2021 Volume 15 Pages 95-107
The purpose of this study is to analyze how immigrant children in Japan are included in the phenomenon of gakko kino no fukushika (Kuraishi 2014: 56) —henceforth “welfare-oriented schools”—by using the analytical framework of education-welfare. Fieldwork took place in an elementary school Japanese language class, along with interviews with immigrant mothers, a Japanese language teacher and a Filipino language supporter. The paper focused on three aspects of Filipino immigrants' lives: child neglect, dietary habits, and truancy. As regards education-welfare, this study has illustrated both the possibilities and limitations of teachers taking the “care” roles for immigrant children. Although previous literature has drawn a distinctive line between education and welfare specialists, in this study, the boundary was ambiguous as the Japanese language teacher considered herself a “social worker.” On the other hand, one of the limitations was that the teachers' dominant ideology of a “good” way of living excluded the logic of the immigrants.
