Paper short abstract:

Based on fieldwork at a free school, this study examined how the aspirations of vulnerable children who cannot attend mainstream schools in Japan are pluralistically enhanced. The results showed that children’s diverse aspirations developed as follows: 1) keeping school spaces aimless, 2) sharing out-of-school pain and a sense of belonging, and 3) reorganising school activities through dialogue.

Paper long abstract:

1. Introduction

Recently, the number of long-term school absentees at the compulsory education level in Japan has increased rapidly. Against this backdrop, there has been growing interest in alternative schools that accept children who cannot attend mainstream schools.

Many of these are known as ‘free schools’. Free schools in Japan refer to unauthorised small-scale schools that emerged in the 1980s to provide educational opportunities for vulnerable children who cannot attend standardised schools (futōkō children). As of 2010, there were an estimated 300 free schools operating in Japan, aiming to guarantee the right to learn and to foster aspirations among highly stigmatised school absentees from various backgrounds (Morita 2011).

However, little academic research has been conducted on the activities of free schools in Japan, especially from the perspective of the capability approach, and it remains unclear how these schools raise children’s aspirations. For instance, as discussed below, findings from previous research have drawn attention to the importance of developing diverse and changing aspirations (Hart 2012) not only focused on education but also on the need for rest and play, thus reconsidering the dangers of excessive education inhibiting children’s capabilities. However, previous studies have overlooked the conditions under which diverse aspirations are formed in alternative school settings. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate how children’s aspirations are multidimensionally enhanced in the daily activities of free schools in Japan.

2. Literature Review

Before moving on to the case study, we situate this paper’s discussion within the related literature. Since the 2010s, research using the capability approach in education has examined the relationship between aspirations and capabilities (Conradie and Robeyns 2013; Nussbaum 2016). More specifically, consideration has been given to how aspiration formation plays a fundamental role in the ‘capabilities lists’ of children or youths who have limited socio-economic resources or special needs.

Hart (2012) notes that for marginalised children, encounters with ‘significant others’ are particularly important when it comes to enhancing their aspirations as meta-capabilities. More recent research focusing on the daily lives of migrant youths has analysed the possibility that their ‘collective agency’ and aspirations to participate in education and public goods can be improved (Mkwananzi and Cin 2020). In all of these studies, it is possible to compensate for the lack of economic and cultural capital with social capital to ensure children’s participation rights and envisage social inclusion through education from a pluralistic perspective.

However, these studies have two shortcomings. First, much of the research has a narrow understanding of aspiration, considering it mainly in relation to the objectives of education, occupation, and community participation, thus overlooking multiple other meanings associated with aspiration (Hart 2012), including play or leisure. Second, many studies have not considered the possibility of discrepancies between educators and learners regarding aspiration-enhancing practices. Therefore, this study sought to analyse the relationship between capabilities, aspirations, and contexts to determine 1) under what conditions diverse aspirations can be enhanced and 2) how conflicts between educators and learners over aspiration formation may be overcome.

3. Methodology

To clarify these issues, field research was conducted at Free School A in Kyoto, Japan. Free school A was selected because it can be considered a suitable example for this study in terms of its emphasis on improving aspirations based on students’ peer relationships. The author has been conducting participant observations at this school as a volunteer staff member since November 2005. This study focuses on data from the three most recent years.

As of July 2023, the school had 19 students and three full-time teachers. The minimum enrolment period for students at the school is three months, and the maximum is four years. Their average age is 13.9 years.

The reasons these students do not attend mainstream schools are diverse, but typical examples include bullying experiences, developmental disabilities, and low academic achievement. Free School A has no specific entry requirements other than being in the compulsory school age range (6-15 years). The school receives no government funding, and tuition fees are high at $220 per month.

4. Discussion

The findings of this study are as follows. First, Free School A has neither a curriculum nor a test, and students may essentially do as they please, including reading manga, drawing pictures, playing card games, playing outdoors, cooking, studying, or doing nothing through their ‘free time’ (nonbiri-bi). Students participate in meetings with their teachers to decide on their activities. The significance of such ‘aimless’ activities is to realise children’s diverse aspirations by approving of children ‘as they are’ (arino-mama), especially those who have been marginalised in the mass schooling-centred system.

Second, because Free School A does not have a grade system, unlike mainstream education, it is attended to by children of different ages. However, students, even at different stages of development, are able to empathise with each other in that they face common ‘pains and difficulties’ (ikizurasa), and they have similar ‘voices‘ of being out of school, which can create a sense of belonging and enhance each other’s aspirations.

Third, if conflicts occur between students and teachers over how aspirations are formed, efforts are made to correct these discrepancies through meetings in terms of ‘fallibilism’ (shikō-sakugo) and the ‘reprofessionalisation’ of education. Teachers have also actively lobbied local educational authorities for financial support to alleviate students’ socioeconomic difficulties.

Techniques for respecting aspirational diversity demonstrate the potential for pluralistic human development in terms of flexible social inclusion.

Bibliography

Conradie, I. and Robeyns, I. (2013), ‘Aspirations and Human Development Interventions’, Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 14(4), 559-80.

Hart, C. S. (2012), Aspirations, Education and Social Justice: Applying Sen and Bourdieu, London & New York: Bloomsbury Academic.

Mkwananzi, F. and Cin, F. M. (2020), ‘From Streets to Developing Aspirations: How Does Collective Agency for Education Change Marginalised Migrant Youths' Lives?’, Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 21(4), 320-338.

Morita, J. (2011), ‘The Public Aspect of Alternative Schools’, Proceedings of the 3rd Next Generation Global Workshop, Kyoto University, 143-157.

Nussbaum M. C. (2016), ‘Introduction: Aspiration and the Capabilities List’, Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 17(3), 301-8.