Inclusive education has been referred to mostly as a synonym of special needs education in the Japanese context, although it has often been defined internationally as a wider concept (UNESCO, 2005, 2009). Special needs education for minorities with mental, physical or sensory impairment is now an essential topic or area in every teacher education/training program in Japan, but other factors for inclusion have not been dealt with. There is rather large minority groups, however, that has been invisible in the Japanese cultural context but gradually disclosed: gender and sexual minorities.
The purpose of this research is to investigate how we can tackle the issues of gender and sexual orientation in the teacher education program at the graduate level. We decided to utilize a career development model that we had already developed (Kawasaki, Yoshimura & Nakai, 2015, 2017), partly modifying the model and implementing classes concerning the issues. The effects of the program were evaluated through analyzing the results of a questionnaire survey for pre-service and in-service teachers in the program. We could observe significant changes in their understanding of diversity in schools and communities, deepening of their human rights awareness and their attitude concerning interrelationships with others.
