by Anna Takai
On June 3 2022, I had the opportunity to hop on a zoom call with Professor Miki Sugimura, an Education professor of Human Sciences at Sophia University.
Her interest in education first started off in her undergraduate studies, she says. In university, she studied economic development and culture in Malaysia. Through studying the economic field, she found that nations are widely influenced by education, and so she moved on to studying about international education and comparative education. In Malaysia, there are mainly three types of people living there: the Chinese, Indians and Malays. She then questioned herself, although Malay isn’t the main language for the Chinese and the Indians, how are they able to reach their dreams in a different way?
After studying in this field, she noticed that in Malaysia, they have a compatible education system, where they keep their own curriculum, while also taking in globalized education curriculums. By doing this, Malays are provided with a more international education. I believe that the Japanese government should also learn from other countries like Malaysia to create a more global education for its next generation.
Professor Sugimura also introduced me to many programs, resources and books.
Sophia University, UN Week (from 6/3 to 6/17) https://www.sophia.ac.jp/jpn/news/PR/UNWeeksJune2022.html
「途上国世界の教育と開発―公正な世界を求めて」, Education and Development in the Developing World: In Search of a Just World
「教育で平和をつくる―国際教育協力のしごと」, Creating peace through education, The Work of International Educational Cooperation
Professor Miki Sugimura’s research paper (2015) entitled: “the mobility of international students and higher education policies in Japan”
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