英字新聞

The Yomiuri Shimbun January 28, 2014
High school students should receive better education in Japanese history
日本史必修化　自国の軌跡を深く学びたい（1月28日付・読売社説）

To cultivate their identity as Japanese, students should receive an adequate education in Japanese history.
　日本人としてのアイデンティティーを育んでいくためには、日本史の教育が欠かせない。

Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Minister Hakubun Shimomura announced that his ministry will study the possibility of making Japanese history a compulsory subject at high schools. By referring the idea to the Central Council for Education for deliberation, the minister hopes to realize the idea in five or six years’ time.
　下村文部科学相が、高校の日本史の必修化を検討する考えを表明した。中央教育審議会に諮問し、早ければ５〜６年後の実施を目指すという。

For mapping out the future of Japan, it is essential for young people to study Japanese history. It is also important for them to be able to exhibit pride in the history of their own country. Making Japanese history compulsory at high schools is reasonable.
　日本の将来を考える上で、日本の歴史を学ぶことが必要だ。若者が自国の歴史に誇りを持てるようにすることも大切だ。日本史必修化の方向性は妥当だろう。

As globalization advances, there will be more opportunities for Japanese to talk about their country’s culture and other things abroad.
　国際化が進み、日本人が海外で自国の文化などを語る機会が増えてくる。

The idea of making the subject compulsory at high schools indicates a sense of crisis over the lack of education required to produce internationally minded people.
必修化の検討は、国際人の基盤となる教養が足りないことへの危機感の表れとも言える。

When school teaching guidelines were revised in 1989, social studies at high schools were divided into “geography and history” and “civics.” When studying “geography and history,” world history is compulsory. In addition, a student has to choose either Japanese history or geography as an elective subject.
　高校の「社会科」は、１９８９年の学習指導要領改定で、現行の「地理歴史」と「公民」に分かれた。地理歴史の中では、世界史が必修で、併せて、日本史か地理のいずれかを選択履修するという取り扱いになっている。

As a result, 30 percent to 40 percent of high school students in Japan are believed to graduate from high school without a sufficient grounding in Japanese history.
　その結果、高校生の３〜４割は日本史を学ばないまま高校を卒業していると推定される。

Although students are supposed to have studied the basics of Japanese history in primary and middle schools, it is problematic that many students have no opportunity to deepen their knowledge of Japanese history in high school.
　義務教育段階で一通り、日本の歴史を履修しているとはいえ、高校で理解を深める機会を持たない生徒が少なくないのは問題だ。

Many problems remain

Making Japanese history a compulsory high school subject has been urged by local governments and other entities. The Tokyo metropolitan government and Kanagawa prefectural government have prepared textbooks, so that students have to learn Japanese history at the high schools they operate.
　日本史の必修化を求める声は自治体などから出ていた。東京都や神奈川県は、独自教材を作成し、都立校や県立校の生徒に日本史を必ず学ばせている。

However, many issues need to be discussed.
　ただ、必修化にあたっては、検討すべき課題も多い。

By making Japanese history a compulsory subject in place of world history, students may have few opportunities to learn about the history of foreign countries at primary, middle and high schools.
　世界史に代わって日本史だけを必修にすれば、小中高校を通じて外国の歴史に触れる機会がほとんどない生徒が出かねない。

It may be necessary to review the curriculum, including compulsory education subjects, by adopting elements of world history at middle schools, for instance.
　例えば、中学校で世界史の要素を取り入れるなど、義務教育も含めたカリキュラムの見直しを考える必要があるのではないか。

If both world history and Japanese history became required subjects, more high school students would not study geography. Some people have suggested the establishment of a general course of geography and history that would be made compulsory.
　世界史と日本史がともに必修となれば、今度は地理を学ばない高校生が増えるかもしれない。地理歴史の総合科目を新設して、必修とすべきだという意見もある。

There is also room to review the conventional way history is taught, which gives too much weight to memorization. It is natural for high school students to dislike studying history if they are forced to memorize a vast amount of terms.
　知識の詰め込みに偏りがちな従来の歴史教育の在り方にも、再考の余地がある。膨大な用語の暗記を強いるのでは、高校生が「歴史嫌い」になるのも無理はない。

It is desirable for educators and schools to tax their ingenuity to come up with educational content that stimulates the intellectual curiosity of students, for instance, by having them delve more deeply into historical events.
　歴史的事件の背景を掘り下げて考えさせるなど、生徒の知的好奇心を喚起するような教育内容を工夫すべきだろう。

It is also necessary to improve education in regard to modern and contemporary history. Such efforts will certainly cultivate students’ understanding of the current complex international situation, by correctly understanding the history between Japan and other Asian countries.
　近現代史に関する教育を充実させることも求められる。日本とアジア諸国の間に横たわる歴史を正しく理解する学習を通じて、現在の複雑な国際情勢を見る眼(め)が養われていくはずだ。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Jan. 28, 2014)
（2014年1月28日01時11分 読売新聞）