2019 Volume 67 Issue 3 Pages 203-220
The present research explored experiences of Japanese mothers married to non-Asian fathers, during selection of an elementary school for their children and the mothers’ adaptation to that school, focusing on differences between those who chose public and those who chose international schools. Both groups of mothers reported experiencing issues regarding bilingual education, having mixed feelings toward the education that their children were receiving, and experiencing conflicts with their husbands, and that they had adopted strategies that they believed would best support their children. Those mothers who had chosen an international school reported more ambivalent feelings toward their children’s education than did the mothers who had chosen a public school. The findings suggested that children’s enrollment in elementary school could impact parents’ cultural identity by incorporating the parents into multi-layered cultural domains and could also incite tensions between marital partners. It was suggested that teachers and other experts should not impose traditional standards upon intercultural families; instead, they should try to foster closer communication with both parents and children in order to understand the range of issues and resources that these families have. Training about unique issues related to bilingual education and the inner ambivalence of many parents in intercultural marriages may be helpful for experts.
