Spring Term AY2023
Topics
Contents
- Reflection on CGG Activities for 2022
- SL Ambassador Activities
- AIUxICU Service-Learning
- Greetings from New Faculty Members
- Message from the New Director of SLC
- Editorʼs note
Reflection on CGG Activities for 2022
WATANABE, Miyako
AY2021 Ringo-no-ki(Apple Tree) Kids' Club
I was a member of the Common Good Fund Student Project ("CGG") student committee for FY2022 from April 2022 to April 2023. JICUF funds CGG for 1 million yen, and its student members provide grants to non-profit organizations (NPO) near ICU. The goal of CGG is to revitalize the local community by providing grants. I have learned many things through the activities, including the importance of connecting with the community. Our vision was not only to provide grants, but also to create opportunities and places for ICU students to connect with the community. As we visited and interviewed organizations to achieve this goal, I realized that the community is asking for students, and students are also looking for involvement with the community. At the event we held in April this year, we invited many ICU students and organizations, and I felt that we were able to create opportunities to share ideas and engage with them. To revitalize the local community, local people and students must connect, learn together, and collaborate, and I hope to make many more connections in the future.
SL Ambassador Activities
NAKAMURA, Miku
AY2022 Lady Doak College
Ever since I participated in the SL program in India, I have wanted to do a collaborative project between the teaching circle "Yui" and Service-Learning! I am very happy that my long-cherished wish finally came true. On the day of the event, after introducing the service activities we conducted at an elementary school in India, I gave a talk under the theme of "What I, as a student taking the Teacher Certificate Program for English, enjoyed about participating in the SL program in India. I feel that the service activities in India are a lifetime treasure for me in that they made me realize the joy of teaching! I also feel that one of the reasons I am glad to have participated in SL is that I was able to materialize the vision of education I have had in my mind by practicing the various teaching methods I learned in my teaching classes and by giving lessons to Indian elementary school students. At the end of the event, we also discussed with the participants various ways of learning including experiential learning such as SL and the role and significance of teachers. We were able to have a very fruitful discussion with the participation of Mr. Kondo, who accompanied us to SL in India last year and has been the closest observer and supporter of our activities. We would like to thank all the students who took time out of their busy schedules to attend the event, as well as Dr. Kondo, who was also our SL advisor, the SLC staff members, and Dr. Shimizu. Thanks also to Akane and Otoha for their help in preparing the presentation and presenting it for the event! We hope to have more opportunities to share with other ICU students and teachers about the SL experience in India in the future.
SUZUKI, Yuri & INADA, Haruka
AY2022 University of Cape Town, South Arica
Having a strong passion to propagate our fascinating Service-Learning experience, we hosted "Service-Learning Discussion and Q&A Online session by experienced participants" in the evenings of March and April. The announcements through ICU Portal as well as LINE group chat attracted a number of ID27 freshman students, many of whom were actively asking questions to us. We put focus on showing various photos of our experience in Cape Town and also explained the essence of Service-Learning as well as registration methods. It is our pleasure to have students registered in a Service-Learning general education course exceeding our expectation of the faculty, meaning that there are numerous students who will have an opportunity to acquire Service-Learning experience. We hope the fascination of Service-Learning reaches as many students as possible. Through a Service-Learning program in Cape Town, we were actually able to position ourselves at the threshold of lifelong learning. The power of Service-Learning ambassadors is so influential that this event was planned and implemented all by us, with the help of Service-Learning center staff. This opportunity to share our inspiring and fruitful experience to other students enticed us to continue hosting such events in the future. Please keep looking forward to the next event!
AIUxICU Service-Learning
SAKITANI, Kohei
AY2022 Akita International University x International Christian University Service-Learning
What I discovered by participating in AIU x ICU was a perspective from practice and myself as an ICU student. Although I have studied development studies, this was the first time for me to do something in a practical setting, and I honestly had no idea about the theme of the event, "A Place for Children. During the 30 days that I spent thinking about it, not knowing anything, a world that I could not understand or even consider in books, such as "the validity of educational evaluation" and "diversity in the community", expanded in my mind, and I recognized the importance of perspectives that I could only find through practical experience. The SL was held jointly with Akita International University, and it was a very meaningful experience to work with students from other universities for 30 days on the same theme, allowing us to gain perspectives from different backgrounds and to compare ourselves from different perspectives. SL teaches us the joy of thinking, including its hardships. If you haven't experienced it yet, why not go and have your thoughts shaken up in 30 days?
Greetings from New Faculty Members
Atsuko KURONUMA, Assistant Professor by Special Appointment
Education
Assistant Director of Service-Learning Center
Hi everyone. I am Atsuko Kuronuma, an Assistant Professor by Special Appointment at the Department of Education and Language Education. I teach service-learning courses and coordinate overseas programs. I am thrilled to be back at ICU, having been involved in service-learning for 13 years at the ICU SLC from 2007 to 2019. My experience working here has inspired me to pursue my expertise in this field. It is an honor to work with you all through service-learning.
This past spring semester, over 100 students enrolled in the "Service-Learning" course in General Education, where they had the chance to be engaged in the community in person settings. Additionally, 60 students worked hard to prepare for their summer service-learning experience abroad. We are committed to sustaining the relationship between campus and community locally and globally and promoting experiential learning for everyone involved. We appreciate your continued support.
Message from the New Director of SLC
Etsuko KATO, Professor
Cultural Anthropology
Director, Service-Learning Center
Greetings from Etsuko Kato, new Director from this April! I am a "classmate" of SLC, which was established in the same year as I started teaching at ICU. 21 years have passed, and SLC is as lively as ever, thanks to the passion of many faculty, staff and participating students in the past and the present.
What surprised me as new Director first was so many explanation and report sessions held. 30-day services, domestic or international (as a core part of 200-level courses), are now practiced not only in summer but all year round. This year, as COVID is nearly tamed, international SL is especially popular. Next, so many SL courses surprised me. GE courses, with 18-hour service requirement, are offered twice a year, and we had 110 enrollment (doubled from the preceding years) this spring. There also are faculty-led SL courses (300-level). The situation sends several tens of e-mail titled "Re: SL activities" every day to my mailbox from students, travel agencies, or domestic and overseas partner institutions. By co-teaching GE courses and taking part in clerical work, I am myself "learning from experiences" about SL and how to support it.
Editorʼs note
It was a very busy season with the joint program in March, classes in the spring semester, and the summer practicum. But we are glad that so many students are interested in Service-Learning program. In March, I went on a business trip to Akita and was surprised at how delicious the food in Akita was.
With the start of the new academic year, I am happy to see many students returning to the campus and seeing the vibrant atmosphere with excitement. While I am impressed by the high level of interest in participating in service-learning programs, I hope that among the many options available, each student will find a program in which they can participate with their own interests and with confidence.
SL undergraduate course enrollment was significantly higher than last year. Particularly in general education courses, the number of participants exceeded the pre-Corona level. It seemed as if students tired of being online were trying to reconnect offline relationships.
This spring I started to grow vegetables at a community garden. Before I started, I worried it would be hard work to water the plants every day, but now I'm excited to watch the vegetables grow day by day. Going to the garden every day is no longer a chore. I can't wait to eat the fresh vegetables!