22 Best Education Master's Degree Programs in Japan for 2024

Classes will be offered to develop students' capabilities to respond to educational issues that will arise in future school situations, and enable them to acquire basic knowledge of five related fields. The classes nurture talents and capabilities in students and require students to utilize this knowledge and skills, as well as to systematically improve and enrich educational capabilities extensively across the entire region.

The Graduate School of Human Development offers a Master’s course, within the Department of Human Development. At present, the circumstances surrounding a child’s upbringing appear to be far from rosy, and what has been called the “child development crisis” is being universally aggravated. Therefore, this department is committed to investigating possible scientific solutions to this crisis - which is manifested in all aspects of a child’s life. The syllabus is therefore built on the disciplines of pedagogy, psychology, curriculum research and development, and child-care and education. This program is furthermore geared towards engendering experts who possess the research capability and practical skills to analyze in detail and to hypothesize on potential answers to daily confronted issues.

Advanced Research of Development of Subject Fields English Education in Elementary Schools Programming Education Development of Cross-Curricular Education Learning Support for Children With Special Needs Educational Studies on Teaching & Learning International Education and Integrated Studies ICT (Information and Communication Technology) Education and Informatics Learning Sciences and Lesson Studies Course for Contemporary Critical Studies on Education Human Development and Education Moral Education and Guidance Counseling

The Graduate School of Education aims to develop experts in education and childcare who, in addition to outstanding practical skills, possess a solid theoretical grounding in fields connected with the development, education, and care of children. The school has three fields through which students strive to meet these goals: Educational Studies, Childcare/Curriculum Development, and Research and Clinical Education Course. By studying a broad range of related fields in addition to in-depth research in their own fields, students can attain a high level of knowledge and skills. Students also benefit from close collaboration with Nakamura Gakuen’s kindergartens/nursery schools and Development Support Center, giving them practical experience of work in educational/daycare, special education, and child support facilities.

Postgraduate Study in Special Needs Education offers specialized training in special needs education and its goal is to train highly skilled teachers with the objective to improve special needs education. The education of the physically or mentally challenged offers curricula that enables its students to acquire a teaching license for special needs education.

As a graduation requirement, you will obtain a kind of elementary school teacher's license. Furthermore, although it is not a graduation requirement, a junior high school teacher type license (national language, society, mathematics, science, English), a high school teacher type license (national language, geography history, mathematics, science, English), a kindergarten teacher type license ， Special support school teacher type (all three areas of intellectual disability, physical disability, and illness) You can obtain one of the licenses. This is a program to train highly specialized teachers.

The Graduate School of Education has offered a master’s course program since April 1986.

In this course, students find their own subjects and create their art through observation and subjectivity, while adding depth to their creative visions. In supplementary classes, students hone in on their themes and learn to see their work more broadly. Students who complete this course go on to play important roles in the fields of art and education.

MEXT's Program for Leading Graduate Schools supports graduate schools that strive to create potential leaders who are capable of and disposed to take action on the global stage across a spectrum of platforms in the industry, government, and academia by developing the creativity of their best and brightest students and instilling in them the ability to approach issues from various perspectives. This program aims to build and develop degree programs with interdisciplinary, integrated masters and doctoral degrees that are quality assured and globally recognized. Outstanding leaders in the industry, government, and academia have joined in these efforts to bring together first-rate faculty and students from inside and outside Japan.

This graduate school was established in April 2007. The main purpose is to improve professional teaching skills in curriculum guidance and problem-solving skills generally and practically through a dialogue education being conducted intensively in small groups. Our utmost concern is how to deal with various problems in school education and to conduct a wide variety of research of individuals, society at large and materials involved in the educational field. Specifically, theoretical and practical research in school education is essential in closely cooperating with the local community on the basis of traditional psychology and pedagogy. The highest-ranked qualification of an advanced teaching credential, followed by first and second teaching credential can be earned after completion of the course. In addition, students are qualified to be school psychotherapists based on fieldwork.

Early Childhood Education Special Needs Education Health Education and Health Promotion

The Graduate School of Education aims to train future leaders in the field of education with creative and advanced practical research abilities and to enhance the qualities and skills of educational professionals. The professional degree program offers two courses (one for graduate students and another for experienced local teachers) that cover general education topics, school management, curriculum, educational policy, use of ICT in school education, subjects, contents, teaching methods, and special education. Additionally, this program aims to train teachers to use both practical and professional knowledge. The focus is also on inculcating the ability to design teaching and learning and to acquire flexible and reflexive perspectives in order to tackle varied challenges in the field of education. Thus, graduate students develop their skills by revising their perspectives on teaching and learning and improve the curriculum of schools by collaborating with other professionals to solve various issues.

HOKUSHO is the only graduate school in Hokkaido where you can get the qualification to sit for the certifying examination for “school psychologist.” You study the educational needs that the society in the future will seek, and you learn skills that enable you to play a leading role in educational study, social education, and school education. We train our students to be contributors to the construction of a society of lifelong learning.

Classes consist of Specialized Theories and Specialized Training, which concern the area of each student's supervisor. They are either small seminars or one-to-one lessons using practical skills, considering each student's ability, treating his/her motivation as an essential element. The curriculum is organized in such a way as to allow students to both further their understanding of their specialized subjects and acquire a broad knowledge of music in general. For their specialized area, they start their research under the supervisor from the beginning of the course. For their graduation theses, students are to participate in an orientation in November of the first year, followed by their Graduation Thesis Progress Report Presentation, for which supervision from all of our teaching staff is available. Furthermore, as the most important event of the course, we have the Shuonkai Music Festival, which is organized and run in cooperation with the undergraduates, postgraduates, and alumni union. It has been held over thirty times and is a highly unique event even on a national scale. Every year, it is held in mid-February and early March. In February, a variety of presentations are delivered by the undergraduates, postgraduates, and alumni in the Music Building and Auditorium of MUE, concerning achievements of classes and individual research themes, while in the following month, presentations and musical performances on their graduation theses (both under/postgraduates) are delivered in an auditorium in Sendai. The Shuonkai Music Festival is an enormously important event for the course, constituting the culmination of the years' work in the Department of Music Education.

The Graduate School of Education (Master's Course) consists of two majors: Professional Teacher Development and School Education Support. The Major in Professional Teacher Development aims to train school leaders and mid-career teachers in advanced theory as well as practical and applicable skills, while also fostering competent young teachers. The major in School Education Support consists of two courses: Clinical Psychology in Education and Japanese Language Support. The Clinical Psychology in Education Course trains specialists of education for children with mental health problems or disabilities through courses on educational psychology, clinical psychology, and special needs education. The Japanese Language Support Course cultivates professionals who have capacities to provide 1) learners support for children with international background in Japan, and also 2) Japanese language education support for children who are living abroad. Moreover, the course focuses on training skills for supporting foreigners and promoting international exchanges in both Japan and overseas.

Keyboard Instrument Research Area The Graduate School of Music (Master's Program) Keyboard Instrument Research Area was established for the purpose of developing more advanced music art education and research and human resources that contribute to culture and society. In this keyboard instrument research area, in order to organically develop high-quality practical educational programs and enable activities in a wide range of fields, teachers of pianists and composers, as well as teachers of voice, strings, tubes, and percussion instruments. We have a comprehensive teaching system for music arts, including. In the piano research area, there is a "special research on instrumental music" centered on analysts to deepen the understanding of music, and a lesson to broaden the musical perspective through understanding other musical instruments by considering the technique of performance expression from the analysts. There are classes such as "chamber music training", language learning, reading the original book, invited professors from overseas, and practical training by pianists. In the completion test, one hour of performance and the result of the music research are required to be prepared as a treatise or program note. In the accompaniment research area, the goal is to cultivate in-depth knowledge of various musical instruments and voices, the ability to accurately read scores, etc., which are indispensable for professional accompaniment, and to fully support the co-stars while also expressing themselves. To give a practical lesson. Practical lessons including music analysis by the composer's instructor, "basic accompaniment exercises" to learn live harmony and arrangement necessary for understanding the work, instrumental music sonatas, songs, opera, oratorio, collepetitol, etc. There are "special research on instrumental music" that allows you to select what you want to learn, and "chamber music training" that is common to all majors in instrumental music. The work of accompaniment pianists is currently in great demand, but there are few places for full-scale learning. The goal of this graduate school is to thoroughly learn the abilities required as an accompaniment, pay attention to individual individuality, and finally establish a comprehensive view of music.

The Graduate School of Human Sciences has a Master’s program and Ph. D. program for Clinical Psychology and a Master's program for Human Sciences. Students at this graduate school include those who have graduated from other universities, with academic emphasis placed on psychology and those who have work experience at companies and other places in related fields. This graduate school provides students with the opportunity to study specialized academic fields broadly. Upon program completion, students find jobs in various fields such as schools and hospitals. They also enter the industrial community, with some of them becoming counselors and others clinical psychotherapists.

The Children's Studies Course shall organize its curriculum to do research on the expertise and techniques that contribute to the enhancement of the quality of early childhood and education based on the scientific beliefs and understandings regarding children while pursuing the way to support child development and to cultivate　the ability to put this knowledge into practice.

The first program of its type in Japan, the Child Studies course draws on the accumulated history and traditions of early childhood education at Seitoku Gakuen to research and find solutions to the various problems associated with child care, which grow more severe each year. The program gives students a solid grounding in compassionate observation, allowing them to observe each child from a variety of angles. It also provides them with the knowledge of the issues of child development and education, as well as a practical ability to offer solutions. The program produces specialists with a deep understanding of children, such as kindergarten and primary school teachers, as well as professionals dealing with childhood issues in all fields.

Our goal is to train future teachers or sports specialists to be active as leaders in groups of teachers or of sports instructors, having both practical leadership and specialized research ability in PE in schools and sports practice. It is made possible by offering postgraduate-level specialized lectures, training, and experiments in PE, Health Care Pedagogy, PE Studies, Kinesiology, and Health Education. Emphasis is placed on furthering specialized areas such as Health, PE, and Sports Sciences and combining research and practice by attending the actual school education and sports practice.