2022 Volume 25 Issue 1 Pages 70-85
In recent years, the number of foreign nationals working as care workers in Japan has increased significantly, with people of various residential statuses and nationalities working in long-term nursing homes. However, foreign staff are rarely seen as independent social actors and are seldom discussed in relation to other actors and stakeholders. This paper focuses on the aspect of learning through online “Japanese & Nursing Care Workshops” in which four groups of people, including care workers in technical intern training programs, staff of facilities and supervising organizations, and Japanese teachers, participated. It records how the participants collaborated through Japanese language education practices that were created proactively and interactively, and how they explored issues and solutions to Japanese language learning and communication, within the real context of a nursing home providing long-term care during the COVID-19 pandemic. In these processes, each participant was prioritized as a social actor, and a detailed description was attempted which did not neglect their individuality and specificity. The study indicated that conventional discourse should be reconsidered. It also offered new knowledge on how the four actors learned from each other and what problems could be highlighted from their learning. This paper also suggests future discussions for Japanese language education for care workers in technical intern training programs.
