Shigeru Kainose
Chair, All-Japan Community Schools Association
(Superintendent, Mitaka City Board of Education, Tokyo)

Have you ever heard the term “community school”? A community school is “a school which exists together with the community”, where parents or guardians (hereinafter, “parents”), community residents, and others participate in the school management and activities. Stated even more concretely, it is a school which has set up a “school management council” based on the law[1].

The All-Japan Community Schools Association is an organisation which aims to enhance and expand the community school initiative through “careful deliberation”[2] and information exchange about community schools, with the Superintendents of Boards of Education nationwide which were quick to set up community schools playing the central role.

In this article, I will give an overview of the community school system, which is progressively being introduced at special needs schools, and introduce the current situation.

Overview of community schools (school management council system)

The members of the school management council are appointed by the board of education from among the parents and local community residents, and have specific authorities and responsibilities when participating in school management. The three areas of authority of the school management council are as follows: 1) approval of the basic policy on school management drawn up by the school principal, 2) the ability to express their opinions on school management to the board of education or the principal, 3) the ability to express their opinions on employment of teaching and other staff to the board of education[3]. Moreover, the members also play the roles of holding discussions about the support needed for school management, promoting understanding among stakeholders, and sharing information.

The parents and community residents appointed by the board of education share their visions and goals for “what kind of children to raise in the community” and “what they would like to make happen”. This is because it is community schools which provide an institutionalized guarantee of a framework in which schools, families, and communities can take part in school management as parties which are directly affected.

By having such a framework constantly in place, schools, families, and communities share issues and carry out effective educational activities; at the same time, the understanding and cooperation of parents and community residents can be obtained even in difficult situations such as natural disasters or the spread of infectious diseases, permitting stable school management. Furthermore, it can be hoped that discussing the appropriate roles for each party at the school management council and enabling their partnership and cooperation will lead to effects such as an improvement in the quality of educational activities and a reconsideration of the diverse tasks of schools, allowing teachers to devote themselves to the tasks which make the most of their expertise.

In addition, stakeholders from the local community gather at the school management council, discuss matters together, and carry out school-related activities based on these discussions, which leads to community revitalization through the strengthening of human networks and even sometimes contributing to the resolution of community issues. We can say that having a sense of ownership and participation and aiming to reach a consensus among multiple stakeholders from various positions for the sake of a common goal is an experience which forms the foundation of a democratic society.

Community school-related policy trends and introduction status

How is the national government promoting these community schools through its policies?

The school management council system was introduced in 2004 through an amendment to the law. More recently, under another revision of the law in 2017, boards of education became legally obliged to make efforts to establish school management councils. Naturally, the special needs schools set up by boards of education are also subject to these revised laws.

As of May 2021, the community school system had been introduced at 11,856 public schools nationwide, 33.3% of all schools.

Broken down by type of school, there were 7,051 elementary schools (37.5%), 3,339 junior high schools (36.5%), 805 senior high schools (22.9%), and 286 special needs schools (26.0%). Looking at the rates of introduction, we see that there is a disparity between different types of school, with lower rates for senior high schools and special needs schools than for schools at compulsory education level.

When the law was revised in 2017, a goal was set of reviewing the state of school management councils around five years after implementation, and so the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology set up a “Review Committee of the State of Community Schools” in April 2021. I participated in this discussion as vice chair, and the Review Committee drew up its final summary in March 2022[4].

Regarding future efforts, this final summary states that “It is important for all stakeholders to have a correct understanding of community schools, in the context of relationships of mutual trust, as they take on this work”, and that “It is necessary to move ahead rapidly and steadily with the introduction of the community school system to all public schools, aiming to bring about school management which is open to the local community”.

Taking into account this final summary, among other factors, Mr. Suematsu, (then) Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, announced in June a goal of doubling the number of community schools within the following three years (increasing the number to around 20,000 schools).

Special needs schools and community schools

The effects of community schools which I have laid out above apply in exactly the same way to special needs schools, too; but I would like to introduce the points for initiatives at special needs schools raised in the aforementioned final summary.

Children of various ages and requiring various kinds of care and accommodation attend special needs schools. Since the viewpoints of obtaining the understanding of the communities in which the schools are located, building partnerships and collaboration with the companies that may employ the graduates, and creating spaces in which students can be active in their communities are important, involving a variety of stakeholders including, of course, parents or guardians and local community residents in the basic policy on school management and the curriculum is believed to be effective.

The introduction of community schools is also seen as effective in creating a venue to discuss the issue of how the school and the community should share responsibility for the learning and daily life of children and students with disabilities, including after they graduate and throughout their lives.

Based on these perspectives, we can see real-life examples of the participation of local governments, medical personnel, welfare organisations, and so on in school management through the introduction of community schools.

I sincerely hope that schools, families, and local communities will come together as one and make use of the community school framework for the sake of children at special needs schools.

At the All-Japan Community Schools Association, we host the annual All-Japan Community Schools Conference together with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and the board of education of the host location. At these conferences, initiatives at various types of community school from around the country are presented. The 2022 conference is scheduled for Saturday 29 October in Kusu Town, Oita Prefecture. If this feature gives you an interest in the topic, please do join us. The details will be posted on the website of the All-Japan Community Schools Association[5] as they become available.

[Reference materials]

Shigeru Kainose, “The introduction of community schools: an explanation in diagrams”, Ichigeisha, 2017