Dokkyo University held a September 26 public lecture examining how educators can support children and young people with international and immigrant backgrounds through an empowerment model emphasizing identity, belonging, and student strengths.
Editorial Note
Terminology surrounding immigration, nationality, language, and cultural identity can vary across individuals and communities. Dokkyo University's event uses a broad concept referring to children with connections to foreign countries, but students within that category can have very different citizenship, language, migration, and family experiences.
An empowerment model does not mean ignoring academic or language needs. The educational goal is to provide necessary support without defining students exclusively by what they do not yet know.
Dokkyo University held a public lecture on September 26 examining how educators can better support children and young people with international or immigrant backgrounds.
The program emphasized an empowerment perspective that asks educators to look not only at language barriers or adjustment difficulties but also at students' strengths, identities, relationships, experiences, and ability to participate actively in their own education.
Bottom Line
The lecture featured University of Tsukuba Associate Professor Tomoko Tokunaga, whose research includes the identities and sense of belonging of immigrant children and young people in Japan and the United States.
The program was offered both in person and through Zoom from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Participation was free with advance registration.
What Happened
Dokkyo University's Institute of Foreign Language Education organized the 16th public lecture around the theme of reconsidering support for children connected to foreign countries.
Tokunaga discussed educational conditions and challenges while examining how schools and communities might build support around empowerment rather than relying primarily on deficit-based assumptions.
Her academic background includes education sociology, educational anthropology, and intercultural education. She has also worked with schools, nonprofit organizations, and young people through participatory research.
What This Means
Schools can unintentionally define multilingual or immigrant students primarily by what appears to be missing. Educators may focus on incomplete Japanese proficiency, unfamiliarity with school routines, or differences in prior curriculum.
Those needs may be real, but they do not represent the entire learner. A student may also bring multiple languages, cross-cultural knowledge, adaptability, family responsibilities, and experiences navigating different educational systems.
An empowerment perspective tries to develop those strengths while still providing direct support where students need it.
Who This Affects
Students from immigrant, multilingual, mixed-nationality, returnee, and internationally mobile families may be affected directly. Their circumstances vary substantially, which makes individualized support important.
Teachers also need professional development because language learning, cultural adjustment, academic gaps, and disability can sometimes be confused with one another. Educators need enough knowledge to determine what type of support a student actually requires.
Families are another important group because communication can become difficult when school systems assume that every parent understands Japanese educational expectations and administrative procedures automatically.
Belonging Matters
Students can achieve strong academic performance while still feeling uncertain about whether they belong in a school community.
Belonging affects whether students participate, ask for help, develop friendships, and imagine themselves succeeding within an institution. It can therefore influence educational engagement even when it is difficult to measure as precisely as a test score.
Schools can support belonging through relationships, clubs, mentoring, language access, respectful representation, and classroom environments that do not treat cultural difference as abnormal.
Language Support
Japanese-language education remains essential for students who need it. Empowerment does not eliminate the practical need for explicit language instruction.
The difference is that language support should help students gain access to the full curriculum rather than becoming a separate track that isolates them indefinitely from academic opportunities.
Schools also need to recognize that conversational proficiency and academic proficiency are different. A student may communicate comfortably with classmates while still needing substantial help reading complex academic text or writing formal assignments.
Family Engagement
Families may face barriers when important school information is available only in Japanese or when parent participation assumes familiarity with local educational procedures.
Translation, interpretation, orientation, and accessible communication can make family involvement more meaningful. Schools should also avoid assuming that limited Japanese proficiency means a parent is uninterested in the child's education.
What This Does Not Mean
An empowerment approach does not mean educators should ignore academic difficulties. Students still need targeted teaching when they lack the language, content, or skills required to participate successfully.
It also does not mean every student wants cultural identity to become a public classroom topic. Teachers should avoid turning difference into another form of labeling.
The Bigger Picture
Japan's classrooms are becoming more diverse as international migration, family formation, employment, and mobility change the composition of local communities.
Education systems designed around an assumption of linguistic and cultural homogeneity may need to adapt. That does not require abandoning common academic expectations, but it may require creating multiple ways for students to reach them.
What Happens Next
Professional learning needs to extend beyond public lectures and enter everyday school practice. Schools can review language support, newcomer orientation, family communication, counseling, curriculum access, and opportunities for multilingual students to participate fully.
Researchers can also continue evaluating which approaches improve both academic progress and belonging. Effective inclusion should be based on evidence rather than general assumptions about immigrant students.
Why This Matters
A student's experience can change depending on whether adults see the student primarily as a problem or as a learner with strengths that can be developed.
Dokkyo University's September 26 lecture brings that distinction directly into education practice. As Japan becomes more diverse, schools will increasingly need approaches that combine rigorous expectations with more flexible support systems.
Key Takeaways
Dokkyo University held a September 26 lecture on supporting children with international backgrounds.
The lecture emphasized empowerment, identity, belonging, and student strengths.
The featured researcher studies immigrant youth in Japan and the United States.
Students may need language support without being defined only by language gaps.
Family communication and belonging are important parts of educational inclusion.
Empowerment does not mean ignoring academic needs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does empowerment mean students do not need Japanese-language instruction?
No. Students may still need substantial language instruction, but support should build on strengths rather than defining the student only by deficits.
Why is belonging important?
Students who feel connected to school may be more willing to participate, seek help, and persist through academic challenges.
Are all students with international backgrounds immigrants?
No. Students may have many different citizenship, family, migration, language, and educational histories.
Final Thoughts
Japan's increasing diversity means internationally connected children should not be treated as temporary exceptions to the education system. They are becoming part of the ordinary reality of many schools.
An empowerment approach provides one useful way to respond. Students should receive the support they need while also being recognized for the knowledge, languages, resilience, and experiences they already bring into the classroom.
Written by Cameron Smith, M.Ed.
Founder, New To Education
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Sources
Dokkyo University — Public Lecture on Supporting Children With International Backgrounds
https://www.dokkyo.ac.jp/information/2026/20260807009421.html
