Abstract:

Multiculturalism, diversity, and inclusion have become common concepts both in the academy and in the society at large over the past forty years. While the developed world actively debates the implications these concepts have for society and education, Japan has remained relatively quiet on these topics, usually taking the stance that multiculturalism is irrelevant in a culture that is overwhelmingly racially and culturally homogenous. Yet since the 1990s, there has been a steady increase of newcomers into Japan, many of whom have chosen Japan as their permanent home. There are now three generations of such families in the country. The numbers of “foreigners” living and working in Japan is likely to increase even further as Japan has too few young people and a vast elderly population.

Additionally, young Japanese want to share in some of the cultural freedoms enjoyed in other developed countries. Consequently there is a growing acceptance among the younger generation of a variety of subcultures within Japan, including of groups who are physically and mentally challenged, the LGBTQI population, children of divorce, etc. At the same time, the introduction of the UNESCO SDGs (including social SDGs) has prompted the Japanese Ministry of Education, a generally very conservative organization, to address issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We are interested in how schools of education have incorporated notions of multiculturalism, diversity, equity, and inclusion into the curriculum of pre-service teachers. We focus our research efforts on the early education curriculum because that is where children are first introduced to these concepts and where they will ultimately have their greatest impact.

Keywords:

Diversity, inclusion, equity, multiculturalism.