Jazz elements of effective collaboration: a comparative study of collaboration in Japanese and American schools

Term

2013

Capstone

Dissertation

Degree Name

EdD

Abstract

This autoethnographic study investigates the presence or absence of jazz schema within Japanese and American teacher/school collaboration practices through the author's personal experiences. Business scholars have recently recognized Jazz concepts as an effective metaphor to enhance productivity in this globally competitive world. Jazz is a collective art, but it is also an art that respects diversity. Jazz musicians are flexible, creative and spontaneous yet they unify to create musical masterpieces. It is a perfect metaphor to use to study our changing needs in our increasingly diverse culture. Jazz is an African American art form that shares many values with non-western cultures. As a result of my comparative study of Japanese and American collaboration routines, it was made clear that Japanese routines are much more likely to exhibit jazz values than American teacher/school collaborations. Recommendations are made for American school administrators, policy makers and teachers to include non-western cultural values or the jazz schema into their curriculum and educational system for the sake of their racially, culturally and linguistically diverse students.

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