A Comprehensive Research of Theory and Practice of Development and Organization of Instructional Materials Focusing Local Subjectmatters and Local Materials.

这一研究项目的目的是发展一种理论，组织有意义的教学材料，重点放在地方问题和材料上，以振兴社会研究教育。为了达到这一目的，我们进行了如下三个分支的研究活动：(1)以地方性的观点重新评价二战后日本社会研究教育史上出现的那些理论和实践。我们选择了三位典型的社会研究教育家柳田久雄、仓月若介和安井敏夫，他们主张地方问题和材料在社会研究中的重要性，并从“范式”和“学习者的意义视角”的概念出发，讨论了评估这些理论和实践的必要性。(2)回顾了美国关于定性教育研究方法的争论。因为我们认为，用定性的方法来重新评价社会科教育的理论和实践是非常重要的。在回顾了关于定性方法的争论之后，我们意识到教育研究范式的重要性，以及我们有必要在日本学校的情况下进行一些定性的田野调查。(3)尝试使用一种定性的田野调查方法进行一些学校或课堂调查。我们试图开发一种简化的田野调查方法，并在一些学校应用。作为我们田野调查和参与者观察的结果，我们提出了一些教育批评。这些批评集中在“学校或教室里到底发生了什么”，以及孩子们真正创造的意义的重要性，这些在普通的实证主义教育研究中大多被忽视了。

This research project aims to develop a theory of organizing meaningful instructional materials focusing local matters and materials in order to revitalize the social studies education. To attain the aim, we worked for three branches of research activities as follows:(1) Reappraising those theories and practices with the view of locality which appeared in the social studies education history in Japan after the World War II. We select-ed three typical social studies educators,Kunio Yanagita,Kuranosuke Wakasa,and Tosio Yasui,who claimed the importance of local matters and materials in the social studies education,and discussed the need to evaluate those theories and practices in terms of the concept of "paradigm"and"meaning-perspectives of the learner."(2) Reviewing the controversies about the qualitative approaches to educational research in the United States,because we just thought that it was very important to use the qualitative methods to reappraise the theories and practices of the social studies education. Having reviewed the controversies on the qualitative methods,we realize the importance of the paradigms underlying educational researches,and the need for us to do some qualitative fieldworks in the situations of Japanese schools.(3) Trying some school or classroom surveys using a kind of qualitative fieldwork methods. We tried to develop a kind of simmplified methods of fieldwork and applied them in some schools. As a result of our fieldworks and participant observations,we presented some educational criticism. Those criticism focused on"What is happening, really,in a school or classroom,"and the importance of meanings kids really make, most of which had been ignored in the ordinary positivistic educational researches.