Establishing the Brand-New Trans-Graduate Education Frame: Challenges of Hokkaido University “Nitobe School Program"

Abstract

To correspond to a drastic change in international society such as “globalization,” graduate education plays a key role in development of human resources to nurture competencies such as transferable skills as well as their advanced specialties. We report a new trans-graduate-school educational program called “Nitobe School” in Hokkaido University, which has unique mechanisms: “3+1 Competencies,” “Microcosm of international society,” “NITOBE Portfolio,” and “Systems of Mentors and Advisors.” Nitobe School gives students supportive push to respect and understand different discipline, nationalities, cultures, and discussing in suitable language. Especially, “Microcosm of international society,” i.e. students who have various backgrounds learn together in a classroom, works well for the students for whom English is not the first language and discuss with diverse students. We spent one year to prepare the coursework as “microcosm of international society” and applied many different mechanisms for promoting students’ proactive learning and quality assurance of Nitobe School program. To make a success of “microcosm of international society,” it is required for professors as well as students that deeply respect of other people and understanding of diversity. With these skills and understandings, a good platform can be built for faculty development and student guidance.