概要 |
The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors and background contributing to school truancy among Japanese-Brazilian teenagers in Japan, based on the results of long-term interviews with Japanes...e-Brazilian teenager Marcia, who lived in Japan from 1995 to 2001. The following three reasons for truancy among Japanese-Brazilian teenagers were drawn from the results of interviews with Marcia: 1) Brazilian students were regarded as temporary sojourners and as such were not required to attain the same academic level as the rest of the class members. As a result such special treatment as a "guest" may have had the affect of excluding her from the group and labeling her as an ethnic and cultural "other" and may have contributed to her low academic standing in the Japanese educational system, where assimilation pressure is high. This labeling of differences may also be a contributing factor in eventually eliminate her from the Japanese educational system. 2) The instability of her parents' financial situation, which was dependant on the fluctuating economies of both Japan and Brazil, contributed to her inability to develop a concrete plan for her life. This lack of direction was also a factor in her low academic achievement. 3) Marcia's parents' lack of interest in her school life during their stay in Japan was also a contributing factor to her truancy. Their devotion to making money so that they might one day return to Brazil did not leave room for attention to her academic achievements here in Japan. They didn't expect any great academic achievement in a Japanese school but hoped that she would later succeed in school in Brazil. Marcia eventually realized the impossibility of attaining her parents' expectations. Although these contributing factors are the result of only one interview, they can safely be broadened to include others in Marcia's position. This leads us to the conclusion that, even though it is assumed that the Japanese school system affords equal opportunity education for all children, Japanese-Brazilian children have often been excluded as "other" and viewed with pity by teachers and classmates alike. In consequence, Japanese-Brazilian teen-agers' truancy becomes an act of rebellion and a "tactic" of resistance used to strike out at the social and cultural structure of inequality within which they have been placed by their parents and the school system.続きを見る
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