This study discusses the disparity in numbers between Japanese children and their Brazilian immigrant peers concerning placement in Japanese special education classes. In-depth interviews were conducted with 21 stakeholders including Japanese nationals and Brazilian immigrants to see if there were any ways to explain the larger numbers of immigrant children assigned to such classes. Five main factors affecting the stakeholders emerged: Linguistic and Cultural Related Misunderstandings of Information, Limitations Concerning Counseling and Educational Planning, Requests for Improving the Support System for Non-Japanese Students, Importance of a Second Opinion, and Cultural and Linguistic Effects when Evaluating Non-Japanese Students. The study provides policy recommendations aimed at improving the support system for immigrant communities who face a variety of stresses living in an unfamiliar culture.
BilgiliO.VolanteL.KlingerD. (2018). Immigrant student achievement and the performance disadvantage. In VolanteL.KlingerD.BilgiliO. (Eds.), Immigrant student achievement and educational policy: Cross-cultural approaches (pp. 3–18). Springer-Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74063-8_1
4.
BoatengS.AsareD.ManuP.SefahE.AdomakoJ. (2020). Relationship between students’ home background and their academic performance: A case of some selected senior high school students in rural districts in Ashanti Region, Ghana. Journal of Education, 201, 153–161. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022057420904370
5.
CAO (Cabinet Office, Government of Japan) (2020). Reiwa gannendo shoushika no joukyou oyobi shoushikaeno taishoushisaku no gaikyou (Reiwa ninenban shoushika shakaitaisaku hakusho) [The situation of the declining birthrate in the first year of Reiwa and Overview of measures to deal with the declining birthrate]. https://www8.cao.go.jp/shoushi/shoushika/whitepaper/measures/w-2020/r02pdfgaiyoh/pdf/02gaiyoh.pd
6.
CharmazK. (2006). Constructing grounded theory: A practical guide through qualitative analysis. Sage Publications Ltd.
7.
CharmazK. (2008). Constructionism and the grounded theory. In HolsteinJ.GubriumJ. (Eds.), Handbook of constructionist research (pp. 397–412). The Guilford Press.
8.
CharmazK. (2011). A constructivist grounded theory analysis of losing and regaining a valued self. In WertzF.CharmazK.McMullenL.JosselsonR.AndersonR.McSpaddenE. (Eds.), Five ways of doing qualitative analysis: Phenomenological psychology, grounded theory, discourse analysis, narrative research, and intuitive inquiry (pp. 165–204). The Guilford Press.
9.
CharmazK. (2012). Mixing or adding methods: An exploration and critique. In DenzinN.GiardinaM. (Eds.), Qualitative inquiry and the politics of advocacy (pp. 123–145). Left Coast Press.
ChenW.LeeK.StraubhaarJ.SpenceJ. (2014). Getting a second opinion: Social capital, digital inequalities, and health information repertoires. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 65, 2552–2563. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.23130
13.
CoulmasF. (2007). Population decline and ageing in Japan: The social consequences. Routledge.
14.
CreswellJ. W. (2012). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (4th ed.). Pearson.
15.
DengS. A.MarloweJ. (2013). Refugee resettlement and parenting in a different context. Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 11, 416–430. https://doi.org/10.1080/15562948.2013.793441
16.
DörnyeiZ. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics. Oxford University Press.
FreiermuthM.HuangH. (2021). Zooming across cultures: Can a telecollaborative video exchange betweenlanguage learning partners further thedevelopment of intercultural competences?Foreign Language Annals, 54, 185–206. https://doi.org/10.1111/flan.12504
HashimotoT.GhergelA. (2021). Sense of contribution mediates cultural differences in support-seeking. Cross-Cultural Research, 55, 474–496. https://doi.org/10.1177/10693971211032602
21.
HirayamaA. (2018). Tokubetsu shien gakkyuu zaiseki-ritsu, gaikokujin no ko ga nihonjin no bai minkan chousa [Private survey on special support class enrollment rate, foreign children are twice as many as Japanese]. Asahi Shinbun. https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASL4T43HKL4TUHBI01G.html
22.
HuddlestonT.BilgiliÖJokiA. L.VankovaZ. (2015). Migrant integration policy index 2015. CIDOB and MPG.
23.
InabaN.OgayaC.OgasawaraK.TannoK.HiguchiN. (2001). NGOs and empowerment of migrant workers in Japan. Studies in Communication (Bulletin of Ibaraki University, the Faculty of Humanities), 10, 87–129.
24.
IshikawaA. E. (2005). Kazoku wa kodomono kyouiku ni dou kakawaruka: Dekasegigata raifusutairu to oya no nayami [How are families involved in their children’s education? Life styles among temporary workers and their concerns as parents]. In MiyajimaT.OtaH. (Eds.), Gaikokujin no kodomo to nihon no kyouiku (pp. 77–96). Tokyo University Press.
25.
KojimaA. (2006). Nyuukamaa no kodomo to to gakkou bunka. [Newcomer children and school culture]. Keisou Shobou.
MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) (2021a). Atarashii jidai no tokubetsu shien no arikata ni kansuru yuushikisha kaigi houkoku [Report of the meeting of experts on the ideal way of special education in the new era]. https://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/shingi/chousa/shotou/154/index.htm
MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) (n.d.-b). Tokubetsu shien kyouiku no genjou [Current status of special needs education]. https://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/shotou/tokubetu/002.htm
31.
Ministry of Justice, Japan (2020). Zairyuu Gaikokujin Toukei (Kyuu touroku gaikokujin Toukei) Toukei Hyou. Kokuseki-Chiiki Betsu Zairyuuy Shikaku (Zairyuu Mokuteki) Zairyuu Gaikokujin. [Statistics on Foreign Residents, Statistic Tables, Status of Residence by Nationality and Region, Purpose of Residence]. http://www.moj.go.jp/isa/policies/statistics/toukei_ichiran_touroku.html
NozakiI. (2009). Migração, educação, trabalho – O fracasso escolar das crianças brasileiras residentes no Japão. [Migration, education, employment – School failure concerning Brazilian children residing in Japan] Paper given at the Congresso da Associação de Estudos Latino-Americanos (pp. 11–14). Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
OtaH.TsuboyaM. (2005). Gakkou ni kayowanai kodomotachi: “Fushuugaku” no genjou [Children who do not go to school: The current situation of Fushuugaku]. In MiyajimaT.OotaH. (Eds.), Gaikokujin no kodomo to Nihon no kyouiku: Fushuugaku mondai to tabunka kyousei no kadai [Foreign children and Japanese education: Fushūgaku issue and multicultural challenges] (pp. 17–36). Tokyo Daigaku Shuppankai.
SatoG. (1995). Susumu gakko no kokusaika [The growing globalization in schools]. In NakanishiA.SatoG. (Eds.), Gaikokujin jido seito kyouiku e no torikumi [The education of foreign students] (pp. 1–11). Kyouiku Shuppan.
41.
ShimizuM. (2006). Nyukamaa no kodomotachi: Gakkou to kazoku no hazama no nichijyou sekai [The children of newcomers: The everyday world between school and family]. Keisou shobou.
42.
TanX.YiZ. (2019). Is adoption equally beneficial to different aspects of youth’s behavioral health? Findings from comparing adopted Chinese youth with non-adopted American and Chinese youth. Youth & Society, 53, 153–169. https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118X19849742
43.
TartakovskyE.SarangaM. (2022). Eritrean asylum seekers in Israel: Traumatic experience, social contacts with Eritreans and Israelis, psychological well-being, and sociocultural adaptation. Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/15562948.2022.2049950
44.
VaipaeS. S. (2001). Language minority students in Japanese public schools. In NoguchiM. G.FotosS. (Eds.), Studies in Japanese bilingualism (pp. 184–233). Multilingual Matters.
45.
WolffC.HuillaH.TzaninisY.MagnúsdóttirB.LappalainenS.PaulleB.SeppänenP.KosunenS. (2021). Inclusive education in the diversifying environments of Finland, Iceland and the Netherlands: A multilingual systematic review. Research in Comparative and International Education, 16, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745499921991958
