THE PRE-WAR EDUCATION APPROVAL EXAMINATION SYSTEM AND THE GEOGRAPHY APPLICANTS

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  • 戦前の文検制度と地理の受験者たち
  • 戦前の文検制度と地理の受験者たち--地理学と地理教育との関係を考える
  • センゼン ノ ブンケン セイド ト チリ ノ ジュケンシャタチ チリガク ト
  • 地理学と地理教育との関係を考える
  • A STUDY OF THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE SCIENCE OF GEOGRAPHY AND THE GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION

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Abstract

This paper aims to summarize the pre-war official education approval examination system and to analyze relationships observed between the science of geography and the geography education in middle schools of pre-war Japan.<br> The examinations for the official approval of teaching in middle school, which is commonly called “Bunken, ” were carried out seventyeight times through 60 years for the period between 1885 and 1943, by the Ministry of Education. This is a system which provides an opportunities to obtain a license as a middle-school teacher to those who could not study at the schools of such as college and university, but could acquire the same level of scholarship as college or university graduates by self-study. In the field of geography, ten to fifty examinees passed examination at every times, and over 60 years, about 1, 500 middle-school teachers of geography were produced.<br> This system acted effectively for the Meiji Era's Japan, in which the more number of middle-school teachers were needed by the increasing number of opening of middle-schools. Furthermore, it also was effective to let those from poor families set an aim of advancement in life as well as of professional studies.<br> After the World War I, a ratio of the number of successful examinees to that of examinees had raised to over ten times and it was estimated that the number of those who made desperate efforts for the examination reached over 1, 000. Accordingly, a great number of books written by academic geographers were sold and the circulation of geography magazines increased. The new outcome in the field of an academic geography were assimilated to the middle-school teachers.<br> On the other hand, however, this system gave a high degree of authorities to the limited number of academic geographers who acted as the examiner and the examinees tended to stuff up their head with limited knowledges only necessary to pass an examination.<br> After the World War II, the only way to be a teacher of a middle school became to obtain the necessary credits at a college or an university, according to the change of an education system made by after World War II. This is because that the “Sunken” system produces only teachers with an overly-specialized knowledges which seemed not effective for the further education in Japan.<br> From the study on “Bunken” system of the pre-war period summarized above, author has recognized three issues which are worth to mention. First, at the time when Japan was a develoing country, there was not a clear distinction between the science of geography and the geography education. Second, geography education was ranked under the science of geography. Third, the role of geography education was not clearly defined. The author believes that a consideration of these issues will contribute the development of a greater role for geography education.

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