New Trends in the Study of Social Education

Abstract

1�ThePresentStateofSocialEducation After World War II, many people have learned on their own thorough small groups and study circles to create a new democratic society. The Social Education Law was launched in 1949 to make clear the responsibilities of the government and to support self-directed learning activities by the people. In the Social Education Law, social education is defined as systematic educational activity aimed at young people and adults, excluding activity conducted through courses provided by schools in accordance with the law; it includes after-school studies for pupils and students as well as education at public halls (kominkan), libraries, museums and the like. Kominkan, libraries and museums were built as social education facilities and contributed to bringing people learning opportunities over the past 60 years. Every local government has Social Education Directors who provide professional and technical advice to people who want to run adult education programs. Practitioners in the relevant subjects facilitate study circles and organize multi-agency projects to develop networks within local communities. People enjoy participating in classes at kominkan, and value the relevant facilities and the various activities they can contribute to as volunteers to make a difference in their society. There are no data regarding the overall ratio of people participating in adult education, but the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Technology (MEXT) has conducted a survey of the number of people taking classes and courses at social education facilities every 5 years or so (MEXT 2009: 2). According to the data of the Fiscal Year 2004 survey, over 12 million people participated in some class at Public halls and 8 million attended courses offered by education boards, and in both cases about 65% of those attending were women. The number of people tak- ing some courses at youth education facilities was 615,889 and there were 234,325 attending wom-