The present study was organized to discuss the topic, “multicultural co-living” in real life settings, as part of the continuing effort to further examine the question presented in the previous special issue study of the 30th Annual Conference “Is multicultural co-living possible?” In this study, we attempted to respond to the following questions through real-life examples. What are the areas and settings in which “equity” becomes an issue? How is the issue of “equity” understood and reconstructed? What are the practices that attempt to rebel against “equity” in the status quo.

In this study, we discussed the following points: The areas and settings in which “equity” becomes an issue of concern; the way the idea of “equity” is understood and reconstructed by teachers; and examples of approaches in achieving “equity” by practicing teachers, whose approaches challenge equity in the status quo. As part of the study, three reports are included in this special issue. The first report by Dr. Misako Nukaga focuses on the conflicts’ between the policies around “equity” and real-life day-to-day problems faced by practicing teachers at public elementary schools in Los Angeles, CA. The second report by Dr. Seiji Kawasaki focuses on the way practicing teachers understand, interpret, and apply the concept of “equity” The third report by Dr. Ryoko Niikura discusses the necessity of developing new criteria for “equity” based on the examination of the criteria used by practicing teachers.

These reports share the following three points. First, they all consider “equity” as something that can be understood with consideration to the context and the circumstances it is in as opposed to something fixed. Second, they all utilize various perspectives in illustrating the conflicts and difficulties in dealing with the issue of “equity.” Third, they pay special attention to the process in which the concept of “equity” is interpreted and reconstructed by practicing teachers.

Future research needs to first address the training of teachers. For example, we need to provide educators with case studies that are effective in facilitating the awareness of the issue of “equity.” “Case conferences” can be used to promote reevaluation of the preexisting understanding of “equity.” Second, we need to expand our perspective from the individual to the collective level. Especially, there is a need for a more thorough description of the processes in which the shared concept of “equity” is formed. Third, in order to reevaluate and change the way “equity” has been interpreted in the preexisting system, we need to turn our attention to approaches to rebel against “equity” by practicing teachers.