英字新聞

The Yomiuri Shimbun January 12, 2014
Moral education classes could enhance social norms of kids
道徳の教科化　規範意識の涵養につながるか（1月12日付・読売社説）

It is important to cultivate from childhood the awareness to abide by the rules of society and show consideration to others. Therefore, it is crucial to improve moral education.
　社会のルールを守る規範意識を涵養(かんよう)し、他人を思いやる気持ちを培うことは大切だ。子供たちに対する道徳教育の充実が欠かせない。

A report, compiled by an experts’ panel on moral education set up by the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry, calls for moral education, which is not a regular subject at primary and middle school levels, to be treated as a “special subject” to improve the teaching of such classes.
　文部科学省の有識者会議が、正規の教科ではない小中学校の「道徳の時間」を「特別の教科」にして、授業のレベルアップを求める報告書をまとめた。

The experts’ panel examined the issue after the Education Rebuilding Implementation Council, which works directly under the prime minister, proposed in February that moral education should be made a regular subject as part of measures to prevent bullying at schools.
　政府の教育再生実行会議が昨年２月にいじめ防止対策の一つとして教科化を提言し、それを踏まえて検討が重ねられてきた。

It is reasonable that the government aims to call on schools to realize how important moral education is by giving it the status of a regular subject, thus improving teaching methods.
　教科としてきちんと位置付けることで、教育現場に道徳の重要性を再認識させ、指導の改善を図ろうとする方向性は妥当である。

Less value has been attached to moral education since the end of World War II in reaction to the moral education in prewar years that was propagated by nationalistic elements.
　戦後の道徳教育は、国家主義的色合いが濃かったとされる戦前の「修身」へのアレルギーから、必要以上に軽視されがちだった。

Currently, one moral education class is offered per week. However, it is up to teachers to decide how to conduct such classes because there is no official textbook. There are differences among schools and teachers in regard to moral education classes.
　現在、道徳の時間が週１コマ設けられているものの、教科書はなく、教え方は現場任せというのが実情だ。学校や教師によって、取り組み状況に差も見られる。

Some people have pointed out that moral education has lost substance, as some schools use slots designed for moral education to hold supplementary classes in other subjects.
　他の教科の補習などに振り替えられているケースもあり、かねて形骸化が指摘されていた。

However, many problems must be worked out before moral education can be made a regular subject.
　ただ、教科化を実現するにあたっては、課題が多い。

For instance, what kind of teaching materials should be used for moral education classes? The panel’s report called for the introduction of textbooks approved by the official screening system to provide teaching materials for such classes.
　例えば、どのような教材を用いるかだ。報告書は、教材を安定的に供給する観点から、検定教科書の導入を提案した。

Forcing values on children

Strong criticism has been voiced about making moral education a regular subject, with some people saying it could lead to the government forcing certain values on children. The panel apparently aimed to dispel these concerns by proposing that private-sector companies should compile textbooks for moral education.
　道徳の教科化に対しては、国による特定の価値観の押しつけにつながるとの批判が根強くある。民間の教科書会社に製作を委ねることにより、こうした懸念を払拭する目的もあるのだろう。

Innovative efforts by publishers on creating textbooks for moral education should be respected. However, to what extent should their products be approved if they are based on biased values or peculiar ideas?
　だが、教科書会社の創意工夫を尊重するにしても、仮に、偏った価値観や特定の主義主張に基づく教科書が作られた場合、どこまで認めていくのか。

When working out standards for screening textbooks for moral education, education authorities should have in-depth discussions by coming up with various scenarios.
　今後、具体的な検定基準を策定する際には、様々なケースを想定し、幅広い議論が求められる。

Moral education classes are supposed to be handled by homeroom teachers. This means that teacher-training programs at the university level and those for teachers offered by boards of education also should be reviewed. Teachers should be given access to appropriate methods for these classes.
　道徳の授業は、学級担任の教師が担当することになる。それなら大学の教員養成課程や教育委員会の研修を見直す必要もあろう。教師が適切な指導方法を習得できるようにすべきだ。

Providing academic assessments for children’s achievements in moral education classes is difficult, as they focus on students’ psychological development.
　道徳は子供の内面にかかわる分野だけに、成績評価が難しい。

It is understandable that the report proposed that children’s performances in moral education classes should be evaluated in written form, rather than numerical evaluations like Japanese, mathematics and other subjects.
　報告書が、国語や算数・数学など通常の教科のような数値評価ではなく、学習の様子を記述式で評価する方法を検討するよう促したのはうなずける。

Education authorities are encouraged to come up with an evaluation method under which teachers can make detailed records on each student’s efforts and development during moral education classes, rather than deciding who performs better than others.
　優劣をつけるのではなく、子供一人ひとりの努力や成長の足跡を丁寧に記録する。そんな評価の在り方を工夫したい。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Jan. 12, 2014)
（2014年1月12日01時15分 読売新聞）