Retour sur le Conseil national de la réforme éducative. Réforme éducative, libéralisation et nationalisme

Abstract

From 1984 and 1987, during the tree years of its existence, the «National Board on Educational Reform» (Rinkyôshin) discussed and prepared the third large educational reform in the history of Japan. This was its mission and its initiative. Different from previous reforms, this large national project was extensively followed and commented upon by the media which had access to what was happening behind the scenes and could uncover political intrigues, partisan conflicts and the diverse and sometimes competing interests accompanying and fueling this large project. The reason for the interest in the considerable bulk of information this page of educational policy history has left behind is its invitation to readers to make a plural interpretation of the events. Far removed from the nominalistic position, which, from the name, subsumes the identity of the matter, an explanation of the complexity of the voices participating in the putting together of a given event invites us to be cautions and perhaps to act. the reason appears to be that reality is woven from micro-decisions which are sometimes remote from what they introduced and produced in their reconstructed entirety. What is extraordinary in the three years of Rinkyoshin's existence is that there was indeed educational reform and educational changes as lasting effects, which, when subject to a single analysis of the projects internal opposition and tension, appeared to have failed. With ten year's hindsight, this article brings some of the voices back to life and explores some of the episodes of these reforms whose consequences are explained in the second part.