Human Diversity and Educational Equity in Japan

Yoshiyasu Ida is Emeritus Professor and Former Dean at the Institute of Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Japan, and received his Ph.D. in Science from the same university. His professional interests focus on social studies and geography curricula of elementary and secondary schools around the world. His current projects include geography education for SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) and ESD (Education for Sustainable Development). In addition, he served as President of the Japanese Association for Social Studies (2018-2022) and of the Geographical Education Society of Japan (2019-2022). From 2024, he is President of the Association of Japanese Geographers. Teruyuki Fujita, Ph.D., is Professor at the Institute of Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Japan. He also serves as Chair for the Masters' and Doctoral Programs of Education within the university. He has a strong interest in policy analysis related to career development in secondary school students and their school-to-work transitions in Japan, the United States of America, and Denmark. He teaches career guidance and counseling at the College of Education, as well as comparative policy studies on career education promotion measures at the graduate school. His university teaching career began in 1998 and continues to the present. From 2008 to 2013, he worked as Senior Specialist for student guidance at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science,and Technology (MEXT). Inho Chung, Ph.D., is Professor at the Institute of Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Japan. His research area is in the psychology of the deaf and hard of hearing, with a particular interest in cognitive and language development. Recently, he has been working on processing strategies for visual nonverbal cognitive tasks for the deaf and hard of hearing. He is dedicated to elucidating psychological findings that areuseful in educational settings. Toshibumi Kakizawa, Ph.D., is Professor at the Institute of Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Japan. His research interest is to accurately understand the condition of people with visual impairment and the society surrounding them in order to maximize their abilities and help them to play an active role in a symbiotic society. He conducts research on the causes of visual impairment, experimental and developmental research on the cognition and behavior of people with visual impairment, experiments and research on ICT (Information and Communication Technology) accessibility for people with low vision, and research on social participation and school attendance support for people with visual impairment. Yuhkoh Satoh is Professor at the Institute of Human Sciences, College of Psychology at the University of Tsukuba, Japan. His research interests span adolescent emotions, adolescent self-disgust, and adolescent friendships. He also has a license as a school psychologist, and his teaching courses include adolescent psychology, adolescent development, and educational counseling. From his courses, he hopes to provide people(especially young people) with knowledge that helps them to understand themselves and guides them to reconsider their ways of living. His lectures include 'Who is an adolescent', 'What kind of period is adolescence', 'Characteristics of adolescence in terms of emotions', 'Loneliness in adolescence', 'Self-disgust in adolescence', 'Narcissism in adolescence', 'Developmental changes in parent-child relationships in adolescence', and 'Developmental changes in friendships in adolescence'.  Hiroki Yoneda is Professor in the Institute of Human Sciences, College of Disability Sciences at the University of Tsukuba, Japan. He also serves as Chair for the Masters' and Doctoral Programs of Disability Sciences within the university. His research interests include the history of special education, inclusive education systems, and curriculum modification for students with special educational needs. He has especially explored education for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. He teaches courses such as 'History and system of special needs education', 'School education for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities', and ‘'Life, education and welfare of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.'Hiroshi Sato is Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Tsukuba, Japan. He is Executive Director of the Japanese Association for the Study of Educational Administration. He was awarded the Academic Research Prize from the Japanese Association for the Study of Educational Administration in 2010. He was Visiting Scholar at the University of Melbourne in Australia in 1998 and 2019. One of his publications is entitled 'Education governance and principals' leadership in Japan' in the book 'School Governance in Global Contexts' (2022, pp.122-140). His research interests include principal leadership, educational administration, school improvement and accountability. Hisae Miyauchi obtained her Ph.D. in 2013 and is Associate Professor of Human Sciences at the University of Tsukuba, Japan. Her research interests include education for visual impairment and inclusive education. She explores ways to increase inclusion and diversity through collaborative research with colleagues in the United States of America and Europe. Her recent publications include 'Perceptions of Studentswith Visual Impairment on Inclusive Education: A Narrative Meta-analysis' in the journal Human Research in Rehabilitation (2020) and 'Keeping Schools for the Blind Vital in an Era of Inclusion: Key Elements for Success' in the Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness (2022). Mari Kokubu is Professor in the Institute of Human Sciences, College of Education at University of Tsukuba, Japan. Her research interests include social studies education, history education, history of Korean education, and gender studies. She is interested in historical research on education, especially in history education on the Korean peninsula and the history of social studies education in Japan. In recent years,she has also developed a strong interest in the relationship between social studies education and gender. Her lectures include 'History of social studies education in Japan', 'Relationship between social studies education and history education', 'Social studies education and in regions', 'History textbooks and the screening system in Japan', 'History education beyond borders', 'History education in Colonial Korea', 'Women and labor', and 'Social studies teachers and gender'. Soichiro Matsuda is Assistant Professor of Human Sciences and also Principal Investigator in the Behavioral Design Laboratory, University of Tsukuba, Japan. He received the Bachelor of Science, Master of Arts, and Ph.D. in Psychology from Keio University, Tokyo, Japan, in 2010, 2012, and 2016, respectively. He was awarded a research fellowship by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. From 2015 to 2018, he was Researcher at the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, University ofTsukuba, Japan. In 2017, he was Visiting Scholar at the Center for Autism Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, the United States of America. His primary research interests include early intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder, using technology in intervention, and parent training with a special emphasis on the design of human-human interaction by psychological and information technologies. Eishi Komaki is a Junior Researcher in the Institute of Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Japan. His research area is in Education. He is interested in children's rights, especially in the convention on the rights of children in different countries. In recent years, he has been exploring measures to help ensure that the rights of children are protected, as based on the case of Ireland.

• 1. Tokkatsu: Its Reality, Significance, and Challenges in Global Contexts.- 2. Moral Education in Secondary Schools: Focusing on the Responsibilities of Teachers.- 3. Characteristics and Challenges in School Management: Focusing on the School Regulations and the Voices from Students.- 4. Extracurricular Activities in Transition: Debate over Teachers' Roles.- 5. Ensuring Quality in Teaching: Re-examining the Value of Commonplace Practices at Schools.