日系学習塾に関わる「ストーリー」の受容 : インドネシア都市部における学習塾関係者と学習者による語りを事例に

This paper delineates how Japanese educational companies, expand their services into the global south, focusing on the companies’ influence on local people.
The study is based on a case study of Japanese tutoring schools, juku, in urban Indonesia where the legal system has restricted educational imports. Unlike international educational cooperation undertaken by development agencies or international organizations, which typically provide the education through organizations in the host country, private companies tend to provide educational services to local people directly. Thus, they need to attract the interest of local people through marketing strategies. Some of companies attempt to differentiate themselves by telling a ‘story’ about their services to encourage the local community to accept their services.
For this research, I initially conducted a literature review using policy documents on the educational system and articles from the Indonesian national newspaper Kompas. Following this, I conducted interviews with tutoring school staff, learners, and their families at Japanese tutoring schools.
The analysis revealed that Japanese tutoring schools, or juku, directly and indirectly use images and discourses of ‘Japanese-ness (Japanese characteristics)’ and stories of individual successes at their schools to stir up enthusiasm and provoke expectations about the educational programs they offer. Given the private companies’ involvement in educational development in the future, Japanese tutoring schools need to be aware that they are directing local people toward a particular educational philosophy.