■Admission Policy
To enhance teacher training at universities and advance the standards of school education, the Doctoral Course aims to do the following:

(1) Train the next generation of researchers at teacher-training universities and faculties;
(2) Develop educators who can instruct at teacher-training universities based on their own experience of school teaching; and
(3) Prepare education-related specialists and provide high-level training opportunities.

The Doctoral Course welcomes individuals with a passion for contributing to the advancement of school education by creating the new field of comprehensive curriculum studies that brings together general curriculum studies, specialized curriculum studies, and educational science.

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■Educational Objectives
●Objectives
With the aims of enhancing teacher training at the university level and advancing the standards of education in schools, the United Graduate School of Education (referred to below as “the Graduate School”) offers a three-year Doctoral Course, the first of its kind to be established in a teacher-training university or faculty in Japan.
Although Japan manages to maintain high scholastic standards, its school education system is confronting several critical issues, including those relating to student guidance and the excessive competition to succeed in school entrance exams. Combined with the importance now attached to an educational focus on individuality and academic ability attuned to the needs of the new millennium, these pressures are necessitating a new leap forward. Achieving further advancements in school education will require both the enrichment of training and development programs with a view to securing even more talented teachers, and the enhancement of the discipline-based academic research upon which teacher training hinges. Other important challenges include fostering practical research on actual school conditions and enhancing competency in the teaching profession.
The Graduate School was established to address these issues through the approaches outlined below.


1.Fostering the next generation of researchers in teacher-training universities, centering on curriculum studies

The field of curriculum studies addresses education in each subject area of the school curriculum. The subject-based curriculum accounts for the bulk of educational activity in schools, as well as constituting a key element of teacher-training programs. Focused development of researchers in this field will facilitate enhancement of educational research in university faculties of education that hold teacher training as their principal aim. Concurrently, in order to make education in teacher-training programs more practice-oriented, systematic, and closely aligned with the actual situation at schools, the Graduate School will cultivate a certain number of individuals who can teach graduate subjects in fundamental scientific fields associated with educational science and curricular content at teacher-training universities and faculties.


2.Developing experienced teachers into teacher-training university faculty members

To develop talented faculty members with high-level practical skills, it is critical that students’ education and research activities be founded on experience teaching in elementary and secondary schools. Based on this belief, the Graduate School offers the conditions required for experienced teachers to study at the doctoral level, acquire advanced research skills, and pursue careers as academics in teacher-training programs at universities.


3.Cultivating education professionals and providing advanced training opportunities

The Graduate School will cultivate elementary and secondary school teacher trainers and other professional practitioners in education-related fields, as well as furnish opportunities for advanced training to enable such professionals to access new knowledge and techniques and hone their talents.


4.Advancing research in “comprehensive curriculum studies” and addressing practical issues in school education

A principal aim of the Graduate School is the advancement of curriculum studies as the focus of research activity at the School. Curriculum studies will be approached as an advanced science, extending beyond the mere technical study of subject-based teaching in schools. The pursuit of sophisticated research on the aims, content, and methods for subject-based instruction, the major component of education in schools, will help take education in Japan to a new level. The Graduate School will also promote practical research that seeks solutions to problems arising in school education, with the aim of applying research towards the further enhancement of the school education system.

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■Curricular Features
●The Graduate School and Its Department and Concentrations
This Graduate School is a combined initiative of the Faculties of Education (in Yokohama National University’s case, the Faculty of Education and Human Sciences) and Graduate Schools of Education at Tokyo Gakugei University, Saitama University, Chiba University, and Yokohama National University. It is a stand-alone Graduate School offering a three-year Doctoral Course only.

●Department
Department of Education
With the aim of advancing elementary and secondary education through the enhancement of university-level teacher training, the department chiefly involves research and researcher training in curriculum studies, as well as research on the enhancement of teacher training and professional development programs.

●Outline of Concentrations
Structure of Education
Oriented to scientific research on educational practice in schools, this concentration uses a disciplinary grounding in fields such as education and psychology to develop students’ structural understanding of human development and education. This is combined with developmental research on contemporary issues, such as lifelong education, environmental education, and international education.

Educational Methods
The focus of this concentration is empirical research on practical problems in education at the preschool, elementary, and secondary levels. Topics addressed include the learning environment, educational programs, teaching methodology, class management, student guidance, and school administration. Research is also conducted on strategies for tackling problematic issues arising in instruction and guidance at schools today.

Education and Development Science for Individuals with Special Needs
Children with mental and physical disabilities have special developmental needs. Basic research into the characteristics of mental and physical disability and special needs education is accompanied by the study of educational practices, educational clinical approaches, and other methods and systems for education and developmental support attuned to the needs of these children.

Language and Culture Education
Covering the areas of Japanese language education for native speakers, Japanese as a second language, and other foreign languages, this concentration takes a multifaceted approach to the study of both language itself and the diverse cultures it mediates. Research is conducted on educational paradigms and instructional methodologies surrounding development and cultivation of language proficiency and how best to reap the benefits of linguistic and cultural diversity in school education today.

Human and Social Science Education
School education can help children develop a more scientific perception of social phenomena. This concentration explores curricular aspects, teaching methodologies, and other facets of education in this field, founded in a creative approach to research through collaboration between the humanities and social sciences.

Mathematics and Natural Science Education
Attuned to advancements in science and technology, the transition to an information-intensive society, natural environmental change, and knowledge paradigms in the natural sciences, this concentration employs both theoretical and practical approaches in the pursuit of groundbreaking research on pedagogical issues in arithmetic, mathematics, and science.

Arts Education
This concentration involves the study of educational theory and practice in the fields of music and the fine arts (including Japanese calligraphy), aiming to develop creativity, cultivate fundamental knowledge and techniques, and nurture a rich and enduring aesthetic sense in children and adolescents.

Health and Sports Education
Health and sports education in schools can help children acquire the knowledge and skills to use healthy living practices and sporting pursuits to maintain an active lifestyle throughout their lives. This concentration employs both theoretical and practical approaches in the study of curricular, methodological, and other aspects of health and sports education.

Human Life and Technology Education
Addressing the fields of technology education and home economics education, research in this concentration incorporates modern technological developments and contemporary lifestyle issues in its examination of historical changes in technology systems and human living patterns, exploring methods for educating students in fundamental aspects of human life and technology.

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■Degree
●Requirements for Completion
In parallel to supervision of students in their pursuit of specialized research, this Graduate School offers a large number of class-based courses from which students are expected to select and construct their own programs of study. To complete the Doctoral Course, a student must have been enrolled for at least three years full-time, have completed 20 credits in subjects chosen under the guidance of his/her supervisors, and have passed an examination of his/her doctoral dissertation and an oral or written examination regarding the content of that dissertation and the specialist field it addresses.
The standard period for completion of the degree is three years; however, individuals with outstanding academic records may be permitted to curtail their period of enrollment by one year.

●Dissertation and Degree Conferral
In accordance with the objectives of the Graduate School, doctoral dissertations should center on curriculum studies and consist of empirical research relating to school education and teacher training.
Each student completing the Graduate School’s course of study will be awarded the degree of “Ph.D.” from Tokyo Gakugei University. The degree certificate will indicate the name of the university at which the student was supervised principally.
The name of the major area of study appended to the degree name will be “Ph.D, in Education.” However, in cases of special necessity authorized by the United Graduate School of Education Faculty Council, the degree name may be recorded simply as “Ph.D.”.

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■Location and Addresses of Affiliate Universities
●Tokyo Gakugei University
4-1-1 Nukui-kitamachi, Koganei-shi, Tokyo 184-8501 Japan
Telephone: +81-42-329-7705

●Saitama University
Faculty of Education: 255 Shimookubo, Sakura-ku, Saitama-shi, Saitama 338-8570 Japan
Telephone: +81-48-858-3142

●Chiba University
Faculty of Education: 1-33 Yayoi-cho, Inage-ku, Chiba-shi, Chiba 263-8522 Japan
Telephone: +81-43-290-2505

●Yokohama National University
Faculty of Education and Human Sciences: 79-2 Tokiwadai, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa 240-8501 Japan
Telephone: +81-45-339-3253

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