Speaker
Abstract section 3: Content/method
The research investigates the learning of 3rd year undergraduate Japanese law students on issues of social justice, using stories of individuals as well as other sources of information, in English classes about ‘Multicultural Japan’ and ‘Sexual Orientations and Gender Identities’. Data for the research comes from students’ weekly research notes and research journals, presentations of their research and reflections on their learning, and post-course interviews with them about their experiences of learning from stories.
Abstract section 2: Contribution/research questions
This presentation addresses three main research questions: in what ways can engaging with the stories of individuals in minoritized communities encourage an ethics of care approach to social justice issues; what kinds of insights and understandings do students gain from researching individuals’ stories in an ethics of care approach to social justice; and how does this approach to learning impact their understandings of social justice?
Abstract section 4: Outcomes/results
The research shows that whilst students often initially want to learn from ‘experts’ to decide ‘how we can help’ minoritized communities in generalized terms, engaging with stories encourages an interest in the actual lives, voices and needs of specific individuals. Ways that this manifests for students include: understanding which issues are actually important for individuals; a desire to prevent the harm that individuals suffer; a sense of connection with them; and an enchantment/desire to keep learning about them. Whilst students’ understanding of what is important for achieving social justice is often recalibrated, their sense of its value is reinforced.
Abstract section 1: Relevance
Ethics of care is an approach to moral questions that focuses on the particular experiences and needs of individuals facing discrimination and exploitation, as an alternative/complement to ethics of justice which involves abstract, general judgments about issues (Gilligan, 1993). The research in this presentation considers how learning from stories of people in minoritized communities, usually valued for challenging hegemonic master narratives (Ortaçtepe Hart, 2023), can also contribute to recent work by scholars of human rights, citizenship and social justice education on developing pedagogies informed by ethics of care (Bozalek et al; 2020; Hashizaki & Kitamura 2025; Kitamura & Hashizaki, 2018).
Abstract section 5: References
Bozalek, V. Zembylas, M, and Tronto, J. (Eds). (2020). Posthuman and political care ethics for reconfiguring higher education pedagogies. Routledge.
Gilligan, C. (1993). In a different voice: Psychological theory and women’s development. Harvard University Press.
Hashizaki, Y. and Kitayama, Y. (2025) ケアの倫理とシティズンシップ教育. Ethics of care and citizenship education. In Y. Kitayama, Y. Furuta, H. Kawaguchi, J. Sato and D. Kawanaka (Eds). 民主的社会をつくるシティズンシップ教育: 理論と実践の現在. Education for citizenship and building a democratic society: current theory and practice. Tankobon.
Kitayama, Y. and Hashizaki, Y. (2018). From pity to compassion: The ethics of care and human rights education. Human Rights Education in Asia-Pacific, 8, 269-284.
Ortaçtepe Hart, D. (2023). Social justice and the language classroom: Reflection, action and transformation. Edinburgh University Press.
| Title | Stories for Social Justice: An Ethics of Care Approach |
|---|---|
| Teaching Context | College and university education |