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Education is focused on people as individuals,
but a person only exists within a society/community. Therefore, one person’s potential is the potential of his or her society, and society’s potential is the potential of education. At school, home, work and in the local community, education constantly takes on different roles. In the Education Department, we strive to have a broad, multifaceted viewpoint of these roles, regardless of age, occupation or status, and a comprehensive vision of a healthy society. To make possible the realization of such an “all-around education” is our principal goal within the Education Department. We welcome those who believe in the unlimited power of education to help the human race to grow and our society to develop.
In the Education Department, we help our students build skills with the human communication method of “education,” turning them into educators who possess are a wealth of knowledge fundamental to the development of an outstanding personality, and who recognize the importance of education and believe in the limitless possibility of the development of mankind and its society.
Our goal is to guide our students to obtain a deep respect and compassion for mankind, to help them acquire a broad view as educational specialists, and to help them become valuable members of society, capable of accurately understanding, analyzing and solving the wide variety of challenges that manifest themselves in the field of education, a field that constitutes the very essence of our society.
Welcome to the Graduate School of Education
The Graduate School of Education was established on April 1, 1953. It started out as a graduate school offering both master’s and doctoral programs, with two majors: Educational Studies and Educational Systems. Until March 2000, the school offered 11 courses and 1 major course, but from April 2000 to March 2004, it was structured around 3 major and 2 affiliated courses, and from April 2004 to March 2007, around 3 major and 3 affiliated courses. Throughout these periods, the school continued to pursue both education and research, producing many outstanding graduates.
Today, in the 21st century, both Japanese society and the global landscape are undergoing major transformations amidst a period of historic change—developments that had previously been unimaginable. In the academic world as well, across both the natural sciences and the humanities and social sciences, we are beginning to witness movements that suggest profound shifts and the emergence of new directions beyond our imagination.
In response to the significant changes in society and academia, our Graduate School was restructured in April 2007, separating its research and educational functions. Ever since, research and education have been carried out under a new system consisting of the Faculty of Education and the Graduate School of Education.
In April 2011, in response to the societal demand for the training of psychological practitioners within graduate schools offering doctoral programs, we established the Clinical Psychology course and reorganized the overall structure from five to eight major courses. Since the 2024 academic year, the training of psychological practitioners has been unified under the Certified Public Psychologist qualification, and the entire Graduate School is now working together to support this initiative.
As a research organization, the Faculty of Education is actively engaged in research across four fields: Pedagogical Foundations of Education, Social Sciences of Education, Psychology of Education, and Science of Health and Physical Education. It also handles the Research and Clinical Center for Child Development. These four courses involve multifaceted exploration of a wide range of topics, including the mental and physical development and learning mechanisms of individuals from infancy to old age; methods and systems of educational activities, clinical support, and social assistance that ensure development and learning; and the very structure of society that fosters human growth and learning. The Research and Clinical Center for Child Development has three research sections: support practices that promote human development, analysis and clinical support for children with developmental disorders, and research of the processes of teacher growth and development. By bridging the four main academic courses, the Center contributes to research that addresses practical issues in education.
As the educational body to which all graduate students belong, the Graduate School of Education aims to fully apply the research achievements of the Faculty of Education to train both researchers who explore theoretical and practical issues in education and highly skilled professionals with advanced knowledge in the field of education. The Graduate School offers both Master’s and Doctoral programs. Since April 2011, it is organized into eight courses: School Education, Lifelong Learning, Educational Social Sciences, Educational Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Health Education, Physical Education, and Multicultural Education.
Upon completing the Master’s Program, some students continue with the Doctoral Program, while others immediately begin their careers as highly specialized professionals in schools, hospitals, government offices, and various other institutions. Most students who complete the Doctoral Program go on to become faculty members or researchers at universities and research institutes.
Since 1993, our Graduate School of Education is offering a special admissions process for working adults who wish to apply to the Master’s Program. Actively welcoming working professionals is another distinctive feature of our school, and the total number of 45 students admitted to the Master’s Program per year include students who follow this process.
The Special Admissions for Working Adults targets applicants with at least two years of work experience. The entrance examination primarily consists of a summary of the applicant’s proposed research topic and an oral examination based on it. After admission, students follow the same curriculum as those admitted through the general entrance examination for the Master’s Program.
We also offer a special admissions process for international students applying to the Master’s Program.
As outlined above, our Graduate School is open to society and aims to cultivate professionals and highly skilled specialists who possess both advanced expertise and a broad perspective. It is a graduate school with a strong international character.
We are basically organized into two main parts: a research organization and an educational organization. As the research organization, the Faculty of Education covers the four fields of Pedagogical Foundations of Education, Social Sciences of Education, Psychology of Education, and Science of Health and Physical Education, and there is also the Research and Clinical Center for Child Development.
The educational organization consists of the School and the Graduate School of Education. The Graduate School of Education, which offers both Master’s and Doctoral Programs, covers eight academic courses. Since the areas of inquiry within the Graduate School are diverse, each course is operated not only by faculty members of the Faculty of Education, but also in collaboration with faculty of other departments of the university, such as the Research Faculty of Media and Communication and the Institute for the Advancement of Higher Education.
The School of Education is organized into four groups, each corresponding to a specific area of research.
