A MIRROR TO OURSELVES - THE EDUCATIONAL-EXPERIENCES OF JAPANESE CHILDREN AT SCHOOL IN THE UK

This paper reports the main findings of the ESRC-funded study 'The Edu cational Experiences of Japanese Children at School in the UK'. Resear ch for this project was carried out by Janet Powney and Joanna McPake, at the Scottish Council for Research in Education, between April 1994 and January 1995. The work was based in two areas with thriving Japan ese communities, one in Scotland and one in England; and focused on ch ildren in the 11-13 age-group, attending UK schools during the week an d Japanese Saturday schools. This was a small-scale study, intended pr incipally to explore areas of dissonance in Japanese children's experi ences of school in the UK: the researchers defined a 'dissonant' exper ience as: one in which the children encountered contradictory notions of what school is and of the roles which pupils should play. It was po stulated at the outset of the research that these dissonances would ar ise from the very different educational philosophies and practices in Japan and the UK. In the course of the research, however, the research ers realized that an additional and very powerful influence on the chi ldren's perceptions of school and of themselves as pupils was the expe rience of transition from one educational culture to another. The rese archers identified four principal areas of dissonance for Japanese pup ils: (1) understanding the role of talk and silence in the classroom; (2) the relative importance placed on knowledge and skills for learnin g; (3) expectations of academic achievement and educational aspiration s; and (4) notions of cultural identity. This paper gives a brief acco unt of the causes of these dissonances and the effects on Japanese chi ldren's school lives. The researchers believe that the relevance of th is work lies not only in the fact that Japanese children are an under- researched, though economically important, minority group in UK school s, but also that some of the issues raised in the study pose questions about aspects of UK educational philosophy and practice often taken f or granted. Of particular concern is the apparent absence of teaching strategies which take into account culturally diverse approaches to le arning among school pupils.