Sustainability Development and Kaizen Implementation for Vocational Education from Japan’s ODA in Thailand: How It Works and Impacts?

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Reni Juwitasari Yuki Miyake

Abstract

          The prominent agenda of Japan’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) is to develop human capital in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) vision of “people-centered development”. This study aimed to examine Japan’s ODA program in the Thai Vocational Education System by establishing the Japanese College Technology, KOSEN. Japan implements the 5S-Kaizen value system in KOSEN in order to promote sustainable growth. Kaizen is derived from words “Kai” (change) and “Zen” (good), while the 5S is derived from the five practices in the Japanese letters: Seiri (organization), Seiton (tidiness), Seiso (purity), Seiketsu (cleanliness), and Shitsuke (discipline). This research incorporated a qualitative approach with exploratory study combined with Bernstein’s Classification, and Framing employed a conceptual structure comprised of two variables: 1) the 5S-Kaizen value and its learning mechanism inside Thai-KOSEN as modeled by Vygotsky’s activity theory in the late of 1920 and early 1930s (1978), and 2) Elkington’s Sustainable Development (SD) model (2001). Four key informants from JICA and Thai-KOSEN participated in in-depth interviews. The study concluded that studying 5S- Kaizen in KOSEN leads to strong farming classification to SDG 8 decent work and economic growth and proved to be a significant force in embedding eco-friendly practices. Besides, ODA’s presence reflects that vocational education has been under control by a major power, including positioning education as a tool of cultural imperialism.


Keywords: Sustainability, 5s-Kaizen, TVET, Japan’s ODA, Cultural Imperialism

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How to Cite
JUWITASARI, Reni; MIYAKE, Yuki. Sustainability Development and Kaizen Implementation for Vocational Education from Japan’s ODA in Thailand: How It Works and Impacts?. Journal of Community Development Research (Humanities and Social Sciences), [S.l.], v. 15, n. 3, p. 39-54, july 2022. ISSN 2985-0231. Available at: <https://www.journal.nu.ac.th/JCDR/article/view/Vol-15-No-3-2022-39-54>. Date accessed: 30 apr. 2024. doi: https://doi.org/10.14456/jcdr-hs.2022.24.