Abstract
Though many international schools were founded in order to educate the children of expatriates, they have often come to offer an educational alternative for local parents. This article attempts to understand why Japanese parents enrol their children in international schools in Japan. Based on interviews and responses to questionnaires returned by Japanese parents whose children attend six international schools in Japan, it examines the factors that emerge as the most important. It concludes that these Japanese parents have their eyes on the world beyond Japan. They want their children to mix with those from other cultures and to have access to university education in English-speaking countries.
|
Appiah, A. ( 2006) Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers . New York: Norton. Google Scholar | |
|
Aspinall, R. ( 2003) ‘Japanese nationalism and the reform of English language teaching’, in R. Goodman and D. Phillips (eds) Can the Japanese Change Their Education System?, pp. 103-17. Oxford: Symposium. Google Scholar | |
|
Cave, P. ( 2003) ‘Japanese educational reform: developments and prospects at primary and secondary level’, in R. Goodman and D. Phillips (eds) Can the Japanese Change Their Education System? , pp. 87-102. Oxford : Symposium. Google Scholar | |
|
Cummings,W. ( 2003) ‘Why reform Japanese education?’, in R. Goodman and D. Phillips (eds) Can the Japanese Change Their Education System?, pp. 31-42. Oxford: Symposium . Google Scholar | |
|
David, M. , Davies, J. , Edwards, R. , Reay, D. AND Standing, K. ( 1997) ‘Choice within constraints: mothers and schooling’ . Gender and Education 9(4): 397-410. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Dierkes, J. ( 2008) ‘Japanese shadow education’, in M. Forsey , S. Davies and G. Walford (eds) The Globalisation of School Choice?, pp. 231-48. Oxford: Symposium . Google Scholar | |
|
Ezra, R. ( 2007) ‘Caught between cultures: a study of factors influencing Israeli parents’ decisions to enrol their children at an international school’. Journal of Research in International Education 6(3): 259-86. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Fry, R. ( 2007) ‘Perspective shifts and a theoretical model relating to kaigaishijo and kikokushijo, or third culture kids in a Japanese context’ . Journal of Research in International Education 6(2): 131-50. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Goodman, R. ( 1993) Japan’s ‘International Youth’: the Emergence of a New Class of Schoolchildren. Oxford : Clarendon Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Hayden, M. ( 2006) Introduction to International Education. London: SAGE Publications. Google Scholar | |
|
Hayden, M. AND Thompson, J. ( 2008) International Schools: Growth and Influence. Paris: UNESCO. Google Scholar | |
|
Hirasawa, Y. ( 1997) ‘Intercultural education in Japan’ , in D. Coulby , J. Gundara and C. Jones (eds) World Yearbook of Education 1997, pp. 132-41. London: Kogan Page. Google Scholar | |
|
International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) (2009) Available at: http://www.ibo.org (accessed 5 May 2009). Google Scholar | |
|
Lauder, H. ( 2007) ‘International schools, education and globalization; towards a research agenda’, in M. Hayden , J. Levy and J. Thompson (eds) The SAGE Handbook of Research in International Education, pp. 441-9. London: SAGE Publications. Lowe, J. (1999) ‘International examinations, national systems and the global market’. Compare 29(3): 317-30. Google Scholar | |
|
Lowe, J. ( 2000) ‘International examinations: the new credentialism and reproduction of advantage in a globalising world’. Assessment in Education 7(3): 363-77. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
MacKenzie, P. , Hayden, M. AND Thompson, J. ( 2001) ‘The third constituency: parents in international schools’. International Schools Journal 20(2): 57-64. Google Scholar | |
|
MacKenzie, P. , Hayden, M. AND Thompson, J. ( 2003) ‘Parental priorities in the selection of international schools’. Oxford Review of Education 29(3): 299-314. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
McConnell, D. ( 2000) Importing Diversity: Inside Japan’s JET Program . Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Ministry Of Education, Culture Sports, Science And Technology (2008) Annual Statistical Abstract. Tokyo: Ministry of Education. Google Scholar | |
|
Murphy-Shigematsu, S. ( 2006) ‘Diverse forms of minority national identities in Japan’s multicultural society’, in S. Lee , S. Murphy-Shigematsu and H. Befu (eds) Japan’s Diversity Dilemmas: Ethnicity, Citizenship and Education, pp. 75-99. Bloomington, IN: iUniverse. Google Scholar | |
|
Nisbett, R. ( 2005) The Geography of Thought. London : Nicholas Brealey. Google Scholar | |
|
Okano, K. AND Tsuchiya, M. ( 1999) Education in Contemporary Japan. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Potter, D. AND Hayden, M. ( 2004) ‘Parental choice in the Buenos Aires bilingual school market’. Journal of Research in International Education 3(1): 87-111. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Vidovich, L. AND Yap, M. ( 2008) ‘Local dynamics in expanding school choice in Singapore’ , in M. Forsey , S. Davies and G. Walford (eds) The Globalisation of School Choice?, pp. 209-26. Oxford: Symposium. Google Scholar | |
|
Whitburn, J. ( 2003) ‘Changes in mathematics teaching in Japan: are they real or rational?’, in R. Goodman and D. Phillips (eds) Can the Japanese Change Their Education System?, pp. 151-67. Oxford : Symposium. Google Scholar | |
|
Willis, D. ( 1984) ‘Strangers in their own country - the misfit returnees’ . Far Eastern Economic Review 19(1): 67-68. Google Scholar | |
|
Willis, D. ( 2006) ‘Learning culture, learning citizenship: Japanese education and the challenge of multiculturalism’, in S. Lee , S. Murphy-Shigematsu and H. Befu (eds) Japan’s Diversity Dilemmas: Ethnicity, Citizenship and Education, pp. 47-74. Bloomington, IN: iUniverse. Google Scholar | |
|
Willis, D. , Yamamura, S. AND Rappleye, J. ( 2008) ‘Frontiers of education: Japan as "global model" or "nation at risk"?’. International Review of Education 54(3/4): 493-515. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Yamada-Yamamoto, A. ( 1998) ‘Statistical overview of Japanese children in the UK and language environment survey’, in A. Yamada-Yamamoto and B. Richards (eds) Japanese Children Abroad: Cultural, Educational and Language Issues , pp. 17-26. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar | |
|
Yokokawa, S. ( 2001) Education in Japan. Tokyo: Foreign Press Center. Google Scholar |

