The process of mutual transformation affecting an international/ethnic school and Japanese public schools within a shared local community : A focus on educational practices in the contact zone

This paper describes the process of mutual transformation operating between a gaikokujin-gakko (international/ethnic school) and Japanese public schools within a shared local community, focusing on the educational practices that have emerged due to their contact. It also presents, from a micro–local perspective unexplored by previous studies, a new perspective on the concept of gaikokujin-gakko and possible means of supporting these schools grounded in the realities of the local area. As specific cases, the study focused on a newly established Korean gaikokujin-gakko, School T, and three public schools (two elementary schools, one middle school) in the same school district; their contact with one another is examined through the lens of the “contact zone” concept. The paper discusses the study’s three main findings. First, encounters between School T and the district’s public schools occurred in circumstances of asymmetrical power relations, but both sides were subjectivized and entered an exchange as they began to reconsider existing practices. Second, various developments were observed as contact continued: such as transformations in classroom practices and the parties involved, new confl icts with strengthened partnerships as a result, and the creation and implementation of a high school entrance system. Third, a local district educational organization that stressed the empowerment of socially disadvantaged groups and the proactivity of School T in building relationships with the local community, through determination to achieve the school’s educational ideas despite facing structural disadvantages, were both important contributing factors. These findings reveal that, although constrained by their environment and inherent structural limitations, neither the gaikokujin-gakko nor the district’s public schools showed a purely passive reaction to problems, but instead, extensively expanded their educational practices as they reconsidered existing practices and came to consider each other as educational resources. This paper concludes with academic and policy suggestions based on the above