Higher Education (HE) institutions are constantly facing change. Accountability; the metaphor of student as consumer; a focus on management and leadership; and changing global economic conditions all affect the way institutions function. Recently, there has also been an increase in focus on accreditation procedures and organizational change. Although it can be difficult to measure the impact of quality assurance, this research focuses on exploring change and an accreditation procedure conducted by the Japan University Accreditation Association at a Japanese private university. Higher education institutions are social constructions and largely exist in the mind and as such, during change, some faculty members share values, rules of behaviour, and norms that become stabilized in institutional structures. This is due to the establishment of a common understanding. Conversely, there can be differences between groups in the institution. Thus, research needs to be conducted on how people make sense of change and their institution; the way information is processed and disseminated. By utilizing Ericson’s (2001) conceptual framework of four ideal types of meaning, and using Weick’s (2005) concept of sensemaking as a lens to examine the change, this research explores how faculty members make sense of change and accreditation and asks how far does this instance correspond to or otherwise illuminate Ericson’s (2001) conceptual framework for understanding change? This research contributes to our understanding of change, higher education institutions in Japan and accreditation, acknowledging the importance of effective management and leadership in HE institutions.

This thesis argues that ijime (bullying) is a product of the regimented culture of the Japanese education system, which place a heavy emphasis on conformity. It also argues that addressing the problem of ijime requires a reculturing of Japanese schools. The thesis highlights Japan’s long battle against ijime, which is a consequence of the unremitting drive to educate suitable Japanese citizens. The thesis investigates the characteristics of Japanese education, which is based on a national form of meritocracy and egalitarianism, to find if there is evidence that Japanese schools systematically legitimise oppression of those who do not conform. It examines the socio-historical development of ijime, revealing the serious extent to which the problem has become inherent in Japanese society, leaving little prospect for significant improvement. The five major ijime-suicide incidents, Shikagawa in 1986; Ohkouchi, 1994; Ohno, 2000; Takigawa, 2005 and Mori, 2006, are also studied in order to show how ijime can escalate to a disturbing level and in some cases develops a criminal element. Ijime has become a major social problem over the past few decades in Japan, causing serious absenteeism and even suicides among school children. In response, the Japanese government introduced “relaxed education”, which reduces student workloads and provides diversity in learning. Within the schools, organisational support systems have also been developed to help students with problems. Despite these measures, ijime still regularly occurs and the number of those who find it difficult to go to school is increasing. There has been no indication of serious improvement. This thesis is partly based on an analysis of the views and experiences of Japanese students and teachers. The results indicate that Japanese students perform ijime to discipline nonconformists for the sake of providing order, and that teachers are involved in ijime either as direct or indirect initiators. Ijime has been, either intentionally or unintentionally, accepted by many some students and teachers. Moreover, the results show that many students target individuals to guarantee collective identity, implying that they need to participate in the collective act of ijime for their social survival at school. The Japanese school is shown to be one place where ijime is still accepted because it facilitates universal conformity and peer solidarity. The thesis identifies two major problems resulting from the group-oriented culture of Japanese education. One problem is that, despite its egalitarian educational policies, the Japanese school system has created a hierarchy among students, allowing conformists to punish or marginalise nonconformists. The other problem is that a heavy emphasis on group life at school to promote peer solidarity has augmented the risk of exclusion by students who maintain collective identity by alienating someone. The findings show that ijime has been promoted by the cultural values and goals of conformity, and that the problem of ijime will not be alleviated without changing the regimented system of Japanese schooling.

Although the significance of education is widely recognized, the content and regimentation of education is not often discussed in contemporary Japan. This thesis analyzed the Japanese education system from Meiji Restoration to today, revealing how the Japanese education system has molded citizens in favor of state power. The persistent system, which has produced citizen conformity, eventually created mindless self-censored citizens. As a result, because of the repeated education dogma, Japanese youths are desperately trying to be ideal Japanese citizens. Nevertheless, the ramifications of the education system in Japanese society, have led to the Hikikomori (or hidden youths) and high suicide rates. The findings of this thesis are based on the education guidelines from the Japanese education ministry and from interviews with various Japanese people. The conclusion is that if the Japanese education system keeps ousting the freedoms of students, the system may once again have a devastating effect on democracy as was seen in Japan in the 1930s. / Graduate

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2009. / Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 234-245).

This study is in response to the question about how Japanese educators achieve such a high quality of instruction. Considering the area of lesson study has opened the door to new ideas and concepts that are not well defined and too broad to understand. Kyozaikenkyu is an aspect of lesson study that has been said to be a crucial aspect to successful lesson study. Kyozaikenkyu is done on a daily basis by Japanese educators; however, there is very little written about this process in relevant literature. This study examines what Japanese educators do during their daily kyozaikenkyu, and why they do it. Through interviews, observations, and participation in kyozaikenkyu, I have been able to describe a process many Japanese educators go through to prepare their lessons. There is a difference between what these educators do during kyozaikenkyu for a research lesson compared to the kyozaikenkyu of a daily lesson. I document two variations of daily kyozaikenkyu. One variation corresponds well to the kyozaikenkyu done for a research lesson, while the other variation is something new. This thesis expounds on those differences as well as explores the purposes and benefits of daily kyozaikenkyu for the Japanese educators that participated in them.

This study investigates Japanese primary school students’ and teachers’ responses to educational drama as a pedagogical tool in their English language classes. Along with the participants’ responses, the applicability of educational drama as a teaching method for the Japanese teachers is also discussed. The study was conducted in Japan as ateacher-researcher using participatory action research methods. The participants of the study are three Year Six classes and their teachers in a public primary school in Japan. Educational drama is introduced as an alternative teaching and learning method to these participants who have had no experience of drama in education.

This thesis examines futōkō (school non-attendance) in Japan from the perspective that futōkō is a social movement. It analyses citizens’ activism in support of futōkō students over the twenty year period from 1984. Drawing upon social movement approaches the thesis examines how futōkō citizens successfully grasped political opportunities, established a network of organizations, launched a new interpretive frame for futōkō, and challenged the dominant representation of futōkō in society –that 'futōkō is an illness’. To explore in detail the ideological aspect of the futōkō movement’s framing, a content analysis of 140 editorials in the movement newspaper – the Futōkō Shimbun (School Non-attendance Newspaper) was conducted. Commencing with a critique of schooling practices that create futōkō, over the survey period Futōkō Shimbun expands its analysis to develop a critical appraisal of Japanese society that has broad implications for many different aspects of the everyday life of its citizens. Adopting the typology of movement outcomes, this thesis assesses the outcomes of futōkō movement framing through two sets of factors: first, changes in government policies and attitudes and second, cultural and ideational changes as experienced by the movement organizations, futōkō activists and children, and as represented in shifts in media representation of futōkō. Government policies in the handling of futōkō students have become more flexible although not always positive, while government interactions with the movement are suggestive of recognition that futōkō citizens are valid spokespersons with a legitimate set of interests in relation to futōkō children. Futōkō movement activists have been successful in framing their movement in terms of: expanding and increasingly sophisticated networks of futōkō movement organizations; the professional development of activists; and a more positive media discourse. The thesis concludes that the futōkō movement has influenced government policies, the media and wider social commentary about the phenomenon of and responses to futōkō. The thesis contends that the social movement perspective enables us to understand the issue of futōkō beyond the educational context, in its wider social, cultural and political contexts. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1330998 / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Social Sciences, 2008

Submitted by Noeme Timbo (noeme.timbo@metodista.br) on 2017-06-27T13:58:22Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Rafael da Silva e Silva.pdf: 59556125 bytes, checksum: 19f23c8d1b58ab3d13fe814355cfc56f (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-27T13:58:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Rafael da Silva e Silva.pdf: 59556125 bytes, checksum: 19f23c8d1b58ab3d13fe814355cfc56f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-12-08 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The present text, outcome of a thesis for the Doctorate in Education course, of the Post-Graduation Program from “Universidade Metodista de São Paulo”, with the objective of analyzing the Japanese educational network as well as its performance in “Baixada Santista” and “Vale do Ribeira” regions, by the seaside and southern region of São Paulo State respectively in the first half of the twentieth century (1908-1945). The bibliography which explores the subject about the Japanese immigration is very cohesively regarding Education. It was really common, among several Japanese colonies that rose in São Paulo State and other places from Brazil, the presence of schools available for the Japanese language teaching, moreover, the school represented a symbol of progress and prosperity for the colony. The same happened in the regions studied by the present research, where we could find many schools built with the own Japanese settlers’ efforts. From the decade of 1920 on, the Japanese government started supporting directly the Japanese-Brazilian Education by the Japanese Consulate, creating for that the Difusion Society of Japanese Teaching in Brazil. This way, is it possible to question to what extent the actions of the Japanese government interfered in the operation of these schools and, in fact, established a centralizer character to them? Were there nationalist interests behind the centralization try? Did this institution interfere in the performance of schools made by Japanese immigrants? Which was its impact in the educational daily of Japanese colonies at their respective schools? What was in fact its function as institution linked to Japanese education in Brazil? In order to answer such questions, the research counted on some more in-depth references about the Japanese immigration and its education as form of understanding of the phenomena, with the objective is to give theorical support to primary historical sources found, for instance, Arlinda Rocha Nogueira, Zeila de Brito Fabri Demartini, Hiroshi Saito, among others. Supported by the bibliography, the research looked for printed documentary sources, such as photos, school books, books produced at that time by the colony, etc., and research of Oral History achieved since 2008 with former students of Japanese schools as well as people who had some close relation with the Japanese colonies. The study observed the Difusion Society of Japanese Teaching in Brazil was crucial to give centrality to the Japanese language teaching, making easier the send and qualification of teachers, dispatching material, besides providing didactic financial support to schools. On the other hand, the institution was right target of the nationalist actions of Getúlio Vargas’ totalitarian state during the New State (1937), being obliged to cease its activities at the Japanese schools . The Difusion Society of Japanese Teaching in Brazil was primal to guarantee the Japanese language teaching as long as possible at Vargas’ Period and the repression to immigrant education. / O presente texto,fruto de uma tese para o curso de Doutorado em Educação, do Programa de Pós-Graduação da Universidade Metodista de São Paulo, com o objetivo de analisar a rede educacional japonesa e sua atuação na região da Baixada Santista e Vale do Ribeira, no litoral e região sul do Estado de São Paulo respectivamente na primeira metade do século XX (1908 – 1945). A bibliografia que aborda o assunto da imigração japonesa é muito coesa no que diz respeito a Educação. Foi muito comum, nas diversas colônias japonesas que surgiram pelo Estado de São Paulo e em outros locais do Brasil, a presença de escolas para o ensino da língua japonesa, além disso, a escola representava um símbolo de progresso e prosperidade para a colônia.O mesmo aconteceunas regiões estudadas pela presente pesquisa, onde pôde-se constatar muitas escolas construídas com o esforço dos próprios colonos japoneses. A partir da década de 1920, o governo do Japão passou a apoiar diretamente a educação nipo-brasileira através do Consulado Japonês, criando para isso a Sociedade de Difusão de Ensino de Japoneses no Brasil. Sendo assim, é possível questionar até que ponto as ações do Governo Japonês interferiram no funcionamento dessas escolas e, de fato estabeleceram um caráter centralizador a elas? Havia interesses nacionalistas por trás da tentativa de centralização? Essa instituição interferiu na atuação de escolas criadas por imigrantes japoneses? Qual foi seu impacto no cotidiano educacional das colônias japonesas nas suas respectivas escolas? Qual era de fato a sua função como instituição vinculada à educação japonesa no Brasil? Para responder tais questões, a pesquisa contou com alguns referenciais mais abrangentes sobre a imigração japonesa e sua educação como forma de compreensão dos fenômenos a fim de dar suporte teórico as fontes históricas primárias encontradas, como por exemplo, Arlinda Rocha Nogueira, Zeila de Brito Fabri Demartini, Hiroshi Saito, entre outros. Apoiada na bibliografia, a pesquisa buscou fontes documentais impressas, como fotografias, livros escolares, livros produzidos na época pela colônia etc., e com pesquisa de História Oral realizada desde 2008 com ex-alunos de escolas japonesas e pessoas que tiveram alguma relação próxima com colônias japonesas. O estudo observou que a Sociedade de Difusão do Ensino de Japoneses no Brasil foi fundamental para dar centralidade ao Ensino Japonês, facilitando o envio e qualificação de professores, enviando material didático e proporcionando ajuda financeira às escolas. Por outro lado, a instituição foi alvo direto das ações nacionalistas do estado totalitário de Getúlio Vargas durante o Estado Novo (1937), sendo obrigada a encerrar as suas atividades junto às escolas japonesas. A Sociedade de Difusão de Ensino de Japoneses no Brasil foi fundamental para garantir o ensino japonês pelo maior tempo possível durante a Era Vargas e a repressão a educação imigrante.

This research seeks to develop further understandings of effectiveness of the  Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET)  Programme. The JET programme is an internationalisation programme of which employs primarily native English language speakers into the role of Assistant Language Teachers of whom aid in teaching English within school settings across Japan. Inspiration to undertake the project arose through an observation that previous research into the JET programme displays an overwhelmingly negative perspective of the programme’s effectiveness, not least due to the consistent reduction in Japan’s perceived foreign language attainment rates in recent years. This study seeks to develop a new angle of understanding regarding the JET programme, namely through analysing its Assistant Language Teacher’s and Japanese Teachers of English’s perceptions of their own experiences within the programme, and what they each determine effectiveness to be within their own roles. These perceptions were elicited through joint interviews with pairs of Assistant Language Teachers and Japanese Teachers of English of whom work or worked together. Four interviews took place harbouring two participants in each, totalling eight participants. Through utilisation of thematic and multimodal analytical methodologies in tandem, participant pairs’ individual and collaboratively created perspectives were attained. Results displayed the importance of individual relationships towards effectiveness within participants’ working lives. Effectiveness was primarily displayed through empathetic understanding and supporting one another, alongside actions of which allowed participants to challenge the JET programme together and empower their own relationships in the process. Further, theoretical frameworks of language teacher effectiveness are utilised and display intriguing results pertaining to how participants fulfil their working roles, and how these roles act in empowering potentially problematic norms of what a native speaker is.

No description available.