In an era defined by the increasing complexity of social challenges and fragmented societal structures, new paradigms in education are critical for fostering meaningful social change. At the forefront of this intellectual movement is researcher GOTO Satomi from Kobe University, who introduces a radical rethinking of intersectional learning. Satomi’s theory places a renewed focus on the individual’s layered and dynamic relationship to societal issues, challenging conventional educational frameworks that often overlook the intricate personal dimensions behind collective action.
Traditional educational theories tend to approach social change through the lens of specific issues, treating learners as homogeneous groups united by a singular concern. However, Satomi’s approach disrupts this narrow perspective, emphasizing the multilayered nature of individual engagement. Her research asserts that individuals embody a complex “bundle of relationships” with various conscious or latent social themes, each with a distinct degree of relevance or relatedness. This conceptual reframing acknowledges that social issues are not isolated public phenomena but are deeply entangled with individuals’ personal histories and social contexts.
The cornerstone of Satomi’s framework is the concept of “tojisha-sei,” a Japanese term that encapsulates the spectrum of an individual’s relatedness to a wide range of social issues, not just the ones they are explicitly involved in. This concept emerged from grassroots movements in Japan, including the extensive community recovery efforts following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and social mobilizations surrounding the Minamata disease environmental crisis. These movements demonstrated how diverse stakeholders, each related to an issue through different layers of personal experience and concern, can synergize their efforts towards holistic social change.
By integrating tojisha-sei into educational theory, Satomi proposes a mechanism to dissolve the conventional binary between direct stakeholders and peripheral participants. The fluidity afforded by recognizing multiple degrees of relatedness enables learning environments to foster deeper interaction among diverse learner groups. This generates a more vibrant and dynamic field of collective emergence, where learning is simultaneously an individual and social transformation process, broadening the scope beyond single-issue advocacy.
Satomi’s work, published in the International Journal of Lifelong Education, provides a rigorous theoretical foundation underscoring this plurality of engagement. She argues that educational programs structured around multiple entry points allow for a broader array of participants to find meaningful involvement. Such inclusivity not only enriches the learning experience but also mobilizes untapped potential from stakeholders who may previously have remained disengaged due to a lack of direct affiliation with a particular cause.
Her framework also calls attention to the limitations of existing evaluation metrics in lifelong learning. Whereas traditional assessments often focus narrowly on learners’ competencies relative to specific thematic issues, integrating tojisha-sei encourages measurement of broader transformational outcomes. It acknowledges shifts in learners’ autonomy, critical social awareness, and their emergent capacities to navigate complex societal landscapes, thereby offering a more holistic approach to educational success.
Importantly, Satomi’s insights stem in part from her own lived experiences. Reflecting on the suppressive pressure she felt within conventional educational settings to conform to expected norms, she recognizes the deep personal disconnect that can arise when educational environments deny individual voices and background variation. Her model seeks to rectify this by centering the learner’s unique positionalities, thus fostering educational spaces where diverse identities and experiences are valued as essential resources rather than obstacles.
Furthermore, the practical implications of Satomi’s research reach into community development and policy formation. By theorizing relatedness as a fluid spectrum rather than a fixed affiliation, her work suggests new ways to design community engagement strategies that can accommodate shifting alliances and motivations. This perspective is particularly valuable in contemporary societies marked by rapid change and escalating diversity, where rigid stakeholder categorizations often fail to capture the complexity of social dynamics.
Looking ahead, Satomi envisions expanding the application of tojisha-sei into formal educational systems such as schools. She is interested in exploring under what specific conditions the recognition of shared yet varied relatedness can be catalyzed, fostering environments where learners develop autonomy and a stronger social consciousness. Such environments could promote not only knowledge acquisition but also the cultivation of empathetic social actors who recognize their embeddedness within broader societal fabrics.
Her groundbreaking approach aligns with global shifts toward learner-centered education models and critically informed social pedagogy. By incorporating the multilayered and intersectional nature of individual relatedness, Satomi’s theory synthesizes insights from psychology, sociology, and education sciences to propose more effective frameworks for lifelong learning. This interdisciplinary synthesis enlarges the pathways through which learners engage with complex realities, thus enhancing the societal relevance and impact of educational initiatives.
Moreover, the theoretical construct of tojisha-sei introduces a novel lens through which researchers can analyze community engagement and social movement participation. It moves beyond the conventional dichotomy of insiders and outsiders to apprehend a spectrum of relatedness that more accurately reflects real-world interactions. This tool provides both scholars and practitioners with enhanced capacity to understand how social networks evolve and how collective agency emerges from individual relational processes.
Satomi’s research is funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science under grant 23KJ1573, underscoring the significance of this investigation within current academic and policy debates on social learning. As communities worldwide grapple with polarization and social fractures, the insights offered by her framework are poised to inspire innovative educational practices and community-building efforts.
In sum, GOTO Satomi’s concept of tojisha-sei represents a pivotal advancement in lifelong learning theories. By centering individuals’ distinct degrees of relatedness to social issues, her theory bridges personal and collective domains of engagement, expanding our understanding of how education can catalyze social transformation. This approach promises to activate broader stakeholder participation and deepen learner transformation, ultimately fostering more adaptive and inclusive societies.
Subject of Research: People
Article Title: Positioning and practical significance of ‘encounter of tojisha-sei’ in lifelong learning theories and research
News Publication Date: 10-Jun-2025
Web References: DOI link
Image Credits: GOTO Satomi
Keywords: intersectional learning, lifelong learning, tojisha-sei, social change, individual relatedness, education theory, community engagement, learner autonomy
