Restructuring Japanese High Schools: Reforms for Diversity

Abstract

Japan's current major education reform campaign is to restructure high schools. Its central theme is to diversify upper secondary education in response to the growing divergence in youths' ability, aptitude, and needs. High school reform initiatives, which began in the late 1970s, were enhanced by the school reform movement in the 1980s and the early 1990s. This article explores the development of policy initiatives to restructure high schools. Japan 's restructuring drives illustrate a departure from the traditional academic and vocational curricula. As a result of these drives, innovative high schools often identified as "new types of schools" and "comprehensive" programs began to emerge throughout Japan. The credibility of these schools and programs will be tested during the remaining years of the current century.