CESE calls for applicants from the doctorate students in the School of Education to participate in Young Scholar Training Program (YSTP) to encourage young researchers to conduct research projects with diverse perspectives. This year, we support eight research projects this year under the topic of “Education for Diversity”.
On February 23, the members of four projects participated an international symposium “Joint International Seminar Education for Diversity” held at the University of Stockholm in Sweden, and presented their final results. The seminar was organized jointly by the University of Tokyo, Stockholm University and Jyväskylä University. In addition to the Faculty of Education at the University of Stockholm, faculty members and students of Jyväskylä University School of Education joined this year. This training was conducted in collaboration with the international exchange “Global Leader Development, Swedish Training Program”.
Active discussions among students took place since they shared common research interests such as inclusive education, multilingual education, and teacher education. Many of the graduate student from the University of Tokyo experienced overseas conference for the first time. There were many international students from the University of Stockholm and the University of Jyväskyla; thus, it was good experience for the students to present in English and experience the atmosphere of diverse culture.
The following is a story of Yusuke Kusunami, the first year doctor student (Division of Professional Development of Teachers, Department of Advanced Research in Education).
I was anxious because it was the first time for me to present in an international seminar. I was not sure if I could present and communicate well with other participants. However, I was interested in the theme of the program “Education for Diversity” and education system in Nordic countries, so I decided to participate in the program. In the program, I was able to discuss with students from various countries such as Canada, Armenia, Ukraine, and Greece as well as Sweden and Finland. The experience of exchanges with students from various countries has led to confidence in conducting research abroad and present at an international conference. Particularly, I realized various educational system reflected the cultural and political background of these country. I also realized the importance of presenting about Japanese education to the international audience. In my group, there were discussions about the trends and issues in inclusive education. I received positive responses for my presentation and was contacted by some of the participants afterwards. I experienced a lot from this program and would like to present and publish internationally in the future.
In addition to the seminar, there were other part of the Sweden Training Program (February 22 to 24). The students from three universities visited cultural facilities and also elementary/junior high schools. The volunteers from Stockholm University accompanied the students from University of Tokyo and they could communicate about their college life and issues in school education. The results of this research will be published as working paper of our center. not only research presentations but also university and school life introduction were conducted, and students from 3 universities also visited cultural facilities in the city and elementary and junior high schools together It was. At the school we also had a chance to observe the lessons and witnessed the multilingual and multicultural environment of the Swedish school and it appeared stimulated. Also, Stockholm University students guided the beautiful city of Stockholm, the exchange of students at the three universities further deepened, and there seemed to be opportunity to talk about each other’s research contents and student life. I hope to make use of my experiences in this training in the future to make presentations at overseas academic conferences and to submit articles to academic journals.
(Yusuke Kusumi, the participant of Young Scholar Training Program, and Kanako Kusanagi, Project Researcher of Center for Excellence in School Education）
