Some Japanese ways of conducting comparative educational research

ABSTRACT

This personal, tentative, self-reflective essay explores some Japanese ways of conducting comparative educational research. In this essay, I not only describe a Japanese style of conducting comparative education research but also do so in a Japanese way. The four key elements I discuss are: daijini (taking care), soboku (simplicity), nagaime (long perspective) and shuudan-sei and kanjin shugi (collectivism and contextualism). Like Rappleye’s and Takayama’s recent contributions in the 2020 special issue of this journal, my paper challenges the taken-for-grantedness of the Western philosophies, theories, and methods characteristic of Anglophone comparative educational scholarship. Like those contributions, this paper argues for the value Japanese perspectives hold for comparative educational research. For me, this means arguing for the value of research methods that are not inseparable from my being Japanese.

摘要

本文以个人的、尝试性和反思的视角探讨日本学者开展比较教育研究的一些方法。在本文中，我不仅描述了一种开展比较教育研究的日式风格，并通过日式的方式对此进行解说。我讨论的四个关键要素分别是：daijini（珍惜），soboku（简约），nagaime（长远视角），以及shudandan-sei（集体主义）和kanjin shugi（情境主义）。同 Rappleye 和 Takayama 在本刊 2020 年特刊中的最新贡献一样，本文也挑战了英语语系比较教育研究对特有的西方哲学、理论和方法的固有认同。与这些贡献一样，本文论证了日本视角对于比较教育研究的价值。对本人而言，这意味着研究方法价值的论证与我的日本身份不可分割。

KEYWORDS:

• Japanese-ness
• research methods
• culture
• Japan
• collectivism
• contextualism

关键词:

• 日本特性
• 研究方法
• 文化
• 日本
• 集体主义
• 情境主义
• 珍惜

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Akiko Hayashi

Akiko Hayashi is an Assistant Professor of the Graduate School of Governance Studies at Meiji University. She is interested in teachers’ beliefs and practices, social-emotional development in young children, and comparative education with a focus on preschools.