Is bullying and suicide a problem for East Asia's schools? Evidence from TIMSS and Pisa

Bibliographic Data

ID2922367
AuthorsJeremy Rappleye (0000-0002-0717-8253, Graduate School of Education, Both of Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan, corresponding author), Hikaru Komatsu (0000-0003-1195-1648, Graduate School of Education, Both of Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan)
Year2020
Volume41
Issue2
Pages310-331
Publication date2020-03-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueDiscourse Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0159-6306 • E-ISSN: 1469-3739
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01596306.2020.1711515
OpenAlexW3001207405
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited49

Herein we examine the dominant image of East Asian schools as marked by a darker side of widespread bullying, leading to high rates of youth suicide. First outlining the substantial literature on bullying in the English language, we turn to show how – paradoxically – the rates of bullying and suicide are no higher, or in nearly all cases, lower than both Anglo-American systems (Australia, England, New Zealand, United States) and high PISA performers (Canada, Finland, Estonia). To explain this, we extend a constructivist approach proposed by sociologists of Japanese youth, suggesting that recurrent ‘moral panics’ such as bullying are determined, at least in part, by underlying differences in self-construal and views of how society functions. This analysis contributes to recent work that has challenged persistent stereotypes of East Asian education, those images blocking deeper engagement with the underlying differences in approach and philosophy these systems represent

China · East Asia · Mathematics education · Political science · Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare · Psychology

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