ABSTRACT
In this research, I will focus on ‘independent activities’ as an agent to realise social justice and state the power of learning that said ‘independent activities’ possess. Firstly, I will give examples from Japan, and discuss the problems with the lifelong learning policy, which supports the new independency ideology in globalisation in Japan. I will outline the path which leads to the lifelong learning policy in Japan, and highlight the problems which this policy has. In addition, I have attempted to break independent activities into types. Among the different kinds of ‘independent activities’, ones that are cooperative and have independent intentions hold the power of learning to realise social justice. This is done through both informal and non-formal learning in three ways: learning to recreate communities, learning to nurture social capital, and learning to realise democracy. In the modern day, where there are efforts towards both commercialisation and individualisation in education, in opposition to the new independency that supports political power, there is an expectation regarding the power of learning possessed by ‘independent activities’ as an agent to realise social justice.
