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Faculty Overview
Faculty of Education
Faculty of Education Department of Childhood Education
Fukuyama City University is the first public university in Japan to have a Faculty of Education.
This faculty is focused on forming educators and childcare workers with a wide-ranging education and abundant human nature who can comprehensively approach the growth, education, development and disabilities of each child who are the future-bearers of the local community. Our graduates also possess a high level of specialized and practical leadership abilities corresponding to the changing childcare and educational environments, and they are capable of forging linkages with households and the local community to support childcare efforts.
In order to provide education and research aimed at the formation of human resources responsible for improving educational abilities of the local community, which always places importance on the continuity of education and childcare, this university has created a training and education system with four specialized areas that provides cross-fertilization across all fields and areas. These four areas consist of education/childcare (pedagogy/preschool education), psychology (psychology/developmental clinical psychology), disability/welfare (special-needs education/child welfare) and content-based (research of education/childcare contents).
Areas of Study
Two courses are offered according to your path after graduation and the desired license/qualification.
Education Course
This course is for persons desiring an elementary school teaching license.
In addition to studying infant childcare, this course cultivates the qualities and abilities for teaching in accordance with the needs of disabled children from the point of view of special-needs education.
Qualifications/Licenses (Certificates) that can be obtained:
- Elementary School Teaching Certificate (first class certificate)
- Kindergarten Teaching Certificate (first class certificate)
- Special-Needs School Teaching Certificate (first class certificate)
Childcare Course
This course is for persons desiring to become preschool childcare providers.
Students in this course are provided with an understanding of elementary school education, and gain the qualities and abilities to provide childcare support in accordance the unique environment and needs of each household in conjunction with those households and the local community.
Qualifications/Licenses (Certificates) that can be obtained:
- Childcare Provider Qualification
- Kindergarten Teaching Certificate (first class certificate)
Main Points of Study
Comprehensive Education Based on Two-Course System
The two-course system, consisting of the "Education Course" and "Childcare Course", heightens the learning experience of persons aiming to acquire certification as an elementary school, kindergarten or special-needs teacher, or as an childcare provider by providing comprehensive education related to child development and disabilities with a focus on the continuity of childcare/preschool and elementary school education.
Small Class-Size with Seminars for all Four Years
Our programs consist of small class-size participatory type classes over all four years such as the Introduction to "Education Seminar", "Basic Seminar in Education", "Education Specialty Seminar" and "Advanced Seminar in Education". Students gain investigative abilities through research, analysis and discussion in relation to a given subject with an awareness of the issues corresponding to that subject.
Learning through Direct Contact with Children
Our students develop skills through personal experience and practical activities related to education and childcare, carried out in conjunction with the local community and outside of the university setting such as teaching and childcare practice, and extracurricular hands-on experiences. This allows students to put into practice the theories they have studied in real-life situations, and to return to the university with issues they discovered for further study in order to test these out in real-life situations. By moving back and forth between the university campus and these real-life experiences, students are able to repeat theory and practice so as to solidify theory, and allowing them to acquire the practical abilities required by teachers and childcare workers.
Practical Training
Making use of the characteristics of being a "public university" in achieving full-scale cooperation with Fukuyama City, we are able to carry out practical training at affiliated kindergartens, as well as childcare centers, kindergartens and elementary schools in the city. We have ensured the preparation of the training locations with guidance systems and training environments, and during practical training, our full-time teachers and specially appointed teachers responsible for practical training guidance are in close contact with training locations while also performing guidance tours.
Practical Training Configuration
Education Course
| Subject | Year | Term | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre/Post-Guidance for Student Teaching: Primary School | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| Student Teaching: Primary School | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Pre/Post-Guidance for Student Teaching: Kindergarten B | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Student Teaching: Kindergarten ⅡB | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Student Teaching: School for Special Needs Education (Including Pre/Post Guidance) | 4 | 3 | 3 |
* Students will select either Kindergarten Teaching Practice or Teaching Practice at Special-Needs School.
Childcare Course
| Subject | Year | Term | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre/Post-Guidance for Student Teaching: Kindergarten A | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 3 | 2 | ||
| Student Teaching: Kindergarten Ⅰ | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Student Teaching: Kindergarten ⅡA | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Pre/Post-Guidance for Student Teaching I : Nursery School | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 3 | 3 | ||
| Student Teaching: Nursery School Ⅰ (Nursery Center) | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Student Teaching: Nursery School Ⅰ (Child Protection Center) | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Student Teaching: Nursery School Ⅱ | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Student Teaching: Nursery School Ⅲ | 3 | 3 | 2 |
* Students must select either Childcare Practice Ⅱ or Ⅲ.
Message from the Faculty President
The role of education is to pass on the superior aspects of human culture to future generations. Although education is obviously carried out in schools, kindergartens and childcare centers, it is also constantly performed in a variety of institutions and workplaces as well as in the household. Education is responsible for enabling the sustainable development of regional communities as well as actualizing individual development and self-formation. The Faculty of Education at Fukuyama City University assumes the task of clearly defining the paths to achieve these roles of education. Accordingly, this university closely follows the developments in international research while initiating our own research that is solidly grounded in reality by studying the realities of Fukuyama City.
I would like to invite all students, who have been born, raised and educated in various regions to participate in our endeavors to create the first Faculty of Education at a public university in Japan. Your brave first step will create the future of education. I sincerely hope that you will join us as we cultivate a new university that will allow you to study freely, exercising all your faculties, and develop into highly capable teachers and childcare workers.