What does 見受ける mean?

Question

I have found several related words that I think I have a better grasp of such as:
見掛ける・見て取る・認める

見掛ける is just simply visually seeing something

見て取る is close to 見て分かる, right? Seeing something that gives you some kind of knowledge or understanding, or that allows you to reach a conclusion.

認める has a huge number of usages, but limiting the discussion to the subset of its definitions that apply here, it means seeing something and acknowledging that that is the case.

But I am having a hard time wrapping my head around how 見受ける fits in.

In the example sentence

中学校期の子ども達には羞恥心が先行して声の出ないことがよく見受けられますので、励ましながら指導すべき課題と言えます。

it could just be translated as "seen" but I feel like something is missing.
The definition given in the 日本国語大辞典 is ある何ものかを判断をする。見てとる。みとめる。 which doesn't help. Honestly, I'm not sure I understand ある何ものかを判断をする。

ちょっと細かいことを聞いているので、日本語で説明した方が伝わると判断した場合、日本語でお願いします。 I am not looking for a simple translation but an explanation of the word and how it is used.

Answer 1

The verb 見受ける is used usually in the rareru-form, 見受けられる, where this られる is 自発の「(ら)れる」. It has two different meanings:

1. ～ように見受けられる, ～と見受けられる
   "It appears (to me) that ～", "It looks like ～", "Judging from the appearance, ～"

   彼は怒っているように見受けられます。
   It appears to me that he is angry.

   This pattern is mainly used in business settings to avoid saying something too directly, by describing it in a more subjective manner. In this sense, a humble version, お見受けします/お見受けいたします, is also used.

   特に問題ないようにお見受けします。
   It appears to me that there is nothing wrong.

2. ～が見受けられる
   "～ is found", "I see ～", "I'm seeing ～".

   残念ながらいくつかのスペルミスが見受けられます。
   Unfortunately, I see some spelling errors.

   This pattern is about identifying something within a larger group/object. It has nothing to do with "判断する". In this sense, 見受ける is interchangeable with 認める, but ～が認められる/～を認める is a highly stiff expression mainly used in academic or legal contexts. 見かける has the nuance of seeing or noticing something by chance (e.g., on the street).

   • パーティーの参加者の中には知っている顔も見受けられる。
   • パーティーの参加者の中には知っている顔も認められる。
   • 町で偶然知っている顔を見かけた。

Your example about 中学校期の子ども達 corresponds to the latter, "such-and-such a scene is found."