In this article, we report on a National Science Foundation-funded immersive international summer research program for biology students. Six students, representing Cohort 1 of a three-year program, spent 9 weeks at one of three institutes in Japan, working on related molecular, cellular, and developmental research projects under the mentorship of…

This study empirically investigated the invisibility, or symbolic annihilation, in Japanese English education of social groups at risk of marginalization. To do so, I assembled a corpus of 3746 English teaching materials selected because they involved world social group representation and because they were disseminated through the JET Program, a…

The present study is embedded in the contextual approach of acculturation research. It examines teachers' attitudes and behaviors, teachers' expectations as well as their teaching practices as risk and resource factors in minority students' school adjustment. The study applies the method of content analysis and uses a deductively developed and…

Recent studies in the social sciences have focused the attention on the role of children in cultural politics, in particular on children's experiences in nationalism, as well as on their participation in inter-ethnic relations. In line with this research, this study aims to investigate the relationship between childhood and political action and to…

This project explores racial tokenism in the Japanese academy. It grows out of concerns regarding the low status of foreign university faculty in Japan along with a need to evaluate recent government initiatives aimed at fostering "internationalization" of Japanese higher education. In this three-year case study, I investigated the work…

This article utilizes an autoethnographic story-telling perspective in which I situate myself as a critical participant observer. Through critiquing the "situatedness of the self and others" in context, I share a selection of narrative snapshots concerning place and positionality as a white male native speaker of English (i.e. an…

This paper examines emerging far-right movements and xenophobia, and the challenges they pose for justice in education in Japan. It illustrates discourses on nationalism and cultural diversity in both education and wider society from the perspective of critical race theory. It explores the voice of educators, particularly about their concerns and…

This study demonstrates the ways in which discourses in a state-sponsored volunteer program incited transformations of individual subjectivities, focusing on a group of Japanese language teacher volunteers training in Japan to become teachers of Japanese as a heritage language for the country's diaspora (Nikkei) population in South America. As…

The present paper explores how "written emotional disclosure", in particular writing about personal feelings and thoughts concerning discriminatory events, can represent an important opportunity for children to engage in the transformation of categorical boundaries through complex cognitive and emotional processes. In particular, the…

This study examines best practices in teaching mathematics to minority students through two case studies conducted at high-minority junior high schools in the USA and Japan. Observations, interviews, and conversations with the teachers in both countries focused on the research question: how do teachers successfully teach mathematics to minority…

A qualitative study conducted in western Japan examined the perceptions of Korean students in Japanese junior high school to identify factors contributing to a consistently low high school advancement rate compared to mainstream Japanese students. Fourteen people were interviewed about their Korean students' experiences in Japan. The findings of…

Teacher educators are pivotal in the effort to prepare teachers to teach in culturally responsive ways (Vescio, et al., 2006). In subject areas such as social studies and English, multicultural literature is viewed as a prime resource for creating a culturally inclusive curriculum. Yet, effective inclusion of these texts--many of which are filled…

How do people define ethnicity and its membership? Primordialists argue that people group themselves using "primal" or permanent characteristics like physical similarity or a common language, religion, or history. Social mobilizationists, however, see ethnicity as more situational social phenomena, as an informal organization whereby…

This article investigates how Japanese university students perceive Japan's domestic diversity and understand the role of English within that context. Surveys and interviews with Japanese students reveal how they reflect on their own experiences with diversity in their past English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classes and also help to explore the…

While "lasting effects" of outdoor experiences have been suggested, few empirical studies have traced influences more than one year after the experiences. This study examines the written responses of 67 Japanese expedition participants who took part in a British-organized overseas youth expedition 20-23 years ago, to investigate their…