During this summer, “(Basic) Preparing Future Faculty Course” was conducted for four days on September 20, 21, 26, and 27. The goals of this course are to provide foundational knowledge and skills related to teaching for students aspiring to pursue the university faculty career, to enable them to understand the work of university educators and to develop the pedagogical expertise of course design. The course was led by Associate Professor Yusuke Sakurai, Special Assistant Professor Kazuhisa Ando, and Professor Yasushi Maruyama with the participation of Professor Takahiro Sumiya, Associate Professor Adilin Anuardi, and Professor Toshihiro Yamada, along with six Teaching Fellows (TFs). A total of 26 Japanese and international master's and doctoral students from different research fields attended the course.

The course covered a wide range of topics, including curriculum theory, pedagogy, higher education theory, online education, copyright, course assessment, and the lecture by Best Teacher, all conducted in both Japanese and English.

During the course, students were divided into small groups for discussions, allowing them to deepen their insights into university teaching. One particularly impressive experience for students was the micro-teaching session, in which students wrote teaching plans related to their own research fields, played the role as an instructor, and delivered a seven-minute lesson to their peers playing a role of learners. They applied their previous experiences and knowledge gained from the course to create engaging and informative lessons. Though some participants got very nervous, I could feel their dedication to give the peers a clear understanding of their research fields, and they received valuable feedback from their peers playing the role of learners.

The participants come from various academic backgrounds and countries. This course brought graduate students who often spend most of their time in their own research labs a valuable opportunity to get to know students from other research fields. Although the lectures were conducted separately in Japanese and English, I saw some Japanese students enjoyed talking with international students during breaks. Such cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural interactions were considered one of the significant achievements of the course.

We plan to offer the “(Basic) Preparing Future Faculty Course” in the end of February next year again. If you wish to deepen your understanding of the role of university faculty members and reevaluate your teaching philosophy, we encourage you to consider enrolling in this course.

Teaching Fellow (TF)：SARUTA Shizuki
Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Division of Educational Sciences Educational Studies Program