This study investigates how learning is understood, constructed and produced by different groups of actors such as teachers, parents and children in the age of globalisation in Japan’s primary education sector. While several educational reforms have been conducted in Japan since the emergence of globalisation in the 1980s, the voices of the actors above, especially the voices of children, are not reflected in the policy making process. This study, therefore, aims at giving a voice to them by analysing and interpreting their perspectives and everyday experiences.
In order to understand their everyday educational experiences, in-depth interviews were conducted as a main research method, along with participant observations as a subsidiary method. The analysis shows that there are some gaps between the ideal and the reality. Some teachers encountered dilemmas in that they could not conduct the lessons that they wanted to due to the rigid municipal teaching guidelines. They expressed concerns at an increase in low academic achievers, especially among children from poor families, due to a lack of repetitive practices in the lessons and an emphasis on active learning such as presentations and discussions in such a tight curriculum. Most of the parents also noted that education today seemed to be child-centred, which gave children more time for discussions and presentation, while some parents criticised that such learning styles would broaden the disparity between active and quiet children in terms of the quality and opportunities for learning. In reality, some children expressed that they felt imposed upon to conduct child-led lessons and only a few children actively participated in the lesson.
Although the most recent educational policy emphasises teaching children by meeting their individual needs in order to raise individual potential, the voices of the actors suggest that there are many obstacles to overcome before realizing ideal policies for everyday practice.
