| 内容 |
In this globalizing world, economic development has become an extension of a knowledge economy. In such a situation, advanced levels of education are increasingly necessary for employment and promotion. As this trend becomes more apparent, the demand for private tutoring, or what is called “shadow education,” has grown in intensity. Because shadow education reflects the actual demands of society, and as it often exposes shortcomings of mainstream education, it deserves far more attention and should be recognized as being more significant. Japanese private tutoring, known widely as juku, is one style of shadow education. It has a long history, and most Japanese think it is natural for students to attend juku at some point in their school career. Though juku have contributed to Japanese society for many years, some of the largest Japanese juku―Kumon, School IE, Eikoh Seminar, Bennese―began to go abroad because of the reduction of the educational industry in Japan, a phenomenon caused by declining birth rates. This paper chooses Eikoh Seminar and Kumon as case studies. It traces their strategies and asks if and how their approaches have worked in different cultural contexts. In conclusion, the study highlights the impact of the market on juku and argues that, adjusting to local educational cultures, they have continually met user demands. |