ABSTRACT
Along with Japan's relatively new status as a destination for international migration, Japanese public schools are increasingly facing the new responsibility of preparing the children of immigrants for their futures in Japan. This project of citizen-building is occurring in a Japanese classroom setting that emphasizes the equality of all students and a strong sense of collectivity and mutual interdependence (Tsuneyoshi 2001). Professional norms in Japanese education further dictate that schools must provide all students with similar education until they enter senior high school, at which time students are sorted into academic and vocational schools with differing curricular emphases and degrees of prestige (Shimizu 1992 and 2001; Tsuneyoshi 1996 and 2001; Shimizu et al. 1999; LeTendre, Hofer, and Shimizu 2003). However, the presence of immigrant children is challenging this model of equality and inclusion.
