米国における保護者の学校参加に関する理論の一考察 : GordonとEpsteinに着目して

Abstract

Parental involvement or school and family community partnerships have been included in the Japanese educational policy and are expected to be implemented in schools as in other countries. While the USA has developed research into parental involvement theory as an important issue to provide more effective educational programs, Japan has paid little attention. The aim of this paper is to examine the Epstein School, Family, and Community Partnerships theory, which is one of the latest and most notable theories in the USA, and to clarify the applicability of Epstein's theory in schools. This paper compares Epstein's theory with that of Gordon, a pioneer of parental involvement research in the 1960s and 1970s. Comparative analysis indicated that Epstein's approach expects the school to be improved by the promotion of school and family partnerships, while Gordon's approach relies on the results of parental involvement. Thus, Epstein's theory requires the school to change first. This study suggests the importance of examining different concepts of parental involvement, which may not generally be considered as the mode of parental involvement in Japan but may perhaps be necessary for some families. Further studies are required to investigate the most effective theory of school, family, and community partnerships as well as parental involvement.