Chapter 2: Embracing Our Contexts: Fostering a Critical Friendship through Conversations on Parenting and Career Trajectories in Tertiary Education
Winifred Lewis Shiraishi and Adrianne Verla Uchida
Abstract
This chapter explores the implementation of a critical friendship between two female university language educators based in Japan. It will examine a series of critical reflective dialogues on gender, motherhood, and career trajectories in tertiary education. By using a variety of scholarly research articles as a starting point, both participants reflected on a range of issues including, gender, feminism, race, and intersectionality as it pertains to the lives of foreign working women in academia in Japan. Further, this research intersects with discussions of labor policy as it affects workers in Japanese tertiary education. Over one academic semester we met for a series of five online Zoom sessions to analyze and discuss a recent academic publication. We each prepared a pre-session written summary of the reading and a set of questions to facilitate the discussion. After completing the sessions, we analyzed the written data and reflected on a set of three themes. This holistic process of engaging in reflective practice as critical friends deepened our working relationship and enhanced our professional development. It is our hope that by documenting the process and sharing our experiences, we will encourage others to actively engage in scholarly reading and critical reflective dialogue to develop their own critical friendships.
Keywords: dialogue, gender, holistic, motherhood, reading, career development
About the Contributors
Winifred Lewis Shiraishi has taught English at the secondary and university level in Japan since 1998. She holds a Master's degree in history from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her current research focuses on professional development for career educators.
Adrianne Verla Uchida has taught English in Japan since 2004. She is an Assistant Professor at Nihon University College of International Relations. She holds a Master’s degree in TESOL from Teachers College Columbia University. Her research interests include critical friendships, reflective practice and teacher identity.
Citation
Shiraishi, W. L., & Verla Uchida, A. (2023). Embracing our contexts: Fostering a critical friendship through conversations on parenting and career trajectories in tertiary education. In A. Verla Uchida & J. Roloff Rothman (Eds.), Cultivating professional development through critical friendship and reflective practice: Cases from Japan (pp. 51-78). Candlin & Mynard. https://doi.org/10.47908/27/2
This chapter explores the implementation of a critical friendship between two female university language educators based in Japan. It will examine a series of critical reflective dialogues on gender, motherhood, and career trajectories in tertiary education. By using a variety of scholarly research articles as a starting point, both participants reflected on a range of issues including, gender, feminism, race, and intersectionality as it pertains to the lives of foreign working women in academia in Japan. Further, this research intersects with discussions of labor policy as it affects workers in Japanese tertiary education. Over one academic semester we met for a series of five online Zoom sessions to analyze and discuss a recent academic publication. We each prepared a pre-session written summary of the reading and a set of questions to facilitate the discussion. After completing the sessions, we analyzed the written data and reflected on a set of three themes. This holistic process of engaging in reflective practice as critical friends deepened our working relationship and enhanced our professional development. It is our hope that by documenting the process and sharing our experiences, we will encourage others to actively engage in scholarly reading and critical reflective dialogue to develop their own critical friendships.
Keywords: dialogue, gender, holistic, motherhood, reading, career development
About the Contributors
Winifred Lewis Shiraishi has taught English at the secondary and university level in Japan since 1998. She holds a Master's degree in history from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her current research focuses on professional development for career educators.
Adrianne Verla Uchida has taught English in Japan since 2004. She is an Assistant Professor at Nihon University College of International Relations. She holds a Master’s degree in TESOL from Teachers College Columbia University. Her research interests include critical friendships, reflective practice and teacher identity.
Citation
Shiraishi, W. L., & Verla Uchida, A. (2023). Embracing our contexts: Fostering a critical friendship through conversations on parenting and career trajectories in tertiary education. In A. Verla Uchida & J. Roloff Rothman (Eds.), Cultivating professional development through critical friendship and reflective practice: Cases from Japan (pp. 51-78). Candlin & Mynard. https://doi.org/10.47908/27/2
Information About the Book
Title: Cultivating Professional Development Through Critical Friendship and Reflective Practice: Cases From Japan.
Editors: Adrianne Verla Uchida and Jennie Roloff Rothman
Publication date: 2023
Read more...
Title: Cultivating Professional Development Through Critical Friendship and Reflective Practice: Cases From Japan.
Editors: Adrianne Verla Uchida and Jennie Roloff Rothman
Publication date: 2023
Read more...