Community Networks For Citizenship Education In Japan

This book looks at the emergence of internationally linked Japanese nongovernmental advocacy networks that have grown rapidly since the 1990s in the context of three conjunctural forces: neoliberalism, militarism, and nationalism. It connects three disparate literatures—on the global justice movement, on Japanese civil society, and on global citizenship education. Through the narratives of fifty activists in eight overlapping issue areas—global governance, labor, food sovereignty, peace, HIV/AIDS, gender, minority and human rights, and youth—Another Japan is Possible examines the genesis of these new social movements; their critiques of neoliberalism, militarism, and nationalism; their local, regional, and global connections; their relationships with the Japanese government; and their role in constructing a new identity of the Japanese as global citizens. Its purpose is to highlight the interactions between the global and the local—that is, how international human rights and global governance issues resonate within Japan and how, in turn, local alternatives are articulated by Japanese advocacy groups—and to analyze citizenship from a postnational and postmodern perspective.

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This book is based on the outcomes of the International Comparative Study on Citizenship Education and Education for ASEANness in ASEAN Countries for the fiscal years 2010 to 2013. In each chapter, it analyzes the awareness of school students in a respective country, while also discussing the importance of the Delphi survey results, a major feature of this project, for educational experts on citizenship education. Examining citizenship education in ten countries, it clarifies which type of citizenship education should be completed after ten years, and what level of citizenship should be acquired in ten years. It also compares the awareness of students from these ten countries from 2010 to 2013. The book argues that citizenship education is indispensable for surviving the twenty-first century, especially in terms of promoting citizenship education in schools.

Nonformal Education and Civil Society in Japan critically examines an aspect of education that has received little attention to date: intentional teaching and learning activities that occur outside formal schooling. In the last two decades nonformal education has rapidly increased in extent and significance. This is because individual needs for education have become so diverse and rapidly changing that formal education alone is unable to satisfy them. Increasingly diverse demands on education resulted from a combination of transnational migration, heightened human rights awareness, the aging population, and competition in the globalised labour market. Some in the private sector saw this situation as a business opportunity. Others in the civil society volunteered to assist the vulnerable. The rise in nonformal education has also been facilitated by national policy developments since the 1990s. Drawing on case studies, this book illuminates a diverse range of nonformal education activities; and suggests that the nature of the relationship between nonformal education and mainstream schooling has changed. Not only have the two sectors become more interdependent, but the formal education sector increasingly acknowledges nonformal education’s important and necessary roles. These changes signal a significant departure from the past in the overall functioning of Japanese education. The case studies include: neighbourhood homework clubs for migrant children, community-based literacy classes, after-school care programs, sport clubs, alternative schools for long-term absent students, schools for foreigners, training in intercultural competence at universities and corporations, kôminkan (community halls), and lifelong learning for the seniors. This book will appeal to both scholars of Japanese Studies/Asian Studies, and those of comparative education and sociology/anthropology of education.

This book is concerned with the social and political aspects of regional groupings, particularly how citizenship education fares in regional contexts. The European Union (EU) has revolutionised its political and economic aims into more encompassing social and political goals. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), on the other hand, is still moving towards fuller integration in social and economic terms as South East Asian nations seek a greater role on the global stage and particularly in the global economy. Both the EU and ASEAN have drawn up educational frameworks that collectively work to harness educational achievements which in turn work to fulfill social and economic objectives at the regional level. This book portrays citizenship issues affecting the two regions and describes the way citizenship education can reflect and address these issues. Case studies on EU and ASEAN member countries make up the book’s two parts which analyse, among other issues: The Changing Landscape of Citizenship Education in England Political Didactics and Political Education in Germany Rethinking a Conceptual Framework for Citizenship Education in ASEAN Countries Education for ASEANness: A tool to build an ASEAN community This book explores new ideas on citizenship and comparative education in regional contexts and will be of interest to researchers concerned with the impact of regionalism on social development and to citizenship educators studying the influence of contexts on the construction of citizenship education.

Based on extensive original research, this book explores the early educational experiences of foreign children in Japan. It considers foreign children’s experiences of Japanese schools, examines the special tutoring such children often have to improve their language proficiency, and explores the role of mothers in encouraging their children’s education. It contrasts the experiences of foreign children with those of Japanese children and sets out the extensive difficulties foreign children encounter in becoming fully accepted by and integrated into Japanese society. The book concludes by discussing the nature of citizenship in Japan and the importance of education, including early education, in shaping Japanese citizenship.

Social Networking Approach to Japanese Language Teaching is a timely guide for Japanese language teachers and anyone interested in language pedagogy. The book outlines an innovative approach to language instruction which goes beyond the communicative approach and encourages a global view of language education and curriculum development through the use of social networking. It showcases diverse examples of how social networking can be harnessed and incorporated into everyday language classes to increase learners’ curiosity and engagement in real cultural and global interactions. While the focus is on Japanese language teaching, the concepts explored can be applied to other languages and teaching contexts. This book will benefit teachers of any language as well as linguists interested in language pedagogy.

As computers are increasingly integrated into the classroom, instructors must address a number of pressing ethical questions regarding online behavior, course design, cyberbullying, and student cyber behavior. Ethical Technology Use, Policy, and Reactions in Educational Settings provides state-of-the-art research on the impact of ethical computer use in academia and emphasizes the cyberphilosophical aspects of human-computer interactions. It provides significant analysis of the ethical use of educational Internet and computer applications.