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Article Excerpt
Public school teachers in Japan face severe challenges. (1) Traditional values of respect for schooling and teachers have faded into a consumer-oriented demand for schooling that promises to lift families into an increasingly elusive prosperity. A falling birth rate has forced the closing of schools and has brought increased competition with private schools (Benjamin & James, 1989; Hida, 2003). As a result of student disengagement and falling achievement levels, governmental reforms are being implemented that are more open and less lecture oriented, focusing on individuality and creativity (Cave, 2001, 2003; Choy, 1999; Ishizaka, n.d.). Lack of time and competence in implementing these changes leave teachers even more vulnerable to disrespect (Fujita, 2000). Parents raised during years of prosperity indulge their children and place blame for academic and social failure on teachers rather than exercise the parental guidance that would be expected of them in earlier generations (Kudomi, 1999).
Extending Ogbu's (1999) attention to the role of community forces in academic achievement, my earlier research in the United States and the United Kingdom (Gordon, 1994, 1997, 2000a, 2000b, 2003a) suggests that images of the teaching profession generally held in communities and perpetuated by many adults involved with young people can contribute to lack of support for teachers, disengagement from schooling itself, and discouragement of capable young people from entering the teaching profession. Changes in the images of teachers both reflect and affect community attitudes and thereby weigh heavily on who elects to become a teacher as well as how that decision affects the schooling obtained by an increasingly diverse student population. Aspiration to a career in teaching is a crucial indicator of the engagement with schooling necessary for academic success, especially among students who lack the advantages of financial and educational support from family sources in creating career options (Gordon, 2003b).
RESEARCH METHODS
The research for this report commenced in 1996 with an introduction of the author by a Japanese colleague to leading researchers in the sociology of education and human rights in the Osaka and Nagoya area. These individuals, upon learning of my research in the United States and Britain on the role of community attitudes toward education in low-income, urban contexts, then introduced me to individuals who they felt would be interested in my prior work and my reflections on comparable situations in Japan, primarily teachers and community activists in the Burakumin and Korean communities of the Osaka area. Although the research for this report was obtained between 1996 and 2001, the analysis of the work is nested within a larger context of research, including four additional research trips to Japan between 2002 and 2004. Invitations to visit schools were received from administrators and teachers who had established trust with the scholars and activists familiar with the author's research. This access enabled the author to observe numerous classes, conduct both formal and informal interviews, and gain entrance to situations and conversations that normally would have been out of reach to an outsider. Because these schools were well known to my colleagues, I was able discuss my findings with them, enlarging and deepening my understanding of the context. During the research duration of 1996 to 2001, the author conducted personal consultations with 22 Japanese researchers and activists, representing a variety of perspectives and experiences.
The comments quoted in this report (2) are based on 113 structured interviews with 69 teachers and 44 parents. Japanese assistants interviewed 36 teachers and 44 parents in Sendai, Osaka, Sakai, Kyoto, Nara, Nagoya, Tokyo, and Saitama. Another 33 interviews with teachers and administrators were conducted by the author in Hiroshima, Tokyo, Osaka, and Hakodate (Hokkaido). The geographic scope spans urban life of Japan from Hiroshima to Hakodate, thousands of miles apart, with the other cities spread along the urban corridor of central Japan. All of these cities have large and complex school populations; they are not rural. Teachers came from all levels of public education (41 high school, 17 junior high, and 11 elementary); high schools ranged from commercial to academic. Of the teacher respondents, 31 were women and 38 were men. Of the parents interviewed, 90% were women; 25% were housewives, 20% company employees, 15% family employees, 15% part-time worker, 15% self-employed, and the remaining 10% serving in other professional roles such as nurse, librarian, civil servant, and public nursery staff. Interviews with K-12 and university students were also completed during this same time frame by assistants or the author. Due to limitations of length however, the present report focuses only on interviews with teachers and parents. No interviews were done within the same family.
Between 1996 and 1998, with the help of two Japanese assistants in the United States and colleagues in Japan, we developed interview questions for parents, teachers, and students that would address the following issues: What factors determine the kind of school a child will attend? How does a parent's background and socioeconomic status affect a child's access and success in school? How have attitudes toward teachers changed? Who goes into the teaching profession? What influences their decision? How does the access and education of nontraditional children differ, including Japanese minority groups, Koreans and Burakumin, and the children of foreign workers and kikokushugiyo (Japanese children who have returned after living abroad)?
Pilot interviews were then conducted in Japan with the help of two additional Japanese assistants. The purpose of the pilot study was to ensure field sensitivity. Little did we realize how essential this step was in the overall development of the research. In a society where public discussion of one's views is difficult and often seen as embarrassing, having assistants in Japan who knew me well, understood my research, and were able to interact easily with local Japanese parents and teachers about schooling enabled us to receive honest feedback quickly to very complex questions. What none of us expected was the incredible resistance to any discussion of minority groups. At one point, one of the assistants, a Japanese adult, emailed that she could not continue interviews for fear of personal ostracism from neighbors.
It also became clear that the majority of Japanese adults, including teachers, have little knowledge of minority issues and did not see such a discussion as relevant to their views about schooling. What did engage them was a concern with the increasing lack of respect for teachers. Based on this pilot study, interview questions were then developed that focused on changes in the image of and respect for teachers, eliminating mention of minority groups. The interview questions on which the present report is based are given at the beginning of the findings for teachers and parents, respectively. The interview protocol allowed for follow-up and clarification as appropriate.
The four assistants, Seiko, Keiko, Min, and Taeko (pseudonyms), vary in age and experience with American and Japanese culture. I have known Seiko for 25 years. She is about 55, is a housewife with two grown children, and has worked as an English translator. Seiko interviewed 12 parents in the Saitama area. Keiko, who had been a student of mine in the United States but then returned to Japan, interviewed 24 parents and 8 teachers in Kyoto and Nara. Min, a Vietnamese American former student of mine who went to Japan to teach for the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) program, interviewed 8 parents and...
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