Have you heard of ESD? It stands for Education for Sustainable Development. It aims to achieve one of the goals of the SDGs, namely “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all,” and contribute toward achieving all 17 goals of the SDGs by developing leaders for a sustainable future.

Currently, there are more than 1,000 UNESCO Associated Schools—which are approved by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)—in Japan promoting ESD. To achieve ESD, I work with schoolteachers nationwide in Japan and researchers within and outside Japan to conduct studies regarding program development and policies. The scope of research also includes ESD being undertaken in various countries and regions around the world.

Learnings from multicultural Malaysia to shape Japan’s future education

I specialize in comparative education and international education. My research theme is the mobility of people and education arising from internationalization and globalization: overseas students, migrants, refugees, overseas workers, and such. I investigate and conduct research about education for them and their children as well as the relevant support measures and policies.

In addition, when people move, they bring with them culture, knowledge, ideologies, and values. This is called the mobility of knowledge, and I examine the kind of educational culture exchange that arises and the types of platforms that are formed.

The starting point of my research was Malaysia, a multiethnic country where ethnicities such as Malay, Chinese, and Indian people intermix and live in a multicultural and multilingual society. Such a country is prone to develop a segregated society, and I undertook research on the educational policies that brought the country together and compared them with the educational policies of other countries.

Japan is also seeing an increase in international residents, and there is pressure to reconsider the way of education. It is important to think about what sustainable education is when there is a coexistence of many cultures.

Bringing people’s knowledge together for mutual learning even if their countries are at conflict

In modern times, we often evaluate things based on results, but in education, it is necessary to emphasize the process and implement initiatives with a broad perspective. This is to learn from history and create paths toward the dreams and ideals woven through people’s interactions and learning.

When we are in the field of international education, sometimes there are moments when things that we thought would be difficult to achieve appear before our eyes. An example is a situation where people from countries at conflict are learning together from each other. Seeing them understanding the differences in positions, bringing together their own knowledge, exchanging opinions, and creating new knowledge makes me feel strongly that it is mutual interaction and learning between people that will create a sustainable future.

Starting from 2024, I will be serving as the UNESCO Chairholder of the Sophia University’s UNESCO Chair on Education for Human Dignity, Peace and Sustainability. I sincerely hope to contribute in whatever small ways that I can toward the exchange of knowledge and the formation of platforms.

The book I recommend

“Ningen o Mitsumete”(Looking Closely at Humans)
by Mieko Kamiya, Misuzu Shobo

The author was a psychiatrist and wrote about the days she devoted to treating patients at a leprosy sanatorium. The book talks about the importance of human dignity and questions what it means to live. I have new discoveries each time I read it, and it is a book that gives me a gentle nudge forward.

Interviewed: December 2023