Thesis Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements of the University College London Institute of Education for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
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CONNECTING THE ‘LOCAL’ AND ‘GLOBAL’ Japanese Secondary School Students’ Perceptions and Attitudes Towards the World June 2019 Stephanie Mitsuko Kukita A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the University College London Institute of Education for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy DECLARATION I, Stephanie Mitsuko Kukita, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. Word count (excluding References list and Appendices): 71,570 words 2 ABSTRACT The growing interests in global citizenship education (GCE) necessitates educators to truly understand what it means to implement such programs, for one’s views on global citizenship dictate approaches to be taken, which in turn diversifies the outcomes. GCE has largely focused on measuring learners’ level of global citizenship by assessing their perceptions and engagements within one geographical sphere (e.g., global), often based on key stakeholders’ views. These studies have overlooked examining (1) how learners’ engagements across geographical spheres (e.g., local, national, global) relate to one another, and (2) how learners’ life experiences could impact their engagements with the world. Spotlighting these areas, the present study examined how Japanese secondary school students engage socio-emotionally, cognitively, and behaviorally with societal issues happening at the local, national, and global spheres. A mixed methods approach was employed, administering survey questionnaires (N = 558) and interviews (N = 22) with Year 2 students from four senior high schools in Tokyo, Saitama, and Chiba prefectures. Follow-up student interviews (N = 6) were also conducted four years later. As a general pattern, students showed moderate levels of engagements in the local and national spheres, while showing lower engagements in the global, reflecting Japanese societal and educational agendas that strongly emphasize local (national) identity. Nevertheless, through examining how students’ engagements relate across spheres, results revealed that engagement in one sphere could be positively related to engagement within another sphere, challenging the notion that the cultivation of local (national) and global identities are counterproductive to each other. In line with Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model, the findings also highlighted the importance of attending to the contextual factors that may influence how learners engage with the world in search for how best to implement global citizenship education. 3 IMPACT STATEMENT This study examined an area within global citizenship education (GCE) that has often been overlooked. Although in recent years, there has been a growing movement among institutions to incorporate notions of global citizenship within educational curricula, the approaches taken have varied. Despite the diversity observed within GCE, much of research has disregarded what the implications are of such differences and have often assumed certain approaches to be ‘best’ practices that could be universally applied to all learners. These approaches have often been designed based on what key stakeholders have defined theoretically as qualities inherent in ‘global’ citizens without much consideration as to how these approaches may be received by learners—the recipients of GCE. The findings from this study have highlighted that learners’ perceptions of the world and the ways in which they engage in various activities are profoundly personalized and dynamic. Personalized in that their views and ways of engagement are shaped by their life journeys—e.g., how they perceive the world, their interests in societal issues, and/or their desires to participate in civic activities could be different depending on their life experiences. Their views and engagements are dynamic in that it could change depending on the context they are placed in as well as their circumstances over time. Thus, what is assumed as best practices for GCE may not be equally effective for all learners, and therefore, this study has suggested the importance of taking into consideration not only general cultural “contexts” but also individual learner “contexts” when implementing global citizenship within the educational curricula. Additionally, this study has incorporated new ways of examining global citizenship. That is, global citizenship research has largely examined how individuals perceive and engage with the local, national, or global spheres separately, as 4 opposed to examining the relationship between their engagements across these geographical spheres. When examining their engagements within geographical spheres separately, there is a danger to outright classify learners as not embodying qualities of a global citizen if, for example, their levels of engagements within the global sphere are simply lower than their levels of engagements in the local and national spheres. However, by examining how young people’s perceptions and engagements within one geographical sphere may relate to those in another sphere, a different story may emerge. In this study’s case, whereas there were generally low to moderate levels of engagements within each of the spheres, a pattern was observed that students who engaged more highly within the local/national sphere also tended to engage more highly in the global sphere. This study thus highlighted the importance of delving deeper into how socio-emotional perceptions or cognitive/behavioral engagements in one area relate across other spheres to provide further insights as to how young people cultivate their perceptions and engage with the world. 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to take this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude to everyone who has guided and supported me through the past several years of the doctoral program at the University College London, Institute of Education. First and foremost, my utmost gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Douglas Bourn, for his encouraging words, patience, and understanding through the hurdles of the research process. This thesis would not have been possible without the excellent guidance and feedback he has provided. I would also like to acknowledge, Professor John Heffron for reviewing and offering inspiring advice to my work. My heartfelt thanks to the teachers who have tirelessly assisted me through the school selection process. Without your help, I would not have been able to conduct this study. Many thanks to the schools, teachers, and students who have taken their time to participate in this study. Your responses and conversations have made the research process more meaningful and fruitful. Finally, and most importantly, my deepest appreciation to my loving husband, Atsushi, who has assisted, encouraged, and endured through the entire process with me. I would also like to thank my parents, Mitsuo and Kazuko, and friends around the world for always encouraging me and supporting me with their best wishes. My deepest gratitude goes to my mentor in life, Dr. Daisaku Ikeda, who has inspired me to pursue the field of education. 6 LIST OF ACRONYMS ANOVA Analysis of Variance ASPNet Associated Schools Project Network BERA British Educational Research Association CI&E Civil Information and Education Section DEAR Development Education Association and Resource Center DERC Development Education Research Centre ESD Education for Sustainable Development FLE Fundamental Law of Education GC Global Citizenship GCE Global Citizenship Education GEFI Global Education First Initiative HIV/AIDS Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome ICT Information and Communication Technology JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency LDP Liberal Democratic Party MEXT Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology NGO Non-governmental Organization NHA Neighborhood Association NPO Non-Profit Organization OECD Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development PILP Public Interest Legal Persons PPCT Person-Process-Context-Time SCAP Supreme Commander of Allied Forces SDG Sustainable Development Goals SGH Super Global High School 7 UCL University College London UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESD United Nations Economic and Social Development UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund 8 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................... 3 IMPACT STATEMENT ..................................................................................... 4 LIST OF ACRONYMS ...................................................................................... 7 LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................... 13 LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................... 14 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ...................................................................... 16 1.1 Personal Interest in Topic ................................................................................. 16 1.2 Background of Study ........................................................................................ 17 1.3 Purpose of Study and Overarching Research Question ................................... 22 1.3.1 Socio-Emotional, Cognitive, and Behavioral Elements of Global Citizenship ............................................................................................................................ 23