Being an antiracist English teacher as a privileged “Japanese” person

Abstract

Antiracist pedagogy has been one of the key issues in the field of English language education over the last two decades. In this trend, previous studies have investigated the positionality of “white” English teachers working on antiracist pedagogy. However, there has been little research on the experience of “Japanese” English teachers, who hold the privileged positionality in Japanese society. Using autoethnography, this article aims to answer the following two questions: What does it mean to be an antiracist English teacher as a privileged “Japanese” person?; How did I become an antiracist English teacher? By reframing and interpreting my personal experiences, I have realized my vision of antiracism. I would like to provide my students with opportunities to problematize their views on language and race and rethink their notion of “niceness.” Furthermore, I would like to encourage my students to recognize their privileged positionality as “Japanese.” This autoethnographic project revealed that I became an antiracist English teacher thanks to five key turning points, which include (1) changing how to understand discrimination and realizing my own disguised “niceness,” and (2) recognizing racism in Japan and my own positionality as a privileged “Japanese” person.