Moving up the Social Ladder: Education Strategies among South American Migrants Living in an Immigrant Settlement Area in Japan
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| Title: | Moving up the Social Ladder: Education Strategies among South American Migrants Living in an Immigrant Settlement Area in Japan |
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| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Akiko Miura, Junichi Shibano, Rennan Okawa |
| Source: | Educational Studies in Japan: International Yearbook. 2025 (19):65-77. |
| Availability: | Japanese Educational Research Association. #102, Creart Kanda Building, 2-15-2, Kanda-Sudacho, Chiyoda-ku,Tokyo, 101-0041. Tel: +81-3-3253-6630; Fax: +81-3-3254-0477; e-mail: edit@jera.jp; Web site: https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/esjkyoiku |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 13 |
| Publication Date: | 2025 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Descriptors: | Foreign Countries, Immigrants, Educational Strategies, Social Mobility, Negative Attitudes, Bias |
| Geographic Terms: | Japan, South America |
| ISSN: | 1881-4832 2187-5286 |
| Abstract: | This paper clarifies the commonality and variety of educational strategies used within groups of South American territorial immigrant communities in Japan. There is a lack of studies examining the relationships between social structures and individual educational strategies and between territorial immigrant communities and educational strategies. Therefore, this study analyzes the ways in which communities affect the educational strategies of individual immigrants, based on a survey undertaken in the WComplex, one of the largest immigrant population centers in Japan. All the participants had high educational awareness compared with other South American immigrants, and many prioritized studying. Propelling this commonality is a stigmatized view of the WComplex. All survey subjects who had internalized this stigma sought to differentiate themselves from "South American immigrants who do not fit into Japanese society" via educational diligence. Variations in educational strategies are influenced by the institutional completeness of immigrant communities. When immigrants are few and institutions in their location are insufficiently equipped, they are motivated to rely on ethnic ties with their countryfolk and cooperatively adopt similar educational strategies. However, in a community such as the WComplex, which has a variety of institutional arrangements, parents were able to take advantage of these facilities to adopt individualized educational strategies. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2025 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1475607 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | This paper clarifies the commonality and variety of educational strategies used within groups of South American territorial immigrant communities in Japan. There is a lack of studies examining the relationships between social structures and individual educational strategies and between territorial immigrant communities and educational strategies. Therefore, this study analyzes the ways in which communities affect the educational strategies of individual immigrants, based on a survey undertaken in the WComplex, one of the largest immigrant population centers in Japan. All the participants had high educational awareness compared with other South American immigrants, and many prioritized studying. Propelling this commonality is a stigmatized view of the WComplex. All survey subjects who had internalized this stigma sought to differentiate themselves from "South American immigrants who do not fit into Japanese society" via educational diligence. Variations in educational strategies are influenced by the institutional completeness of immigrant communities. When immigrants are few and institutions in their location are insufficiently equipped, they are motivated to rely on ethnic ties with their countryfolk and cooperatively adopt similar educational strategies. However, in a community such as the WComplex, which has a variety of institutional arrangements, parents were able to take advantage of these facilities to adopt individualized educational strategies. |
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| ISSN: | 1881-4832 2187-5286 |
