A Study of the Adjustment of Newcomer Students

Two Chinese High School Students Living in Japan

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to establish a qualitative understanding of the adjustment process to public high school in Japan of two Chinese students. An analysis of data from a three-year ethnographic study in Kanagawa Prefecture suggests that three key factors influence adjustment: social differences, interactions between students and teachers, and teacher organization. These three factors are interactive in influencing each student's adjustment. In practice, a positive interaction is defined as one that supports the student's growth and as one in which the student performs to the teacher's expectations; in addition, it is a situation in which the teacher instructs the student willingly, and the interaction contributes to the appropriate adjustment of the student. In contrast, negative interactions may be attributed to the actions of both student and teacher. The teacher may intervene in such cases by addressing the student's "social differences".