ABSTRACT
Freire’s (1985) observation that lived histories find their extension and elaboration in praxis is revisited. Such praxis in this case is an integral part of the extension and elaboration of a confluence of events traceable to the author’s sojourn in Japan, return to Singapore and to matters inspiring the quest to understand the way Japanese in Singapore envision and administer their lives and futures. Regarding the latter, specific aspects of autopoiesis provide insights on identity investments of Japanese domiciled in Singapore and their outworkings in a Singaporean setting. These identity investments are seen to be heavily influenced by the shortness of Japanese overseas postings, such shortness in lease affecting the way children are schooled within a curriculum that serves as tool and technology for preserving Japaneseness. The broader organizing problematic on the nature of criticality as a way of appropriating narrative data is addressed alongside accompanying concerns over inequality, oppression, domination and hackneyed didacticism. The ramifications of these concerns over criticality are seen to extend into the production and appropriation of critical discourses that affirm moral, ethical, humanizing and transformative ideals, not only in education but also in the quality of human interaction across cultural and national borders.
