Social Justice and Capacity for Self-Development in Educational System in Japan.

This study is part of an integrated research project entitled 'Comparative Studies on Social Justice and the Capacity for Self-Development in Educational Systems'. The purpose of this sub-project is to investigate how Japanese educational institutions realize social justice and enhance Japanese students' capacity for individual self-development. This is an historical investigation reliant upon the analysis of documents, field studies and in-depth interviews. However, because of the specific Japanese social and cultural background, the preliminary analysis of this study showed that although equal opportunity in education is often highly stressed and discussed, social justice is rarely used in their educational policies and researches. Therefore, first of all, this paper will explore concepts of social justice and equality in education within the Japanese social and cultural background. Secondly, this paper will concentrate on the relationship between social justice (educational equality) and capacity for self-development in the educational system in Japan including the themes of early childhood education, elementary education, lower secondary education, upper secondary education, technical and vocational education, higher education, teacher education, disadvantaged schooling, new immigrates' education, and life-long learning. Finally, as a basis for comparative studies, this study will present Japanese ideas of realizing social justice and strategies for enhancing students' capacity for individual self-development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]