Teacher's Resistance: A Case of a Japanese Middle School Teacher

This study focuses on the life history of a Japanese teacher who was actively involved in social and educational movements in the 1960s. There are traditions of teacher resistance against social oppression worldwide, and this study brings forth one such example in Japan. This study highlights how one teacher, collaborating with his colleagues, parents, and students, opposed dominating forces, such as the government and big corporations, and tried to practice education for freedom: Education that would enhance children's development so that they learn how to struggle against oppressions they face in the society. The story also reveals fierce conflicts of interest of people influencing and being influenced by educational policies. This study challenges the image of teachers in Japan being passively obedient to bureaucratic control and depicts teachers as socially active members of a community.