Co-producing Glocal Knowledge: Possibilities of International Education Courses in Japan

Abstract

International education courses where students from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds learn together in Japanese, English, or both, are one of the growing areas within the globalization initiatives of Japanese higher education. These courses have enormous potential to facilitate glocal interaction among diverse students which could lead to producing glocal knowledge. Using autoethnography, I reflexively examine how I developed, taught, and experienced an international education course which I taught at a Japanese private university. The course focused on educational issues of minorities in Japan including Burakumin (descendants of a feudal outcast group in the Edo period), Okinawans and Ainu (indigenous populations), ethnic Koreans, kikokushijo (returnees), newcomers, LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning) students, and students with disabilities. As a hybrid, transcultural, and borderland educator and scholar, I attempted to be critical about the knowledge, language, and pedagogy I used in the diverse classroom environment. I continuously observed, adjusted, and modified the course to enhance interaction and encourage the students to challenge traditional forms of knowledge and coconstruct a new and hybrid one. Specifically, the students and I co-produced glocal knowledge through making the American-centered perspective relative, privileging personal stories, and learning from transcultural comparison. In the twenty-first century, these courses become a critical site in nurturing glocal perspectives and producing unusual forms of glocal knowledge which could transcend national, cultural, and linguistic borders and boundaries.