Abstract
This paper focuses on a Japanese public elementary school where Japanese teachers have been building up a collaborative relationship with a Korean teacher of an ethnic class for Korean children to learn Korean language and culture since the 1970’s. This paper aims to clarify how an asymmetrical relationship between Japanese teachers and the Korean teacher could be transformed into a collaborative relationship. All data analyzed was collected in a semistructured interview with a Japanese teacher involved in the educational practices of Korean children’s education in the 1970’s, and from a special commemorative publication of this class. What firstly was found is that the establishment of the Korean Education Research Department was crucial for Japanese teachers to understand the social background of Korean children and for the Korean teacher to express his thoughts. Secondly, by setting goals for Korean children’s education that Japanese teachers and the Korean teacher worked together to achieve, and by incorporating learning about Korea into academic studies, the relationship between them was transformed into a new relationship which encouraged interaction and mutual influence. Furthermore, as the relationship between them deepened, both sides became more proactive, a new educational practice of Korean children’s education was developed, and the relationship between them was transformed into a collaborative relationship.
