Critical Literacy in Japan: Reclaiming Subjectivity in the Critical

• In Event: Global Critical Literacies as the Key to Equitable Education: A Transnational Analysis

Abstract

Objectives & Perspectives
The aim of this paper is to examine two modes of criticality in literacy education in Japan: (1) critical reading based on a critical thinking approach, and (2) critical literacy that resonates with the Freirean school of thought. Despite the similarity in appearance, these two modes of criticality have fundamental differences in terms of their orientations. While the former is oriented toward objectivity, the latter emphasizes the centrality of subjectivity in the reading of the objective world. Because of its socio-political contexts, discourses of education in Japan embrace the idea of “neutrality”. This neutrality, rather than maintenance of politically balanced approaches, often drives depoliticization of education.
Through this inquiry, I hope to contribute to the roundtable mainly in two ways. First, I would like to discuss how the idea of “objectivity” justifies and reinforces the myth of neutrality and depoliticization of education while delegitimatizing modes of criticality that are overtly political. Second, for those regions that do not have a sizable body of literature on critical literacy, I believe that one of our responsibilities as critical literacy scholars is to find notes from diverse literature and teaching practices that resonate with our work and augment the harmony.
Thus, I would like to engage in a dialogue with scholars from other regions to share strategies and envision how to augment our voices against the myth of neutrality, the depoliticization of education, and the devaluation of subjectivity.

Modes of Inquiry & Data
This paper juxtaposes two modes of criticality by surveying the literature related to critical reading and critical literacy.

Insights & Scholarly Significance
Due to the emphasis on “neutrality” of education, critical thinking, “a logical, neutral, and reflexive thought based on evidence” (Kusumi, 2018, p. 130), enjoys its popularity in Japan. This model is applied to literacy education under the label of critical reading: “an act of reading texts while exercising critical thinking, thereby scrutinizing the validity of the authors’ logic and conclusion and deepening one’s understanding through identification of problems by oneself'' (Tsuzuki & Aragaki, 2012, p. 41). By examining the underlying premises of critical reading, I argue that this model cannot account for power and it risks alienating learners.
Though the body of literature under the label of critical literacy is not sizable in Japan, there have been numerous educational practices that highly resonate with the tenets of critical literacy. Thus, I examine and highlight forms of critical literacy that are already there, unlabeled as such. One of such approaches is seikatsu-tsuzurikata (life-writing): “a writing education movement designed to help students develop a strong sense of self by having them write descriptive, detailed compositions about their daily life and the world around them” (Kitagawa & Kitagawa, 2007, p. 52). I claim that the pedagogy of seikatsu-tsuzurikata resonates deeply with Freirean conception of literacy where reading and (re)writing of words start from learners’ immediate worlds, and through which consciousness emerges. To demonstrate the theoretical and pedagogical possibilities of seikatsu-tsuzurikata for critical literacy, I showcase some of the teaching practices in Japan.

Author

• Yuya Takeda, University of British Columbia