Graduate Program for Adult Students
Due to the advance of the borderless age of organizations, systems, and values, modern society is demanding higher and higher levels of quality human resources, especially with the rapid growth of information and increasing expectations. In order to respond to the emergence of a lifelong learning society, along with a myriad of societal problems, and the complexities and high expectations within the spheres of education and industry, the cultivation of capable persons possessing high levels of specialized knowledge and qualifications, in addition to basic education, has become essential. Responding to these societal demands, in the year 2000, the Graduate School of Education and Human Development established and implemented a new program for the cultivation of advanced professionals with expertise in their field.
The Advanced Specialized Professional Training program consists of three courses !?lifelong learning, human psychology, and counseling and psychotherapy!? each of which provides opportunities for acquiring theoretical, practical and specialized education for full-time students, as well as for people who work full-time during the day. This program is designed to produce leaders with specialized talent and skills, who can function effectively in various kinds of educational and learning institutions, in corporations in the business world, as well as in clinical settings. A Masters degree is awarded upon completion of this program
The Educational Leadership and Management Program was also established in 2006. Doctor of Education is awarded opon completion of this program.
Lifelong Learning Program
This program provides opportunities for advanced theoretical, practical and specialized education in the area of lifelong learning.
This program is designed to foster leadership ability in full-time workers, and is geared toward helping students acquire specialized knowledge and skills in administration, business, and management. Students tend to work full-time within corporations, educational institutions, and other workplaces.
Courses in this program are centered on three areas: lifelong learning and educational development, clinical study of school education, and higher education management. Courses are offered in the evening. Students are free to select courses based on their individual goals and interests.
Lifelong Learning and Educational Development Area
The purpose of this area is to investigate the mechanisms of lifetime human development and formation through lifestyle, culture, work (technology), and sports, primarily within the school, but also within family, community, and workplace. Furthermore, this area studies the ways in which corresponding educational systems can become more systematic, approaching the matter with historical and empirical analyses of the cultural and societal factors inherent in education and human development. It examines the societal and national organizational functions and structures of education both in and out of schools from the standpoint of securing lifelong educational opportunity for individuals, and it aims in particular to produce professionals with outstanding ability, who are able to inquire theoretically into the mechanisms of lifelong human development.
Clinical Study of School Education Area
This area aims at nurturing professional educational staff who can inquire structurally into the educational process. It seeks to help students master the diverse clinical and theoretical research methods used in the educational sciences. Fieldwork, and classroom analyses are the tools to be acquired by students. Here, the primary focus is on educational personnel who encounter problems in the dramatically changing school and education environments of an advanced information society.
Higher Education Management Area
Due to the dramatic changes occurring in higher education reform in response to a society with fewer children and more elderly people, the professionalization of management will become more and more essential in the near future. This area aims, first of all, to provide theoretical and practical professional education for people involved in higher education management and related areas, including, of course, professionals in higher education. Secondly, this area fosters professional leadership in an age of rapid globalization and universalization in higher education. The program trains students on academic research using field studies, including visits to higher educational institutions (universities, etc) inside and outside of Japan.
Sports Science for Lifelong Physical Activity Area
This research area is concerned with the multitude of issues related to physical and sports activities engaged in over the course of a lifetime. While including perspectives from related areas such as sports participation, physical sciences and exercise therapy, various topics related to human physical activity and sports activities are explored within the framework of lifelong development and physical education.
Human Psychology Program
Psychological and Behavioral Sciences, Sport Behavioral Science
Psychology is seen as a toolbox for the resolution of a variety of problems between persons. This program trains talented individuals who possess advanced knowledge and skills for solving the numerous problems that occur between people in organizations, and is particularly suited for working people who have shown consistent achievement in the area of research and development at private corporations (human resources section, product development, marketing division), and at a variety of research facilities, educational research institutions, and other diverse organizations. In the area of Sport Behavioral Science, in particular, the aim is to nurture professional people who have acquired a high level of knowledge and expertise in sport psychology and human motor learning science.
Counseling and Psychotherapy Program
In recent years, the psychological problems of students in Japanese schools, such as truancy, bullying, suicide, and family dysfunction, have received considerable attention. In respond to these problems, the education and training of clinical psychologists and counselors has become a pressing issue. This program seeks to train professionals in the area of psychotherapy.