政策志向の社会諸科学

概要

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Educational sociology has held my interest since I recognized it to be policy-oriented social sciences. In this brief essay, I wish to convey my understanding of educational sociology as relating its nature. The points I will mention may sound too familiar to the readers to be discussed here, but I am still in the slight hope that this might be of help to them in reconsidering the nature of their research. First of all, educational sociology is characterized by fact-finding and empirical approach. That is partly because it originated from critical views against philosophy-bound pedagogies which had focused on the history of the educational ideas, and against politically biased educational theories which had superseded the traditional pedagogies. On the other hand, while sociologists tend to isolate a slice of the question so that they can handle it more easily, their task is not accomplished until they place the output back into the context of intertwined social problems and see the question in its proper perspective. In the second place, research in educational sociology is macroscopic while that in educational psychology is microscopic, though both disciplines have positivism in common. Such fields as the history of education and comparative education also pursue macroscopic research but sociology differs from them in having policy-oriented stance. It is true that sociologists should keep on paying close attention to social needs but this does not mean that they should act in obedience to the request from their clients. Thirdly, the members of the present Society show a rich variety in their disciplines. It comprises specialists in economics, politics, social psychology and social history as well as sociology, and accordingly, "educational sociology" is used as generic term for researches in the field of education done by social scientists. This intercommunication between various disciplines can be regarded as an asset to the Society, because educational research is inherently of multi-disciplinary nature. Moreover, research interests for a Japanese sociologist cannot be the same as those for an overseas sociologist. Different countries are faced with different social problems and policy issues. Discouraged by the foreign culture and social milieu, expertise transplanted from another country hardly ever bears good fruit. Therefore, a Japanese sociologist must not remain too sensitive to the trends in other advanced countries. Instead, he is expected to develop an original theory with a full understanding of the situation and problems in Japan. In addition, educational sociology includes not only quantitative analyses but also qualitative analyses, being free from the limitation of natural science which considers what cannot be measured to be negligible. It is well known that natural science goes in a linear way through the steps of pure research, applied research, and development before it is turned to practical use for policy markers. In contrast with natural science, educational research in social sciences is not often utilized directly for policy formulation and administrative decision making. Its chief function is to exert influence over educational policies through diffusion or enlightenment in a long term, usually by heightening the awareness of new problems or new perspective on the problems.
日本教育社会学会の論文
1990-10-05

著者

市川昭午
国立教育研究所

政策志向の社会諸科学

スポンサーリンク

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