Yoshinobu Shoy is Professor in the Graduate School of Education at the Hokkaido University of Education and Director of the Special Course in Clinical Psychology and School Education. He is the author of many articles and books on “clinical pedagogy”, (clinical-narrative interventional research on human development and education) based on the cultural-historical activity theory, i.e. Learning and Fantasy: New horizon of the “clinical pedagogy” [1996: 17th National Academic Award of Educational Science in Japan], “Healing, empowerment, and clinical pedagogy” [2002], The poetics of self-narrative: Episode analysis of the ‘experiencing’ (переживание) of a singularity through inter-community transitions. In Research Report in Grants‐in‐aid for Scientific Research. Japan Society for the Promotion of Science [2009] et al. He is also a supervisor of a Japanese translation of “Narrative learning in Finland” edited by Pentti Hakkarainen [in press].
His research has focused on the concept of clinical-narrative application of the Vygotsky’s theory of emotions. He has developed the following research lines: the clinical-narrative intervention of the curriculum development of teacher education based on Vygotsky’s cultural-historical concepts, i.e. How can we support the re-construction of school teacher’s self-narrative (narrative of the self) in everyday life? What shall we cross the boundary between school teachers’ activities and other psychological professionals’ activities focusing on the crisis of a concrete child’s life? What are the potentials of “learning in narrative community” or “atelier model of learning” not only to expand the activity systems but also to enhance the sense-making of their lives with perezhivanie?
He is a Director of the NASEM: National Association for the Study of Educational Methods (2006～), Executive Director and Editorial board of the JERA: Japanese Educational Research Association (2009～), Executive Director of the JA-CROHD: Japanese Association of Clinical Research on Human Development and Education (2011～), and President of the HA-CROHD: Hokkaido Association of Clinical Research on Human Development and Education (2012).