An International Comparative Study on Educational Restructuring and Changing Roles of Teachers

本研究旨在从比较的角度探讨教师角色和教学文化在变革社会和正在进行的教育改革中的作用。为此，我们进行了三项主要研究：(1)对日本1177名中小学教师和728名中国教师的角色、日常活动和生活方式的问卷调查；(2)日本、英国、美国、瑞士、德国辛加波尔和中国等约10个国家的教育改革运动及其对教师角色和日常活动的影响研究；(3)关于东京和日本中小学学校事件和特殊活动的问卷调查。一些研究成果以学术期刊论文的形式发表，并在国际和日本教育协会会议上发表。此外，还出版了两份研究报告：《在不断变化的社会中改变学校》(1999年3月，154页)和《日本教师价值观、态度和生活方式的比较研究》(2001年3月，169页)，均由藤田秀行主编。主要研究结果如下：(1)日本和中国的教学都是由许多工作和任务组成的，但他们的组织形式却有很大的不同，反映了各自国家的历史背景、学校教育的文化底蕴和社会经济和教育发展阶段。(2)两国教师都承受着对教学和学校教育的各种要求和批评的沉重压力，随着学校规模的扩大和学校管理的局部化，教学有加强的趋势。(3)教师的组织及其各种角色的合议制制度化，并与群体主义的社会文化传统交织在一起，在弘扬教学文化和师风方面发挥着重要作用。

This Study intended to investigate the roles of teachers and the culture of teaching in a ch anging society and under the on-going education reforms from the comparative perspective. For this purpose, we conducted three major studies : (1) The questionnaire survey on roles, daily practices and life style of 1177 elementary and lower secondary school teachers in Japan and 728 teachers in China ; (2) Study on education reform movements and their influences over teachers' roles and daily practices in about 10 countires including Japan, UK, USA, Switzerland, Shingapore, Germany and China ; and (3) The questionnaire survey on school events and special acitivities at elementary and lower secondary schools in Tokyo and in Japan. Some of the research results were published as academic journal papers as well as presented at the conferences of international and Japanese educational associations. Two research reports were also published : Changing School in a Changing Society (March 1999, 154pp) and A Comparison Study on Teachers' values, attitudes and life-style in Japan and China (March 2001, 169pp), both edited by Hidenori Fujita. Some of the major findings are as follows :(1) Teaching is composed of so many works and tasks both in Japan and in China, But their organization is significantly different between these two countries, reflecting historical backgrounds, cultural heritage of schooling and the stage of socio-economic and educational development of the respective country.(2) Teachers are under the heavy pressure of various requests and criticism over teaching and schooling in both countries, and teaching tends to become intensified along with the expansion of schooling and bureacratization of school administration.(3) Collegiality is institutionalized in the organization of teachers and their various roles, intermingled with a socio-cultural tradition of groupism, and is functioning to develop the culture of teaching and the ethos of teachers.