| OVAC
Quarterly News Magazine Vol.1 January, 2001 |
 |
| "Share the view"
is quarterly publication providing current information
and topics on NGO/NPO sectors in Japan and opinions
of Mr. Noboru Hayase, our Executive Director and
editorial writers out of our monthly opinion magazine
"Volo". Taking into consideration of
the wide-ranged non-governmental activities in
Japan, it also includes information on volunteering,
activities & movements of non-profit &
community-based groups. |
|
| Punished
for not doing community service activities? |
|  An
idea described as "pub talk about education"
(Manabu Sato, a professor of Tokyo Univ. graduate school)
is supported by the Japanese ruling party, and now the
party tries to legislate for this idea. This idea is
"mandatory community service "proposed by
an education advisory panel to the Prime Minister, "The
National Commission on Educational Reform".
The panel proposed that elementary and junior high school
students spend two weeks performing community service,
while high school students spend one month. They are
required to live together at public facilities during
the period. The panel states "this law will be
applied to every citizen at equivalent ages including
youths who have already left school to work", and
"(students) will be required to perform some kind
of humanitarian work such as farmwork, forestry, nursing
care for the elderly, etc. The panel "plans to
expand the service period to a whole year as soon as
possible". If students refuse to perform community
service, "they will lose qualifications to receive
higher education or to be employed by companies"said
an executive member of the ruling party.
We strongly oppose this proposal and urge our government
and the ruling party to reconsider their support for
this idea.
Why does this reform attach importance to "mandatory
community service" instead of "learning through
community service experience"? Actual experience
gives one
an opportunity to realize one's social responsibilities.
Many people now understand the effectiveness of experienced-based
learning, and those people have positively accepted
an approach called "learning through voluntary
service experience" in many cities in Japan.
Spontaneity and experience gained through thinking and
acting for oneself. These are the two most important
elements of, and in fact these are real joys of, experience-based
learning. That is why school staff who supports the
"learning through experience" approach have
been making an effort to create environments where participants
can spontaneously perform voluntary service. As in the
fairy tale, this idea is based on the approach of "sunh
rather than gnorth wind".
If participation is forced and students are under threat
of punishment, such a spontaneous learning attitude
can never arise. Indeed, if students are forced to perform
a service, they may adopt a passive attitude and only
do things that they are told to do.
| |
Volunteer groups hold
a symposium to discuss mandatory social services
for all youth. ( article of The Asahi dated October
25, 2000 )
|
I am also concerned that forcing students to perform mandatory
service will devalue the service, and the idea of social
service. Understanding toward others can be nurtured through
every social activity , but not just through "humanitarian
work" proposed in the panel's interim report. However,
we can not expect students to develop such an ability
if authority obliges the performance of community service.
For me, mandatory community service seems to force students
to accept a narrow definition of "good". "What
is good" here is defined by the government, and it
seems to be based on the concept of "service to our
country".
I should also point out the problem of using social welfare
service facilities as "teaching materials".
We have repeatedly criticized this problem in our monthly
magazines, and we think mandatory community service will
add further troubles to these social welfare facilities.
The panel's proposal lacks respect for the human rights
of people now receiving care. Social welfare facilities
will be used as teaching materials (places) for students
who are supposed to learn understanding toward others.
In 1998, the Japanese government started to oblige all
candidates for teacher's employment examinations to have
nursing care experience. In the May issue of our monthly
magazine (1998), we presented a detailed report on this
topic as a feature story. If the participation were a
spontaneous one, participants could naturally develop
a positive attitudes towards people's diverse personalities.
On the other hand, if participants were forced to participate,
their attitudes would be passive, and would not show any
enthusiasm or subtlety to compensate their lack of skill.
As a result, they would only be a burden to the staff
members in each facility.
In other words, this mandatory nursing care experience
is causing unethical situations in which one person is
always sacrificed for someone else to learn patience.
The panel's proposal will involve many students in these
already-controversial situations.
What we need to recover now is not an education forced
by authority, but the one in which students can realize
the joy of learning and pleasure of discovery. In such
an education, each student has the opportunity to use
their ability for others. This is a feeling of, so to
speak, "not MUST, but CAN". I believe an ideal
education should provide each and every student with the
opportunity to realize this feeling. |
| Noboru Hayase,
Executive Director, Osaka Voluntary Action Center |
In
Japan, two out of three people have an intention to do
volunteering,
one of which has not yet done it. |
| In Japan, three out of
four people hope to contribute to society in some
way. Two out of three people have an intention to
do volunteering, one of which has not yet done it.
This means that the willingness to volunteer is
fairly high if include those with no prior experience. |
 |
Source:Economic
Planning Agency,
"The National Survey
on Lifestyle Preferences"(2000) |
|
There
are many differences in personal motivations for giving
and volunteering between Japan and the U.S |
| There are many
differences in incentives and reasons to start volunteering
between Japan and the U.S. First, the activities for acquaintances
and a sense of obligation make people volunteer in Japan.
On the other hand, attitudes toward fulfilling personal
satisfaction are relatively strong in the U.S. Second,
there are few people in Japan who consider "Serving
as an example to others" to be a reason to volunteer.
|
 |
| Source:Economic
Planning Agency, "The National Survey on Lifestyle
Preferences"(2000) |
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