The theme of this paper is concerned with the current situation of schooling in Japan， but I think there are many points where the

Yusaku Ozawa

  The theme of this paper is concerned with the current situation of schooling in Japan， but I think there are many points where the

problems faced by education are common to countries throughout the world． Indeed， it may well be that many of the problems now being experienced by Japan are anticipating those of other countries・

1． Japanese society as aschooled society

 Japanese society today， I think， seems example of a schooled society in the sense Children， using the term in accordance with the Convention on Rights of the Child as

almost all enclosed for much of their lives within the confines school． Within the school， the modes of thinking

patterns of the institution are imprinted into them． The intensification of examination competition only serves to reinforce this process still further．

 The family too is affected in that as examination competition intensifies． It becomes a kind of sub−contractor to the schoo1，

complementing the process of the school activities． In this way， the phenomenon of schooled family extends its infiuence．

  As for society at large， it takes the relative excellence of the schooled labor force as the criterion for employment， resulting in the formation of a society that attaches primary value to academic credentials． The ideology and behavior patterrl of the school permeates and forms the foundation of society． This process could be termed the schooled society ．

  It is in the above sense that one can say that Japnese society has to present a typical

used by Ivan Illich．

the definition given in persons under 18， are

      ofa

        and behavior

been turned into a typical example of a schooled society ． Against this background， my paper sets out to clarify the reality and the structure of the schooling of Japan， and to consider the problems of the schooled family and the schooled community that arise from

this．

2． Children are enclosed． within the confines of the school

  Let us first take a brief historical look at the school experience of Japanese children and young people． This analysis confines itself to the period since 1945， marking the end of World War II， and divides that period into three stages．

  Stage 1・  1945 to end of 1950s． The stage of compulsory education for everyone．1948 saw the implementation of a system of compulsory education consisting of 6 years in elementary school and 3 years in middle school， making g years in all． Shortly after the system was introduced， attendance rose to more than gg％． This marked the achievement of compulsory education for virtually everyone， a

situation that has continued up the present day．

  Stage 2・ Early 1960s to mid−1970s． The period of high economic growth． The provision of preschool education increased， and the numbers of young people going on to high school and university rose．

  The numbers of 4 and 5−year old children attending kindergarten rose from 29％in the early 1960s to 64％in 1975． If the number of children attending day nursery is added， the percentage of 4 and 5−

year old children receiving some form of preschool education in 1975 rises to more than 90％．

  At the other end of the scale， the numbers going on to high school

rose over the same period from 58％to 92％， resulting in attendance

at high school by the vast majority of the 15 to 18−year old age

group． In addition， the percentage of those going on to junior college

or university rose from 17％to 34％， meaning that at the end of

the period about one in three of the relevant age group went on to

some kind of higher education． In terms of institutions， the number

of high schools increased from 4，600 to 4，950， the number of junior

colleges from 280 to 513， and the number of universities from 245 to 420． These increases were possible， because money was available in Japan． the Japanese would do well to bear in 』mind fr6m what source and at the expense of whose Iabor that mohey was obtained．

 The most conspicuous single phenomenon during the 15 years of high economic growth is the increase in the numbers going on to senior high schoo1． The result of this was a school attendance figure of over 90％ for 15 to 18−year olds．

 Stage 3．1975 to the present day． During this period， the numbers attending senior high school have increased sti11 farther， reaching 94％of junior high school graduates． Of those not going on to senior high school， many enter special training schools， misceUaneous schools or public vocational training facilities．

 The chief characteristic of this third stage is the change in the destinations of senior high school graduates． In the 1960s， apProx−

imately two−thirds went straight into employment， while one−third went on to higher education． By the Iate 1970s， the percentage going into employment had droPPed to 35％， while those going on to special training schools rose to 26％， and those to universities to 39％，rneaning that about two−thirds of 18−year olds were going on to some form of higher education．

 The above figures show clearly that Japan has achieved a higher school attendance rate than at any time in its history． Putting this another way， the point has been reached where virtually all children and majority of young people are enclosed within the con丘nes of schooling or educational institution．

  This is the reality thathasto beborn in mind when any considera−

tions are given to the problem of schooling in Japan．

  What we can see now is an increasingly rapid rnovement』toward putting an ever higher premium on higher education qualifications．

  The approaching perspective is that of a society in which it will be very di伍cuIt to survive if one has not gradaated from−high school， indeed from university．

  Furthermore， it should be noted tllat schools are now in a position

of exerting a decisive influence on children s future careers． For

children， the route through school is the only way of emerging into society at Iarge． On the other hand， society decides on work allocations for children according to which schools they have

attended． Career paths are decided by reference to schoo1． It is the school that decides the course of a child s life． This is an essential element in the makeup of a schooled society， and it is from this situation that examination competition has arisen and become more

lntense．

  3．From child to pupil

  If I picture myself entering school for the first time， the first thing that will happen is that I will be registered as Yusaku Ozawa， Class l，First Grade． My status will become that of a pupil， I will move to a mode of existence in which I have to behave in accordance with the school rules． Behaving to suit myself， as I do at home，

will no longer be tolerated．

  This process can be seen as a change in status from that of child to that of pupil． The characteristic of a schooled society is that children are evaluated not as children， but in terms of their achievements as pupils．

  So what does being placed in the position of a pupil mean？

  School education consists of four domains． Questions relating to what is taught and how teaching is carried out belong to the teaching do〃zain． Testing how far the knowledge taught has been absorbed is the task of the assess〃zent do〃zain． Procedures for deciding and keeping the behavioral rales of the school are part of the dailN life guidance（＝discipline）domain． Matters arising out of infringement of the school rules belong to the punishment domain．

  The speci丘c content of these domains has to be decided by someone．

in respect of each domain， decision−making authority exists． We therefore l have authoritツ ノbr teaching， authoritツ for assessment，

authoritツノb7 disciPline， and authoritニソノbプPunishment．

 The central issue is therefore the question of who it is in whom

authority is vested．

  Authority for teaching。 Questions of what kind of knowledge should be taught， in what order and by what methods， are decided by‡he teacher， not by the pupils． Their role is simply one of leaming what the teacher teaches thern．

  Authority for assessment． It is the teacher who sets test questions，

assigns marks and calculates results， not the pupils． Despite this，

pupils， results are recorded in a formal assessment document known as a cumulative guidance record ， the contents of which are not revealed either to parents or to pupils themselves．

  Authority for discipline． It is the teachers who decide school rules，

not the pupils；their role is to obey the rules without protest．

  Authority for punishment． The authority to make pupils stand in the corridor， to banish thern from school temporarily or dismiss them．

from school is vested in the teachers， not in the pupils． The teacher who implements this authority assumes the combined， role． of，

prosecutor and judge， while the pupil is Iike a defendant without an attorney．

  Looked at in this way， one can say that all the decision−making authority in respect of school education is vested in the teacher，

while pupils play no part in decisions， and sirnply exist in a state of obedience． To do more than obey what has been decided by others is the role of a slave．

  Are we then to assume that to assurne the status of pupil is equivalent to being reduced， in the name of education， to the status of a slave？

  Democracy means participation in decision−making． Our goa1， must be to strive for the realization democracy in schools， in other words，

participation by pupils in decision−making． Exclusion from decision−

making simply on the grounds that pupils・are immature should not be allowed．

4． State control of education

 Japanese schools are a typical example of so−called knowledge−

cramming schools． If we take one of the pillars supporting this

kind of school to be the superior−inferior， upper−lower nature of the teacher−pupil relationship， another is the state control of educational content．

  The educational content in Japanese schools is the same throughout the country． Whether we look at the textbooks， the number of teaching hours or the assessment， there is no basic difference between schools anywhere in the country． The foundations are

decided by the Ministry of Education， and it is expected that boards of education and、schools everywhere will obey its decisions．

  Textbooles are written in accordance with the o缶cial Courses of Study． The Courses of Study set out， by grade and sabject， the knowledge that is to be taught， as decided by the Ministry of Education．

  The Ministry also scrutinizes whether or not textbooks are written in accordance with the Courses of Study， and only those texts that pass its screening are permitted to be used as textbooks．

  The result of this is that textbooks are published by a number of different companies， but the contents are all very sxmilar to one another．

  The nu〃z∂〃o∫teaching hours is decided in accordance with the implementation regulations of the School Education Law， so that again the Ministry of Education makes the decision．

  Specifica11y， for example， for each of the six years of elementary schoo1， it is laid down that there should be a total of 1，015teaching hours， comprising 210 hours for Japanese language，175 hours for mathematics， and 105 hours for social studies， science and physical education． It is also laid down that at elementary school level， one teaching hour will consist，of 45 minutes．

  On the basis of the teaching hours laid down for each subject and each grade， the school will construct the timetable familiar to everyone． It is on the basis of this timetable that teachers and pupils alike get through each school day．

  It is clear therefore that school time and its foundation are controlled by the Ministry of Education．

  ルldhods cゾα∬e∬ment are designed to measure achievement in

accordance with the pattern of the cumulative guidance record ． This pattern is decided by the Director General of the Elementary and Secondary Education Bureau of the Ministry of Education．

  For a Iong period after the war， a five−point scale was used as the main method of assessment at all stages of schooling， and this was seen as the characteristic feature of assessment of scholastic achievement in Japan． At the present time， this has been changed to a three−point scale for elementacy schools， but for junior high schools it remains unchanged．

  A且ve−point， norm−referenced assessment method takes 3 as the

average， sets 5 as  a point considerably better than 3 ， 1 as  a

point c msiderably worse than 3 ， and 4 and 2 as intermediate

     POPlnts

  If everyone scored 100 points in a test， it would be possible， using

criterion−referenced assessment methods， to give everyone a mark

of 50n a five−point scale． In contrast to this， using a norm−referenced system， the marks have to be spread out across the scale． This method is in contradiction to any attempt to measure Iearning

effort or degree of achievement on the part of pupils．

  With a norm−referenced assessment method as the basic premise，

it is understood that th ere must be a judgement whereby pupils achievements are hierarchically arranged and allocated to one or other of the丘ve points on the scale． Moreover， this judgement is based on the calculation used to sraw a normative distribution

curve．

  Anormative distribution curve assumes that 3， as the central peak of the curve， will occupy 38％of the total marks， that 4 and 2 wilI each occupy 24％， and that 5 and l will each occupy 7％． Pupils achievement marks are allocated in accordance with these percentage distributions．

  This distribution is based on the probability theory educed by Gauss in respect of physical phenomena， and its application as it stands to the measuring of academic achievement is by any standards inappropriate． This is nothing more than a purely mechanical

apPlication．

、「

dven today， this five−point， norm−referenced assessment method is used for the entrance examination to senior high schools in Japan．

  More Tspecifically， the character of competition is not such everyone can get 100 points， but rather that each pupil is compelled by the system to improve his or her own chances and in so doing， to try and pull down friends and classmates． The result is that all the pupils are pitted against one another．

  It is the time that the丘ve．point， norm−referenced assessment method was abolished． This system of assessment contradicts any attempt to get pupils to learn on the basis of legitimate ambitions and aspirations， and indeed goes beyond this in that it sets pupils against each other as enemies． The system exists because it suits the purposes of selection．

  As the above outline makes clear， teachers are on the one hand obedient to the educational control of the State， and on the other hand， perform the role of intermediaries in controlling pupils． In contrast to this， pupils are subject to a two−1ayered system of educational control， both by the state and by teachers． However，

from the perspeetive of pupils in the course of their everyday life，

they are constantly aware of control by teachers， but since the system of state control functions through intermediarjaries and is transrnitted to the pupils in an indirect form， it is teachers who are perceived by pupils as their immediate enemy．

5．The standard deviation score system

  The major cause of concern for Japanese children is that what they study and learn has been placed in the context of examination competition． Furthermore， a major characteristic of Japanese educa−

tion today is that the system「of examination competition has been restructured on the basis of the standard deviation score system．

  The system of examination competition grows out of the competition for marks within the schoo1，［and its objective is tσgain entry to famous schools and universities． The effects of this competitiveness「

extend to a11 children， and in some cases even to pregnant mothers．

  A§the cause of intensified competition， the period since the 1970s has been one of a steep increase in the nurnbers of aspirants for high schools and universities． Since the nu「rnber of prestigious schools and universities is limited， as the number of aspirants increases， the competition will inevitably become still丘ercer．

  However， when we look at the present situation， what spands out at once is the丘nely differentiated ranking， extending from the丘rst to the hundredth position or・b母yond， among high schools and universities． There has long been a system of differelltiation among schools， but the ranking has never， before been so 丘nely calculated．

 What has made this finely ranked system possible is the invention of the standard deviation score system． The function of the system is to distribute scores， with 50 as the standard，75 as the upPer limit and 25 as the lower limit． It could be described as a finely tuned version of the norm−referenced assessment system described above． Formalated in the late 1960s， the system spread throughout the whole country during the 1970s．

 As a result of the invention of the standard deviation score，

students with high scores are channelled into prestigious high

schools and universities， and the result is that there is seen to be

an equivalence between schools which demand high scores and

prestigious schools． Hence the method of assigning a rank to high schools or universities on the basis of the standard deviation score has now become widespread．

 In this way， as the ranking of high schools and universities on the basis of the standard deviation score becomes more finely differen−

tiated， the score acqaired by each pupil or student becomes used as a measure to determine which high school or university it may be possible to enter． If someone gets a score of 55， for example， he or she will be told that a particular high school or a particular

university can be seen as possible targets．

  The ranking of educational institutions on the basis of the standard

deviation score， and the distribution of pupils among schools on the

basis of this score is the reality of examination competition in Japan

today． It is true that the marks gained in tests determine success

or failure， but in school selection at the previous stage， the sifting process is carried out by the standard deviation score． The school to which a pupil will go is determined by this score． This kind of assessment method has now become generally accepted， and pupils，

parents and teachers alike are bound by it to the extent that one can indeed justifiably talk of a standard deviation score system．

  Competition for achievement scores been transformed into competi．

tion for deviation value scores， and pupils go to private−sector ブ％肋8（examination−preparation schools）in order to improve their

standard deviation value scores． This process can be seen as a

distinctive feature of examination competition in Japan．