誰もが自分らしく過ごせる学校を目指して～中高での取り組み～/Toward a School Where Everyone Can Be Themselves: Initiatives in Middle and High School

　養護教諭として長年、学校現場に立つ中で、「教室に入れない」「自分らしく過ごせない」など多種多様な悩みを持つ生徒たちと出会いました。不登校の背景も悩みも、一人ひとり異なりますが、「本人が変わること」だけが解決ではありません。学校の環境を少し変えるだけで、生きやすさが大きく変わることも少なくないのです。

私はこの数年、不登校支援と性の多様性への配慮に力を入れて取り組んできました。不登校支援では、同じ経験を持つ保護者同士が安心して思いを語り合える「保護者の集い」を立ち上げ、さらに、教室に入りづらい生徒が安心して過ごせる場であり、「特性に合わせた学び方」を支援する「登校・学習支援室」を開設しました。生徒だけでなく保護者にも寄り添い、家庭が孤立しないこと、そして学校の中に「ここなら大丈夫」と思える居場所があることが、子どもの安心につながると感じています。

　一方、性の多様性への取組では、ある生徒たちの声が大きな転機となりました。制服や体育、委員会活動、宿泊行事、施設面など、学校生活のさまざまな場面で繰り返される男女分けに苦しさを感じ、「学校のトイレは使ったことがない」「仕方ないと分かっているけれど、つらい」と伝えてくれた言葉は、決して忘れられません。

　それまで私は、「申し出（カミングアウト）がなければ動けない」と考えていました。しかし、多くの人（マジョリティ）は、自分の性自認や性的指向について、あえて周囲に説明する必要なく学校生活を送っています。誰もがカミングアウトの必要なく、安心して学校生活を送ることのできる環境を整えることが大切だと学び、大学の「ダイバーシティに関する学生・教職員のためのガイドライン」を参考に不要な性別欄の見直しや呼称の工夫を進めました。また、健康診断を性別で分けず混合で実施する形への変更も行いました。

　こうした取組に加え、UDフォントやカラーユニバーサルデザインの導入、教員研修での「学びのユニバーサルデザイン（UDL）」の学習など、学校全体で誰もが学びやすい環境づくりを進めています。

　これらに共通しているのは「特別な配慮を特別な人のために行う」という発想ではありません。困っている人が利用しやすい環境は、結果として多くの人にとっても利用しやすい環境になります。教室以外の居場所は、不登校の生徒だけでなく、一時的に心身の不調を抱えた生徒の支えにもなります。性別によって一律に対応を分けるのではなく、一人ひとりのプライバシーに配慮することは、誰もが安心できる環境につながります。

　DEIは、「特定の誰か」だけのための取組ではありません。誰もが安心して学び、働き、自分らしくいられる環境をつくることです。学校は、多様な子どもたちが共に生活する場所だからこそ、「特定の誰かのために変える」のではなく、「誰にとっても安心できる学校」を目指して環境を整えておくことが、DEIの第一歩ではないでしょうか。

　これからも、多くの人の声に耳を傾け、学びを深めながら、誰一人排除されない学校づくりに取り組んでいきたいと考えています。違いを特別なものとして扱うのではなく、違いがあっても誰もが安心して学び、その人らしくいきいきと過ごせる学校でありたい。そのような学校で子どもたちを育むことが、やがては学校だけでなく社会全体のDEIにつながると信じています。

Toward a School Where Everyone Can Be Themselves:
Initiatives in Middle and High School

Kinuko Hiruta, School Nurse, Hosei University Junior and Senior High School

Throughout my many years as a school nurse working on the front lines, I have
encountered students with a wide variety of concerns, such as “being unable to enter the
classroom” or “being unable to be themselves.” While the circumstances and struggles
behind school refusal differ for each individual, the solution does not lie solely in the student
changing. It is not uncommon for even a small change in the school environment to make
life significantly easier for them.
Over the past few years, I have focused my efforts on supporting students who refuse to
attend school and on addressing issues of sexual diversity. In terms of support for students
who refuse to attend school, I launched “Parent Gatherings” where parents with similar
experiences can safely share their feelings. I also established the “School Attendance and
Learning Support Room,” a space where students who find it difficult to enter the classroom
can feel at ease, and support learning methods tailored to individual needs. I believe that
by standing alongside not only the students but also their parents—ensuring families do not
feel isolated and that there is a safe place within the school where students can think, “I’m
safe here”—we can help children feel secure.
Meanwhile, regarding our efforts on sexual diversity, the voices of certain students marked
a major turning point. I will never forget their words—they expressed distress over the
repeated gender segregation in various aspects of school life, such as uniforms, physical
education, student council activities, overnight events, and facility arrangements, telling me,
“I’ve never used the school restrooms” and “I know it can’t be helped, but it’s painful.”
Until then, I had believed that we cannot act unless someone comes forward (comes out).
However, I realized that most people (the majority) go about their school lives without
feeling the need to explicitly explain their gender identity or sexual orientation to those
around them. I learned that it is crucial to create an environment where everyone can feel
safe and comfortable at school without having to come out. Drawing on the university’s
“Guidelines on Diversity for Students and Faculty,” we moved forward with reviewing
unnecessary gender fields and reviewing how we address students. We also changed the
format of health checkups to be conducted in mixed-gender groups rather than by gender.
In addition to these efforts, we are working school-wide to create an environment where
everyone can learn easily, including the introduction of UD fonts and Color Universal
Design, as well as incorporating “Universal Design for Learning (UDL)” into faculty training.
What these initiatives have in common is that they do not stem from the idea of “providing
special accommodations for special people.” An environment that is easy for those facing
difficulties to use ultimately becomes an environment that is easy for many people to use.
Spaces outside the classroom provide support not only for students who are not attending
school but also for those temporarily experiencing physical or mental health issues. Rather
than applying a one-size-fits-all approach based on gender, respecting each individual’s
privacy leads to an environment where everyone can feel at ease.

DEI is not an initiative intended solely for “a specific someone.” It is about creating an
environment where everyone can learn, work, and be themselves with peace of mind.
Precisely because schools are places where diverse children live together, isn’t the first
step toward DEI to prepare an environment that aims to be a “school where everyone feels
safe,” rather than “changing things for a specific someone”?
Moving forward, we intend to continue listening to the voices of many people and
deepening our understanding as we work to build a school where no one is excluded. We
want to be a school where differences are not treated as something special, but where
everyone—regardless of their differences—can learn with peace of mind and live vibrantly
as their true selves. We believe that nurturing children in such a school will eventually lead
to DEI not only within the school but throughout society as a whole.