Kae Takaoka

This presentation focuses on my dissertation's intention to explore the relationship between the Japanese traditional knowledge system, commonly known in Japan as “reading the “air,” and the ways in which the climate of schooling is shaped both by educational policy and the identities of Japanese teachers. Reading the air or “kuuki” (the air) “wo yomu” (to read) is defined, according to one Japanese dictionary, as “to infer the situation from the atmosphere of the situation, particularly to speculate and judge what people should or should not do in a given situation, and what they want or do not want the others to do'' (Digital Daijisen, 2008). It is an example of culturally-based knowledge and social systems (Kariya, 2020; Koukami, 2009; Yamamoto, 1977) toward understanding “intimate knowledge” (Kasulis, 2002) that the Japanese society has recursively built as dominant cultural orientations. Although it is a very common custom in Japan, what it really means to read the “air”–meaning daily, long-term, and other societal implications, particularly with regards to power relations–has not been actively discussed in academic circles (Hidaka & Kosugi, 2013; Koukami, 2009). The air caught my attention when I found myself struggling to explain the tensions and challenges I was confronted with as a Japanese school teacher to non-Japanese audiences after starting my Ph.D. program at the University of Minnesota. I found there were numerous occasions where I needed to refer the “air” to explain why we do what we do at schools especially because of the less-visible nature of such knowledge to outsiders and difficulties in articulating what our internally shared expert knowledge is.

I will delve into the cultural phenomenon of reading the “air” as tacitly shared knowledge among teachers, explaining how it influences not only educational policy implementation but also teachers’ mental health. Despite the education ministry’s efforts to the public school teachers’ work-style reform (Fukakzu, 2023), teachers' custom of long working hours, with over 60% of current school teachers engaging in voluntary work hours potentially leading to death by overwork (Kuwabara & Ujioka, 2022; Yufu, 2015) is one such example. Yufu (2010) called this a “pathological phenomena for teachers” (Yufu, 2010,p.23) denoting that no Western theories can fully explain why this occurs to teachers in Japan. I employ notions such as school ethos (Alder, 1993; Kudomi,1995), hidden curriculum (Anyon, 1980), culture script (Stigler & Hiebert, 1999; Tan, 2015), habitus (Bourdieu, 1984) as well as Tomas Kasulis (2002)’s theory of intimacy and integrity to explain the phenomena. Particularly I emphasize the dynamically changing cultural orientations among contemporary in-service teachers in Japan creating more uncertainty and the need to read more “air” for teachers to meet the demand from the policy makers, schools, and families. By critically examining existing literature about the “air,” teacher identity, and teacher culture coupled with my personal teacher experience as one of the public school teachers who was confronted with the “air” at schools, I elaborate on the significance of understanding ontological and epistemological perspectives to understand the real educational challenges.

Reference:

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Anyon, J. (1980). Social class and the hidden curriculum of work. The Journal of Education, Winter (162), 27.

Bourdieu, P. (1984). Disutankushion I and II (Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste). (Y. Ishii, Trans.). Fūjiwara Shoten. (Original work published 1979)

Digital Daijisen. (2008). Shogakukan. Retrieved from https://apps.apple.com/us/app/daijisen-jpn-jpn-dictionary/id297431331. 

Fukazu, M. (2023, April). Majority of public school teachers in Japan worked beyond the overtime limit:survey. The Mainichi Shinbun. https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20230428/p2a/00m/0na/034000c. 

Hidaka, M., & Kosugi, K. (2013). An empirical study of the expression ”Kuki wo yomu.” Bulletin of the Faculty of Education, Yamaguchi University, 62, 139–144.

Kariya, T. (2022). Korona go no kyouiku e (Education after covid pandemic). Chuokoron-Shinsha.

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Tan, C. (2015). Education policy borrowing and cultural scripts for teaching in China. Comparative Education, 51(2), 196–211. https://doi.org/10.1080/03050068.2014.966485

Yamamoto, S. (1977). Kuuki no kenkyu (A study of kuuki). Bungei Shunju-sha.

Yufu, S. (Ed.). (2015). Gendai nihon no kyoushi, shigoto to yakuwari (Teachers in contemporary Japan: Their work and role). Housodaigaku kyouiku shinkoukai.

Yufu, S. (2010). How should we interpret the pathological phenomena of involving the teaching profession? Teaching as educational labor. Journal of Educational Sociology, 86, 23–38.