Analysis of Changes in School Counseling Policy Applying Kingdon’s Policy Flow Model

This study analyzed the process of policy change regarding school counseling using Kingdon's policy flow model. In order to analyze the overall school counseling policy, we collected government reports, press releases, and research reports published by professional educational institutions with public trust, as well as academic papers and press releases, and conducted a literature analysis to draw the following conclusions. The implementation system for implementing school counseling and the flow of policy for the placement of professional counselors are established in Article 12 of the 「School Violence Prevention and Countermeasures Act」 in 2004, which specifies the placement of professional counselors and the composition of a dedicated organization and provides for full-fledged school counseling. The policy has been activated. However, as individual policies are implemented without legal basis, there has been confusion in the performance of roles and duties due to changes in government or replacement of the minister in charge. The results of this study are expected to provide an opportunity to correct the direction of school counseling policy by understanding changes in the flow of goals and attributes during the implementation process of school counseling policy and exploring the process of policy emergence. Through this study, we aim to provide evidence to support the establishment of legislation for school counseling policies.