By Taketo Tabata
Japan is an aging society with a low birthrate. In March 2022, Shiroishi City, located in the south of Miyagi prefecture Japan, established a committee to consider the future of public schools in light of the declining school aged population. I was elected to chair the working group. Our committee began our work by looking at the city's student demographics. The total number of students in elementary school from 1st grade to 6th grade was 1,332 in 2022, but it is predicted that this will decrease to 600 in about 10 years (about 100 students per grade). Also, today, the standard number of children per class in Japan is 40. In the future, if there are 100 students in each grade, even if we collect students from the entire city, there will only be three classes per grade. In 10 years, one school in a city will be enough, compared to the 10 elementary schools and 5 junior high schools in Shiroshi City in 2022. All of this shows why school consolidation is inevitable in Japan's future.
This is one example of a social problem that we are currently facing in Japanese society and education. It is a pressing issue that small local governments and school communities have to make immediate decisions about. To help our working group move forward, we decided to ask, what has been the fate of past school consolidations? This is what we’ve observed: The administration decides to consolidate small schools into larger schools. Areas with small schools oppose the decision. The administration repeatedly explains to the residents, but they continue to disagree, and the city policy is pushed forward and carried out as it was decided by the top administration. What remains? A big school and a grudge. Our working group decided we wanted to avoid this top-down approach to policy making because it only leaves behind resentment and discord among citizens.
To address the root of the problem–the policy-making process–we decided to involve the citizens! Historically in Japan, the government makes decisions and citizens are forced to obey. Citizens do not see themselves as having agency in policy making. Citizens also do not have enough information to be informed about the important issues of our times. For example, most citizens do not see the declining birthrate as a major educational issue and therefore they lack the ability to participate in their government, and leave the decision making to government officials. So we started thinking, how can we better involve citizens in the decision making process around this particular social and educational issue? Also, how can we engage young people, who are responsible for the future of the city, in the decision making process as well?
This is when we decided to apply philosophy and the process of doing philosophy with children (P4C) to the issue. P4C is an innovative approach to education that transforms educational experiences by engaging people in the activity of philosophy. Educators used P4C in Miyagi to address trauma after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami (Shoji & Horikoshi, 2015; Tabata, 2016) and had really positive results. Today, P4C Miyagi applies P4C in schools in the region to accomplish school goals, resolve regional, school, and classroom problems, and build a learning community among educators (Miyagi University of Education, 2018). They model their P4C activities based on the approach introduced by Mitsuyo Toyoda, an affiliate of the University of Hawai‘i, Mānoa Uehiro Academy for Philosophy and Ethics in Education (Tabata, 2016).
In September 2022, we had nine high school students and young people in their 20s from the city gather together for a P4C dialogue sponsored by our committee. Shiroishi City has been implementing P4C in all elementary and junior high schools since 2016, therefore, the environment was conducive to a successful P4C dialogue. The committee provided information to young people about the city's student demographics, the aging of school buildings, and the advantages and disadvantages of small versus large schools. The group generated the following question to think about together: What should the city's schools look like in 10 years? Should schools be reorganized or not? The young people engaged in philosophical dialogue and inquiry with one another for close to five hours. In the end, everyone came to the conclusion that “a bold reorganization would be better for the city's children.” What this means is a major reorganization that will abolish the current school districts, significantly reduce the number of schools, and integrate elementary and junior high schools. One young person who participated said, “I was happy to be able to discuss the future of the city's schools, and I am proud of my city for being able to have such discussions.''
At the end of our conversation, we realized that this initial philosophical dialogue with young people from the city might not be enough. We wondered, what do current parents think? In December 2022, we invited 20 parent representatives from kindergartens, elementary and junior high schools together for a P4C dialogue on the same issue. We made sure to recruit parent representatives from each of the school districts in the city. As with the youth gathering, we provided key information to parents before we opened up the philosophical dialogue. After two and a half hours of discussions, two proposals were made: (1) Keep small schools in each region. (2) Reorganize the schools into one medium-sized school and two small schools. Our working group consolidated the thinking from this first session and created materials for a follow up meeting. In January 2023, we held a second parent P4C meeting. After two hours of discussion, parents who had supported the former changed their minds due to the aging of the school buildings and the high cost of maintaining a small school, and a radical reorganization plan, one middle integrated elementary and junior high school and two small schools, became the consensus. I will never forget the complicated expression on the face of a parent from a small school when he said, “It's honestly sad that the current school will go away, but for the sake of the city's future children, reorganization is desirable.''
In summary, I have learned from this experience that if citizens are given the necessary information and asked to make responsible decisions through dialogue with fellow citizens, they will be able to think and make decisions rationally for the city, transcending their personal feelings and interests. In July 2023, our committee presented a bold reorganization plan to the Shiroishi City Superintendent of Education, which was based on the three P4C gatherings we had with the young people and parents. The Superintendent of Education is currently submitting our report to the City Council. Of course, we only involved a small number of young people and parents in the city. As we move forward, we know that the process of implementing a major reorganization of schools in the region will most likely include opposing opinions. We know that the path to reorganization will not be easy. In fact, letters expressing opposition began to arrive at my home after I submitted our working group’s report. However, we know that the voices of the young people and their parents, who engage in our philosophical discussions, will definitely influence the future decisions.
The progressive educator John Dewey has written extensively about the link between philosophy and education, and the role that both philosophy and education can play in making a better future society. In Japan, we are exploring the ways we can use P4C to bring this vision to life. We have gained much attention for our work. The P4C policy-making process that we used to address the aging population and school consolidation issues in our city have now reached the ears of the national government, and Shiroishi City was invited to a symposium sponsored by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). This symposium was announced nationwide, and it will allow us to share how philosophy can be used to address additional social and educational issues in the country. Also, another local government, which is stuck in the process of school consolidation, has asked my colleagues and I to consult with them about the P4C process we used in Miyagi. The growing interest in the use of a new policy-making method, like P4C, to improve our nationwide discussions about what schools could be like in an era of declining birth rates gives me hope that we may have a brighter future.
日本は少子高齢化社会です。2022年3月、宮城県南に位置する白石市は、市内の学校の在り方を考える審議会を立ち上げ、私をそのワーキンググループ部会長に選出しました。私たちワーキンググループはまず、市内の児童生徒数の人口動態の調査から始めました。2022年現在で白石市内の小学1年生から6年生までの全児童数は1,332名ですが、およそ10年後には600名に減少すると予測されました。単純計算で、600名を6学年で割ると、1学年当たり100名です。日本の現在の1学級の標準児童数は40名ですので、市内全児童を集めても1学年当たり3学級で足りる計算です。10年後、市内に小学校は1校で十分なのです。対して、2022年現在市内には小学校10校、中学校5校があります。学校の統廃合は避けることができません。
これは地方の自治体がこの20年間直面し続け、今後さらに増加する社会的教育問題です。これまで学校統廃合がたどった典型的な運命はどうだったでしょう？行政は、小さな学校を大きな学校に統廃合すると決定します。小さな学校区の住民は、その決定に反対します。行政は何度も住民説明会を開きますが、住民は反対し続けます。反対もむなしく、やがて決定通り学校は統廃合されます。残るのは大きな学校と恨みです。「大きな学校」？その学校もまた、少子化の荒波でやがて統廃合の対象になります。私たちワーキンググループは、市民の不満と不和を残すだけのお決まりの政策決定を、何としても回避したいと考えました。
問題の根は、政策決定プロセスにあります。「行政が決定し、市民は従う」という構図です。市民は自分たちに政策決定の主体性があるとは考えていません。市民はまた、進行中の重要な問題を知るための十分な情報を与えられていません。市民は少子化の事実を知りながら、それを自分たちの危機として受け止めることなく、行政まかせにします。これでよいのでしょうか？政策決定のプロセスに、市民を巻き込んではどうでしょう？！とりわけ、将来を担う若者を！しかしそれを実現するには、どうすればよいでしょう？
この問題の解決に、私たちは「子どもの哲学（Philosophy with/for Children: p4c）」を活用することを思い立ちました。p4cは、子どもや大人を哲学することへ誘い、思考や経験を変容させる革新的なアプローチです。宮城では、2011年の東日本大震災によるトラウマに対処するため、宮城教育大学を拠点として教師と研究者がp4cを導入し、多くの成果をえてきました（庄司・堀越, 2015; 田端, 2016）。以来p4cみやぎは、学校目標を達成し、地域、学校、教室の諸問題を解決し、安心安全な学習コミュニティを醸成するために、小中高等学校や特別支援学校で試みられています。p4cみやぎは、ハワイ大学マノア校の上廣教育哲学倫理アカデミーと連携し、そのメンバーである豊田光世氏が導入したアプローチをモデルにしています（田端, 2016）。
2022年9月、私たちは市内の高校生と20代の若者9名に集まってもらい、「若者会議」と称する審議会主催のp4c対話を開催しました。白石市は、2016年から市内の小中学校すべてでp4cを実践していたので、好都合でした。p4cハワイとの交流もありました。私たち審議会はまず、若者たちに、市の児童生徒の人口動態や、校舎の築年数、小規模校と大規模校のメリットデメリットなど、必要な情報を提供しました。問いは、10年後の白石市の学校はどうあるべきか？学校を再編すべきか否か？です。若者たちは、ランチをはさんで5時間話し合いました。結果として全員が、「将来の子どもたちのためには大胆な再編が好ましい」との結論に達しました。参加した若者の一人は、「市の将来の学校について話し合えてよかった。こんな問題を話し合える自分のまちを私は誇りに思う」と振り返りました。
とはいえ、若者たちの話し合いだけでは十分ではありません。現役の保護者たちはどう考えるでしょうか？2022年11月、私たちは、幼稚園保育所、小学校、中学校の保護者代表20名を招き、同じテーマでp4cの対話を行いました。保護者代表は各学区からまんべんなく募りました。若者会議と同じく、私たちは鍵となる情報を提供しました。2時間半の話し合いの結果、2つの提案がなされました。（1）それぞれの学区に小さな学校を残す、（2）1つの中規模学校と2つの小規模校に再編するの2案です。これを受け、私たちワーキンググループは、この2案を可能な限り具体化して資料を作成し、翌年1月に第2回の保護者会議を開催しました。2時間の議論の末、案（1）を支持していた保護者は、校舎老朽化と小規模校維持のコスト高を理由に、大胆な再編案（2）に考えを変えました。「私が通った学校がなくなるのは本当に悲しいですが、将来の子どものためには再編が望ましいと思います。」こう語った小規模校代表の保護者の複雑な表情を、私は今も忘れることができません。
市民は、必要な情報が与えられ、責任主体として判断を求められ、市民同士で対話するなら、個人的な感情や利害を乗り越え、自分たちのまち全体のために合理的な判断ができるのです。
2023年7月、審議会は、若者と保護者会議の意見を取り入れた大胆な再編案を、白石市教育長に答申しました。中規模の小中一貫義務教育学校1校、選択肢としての小規模小中一貫校1校、小規模な「学びの多様化学校」１校に再編する答申です。教育長はこの答申を、現在市議会に諮っているところです。もちろん、私たちが巻き込むことができたのは、市内の若者と保護者のごく一部でしかありません。この答申を実現するプロセスでは、強い反対も巻き起こるでしょう。再編の道は決して平たんではありません。しかし、この答申の背後に若者と保護者たちの声があることは、大きな力になっています。
教育学者ジョン・デューイは、哲学と教育は深く結びついており、将来の社会をよりよくするために、哲学と教育が重要な役割を果たす、と繰り返し記しています。私たちは日本で、p4cを活用してこのビジョンを実現する方法を模索しています。私たちが試みたこの政策決定過程は文部科学省の耳にも届き、白石市は文科省主催のシンポジウムでそれを全国に発信しました。国内のさらなる社会的教育問題に対処するために、哲学対話が活用できることを、多くの教育関係者が知ることになりました。私と同僚には、別の自治体から学校統廃合の相談依頼が来ています。この自治体も学校統廃合問題に行き詰まり、新たな政策決定方法によって議論を再開しようとしています。少子化時代の学校のあり方について、全国的な議論を改善するために、p4cのような新しい政策決定手法への関心が高まっています。これは明るい未来の到来を予
Works Cited:
Miyagi University of Education. (2018) Academy shokai [ Introducing academy]. http://p4c.miyakyo-u.ac.jp/shokai.html
Shoji, O., & Horikoshi, K. (2015). Seeking the application of p4c in the school environment. Miyagi University of Education Reconstruction Assistance Center Bulletin, 3, 51–60.
Tabata, T. (2016). Kodomo no tetsugaku (p4c) Hawai‘i style no seishinryouhou teki kouka; Taiwa ni yoru tankyuu no community no genshougaku teki satsu. [Therapeutic effects of philosophy for children (p4c) Hawaiian style; Phenomenological approach to the community of inquiry in dialogue]. Miyagi University of Education Kiyou, 51, 132–147.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dr. Taketo Tabata has been a professor at Miyagi University of Education for over 20 years. Taketo first learned about p4cHI in 2014 and has become a P4C lover ever since. In 2017/18, Taketo took a sabbatical, enrolled at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, lived in Honolulu with his wife and dog, and enjoyed p4cHI. Currently, Taketo is working on data science to quantitatively visualize the effects of P4C.
