ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief outline of the current institutional system of schooling in Japan, and critically examines major reforms in the last two decades. The major directions of these changes are: decentralization of curriculum, more diverse and flexible approaches to learning, greater parental choice, interaction between schools and the non-formal education sector, and attempts to address the perceived achievement gap amongst students and other “problems”. They are driven by four major players, namely, neoliberal advocates, neoconservative advocates, progressive educators, and social justice and human rights advocates, with bureaucrats in the middle. National-level reforms are variously interpreted at local and school levels and implemented accordingly, with the resulting significant variations across localities.
