International comparison of network formation with NPO to support multicultural society

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1. We conducted an intensive field research for three years focusing on the Takatori Community Center, an NPO in Kobe who helps newly arrived foreign children and offers multilingual services for various ethnic minorities. We interviewed many government officials including officers in the board of education, school teachers, and staffs at other NPOs who help foreign residents.2. We investigated the process of network formation of the NPO with government institutions and schools, and located three factors to hamper the collaboration between them. These are: (1) the information gap about the issues related to newly arrived foreign children and multicultural residents, (2) a gap in communication needs and understanding of intercultural interaction, (3) a conceptual difference in collaboration. These gaps are deeply related to the difference in the organizational culture.3. We suggest three points to promote network formation between NPO, government organizations and schools, based on the above analysis. (1) To provide them with officially acknowledged settings for regular meetings for a common goal. (2) To enhance intermediary power of the staffs in NPOs, government officers, and school teachers. (3) To create a social system that enables to balance the power of these institutions, by signing a contract for collaboration and giving a grant for well balanced collaboration scheme.4. In order to clarify the educational significance of the NPO, we studied volunteers and foreign children who have participated in the activities, by intense observation and interviews, incorporating a method called PAC analysis.5. We conducted a field study in Australia, the US, and Thailand, to compare the process of network formation and the social system to support foreign children. The result shows that a clear government policy is necessary which promotes collaboration between different institutions using various government support systems.