Abstract
This handbook proposes a liberating educational philosophy, that is, a pedagogy of life, and a correctional educational program to Japanese correctional teachers, so that juvenile delinquents from ethnoracial minority groups can develop communal agency. First, I overview the histories of correctional policy and educational philosophy in Japan and the United States, represented by John Dewey, to illustrate present-day Japanese correctional educational policy. Second, by examining critically Henri Wallon’s relational child development theory and the emancipatory thoughts of key educationists such as Paulo Freire, I establish an existentialist philosophy that emphasizes students’ co-development through a democratic school life. Third, by consulting practices in contemporary experimental education in different countries, I design an alternative educational program that encourages students to develop agency through a horizontal student-teacher dialogue, school self-government, project-based creative learning, community engagement, and critical reflection. I present specific strategies to help students overcome formidable cultural oppression: their self-affirmation based on teachers’ validation of their being including their existential suffering, multi-logical co-generation of new ideas and languages, and achievement of democratic facility through spontaneous community involvement. Finally, I discuss possible obstacles to implementing my program in Japan and offer countermeasures against these organizational hurdles.