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Showing papers in "London Review of Education in 2018"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the concept of "powerful knowledge" is explored from a curriculum studies perspective, which refers to the aspects of content knowledge towards which teaching should be oriented, and it is defined as:
Abstract: In this article, we explore the concept of 'powerful knowledge' which, from a curriculum studies perspective, refers to the aspects of content knowledge towards which teaching should be oriented. W ...

48 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors argues that most of the school subjects that Young sees as providing 'powerful knowledge' fall short on this requirement, and draws attention to similarities and differences between Young's notion and the philosopher Paul Hirst's notion of 'forms of knowledge'.
Abstract: This article offers a philosophical critique of Michael Young's notion of 'powerful knowledge', as found largely in his own but also in others' writings since 2009. The first part of the article focuses on the definitional connection that Young makes between 'powerful knowledge' and systematic relationships between concepts. It argues that most of the school subjects that Young sees as providing 'powerful knowledge' fall short on this requirement. It also comments on the place of educational aims and of everyday concepts in Young's thinking. The second part of the article draws attention to similarities and differences between Young's notion and the philosopher Paul Hirst's notion of 'forms of knowledge', claiming that Young's position is vulnerable to many of the critiques of Hirst's notion formulated between the 1960s and the 1990s.

30 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a systematic literature review of professional doctorate programs and highlight the need for academic work in this area to move beyond individual case studies of practice on programmes towards developing principles of practice for professional doctorates as a whole.
Abstract: Alongside the growing numbers of professional doctorate programmes being offered within universities in the past 20 years, there has been a growth in the academic literature associated with various aspects of these research degrees. This systematic literature review draws on the evidence of 193 academic papers to map out the existing academic knowledge about professional doctorates and highlight the gaps that this special issue aims to address. We use a simple vote-counting approach to categorizing the identified papers, considering: the type of professional doctorate studied, the country in focus, the main themes explored, the research methods used and the year of publication. This review highlights the need for academic work in this area to move beyond individual case studies of practice on programmes towards developing principles of practice for professional doctorates as a whole. This special issue hopes to start that academic conversation.

28 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors consider how teachers, psychologists and policymakers can respect the rights of all school students, through methods that are principled, humane, cost-effective and democratic.
Abstract: This paper considers how teachers, psychologists and policymakers can respect the rights of all school students, through methods that are principled, humane, cost-effective and democratic. It examines how special educational needs and disability (SEND) services affect all school students and teachers, and their rights. The paper considers the history of rights, their meaning and purpose, and how and why they are important. Respect for rights can grow in several ways: in understanding the social and medical models of disability; in choices about SEND services; in educational psychology services; in the way 'normal' and 'special needs' students learn to live and work together, or else to live separate lives when it is then harder for disabled people to join in mainstream society as children and adults. The conclusion relates inclusive and special school policies to larger political concerns.

22 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors contribute to current debates on progressive, knowledge-based approaches to the curriculum by addressing the question of what it is that students are entitled to learn in school.
Abstract: This article contributes to current debates on progressive, knowledge-based approaches to the curriculum by addressing the question of what it is that studentsare entitled to learn in school mathem ...

21 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors explored the citation patterns, complexity and discursive practices in master's students' literature reviews, and to inform pedagogy to support students writing a literature review, and found that many pedagogical interventions fail to move beyond a focus on citations as a stylistic convention or as a way of avoiding plagiarism.
Abstract: Writing a literature review requires highly sophisticated academic literacies. Many postgraduate students find this genre a challenge. While there is a growing awareness of the need for explicit pedagogy to support students writing this genre, many pedagogical interventions fail to move beyond a focus on citations as a stylistic convention or as a way of avoiding plagiarism. What is missing is a pedagogy that relates citing to the more complex, fluid conceptual and ontological practices that are implicit in academic contexts. The purpose of this paper is to explore the citation patterns, complexity and discursive practices in master's students' literature reviews, and to inform pedagogy.

19 citations



Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors propose the generative intrinsic as a more robust basis on which to base the work of universities and identify the key dimensions as source, form, trajectory, intensity, timescale and destination.
Abstract: The impact of higher education institutions on society has become the focus of significant policy attention in recent years, most prominently as part of research evaluation. This paper presents a theoretical exploration of the notion, identifying the key dimensions as source, form, trajectory, intensity, timescale and destination. While acknowledging the importance of porosity between universities and society, and the need to address critical contemporary challenges, five dangers of the impact agenda are highlighted: the normative dimension; the linear relationship; unpredictability; measurement; and instrumentalization. As a response to dominant conceptualizations, the paper proposes the notion of the generative intrinsic as a more robust basis on which to base the work of universities.

18 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider teachers' knowledge practices in collaborative work and discuss curriculum principles, didactic practice, and social issues in the context of collaborative learning, and propose an approach to think through teachers knowledge practices.
Abstract: Curriculum principles, didactic practice and social issues : Thinking through teachers’ knowledge practices in collaborative work

18 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Burnard et al. as mentioned in this paper provide a set of theorizations, starting with the purpose and distinctiveness of the professional doctorate and the researching professional identity as this is understood by students and staff participating in the EdD program in one university in the United Kingdom (UK).
Abstract: Although there is increasing interest in how learning to become a researching professional is understood by students undertaking a professional doctorate of education (EdD), the topic remains under-researched and under-theorized. In this article, we provide a set of theorizations, starting with the purpose and distinctiveness of the professional doctorate and the researching professional identity as this is understood by students and staff participating in the EdD programme in one university in the United Kingdom (UK). This is followed by a retheorization of the researching professional as they develop a reflexive disposition to connect the workplace and the university as the subject and object of the same critical stance. We explore: how the professional doctorate may be understood as practices of diverse researching professionals at different phases and stages of their doctoral journey; the imperative of critical reflexivity as one moves from practitioner to researching professional; and the placing of 'practice' at the nexus of the workplace, the university (doctoral programme) and leading professional change. We conclude with a merging of theorizations building on the being and doing of reflexive practice by EdD doctoral educators/supervisors and doctoral students/researching professionals. Our theorizations are drawn from insights arising from recent EdD research projects (Burnard et al ., 2016; Burnard et al ., 2018; Heaton et al ., forthcoming), and highlighted by narratives from two EdD students currently on a part-time EdD programme.

18 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the role of research and development within England's school system and argue that six features (three dimensions) should form the focus for action at the institutional, systemic and policy levels.
Abstract: This article examines the role of research and development within England's school system. From a range of literature past and present we argue that six features (three dimensions) should form the focus for action at the institutional, systemic and policy levels. Applying these stress tests to the current system, we suggest that an effective ecosystem of research-informed schools is as yet not being fully realized. We argue that the keys to improving this are to change the structures, cultures and incentives that bridge the research–practice divide, and to align accountability arrangements to allow schools to learn through enquiry.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors examines the origins and nature of reflective writing that is presently required on one part-taught doctorate in education (EdD) programme and explores the various ways in which EdD candidates have engaged with self-reflection, using a number of extracts from writing submitted for formal assessments.
Abstract: This short paper examines the origins and nature of the reflective writing that is presently required on one part-taught doctorate in education (EdD) programme. It explores the various ways in which EdD candidates have engaged with self-reflection, using a number of extracts from writing submitted for formal assessments (including of the doctoral thesis itself, the culmination of their doctoral journey). The specific ways in which individuals have been caused to interrogate their place within, and contributions to, their respective professional realms are examined, as is the question of how writing in reflective vein has contributed to the evolution of professional identity. In the context of reflective writing, particular attention is paid to the ways in which the specific matter of developing confidence with accessing and manipulating language is frequently cited by individuals. As appropriate, connections are made in the paper between the above dimensions of what I am terming pensive professionalism and the perspectives of certain writers. The article concludes by drawing attention to the ways in which those of us involved in delivering professional doctorates need to be aware of, and induct our candidates into, the benefits of pensive professionalism.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article found that students often feel distant from their tutors and afraid to ask for further explanation, relying on a circle of friends to provide support and clarification, and identified the development of agency through engaging with others from different cultures.
Abstract: This paper addresses evidence that developing a sense of belonging for students from different ethnic groups impacts on their engagement. It notes previous findings that in universities habits of coexistence may present barriers to the development of relationships and the sense of student belonging. The paper proposes that cosmopolitan engagement offers a frame for considering the experience of cultural difference in the classroom. It stresses the importance of relationality and communication. The research, involving students undertaking business and science programmes in two culturally similar post-92 London universities, sought to develop a better understanding of how students in London engage with higher education, their learning and with cultural others and the impact on their learning of differing communication patterns. The study finds that students often feel distant from their tutors and afraid to ask for further explanation. Instead, they rely on a circle of friends to provide support and clarification. Students identified the development of agency through engaging with others from different cultures. Engagement in practical collective tasks such as forensic lab work seems to have the potential to encourage communication across cultures, but observation suggested that the students tended to self-segregate. The article concludes that there cannot be a presumption of cosmopolitan engagement. Rather universities need to develop strategies for improving communication between students and staff and between students of different cultural backgrounds.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present an overview of the state of play of professional doctorate (PD) programs currently available in HEIs in England, highlighting how the proliferation of PD titles and programmes, and inconsistencies between the various programmes, has resulted in confusion about what PDs are, the contribution they make, and the value they add to professional practice.
Abstract: This article reports findings from a recent research project, commissioned by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), which explored the current landscape of professional doctorate (PD) provision in English higher education institutions (HEIs) (Mellors-Bourne et al ., 2016). Given the absence of a clear definition by the Quality Assurance Agency for England of the characteristics that distinguish PDs from practice-based doctorates and the doctor of philosophy, this paper makes a timely contribution through considering the inherent characteristics of PD programmes. The paper presents an overview of the state of play of PD programmes currently available in HEIs in England, highlighting how the proliferation of PD titles and programmes, and inconsistencies between the various programmes, has resulted in confusion about what PDs are, the contribution they make, and the value they add to professional practice. Consideration is given to the tensions created through the expansion in the number and types of PDs available, and the implications of these tensions with regard to the future sustainability of PD programmes in general and in relation to the professional doctorate in education (EdD) in particular.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the role that language and social support play in the adaptation of foreign students in a new cultural context, and find that social support has beneficial outcomes for foreign students' adaptation, if provided inadequately it can lead to less positive outcomes and even to marginalization.
Abstract: Non-English-speaking countries are attracting burgeoning numbers of foreign students, yet research regarding these students' experiences remains rather scarce. In line with global tendencies, Portuguese universities are seeing substantial growth in foreign student enrolment. This paper addresses the lived experiences of foreign students in the period following their arrival in a new cultural context, discussing the role that language and social support play in their adaptation. Rooted in a narrative approach, this paper is based on 41 indepth biographic interviews. The findings indicate that the ways in which students deal with the challenges of living and studying in a foreign country are highly diverse. Nevertheless, a universal aspect of their narratives is the central role assumed by social support. Although social support has beneficial outcomes for foreign students' adaptation, if provided inadequately it can lead to less positive outcomes and even to marginalization.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The question of content in the curriculum has all but disappeared from global policy and academic discourses concerning teaching and teachers as mentioned in this paper, and it is worth noting that teaching is a practical, interpretive and interpretive act that calls for curriculum thinking that is centred on the 'what' (content) and 'why' (purpose).
Abstract: The question of content – that is, knowledge in the curriculum – has all but disappeared from global policy and academic discourses concerning teaching and teachers. Invoking the work of Michael Young and his colleagues concerning 'bringing knowledge back in', Bildung -centred Didaktik , and Joseph J. Schwab's curriculum thinking, this article attempts to bring content back into the conversation on teaching and teachers. The discussion yields an educational, curricular understanding of teaching and teachers by making three arguments. First, teaching (content) is an 'intergenerational' task vital for social reproduction and innovation. Second, teaching, by way of a meaningful encounter between content and students, contributes to their self-formation and the development of human powers and dispositions. Third, teaching is a practical, interpretive act that calls for curriculum thinking that is centred on the 'what' (content) and 'why' (purpose) of teaching.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined whether the students attending free schools are representative of their local neighbourhoods using data from the National Pupil Database for all 325 free schools established between 2011/12 and 2015/16, and developed the first analysis of whether the specifics of who opens and provides a free school impacts on who attends the school.
Abstract: The opening of new state schools by non-state actors has intensified debates about social selection and inequality in quasi-markets. This article examines the case of England, where the government allows anyone to apply to open a new 'free school', arguing this will improve social equity. Using data from the National Pupil Database for all 325 free schools established between 2011/12 and 2015/16, we analyse whether the students attending free schools are representative of their local neighbourhoods. We develop the first analysis of whether the specifics of who opens and provides a free school impacts on who attends the school. We also analyse whether opening a free school has an impact on neighbouring schools. We find that free schools are located in areas with above-average deprivation but admit intakes that are more affluent than the average for the neighbourhoods from which they recruit. This is particularly the case for primary free schools, which also recruit students with above-average prior attainment. There is no evidence that free schools become more representative as they admit additional year groups. Significantly, we find that all categories of free school providers have opened schools whose populations are more affluent than their neighbourhoods, with the exception of academy chains. We also find that the opening of a free school leads to a concentrated loss of pupils at the closest school, except in cities, but we do not identify an impact on the student composition of neighbouring schools. Discussing the reasons for this, we conclude that free schools are socially selective and reproduce socio-economic inequalities.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, an interpretive analysis of interviews with two university administrators and ten teacher educators revealed four key factors affecting the occurrence of brain drain: ineffective application of sabbatical leave regulations; failure to equalize returning teachers' salaries with those of their colleagues; lack of resources to support research; and the presence of internal and external conflicts.
Abstract: Brain drain is a context-based issue and has direct impact on the quality of higher education for institutions where a significant number of instructors migrate to take up work in other countries. This is a critical problem in Yemen where higher teacher education programmes still lack teachers. Interpretive analysis of in-depth interviews with two university administrators and ten teacher educators revealed four key factors affecting the occurrence of brain drain: ineffective application of sabbatical leave regulations; failure to equalize returning teachers' salaries with those of their colleagues; lack of resources to support research; and the presence of internal and external conflicts. The study also provides insights for decreasing brain drain in Yemen.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is argued that while mobile technologies seem to encourage a clear distinction between online and offline learning, in reality the boundary is less clear-cut as mobile learners bring with them a set of offline learning practices from their own experiences to the online environment.
Abstract: Mobile technologies and mobile learners have transformed the way people learn languages. In particular, they give rise to a new form of language learning: the use of online language learning platforms, a kind of virtual learning environment that offers learning opportunities that are mobile, social and multimodal (Jones and Hafner, 2012; Richards, 2015). While existing research has tended to focus either on the benefits of using mobile technologies in the teaching and learning of languages or on how mobile learners, who have different linguistic and cultural backgrounds, harness the benefits of technologies to learn new languages, few studies address both perspectives. This paper reports on a study of self-directed language learning in online platforms. In particular, I explore how mobile technologies such as online language learning platforms shape the learning practices of mobile learners, and how mobile learners take advantage of the affordances of these online platforms to achieve their learning goals, in the context of learning Chinese as a foreign language. Through in-depth analyses of two case studies, I argue that while mobile technologies seem to encourage a clear distinction between online and offline learning, in reality the boundary is less clear-cut as mobile learners bring with them a set of offline learning practices from their own experiences to the online environment. A more critical view therefore has to be taken when researching online and offline learning practices.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The UCL Institute of Education (IOE) became one of only three internationally accredited centres for the training of Reading Recovery Trainers in 2001 as discussed by the authors, which allowed for a unique apprenticeship model that combined academic study and research at doctoral level together with practical experience.
Abstract: In 2001, the Institute of Education (now the UCL Institute of Education (IOE)) became one of only three internationally accredited centres for the training of Reading Recovery trainers. To achieve accreditation, the training programme was required by the International Reading Recovery Trainers Organization to be linked to the IOE Doctor of Education (EdD). Specifically, apprentice trainers were required to successfully complete a minimum of year two of the EdD programme (the Institution Focused Study), as a gateway to achieving their professional qualification. The IOE EdD allowed for a unique apprenticeship model that combined academic study and research at doctoral level together with practical experiences. This paper presents a case study of the apprenticeship model as viewed by those professionals having undergone the experience. Findings suggest similarities to previous reports on professional doctorates but also suggest a ‘bridge’ and transition from apprentice to an apprentice who is also a mentor. Findings also suggest a range of tensions, some of which have been described by previous authors, but also new tensions not previously reported. Apprentice trainers reported feeling like ‘weird fish’ in that although their apprenticeship model was part of the EdD, it did not ‘fit’ with experiences the rest of their cohorts received. Nevertheless, there was a sense of preparedness for participants' new complex professional roles. Implications of findings for linking the EdD to specific professional roles are also discussed.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors explored the usefulness of Maude's translation of Young's idea of powerful knowledge into geography education and found that the emphasis in the curricula is on learning geographical concepts that students might use to analyse phenomena (Type 2 knowledge).
Abstract: This article explores the usefulness of Maude's translation of Young's idea of powerful knowledge into geography education. Maude's classification of five types of powerful knowledge in geography education was used to analyse the written curriculum of the 'human and society' interdisciplinary domain in four schools in the Netherlands. The characterization appears to be useful in terms of painting a picture of what an integrated curriculum looks like from the perspective of powerful knowledge. The emphasis in the curricula is on learning geographical concepts that students might use to analyse phenomena (Type 2 knowledge). Remarkably little attention is paid to learning about places (Type 5), as a result of which the integrated curricula hardly contribute to a central aim of school geography, namely to build an extensive geographical world view.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the recognition of the doctorate of education in countries that do not offer the degree, and explore the implications of such a recognition system in terms of public, private and academic spheres.
Abstract: The current discussion around recognition of the doctorate of education (EdD) typically focuses on a national context, usually in relation to the PhD; however, relatively little is known about recognition of the EdD degree in countries that do not offer the qualification. As international cohorts and online delivery of doctoral education grows, it is valuable to understand the recognition of the EdD, particularly in countries that do not currently offer it, and in which policy and legislation may impede its recognition. Using Israel as a case, this study explores EdD recognition in a country that does not offer the degree and that has a particularly rigid recognition system, likely as a result of a neoliberal experiment with the deregulation of the higher education arena in the 1990s. My investigations indicate three spheres of recognition for the degree: the public, private and academic spheres. This article outlines these spheres and explores the implications of such a system.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the current challenges faced by the participants of a professional doctorate (PD) program in education at a leading UK university in gaining legitimacy as higher education (HE) professionals.
Abstract: This article discusses the current challenges faced by the two authors – both participants on a professional doctorate (PD) programme in education at a leading UK university – in gaining legitimacy as higher education (HE) professionals. By: (1) reflecting upon their own professional experiences in HE and as PD students; (2) utilizing semi-structured interviews with academic and non-academic professionals from their home institutions (in Ireland and India); and (3) drawing on Celia Whitchurch’s typologies of ‘third-space’ HE professionalism, they found that in Ireland the current reform of the HE policy and praxis environment offers some real and positive opportunities for PD participants through the emergence of more progressive models of HE professionalism. In contrast, the relative lack of reform and a highly regulated Indian HE environment, presents ongoing difficulties in terms of applying one’s PD learning in the work environment. This suggests that in India, PD graduates might, in fact, be afforded greater career progression opportunities by transitioning to a more traditional academic role.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors give various reasons why the doctorate in education (EdD) program helpfully heightens our normative senses, including the sense that the writing of a thesis in time, and hence the realization that the same time is traded off, comports the student in a manner that heightens his or her sense of his/her own temporality and invites reflexive consideration of what it is that truly matters.
Abstract: In this paper, I give various reasons why the doctorate in education (EdD) programme helpfully heightens our normative senses. The writing of a thesis in time, and hence the realization that the same time – that window of opportunity – to do other things and enjoy other experiences is traded off, comports the student in a manner that heightens his or her sense of his or her own temporality and invites reflexive consideration of what it is that truly matters. Thus, embarking on a graduate programme and writing an EdD is an invitation to theorize, no doubt – we are invited to read, think, reason, discuss and write down our thoughts. But at the end of the day, it is the EdD that writes us. Amid our scholarly striving, it shapes us and graces us with the keen sense of what it is that ultimately matters. Such a grasp of what truly matters ought then to inform our own reform of our scholarly and professional discourses in our field.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors draw on experience both within commercial textbook publishing and on textbook-development projects at the UCL Institute of Education to interrogate the current dynamics of 'neoliberal' edu-business.
Abstract: This article draws on experience both within commercial textbook publishing and on textbook-development projects at the UCL Institute of Education to interrogate the current dynamics of 'neoliberal' edu-business (after Ball, 2012). The author discusses some damaging limitations inherent in publishing coursebooks predicated on what Young and Muller (2010) term a 'Future 2' approach, and outlines the potential benefits of classroom materials that allow 'knowledge' and 'text' back in. The discussion is situated mainly in the context of England, where a subject-specialist approach to teaching and learning is strongly advocated in the policy environment.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In 2014, the University of Waikato's Curriculum Enhancement Programme (CEP) as discussed by the authors was launched, which included using more channels of communication, more frequently, especially with staff; getting all of the faculties to pull together more effectively as one institution; and working harder to increase students' opportunities for interdisciplinarity in teaching and research.
Abstract: In 2014, the University of Waikato launched the Curriculum Enhancement Programme (CEP). As the leaders of this programme we have used auto-ethnography to reflect critically on our experience. Throughout the course of the CEP some things have gone well; others, in hindsight, have not gone so well and in retrospect we would have done them differently. This includes using more channels of communication, more frequently, especially with staff; getting all of Waikato's faculties to pull together more effectively as one institution; and working harder to increase students' opportunities for interdisciplinarity in teaching and research. These lessons, we hope, will be helpful for others also embarking on wide-scale curriculum change.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors discusses the refocusing of the debate in relation to the rise of Islamist terrorism and examines some of the key rhetorical responses of leading UK politicians, and stresses the importance in a pluralistic society of prioritizing certain values over others.
Abstract: Schools in England are now required by law to 'actively promote British values' (DfE, 2014). This paper seeks to set this requirement within the context of a somewhat longer history of debates about values in Britain. It discusses the views of certain neoconservatives who claim that multiculturalism has eroded or even abolished British values. It then discusses the refocusing of the debate in relation to the rise of Islamist terrorism and examines some of the key rhetorical responses of leading UK politicians. The view that 'promoting British values' will strengthen identities and promote social cohesion is challenged. The concluding section of the paper develops an argument focused on liberal values, and stresses the importance in a pluralistic society of prioritizing certain values over others – notably rationality and autonomy – especially in education. Aspects of the work of Amartya Sen, John Rawls, Bernard Crick and Charles Bailey are discussed in this regard.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors argue that the consequent empowerment should as a matter of individual equity (as well as benefit to wider society) be available to all young people, and suggest that the global mathematics attainment "spotlight" and the English policy context in particular, offer both opportunities and constraints for the development of such a high quality mathematics education.
Abstract: This paper argues for a re-framing of the purposes of mathematics education for the twenty-first century that combines apparently divergent philosophical approaches, arguing that the consequent empowerment should as a matter of individual equity (as well as benefit to wider society) be available to all young people. It suggests that the global mathematics attainment ‘spotlight’, and the English policy context in particular, offer both opportunities and constraints for the development of such a high quality mathematics education, and discusses the challenging implications for curriculum, and for the nature of teacher expertise, and particularly subject-specific expertise, needed.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine emerging far-right movements and xenophobia, and the challenges they pose for justice in education in Japan, focusing on the narratives of interviewees from different ethnic backgrounds.
Abstract: 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 uncertainties regarding xenophobia, and examines their perceptions and reactions. By focusing on the narratives of interviewees from different ethnic backgrounds, this paper investigates far-right extremism and its challenges to education from different viewpoints. Data from interviews reveals different perceptions among both majority and minority teachers regarding the culturalization and personalization of problems in the classroom. This data also suggests that due to the absence of collective strategies and visions to challenge racism, approaches to combating racism depend largely on individual teachers. Drawing from these findings, this paper argues that culturally focused discourses among teachers and politicians may conceal problems beyond culture, such as structural inequality and the legacy of colonialism.