Changing schooling, changing shadow: shapes and functions of juku in Japan

Abstract

Private supplementary tutoring became a widespread phenomenon in Japan during the 1960s. Since then, institutions providing tutoring known as juku have provided a wide range of services to supplement mainstream education. During decades of development, the shapes and functions of juku have changed in response to changes in schooling. Government attitudes towards juku have also shifted from rejection to collaboration, partly because juku have become so entrenched in Japanese society and can no longer be excluded from public decision-making processes. Collaboration between schools and juku is becoming increasingly evident in a series of neoliberal policy choices and socio-demographic changes. Patterns underline a government move to mobilize profit-driven juku to serve the public good. The inclusion of juku in public schooling necessitates reconceptualization of the roles of juku in the educational landscape. This article presents a conceptual framework based on an overview of the changing relationships between juku and schooling. It also identifies challenges in the collaboration, and explores implications for future relationships between mainstream and shadow education.