A01=David L. McConnell
anthropology
Author_David L. McConnell
case study
Category=JHMC
Category=JN
Category=JNA
Category=JNK
cultural studies
diversity
education
educational bureaucracy
educational politics
english
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
ethnographic research
exchange program
foreign nationals
global pressure
government and governing
interdisciplinary
international exchange
internationalization
internationalize society
japan
japan exchange and teaching program
japanese government
jet program
major government operation
multicultural
politics
teaching english
Product details
- ISBN 9780520216365
- Weight: 499g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 16 Mar 2000
- Publisher: University of California Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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In 1987, the Japanese government inaugurated the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) program in response to global pressure to 'internationalize' its society. This ambitious program has grown to be a major government operation, with an annual budget of $400 million (greater than the United States NEA and NEH combined) and more than six thousand foreign nationals employed each year in public schools all over Japan. How does a relatively homogeneous and insular society react when a buzzword is suddenly turned into a reality? How did the arrival of so many foreigners affect Japan's educational bureaucracy? How did the foreigners themselves feel upon discovering that English teaching was not the primary goal of the program? In this balanced study of the JET program, David L. McConnell draws on ten years of ethnographic research to explore the cultural and political dynamics of internationalization in Japan. Through vignettes and firsthand accounts, he highlights and interprets the misunderstandings of the early years of the program, traces the culture clashes at all levels of the bureaucracy, and speculates on what lessons the JET program holds for other multicultural initiatives.
This fascinating book's jargon-free style and interdisciplinary approach will make it appealing to educators, policy analysts, students of Japan, and prospective and former JET participants.
David L. McConnell is Associate Professor of Anthropology at The College of Wooster.
