The Journal of Social Studies Education in Asia, Vol.7, pp.111-113, 2018

The latest trend in the reform of high school education inJapan:Focusing on the curriculum reform
Tomohito HaradaHyogo University of Teacher Education
1. Basic features of recent educational reforms in Japan
In Japan, there are the Courses of Study, national standards for curriculum for each stage ofeducation from the kindergarten to high school. The Courses of Study is revised roughly once inevery ten years in order to respond to changes in society. In the past half century, the Courses of Studyfor high schools were revised in 1960, 1970, 1978, 1989, 1998, 2008 and the latest version waspublished in March 2018. The basic principles of this revision can be seen in the ‘report’ of theCentral Council for Education submitted in December 2016, and the report’s major feature is to
propose the biggest reform in high school education.
The reasons are as follows. In Japanese elementary schools, the emphasis is placed on
pupil-centered learning and the aim has been not only to develop basic academic abilities in subjects
such as Japanese Language and Arithmetic but also to develop ‘zest for life’ (similar to the OECD’sKey Competencies) to solve problems collaboratively and to participate in civil society activities byway of ‘the period for integrated studies’. In contrast, in secondary education, in particular in highschools which provide upper secondary education, the focus has been largely on teaching andlearning to prepare students for the university entrance exam in the form of lectures given by teachers.
Consequently, the Japanese high schools have produced a number of students who can deal withproblems that can be answered by either yes or no and problems with correct answers but who are notgood at writing essays based on one’s judgment and interpretation and expressing one’s opinion. It isreasoned with this, citizens who can survive the 21st century which is full of uncertainty cannot be
developed and therefore the focus is to be placed on the educational reform at the high school level.

2. Two pillars in the high school education reform
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) has beenpromoting diversification of high school education. As of now, 98 per cent of those leaving the juniorhigh school in Japan proceed to enrol the high school including the correspondence course, whichsuggests that high school education is now effectively quasi-compulsory education. However, partly
due to the diversification policies, there is a significant gap in students’ academic abilities and how to111

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secure the quality of high school education is now a major challenge. In Japan, because thesingle-track schooling system which was established after World War Two has been in place for morethan seventy years, there is deeply rooted public opposition to the introduction of a double-trackschooling system in which those who wish to proceed to the university and those who want to start
work are clearly separated. Also the implementation of the ‘high school basic academic abilities test’(the certificate of completing high school education) proposed by the high school education
subdivision of the Central Council for Education is fiercely opposed by high school teachers – inJapan it is not easy to fail students with a poor level of basic academic abilities – and whether the test
will be implemented or not is not clear.
Against this background, the reform in high school education in Japan, which has officiallystarted has two major pillars. The first pillar is a reform of the university entrance exam system andthe other is a reform of the Courses of Study. Given that the university entrance exam system exerts
strong influence on high school education, a reform in the Courses of Study only will not bring aboutmuch substantial effect. Therefore, the aim is to reform both in an integrated manner. As for thereform in the Courses of Study, the first objective is to cultivate abilities to think, judge and express
and the promotion of active learning which utilizes perspectives and methods unique to each subject
is demanded as a way of achieving this objective. As for the reform of the university entrance exam
system, it has been decided to abolish the current ‘National Center Test for University Admissions’
which consists of multiple choice questions which are marked by the computer and to replace it witha new ‘University Admissions Common Test’ which tests abilities to think and judge by introducing
some essay questions from 2020. A special team for each subject has been set up to prepare for thenew common test and the teams have started to design exam questions and trials based on their work
have been carried out.

3. Features of the reform of high school curriculum: The cases of social
science related subjects
In this section, using two social science related subjects, Geography and History, and Civics (bythe 1989 revision of the Courses of Study, social studies at the high school was divided/reorganized
into Geography and History, and Civics), the features of the reform of high school curriculum aredetailed. There are three major points.
First of all, the subject composition was significantly changed. In the case of Geography andHistory, until the revision, ‘World History’ was a compulsory subject with ‘Japanese History’ and‘Geography’ as electives. After the revision, two new subjects, ‘Comprehensive History’ which
effectively integrated modern and contemporary historical parts of ‘World History’ and ‘JapaneseHistory’, and ‘Comprehensive Geography’ were set up and both were made compulsory. Behind thischange were the fact that ‘World History’ was unpopular among high school students – because itdealt with a wide range of time periods and areas and because it had a large number of terms – andaggressive attempts by the Association of Japanese Geographers and the Geographic Education
Society of Japan to regain grounds in response to the huge decrease in the number of students taking112

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‘Geography’ because ‘World History’ was made compulsory. Following these, as a way of cultivating
historical awareness appropriate for the globalizing age, ‘Integrated History’ in which students learn
modern and contemporary history of Japan and the world in an integrated manner was set up andmade compulsory together with ‘Integrated Geography’ which includes sustainable development
such as the use of geographical information system and enhanced disaster prevention education. Inaddition, above these subjects, three electives entitled the ‘Inquiry in Geography’, ‘Inquiry inJapanese History’ and ‘Inquiry in World History’ were set up. As the subject titles suggest, in thesesubject the emphasis is placed on learning by exploring a theme using materials, not on theacquisition of factual knowledge about geography and history.
In Civics, the former compulsory subject, ‘Contemporary Society’ was abolished and a newcompulsory subject ‘Public’ was set up. The feature of ‘Contemporary Society’ was found in theanalytical comprehension of society we live in from a variety of perspectives such as politics,economy, society and culture. In ‘Public’, the emphasis is placed on subjective involvement in theformation of sustainable society and state while collaborating with others. This probably reflects thefact that ‘Moral Education’ has been made a subject in elementary and junior high schools; it appears
that more emphasis is placed on participation and responsibility as citizens. One of the major factors
behind this is the lowering of the voting age from 20 to 18 years old in 2016. There are no majorchanges in ‘Ethics’ and ‘Politics and Economy,’ two electives placed above ‘Public’ in terms of itscontent.
The second feature, which is not about changes in the subject composition, is that three pillars ofa) knowledge/skills, b) abilities to think, judge and express and c) capacity to learn/humanity are
introduced as a way of setting objectives in each subject. These three pillars are to be made explicit
learning objectives for each unit and to be used in the creation of rubrics as the basis of assessment.
While assessment criteria have been introduced in elementary and junior high schools from early on,
this is the first time they are introduced to high schools and it is expected there will be a fair amountof confusion and stagnation in spreading the use of assessment criteria.
The third feature is a requirement to encourage learning through pursuing or a solving a task bymaking the most of ‘perspectives and ways of thinking’ which are unique to each subject so as todevelop knowledge/skills and abilities to think, judge and express to live and work in society.
Previous Courses of Study ordered to improve lessons, there are no description in details. In thisrevision, however, concrete questions and ways of using themes in terms of geographical andhistorical perspectives and ways of thinking and perspectives and ways of thinking related tocontemporary society are presented. In other words, it presents practical strategies for transforming
learning of social science related subject in high schools which was ridiculed as ‘talk and chalk’ tostudents’ ‘subjective/dialogical and deep learning’. This suggests that the MEXT is very serious about
the reform of high school education combined with the reform of the university entrance exam
system. The effects of this educational reform will become clearer by around 2030 and it is fair to saythat the totality of the quality of high school education in Japan is now being questioned.

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