My path to clinical research
in education guided
by the French language and SFC

Graduating from university without deciding on a career path

During my undergraduate years at Waseda University, I belonged to the Department of Cultural Sciences in the School of Education, which enabled me to pursue interdisciplinary studies. I was able to freely decide on my research theme, so I focused on expressions incorporating dialects often seen on social media and elsewhere that were not present in my own roots, and researched the backgrounds behind such expressions. As I continued my research, I became interested in not only French, which I had studied before, but also regional phrases and dialogues of French, and thought it would be fascinating to compare the differences between the regional languages and dialects of Japan and France. This led me to begin considering graduate school.

I once thought about finding a job and tried job hunting, but it just did not feel right. It was difficult to find a graduate school with a culture of freedom that would allow interdisciplinary studies, so I applied to other graduate schools with a concerned feeling in my heart. Just as I thought, I could not find a good match. I ended up graduating from university without deciding on a career path that satisfied me.

The connection I made at Athénée Français

At the combined junior and senior high school I attended, learning French was very popular and it was a required subject. Although I studied French less at university, I realized that it was inseparably important for me to study French. Due to this, I decided to attend the Athénée Français in Ochanomizu after graduation to maintain my French proficiency.

There, I made a connection with Professor Takahiro Kunieda, who was teaching at Athénée Français, which led me to enter SFC.

Actually, I had known Professor Kunieda since my junior and senior high school days. This was because he had been involved with my alma mater through French language education and visited the school for nearly every event.

This reunion was the first time I learned that he was also a graduate of Waseda University, a professor at the Faculty of Policy Management at SFC, and a committee member of the Graduate School of Media and Governance. On the last day of my courses at the Athénée Français, I resolutely consulted with Professor Kunieda, which marked the beginning of my new path. From there, I learned about the interdisciplinary nature of SFC and thought that it would be possible for me to engage in the kind of unrestricted research I wanted to do.

Obtaining my teaching license after entering graduate school

Shortly after I began my master's program, I was asked by my alma mater to teach a French course to junior high school students. I did not have a teaching license, but after advancing to the doctoral program, my professors recommended that I study with undergraduates at the Teacher Training Center at Mita Campus, and I was able to obtain a teaching license in the second year of my doctoral program.

In the master's program, I feel that taking classes in a variety of programs helped me make new discoveries and develop new ways of thinking and a more flexible perspective. I was particularly impressed with the class taught by Professor Fumitoshi Kato of the X-Design (XD) program. I learned how to organize my thoughts and plan toward my goals by creating "mind maps." I still vividly remember the new concept of "design for planning," rather than design related to "art," as a novel discovery.

The impact of foreign language education

In my doctoral program, I am conducting a survey of high school students who are learning foreign languages other than English, with the research theme of "Experiences of Foreign Language Learning in High School and Students' Meaning-Making in Learning: Focus on Students Pursuing Plurilingual Studies." Having been strongly influenced by my own experience learning of French, I am focusing on how the chosen languages influence students' identities and what career paths they choose.

As part of my research methodology, I first sent a survey to about 700 high schools that offer courses conducted in foreign languages other than English, and interviewed high school students at some of these school. I then observed actual classes at the high schools that responded to the interviews and interviewed the teachers in charge of the classes. By studying both students and teachers, I believe that I was able to explore the correlation between the students' learning environment and the meaning of learning to the students themselves.

The number of high school students learning a foreign language other than English is low, at about 1.4% of the total, and the number of courses conducted in foreign languages other than English has decreased significantly in university entrance examinations. I believe that there should be more choices in learning foreign languages. I also have a sense of crisis about the loss of diversity in this global age.

The "clinical" side of education settings

It has been a while since I started teaching at my alma mater, but for me, teaching students in the classroom is directly connected to my research. I carefully observe students as in a "clinical manner" and reflect the results in education settings. This is what I value in the research theme "Clinical Aspects and Education" of Professor Takahiro Kunieda's laboratory, and I believe that my encounter with Professor Kunieda was my starting point as a researcher and a teacher.

Since FY2023, I have been in charge of an international studies course at the university where I work, and my perspective is expanding from France to include its neighbor Germany and other international directions. Many of the professors I have met so far have a wide range of knowledge in their respective specialties. I would like to accumulate clinical experience so that I can be as close to them as possible.

Introduction of Laboratory