differences in scholastic ability," which are a serious problem in Japanese Education, using the idea of "Effective Schools". "Effective Schools" are schools which have relatively small differences in scholastic ability between social groups. This report looks at the continuation of effects of schools, and studies the characteristics of "Effective Schools" in Japan. In conventional studies on "Effective Schools" in Japan, seven characteristics are clarified: (1) Ordered child groups, (2) Mutual empowerment by students, (3) A school administration that values teamwork, (4) Connections between schools and outside organizations, (5) A positive school culture, (6) A system that encourages learning, and (7) Leadership. These were found in data from a single year, however, and were not based on data collected continuously. Therefore, surveys to date are inadequate. This report demonstrates the existence of "Effective Schools" and analyzes the characteristics of schools in one city in Hyogo Prefecture, based on continuous data. The findings are as follows. To begin with, from an analysis of scholastic ability data, it is clear that the evaluation of "Effective Schools" is considerably affected by grade groups. In previous studies in this area, attention had not been given to the differences between grade groups, and this suggests a danger in relying on data for a single year. In addition, caution must be exercised in basing policymaking on data on scholastic ability performed in a single year. Next, while the results of the surveys varied greatly by grade groups in most schools, there were two schools (A and B) that were continuously effective. School A was unified several years ago. The teachers are building a new school culture, involving "watching and checking inside school" and "taking learning hours." On the other hand, School B is characterized by "good class atmosphere" and "self-direction in learning." The two schools seem to have very different characteristics, but it can be pointed out that teachers of both are supportive in various aspects. Comparing these with the seven characteristics of "Effective Schools" in Japan, School A is a school that has (1) Ordered child groups and (6) A system that encourages learning (in School). By contrast, School B has (2) Mutual empowerment by students and (6) A system that encourages learning (at home). Moreover, both schools have (3) A school administration that values teamwork and (5) A positive school culture. From those analyses, it can be hypothesized that "Teacher Culture" and "School Culture" are important factors in the study of "Effective Schools."
著者
木村 拓也 Takuya KIMURA 京都大学経済研究所 Institute of Economic Research Kyoto University
出版者
東洋館出版社
雑誌
教育社会学研究 = The journal of educational sociology (ISSN:03873145)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.80, pp.165-186, 2007-05-31

The purpose of this paper is to reexamine the use of "Comprehensive and Multi-dimensional Evaluation" as the basis for University Entrance Examinations. Though the phrase "Comprehensive and Multi-dimensional Evaluation" itself was first articulated in the 1997 report of the Central Council for Education (Chuou Kyoiku Shingikai), the concept itself came into existence immediately after the postwar period. In fact, "comprehensive evaluation" was merely an excuse for avoiding having to add the score of Japanese Scholastic Aptitude Test (Shingaku Tekisei Kensa, used from 1947 to 1954) into the total score of the University Entrance Examination. Moreover, the term "multi-dimensional evaluation" appeared in the outline of the University Entrance Examination (Daigaku Nyugakusha Senbatsu Jisshi Youkou), as it is proposed in the first report of the National Council on Educational Reform (Rinji Kyoiku Shingikai) in 1985. In fact, the report of the Central Council for Education (Chuo Kyoiku Shingikai) in 1971 stated that "Comprehensive and Multi-dimensional Evaluation" was scientifically valid as a basis for University Entrance Examinations. The report is famous as the only report based on evidence, and is generally known as the "1971 Report" (Yonroku Toushin). In the interim report, the Central Council for Education stated that follow-up surveys by the National Institute for Education and the Educational Test Research Institute (Nouryoku Kaihatu Kenkyujyo) had proven that a "Comprehensive and Multi-dimensional Evaluation" could be a valid selection method for predicting a good Grade Point Average after entrance to university. However, the two surveys cited contained simple statistical errors. The first, survey by the National Institute for Education, failed to control for the "Selection Effect." A "Selection Effect" is a "restriction in range problem," caused by cutting off the distribution at the passing grade. As a result, there is a tendency to misunderstand the fact that, in actuality, academic achievement tests on University Entrance Examinations have little relationship with Grade Point Average after entering university. To tell the truth, this problem had been pointed out as early as 1924 by Japanese psychologists who were interested in Entrance Examinations. In the second survey, by the Educational Test Research Institute, the inevitable nature of multiple correlation coefficients was ignored. As the number of independent variable increases one by one, the multiple correlation coefficient necessarily reaches the maximum of 1. In this paper, the follow-up research data from the Educational Test Research Institute is recalculated using a multiple correlation coefficient adjusted for the degrees of freedom. The conclusion is different from that reached by the Central Council for Education. This demonstrates that there is absolutely no scientific ground for the use of "Comprehensive and Multi-dimensional Evaluation." In other words, it is not necessarily correct that putting a lot of effort into University Entrance Examinations and using anything more than academic achievement tests as reference for University Entrance Examination will lead to more students gaining good grades after entering university. If this mismeasure of academic achievement is not properly recognized, the number of university students who cannot achieve even low basic competence level will surely increase.
著者
住岡 英毅 Hideki SUMIOKA 大阪青山大学 Osaka Aoyama College
出版者
東洋館出版社
雑誌
教育社会学研究 = The journal of educational sociology (ISSN:03873145)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.80, pp.127-141, 2007-05-31

Today, regional disparities in education can be seen from the following six aspects. (1) Disparities between areas (disparities between cities or towns) (2) Disparity inside areas (disparities between elementary school areas) (3) Visible disparities (4) Invisible disparities (5) Disparities in school education (6) Disparities in social education Among these disparities, this paper focuses on disparities inside areas, invisible disparities, and disparities in social education. The reason is that these are the new disparities found in mergers between municipalities (a contemporary phenomenon in Japan), movements of population and the decentralization of power. In other words, under the decentralization of power, communities are called on to be economically and educationally independent from the central government, and these new disparities are related to the educational power of communities and to the power of social education connected to them. They are also related to the urgent educational issues that must be tackled together by educational officials, people involved in schools and social education, and local residents under the decentralization of power. The two principal directions for this task are as follows. (1) Cooperation between schools and communities by strengthening support from educational administration to schools and communities, and strengthening cooperation involving both school education and social education. (2) Improving the specialization of education in a broad sense. In other words, improving technical cooperation with specialists such as teachers, leaders of social education, medical personnel and welfare personnel. These points will be crucial determinants of the success or failure of education under the decentralization of power. In addition, the author uses data on administration in cities and towns in Shiga prefecture, which are familiar to him. Nevertheless, the manuscript consists of some guesses without actual evidence in some points; therefore it has in some sense the character of the presentation of a hypothesis.
著者
小林 雅之 Masayuki KOBAYASHI 東京大学 Center for Research and Development of Higher Education The University of Tokyo
出版者
東洋館出版社
雑誌
教育社会学研究 = The journal of educational sociology (ISSN:03873145)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.80, pp.101-125, 2007-05-31

In Japan, like in most countries, the equality of educational opportunities is a crucial issue both in academics and in governmental policy. However, the policy of equality of educational opportunities in Japanese higher education has been weakening. The first aim of this paper is to investigate the background of the policy and to clarify the reasons for its loss of importance. With this aim, the author gives an overview of policy and research works on the equality of higher education opportunities in Japan, in comparison with those overseas. The aim of higher educational policy and planning in post world-war II Japan was to rectify disparities in higher education opportunities between regions and social classes by increasing the supply of institutions providing higher education. However, the policy turned drastically from enlargement to suppression in 1975. The establishment of new universities and departments in the metropolitan area were strictly restricted by the Ministry of Education. This policy aimed to reduce regional inequalities in higher educational opportunities, and was largely successful in doing so. However, the policy concentrated on the regional inequalities, leading to a loss of concern on inequalities among social classes, with the exception of student financial aid programs. Secondly, the results of the Student Life Survey by the Ministry of Education (from 2004 by the Japan Student Service Organization) are often used to demonstrate the equality of higher educational opportunities in Japan. On the contrary, however, some researchers argue that the inequality of higher educational opportunity has been increasing or at least not decreasing, using other survey data. This paper examines the equality of higher educational opportunities using new survey data from 2005. The data show large inequalities in university education opportunities, particularly in private universities. In particular, the participation rate is very low among low-income, low-achievement, female high school graduates. This shows that there are still problems of inequality. Thirdly, this survey shows the existence of debt aversion among parents in the lowest income class and in families with mothers having the lowest education levels. It seems likely that debt aversion leads to serious problems because of the inadequacy of student aid programs, coupled with high tuition fees in Japan. The student financial aid programs of The Japan Student Service Organization, the largest public student program in Japan, gives loans, but not grants, to undergraduates. Some parents and students from lower income tiers may decide not to apply to university to avoid a debt burden. This result implies the need for grants to maintain the accessibility of higher education in the future.
著者
堀 有喜衣 Yukie HORI 労働政策研究・研修機構 The Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training
出版者
東洋館出版社
雑誌
教育社会学研究 = The journal of educational sociology (ISSN:03873145)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.80, pp.85-99, 2007-05-31

The purpose of this paper is to examine the formation of "disparities" in the transition from school to work, and to discuss ideal methods for support. In the early 21st century, young people were able to become full-time workers even if they had become part-time workers after leaving school. In other words, Japanese society compensated for the initial "disparity" in the transition from school to work. However, the following two points were clarified in February 2006, according to a survey carried out on 2,000 young people in Tokyo. First, in the period from 2001 to 2006, the selection of full time worker was nearly completed at the point when young people left school. Second, academic background is growing and social background is weakening as factors for the selection of full-time workers. To put a brake on the expansion of "disparities," it is necessary to secure higher education as a right, and create laws to provide equal conditions to irregular workers, and to provide support for the transition from "Freeter" (job-hopping part-time workers) to full time worker.
著者
天童 睦子 Mutsuko TENDO 名城大学 Meijo University
出版者
東洋館出版社
雑誌
教育社会学研究 = The journal of educational sociology (ISSN:03873145)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.80, pp.61-83, 2007-05-31

This paper examines inter/intra family differences and child-care support policies in Japan from child-rearing strategies and a gender perspective. For the theoretical consideration of mechanisms of reproduction of family differences, this paper proposes a Child-rearing Code and Gender Code based on B. Bernstein's theory of cultural transmission. The Child-rearing Code system reveals not only inter family differences based on parental economic background, but also intra family differences based on the sexual division of labor in the family. This paper traces Family Support Policies after World War II, and examines how these policies were gendered and privatized. Especially since the 1990s, various Child-care Support Policies have been introduced in Japan not just to support family childcare, but to raise the birth rate, and these policies sometimes functioned to reinforce a Gender Regime. The latter part of the paper focuses on voices of parents, based on an extensive empirical investigation which was conducted in Tokyo from 2000 to 2006. The study describes the isolation of mothers with children in a gendered division of labor situation, the emotional capital in mother-child interactions, and the dilemmas of working mothers who have to divide their time between paid work and time spent with their children. It also explores the difficulties faced by fathers who want to, but cannot, care for their children, because of long working hours and business-centered social values. This paper also explains the economic difficulties faced by single mothers due to the lack of social security and wage disadvantages in the labor market in Japan. Based on these theoretical and empirical considerations, this paper concludes that the symbolic realization of inter/intra family differences are generated by a gender code which operates with an invisible gender hierarchy.
著者
飯田 浩之 Hiroyuki IIDA 筑波大学 The University of Tsukuba
出版者
東洋館出版社
雑誌
教育社会学研究 = The journal of educational sociology (ISSN:03873145)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.80, pp.41-60, 2007-05-31

In Japan, disparities in high schools showed an increasing tendency until the end of the 1970s. Since that time, attempts have been made to analyze and reduce these disparities, both in the field of sociology of education and educational reforms. This paper aims to re-examine the challenges in both fields and to elucidate their positive outcomes and limitations, and in addition, to point out a new perspective for future challenges in this area. Academically, the study of disparities began with the application of the concept of "tracking." At the beginning, many types of evils caused by disparities were problematized, and the concept of "tracking" was adopted to document the situation. The concept of "tracking" was compatible with functionalism, which was the main theoretical stream in the sociology of education at that time. The concept of "tracking" was originally used in studies of high schools in the United States to reveal the fact that there were invisible mechanisms for the selection of students in open curriculum systems. However, in Japan, the concept was used to report the fact that there were great differences in the inner processes of schools and subjective aspects of students based on school disparities. In other words, the concept was used to point out the effects of the disparities. As a result, the study of disparities has been developed as the study of "tracking effects." It can be said that studies of the tracking effect could have contributed to investigations of the inner processes of schools and subjective aspects of students. But instead, they took a macro perspective from the studies of school disparities. As a result, disparities were not examined in relation to social structures. Politically, there are two ways to reduce disparities in schools. One is to control the level of achievement of new students in order to prevent the emergence of differences among schools (input control). The other is to control educational activities in the schools to ensure that tracking effects do not take place in each school (through-put control). Since the late 1970s, input controls have been carried out through reforms of the entrance examination system of high schools and improvements of the guidance system of junior high schools. However, these controls were too indirect to reduce school disparities. In other words, whether they could reduce the disparities or not depended on their ability to change students' standards for school choice, which were indeed subjective. Through-put controls have been carried out as reforms of high schools. High school reforms after the 1980s were generally seen as an attempt to weaken classifications and frames of education. Logically, it seemed that these efforts led to a limitation of tracking effects in each school and to a reduction in school disparities as a whole. However, these attempts were not effective as they lacked a grand design and were done separately for each school. Challenges to the school disparities in both fields mentioned above seems to be homologous. They share the fact that they look at the disparities from a narrow perspective, only in relation to inner processes of each school or the subjective aspect of students. School disparities are social disparities. For example, they involve class differences among the enrolled students, and are related to regional differences. Consequently, in order to reduce school disparities, it is necessary to see them in their social context. The conclusion of this paper, by introducing recent challenges to school disparities, proposes this new perspective.