Research on cultural stereotypes of Japanese teachers and volumteers

While many psychologists have engaged in the research on Intercultural Education or Japanese as a Second Language, little examination regarding the cultural stereotypes of those teachers have been done in Japan. Investigating teachers' cultural stereotypes and attitudes towards cultural stereotypes are extremely significant, because these images and understandings are likely to influence the way their students construct their own images and knowledge of the cultures. In this study, questionnaires are provided to teachers and teaching volunteers in Japan to understand the nature of their culture stereotypes and their attitudes toward cultural stereotypes. Then the author conducted in ethnographic interviews of the teachers and volunteers who show a high degree of both awareness and self-control of culture stereotypes. In this paper, the author intends to discuss mainly the results of ethnographic interviews which depict the backgrounds and life history of those teachers and teaching volunteers. Out of 79 subjects, 7 teachers who showed great amount of awareness as well as self-control regarding culture stereotypes were interviewed from 2003 to 2004. All those interviewees were either the teachers or the teaching volunteers of JSL, their ages range from 30 to 55, and they have taught more than 3 years. Furthermore they lived more than a year in the foreign countries, or had enriched experiences of foreign exchange in Japan. Through interviews, it was found that none of the subjects were brought up by authoritative fathers, and 5 out of 7 subjects were either bullied by their school mates when they were in school. or belonged to a social minority in other countries to a great extent. In addition, two subjects indicated the importance of key persons who had influenced the subjects' attitudes towards culture stereotypes. One subject said that her experiences in teaching Japanese to foreign students played a significant role in her view of foreigners. Another subject indicated that her specialization in cultur

Globalization of Universities and its Influence on Japanese-language Education Programs and Full-time Instructors in Japan

This study aimed to determine how globalization in education, which can be widely observed in Japanese universities, influences Japanese-language education programs and full-time faculty positions for those programs. This research was conducted via a postal survey to full-time instructors selected by referral sampling at 54 universities in Japan (national, public, and private universities). It was evident that globalization in education exerts a considerable influence on both Japanese-language education and faculty positions. The results of this study have a bearing on such questions as how overseas student education programs in Japan should be efficiently promoted. However, it is clear that the increasing workload on fulltime faculty should be reexamined and reduced. Full-time instructors are obliged to commit considerable time to other duties. Faculty are required to provide overseas students with necessary information to help them pursue their studies in a different cultural environment. Giving intercultural education to Japanese students is also an indispensable part of faculty duties. These issues demand further reconsideration and discussion.本研究は，基盤研究（B）『多文化にひらかれた大学教員の国境を越えたネットワーク形成に関する研究』（研究代表者：倉地曉美）の国際共同研究の一環として実施されたものである。2015年6月異文化間教育学会のケース・パネル（共同発表者：中山亜紀子，加藤鈴子）「グローバル化の大学の日本語教育への影響について」で，日本，米国，韓国で実施した研究成果を発表したが，本研究はその一部である

Analysis of volunteers' and teachers' cultural stereotypes : Perspectives on perceptions and awareness

There is little doubt that language teachers of foreign students play a significant role in decreasing students' cultural stereotypes. However, few Japanese academics have conducted research on the stereotypes held by Japanese language teachers. Although hundreds of research papers were examined regarding cultural stereotypes, none of the psychologists judging the papers examined just how the language teachers perceive and how they remain aware of and assert self-control over their stereotypes (awareness and self-control). This study examines how volunteers and teachers of Japanese as a foreign language perceive and are aware of cultural stereotypes and how much they can control the arousal of their own cultural stereotypes. Questionnaires were distributed to the volunteers and teachers who were teaching Japanese to foreign students in Japan. Seventy-nine subjects' responses were analyzed. It was clearly apparent that very few teachers perceive the necessity of decreasing their cultural stereotypes. In addition, it was found that most of the subjects in this study could hardly control the arousal of their own cultural stereotypes. A 7-phase hypothesis regarding perception and self-control of cultural stereotypes was developed for this study. It was concluded that the special intervention/educational programs designed to promote awareness and to reduce cultural stereotypes are necessary for students who are training to become teachers of Japanese as a foreign language

A cross-cultural analysis of teachers' and parents' perception of and attitudes toward conflict situations : An attributional approach

Teachers and mothers in Japan and the United States were shown three critical incidents involving a typical type of conflict between a mother and a teacher relating to the hypothetical mother's child. The subjects were asked what the mother in the situation would feel and how she would behave. A sample of 400 parents and teachers located in five geographic locations in each country were given the questionnaire. A total of 304 usable responses were analyzed. In order to distinguish between the responses of American mothers, American teachers, Japanese mothers and Japanese teachers, discriminant analyses were carried out for each incident. Almost a11 the first discriminant functions distinguished sharply between the American and Japanese groups. In addition, ANOVAs and ANCOVAs were carried out for each incident with culture and role as subject classification factors. The results showed differences in patterns of response which can be attributed to differences in culture. These findings have implications for and raise several fundamental questions about the educational systems and the educational policies of both countries

世界の人々との「対話」能力を育てるために : 小学校教育に求められるもの

国際化の進展に対応したコミュニケーション能力の育成を目指す,カリキュラムの開発研究 : 各教科における,論理的表現力の育成に重点を置いて 小学校調査報告書(平成6年度調査) pp.20-23, 199

Two Approaches for Intercultural Education : A Transition from GRP to IS

In this paper, the author compares two approaches in intercultural education developed for foreign students in Japanese universities. Both approaches emerge from the Generative Culture Theory which by the author specifically for the students who acquire more than the intermediate level of Japanese language. Along with the lines of the following discussions, the two approaches, Group Research Project (GRP) and Independent Studies (IS) are contrasted: (1) What are the necessary conditions for success in the GRP, (2) What are the reasons the author decided to use the independent studies approach instead of GRP in her programs, (3) What are the advantages and disadvantages involved in making the transition, (4) What are the conditions for success in the IS. The two programs are mutually exclusive; neither approach can be substituted for the other. However, given the conditions of foreign student education, educators must make their educational decisions based on the needs of the students. Inter-cultural understanding through, library research and fieldwork by foreign students is the main theme of this paper