[Feature: International Exchange at Keio University] Ryoko Ishii: International Exchange at Affiliated Schools — Keio Affiliated Schools Study Abroad Program: Jinkan Kosai (Society) Spanning the World

2024/10/07

The Keio Affiliated Schools Study Abroad Program was launched in 2012 under then Vice-President Akira Haseyama, following the wishes of a benefactor. It began as a project to send students from affiliated schools to prestigious boarding schools overseas for one year.

Starting with the task of finding potential host schools, we visited 12 candidate schools in the United States and the United Kingdom with the help of the Keio Gijuku Shachu. Although none of the schools initially had a system for accepting one-year study abroad students, negotiations led to the decision in 2014 to send students to The Taft School and Deerfield Academy in the US, and Shrewsbury School in the UK. While one-year study abroad programs for high school students through external organizations like AFS Intercultural Programs Japan already existed, there were few domestic examples of school-led study abroad programs. I believe that Keio University's establishment of a system that provides scholarships and allows students to advance to the next grade without repeating a year upon completion had a significant impact on promoting study abroad at the high school level in Japan. At the launch of the program, we sent press releases to various newspapers, and several of them covered it as news.

The host schools are part of groups known as the Ten Schools in the US and The Nine in the UK. Students gather there from all over the world, and many graduates go on to the Ivy League, Oxford University, or Cambridge University. We wondered if Keio students could compete on equal footing there. It was an unprecedented challenge, but from the first year, the response far exceeded our expectations.

Immediately after arriving, students struggled with the differences in teaching styles, but after about two months, their opportunities to speak up in class seemed to increase, and the exchange students sent back photos of themselves smiling. Classes at all the schools were small, with about one teacher for every ten students, and were conducted in a discussion format. With assignments such as long reports, students needed the thinking skills to view things from multiple perspectives.

Japanese education is often criticized for being rote-based, but students said, "Because I had a knowledge base cultivated in Japan, I was able to understand the depth of discussions in classes abroad, understand and respect the other person's opinion, and present my own thoughts." From the multi-page study abroad reports submitted after their return, I gained confidence that the education at Keio University's affiliated schools forms an educational foundation that is effective even overseas.

Boarding schools seem to have strong horizontal connections among admissions officers, and the reputation of Keio's exchange students gained in the first year spread. In 2015, Phillips Academy Andover in the US was added as a destination for the 12th-grade course, followed by the 8th-grade course in 2019 and the 5th-grade course in 2020. Currently, we send about eight students per year.

During their time abroad, junior high and high school students in particular often encounter major turning points in their lives. At Shrewsbury School in the UK, each student is given their own set of chemistry lab equipment; one student was so fascinated by the environment where they could experiment to their heart's content that they went on to the Faculty of Pharmacy. Another student decided to become an international lawyer after meeting a Keio University alumni who was a lawyer. Another student discovered a passion for art and pursued a path in architecture.

At the study abroad report meeting held every July, students who looked a bit anxious before leaving give dignified presentations, looking like business professionals active in international society. One parent's report stated, "(My son) has surpassed me." I feel the same way. Every year, I am amazed at how much a teenager can grow in just one year of studying abroad, and I feel the joy of being involved in this project.

The aim of this system was not only to lead to the growth of individual students who went abroad but also to "bring about ripple effects." Initially, we only looked at the scope of students returning from study abroad sharing their knowledge with their homeroom teachers and fellow students to revitalize the school. However, to our surprise, the ripple effect also spread to the host schools. They contributed to the host communities not as "exchange students who were only there for a year," but as "exchange students who it's hard to believe were only there for a year."

They started Japan Societies at their host schools, contributed to swimming and ice hockey matches, led teams to victory in the Mathematical Olympiad, and played the piano at the magnificent Winchester Cathedral. One student even conducted a comparative study and presentation on Winchester College's motto (Manners makyth man) and the words of Yukichi Fukuzawa. Perhaps it is because it is only a one-year study abroad that they take on challenges greedily, and their drive attracts those around them. Even after returning to Japan, teachers and friends from their host schools visit them in Japan, and I feel that they value their relationships with Keio students.

Several schools hold events in Japan where alumni, current students, and their families gather. Winchester College held an event in Tokyo for the first time this year, where a Keio student introduced their study abroad experience at Winchester. In addition, the Center for Affiliated Schools Support participated in a Phillips Academy Andover event held this April, and I had the opportunity to give a speech about the exchange with Keio. Students who studied at Fay School or Eaglebrook in the US have also helped with Japan tours for local students after returning to Japan.

As representatives of Keio, I hope each exchange student can leave a mark at their host school. I hope they leave even a small impression that there is a school called Keio in Japan and that Keio seems interesting. And I hope that someday, I might hear through the grapevine that a student from one of the host schools has gone on to Keio University or its graduate school.

This system, which began in the 2014 academic year, sent out its 10th cohort in the 2024 academic year. Graduates who experienced the study abroad program in high school gather voluntarily every summer to report on their current status to each other. Among them are doctors working in community healthcare, researchers who pursued architecture and went to graduate school overseas, lawyers and accountants working on the front lines, those who found jobs at airlines as pilots, and graduates who founded startup companies using brainwave technology. Many seem to study abroad again after graduating from high school.

Their destinations are diverse, including not only the UK and the US but also Canada, Italy, France, and Northern Europe. I have great expectations that they will continue to value their connections with Keio University and their friends and mentors from their study abroad destinations, build their own unique, "hybrid" relationships, and be active on the world stage.

The Keio Affiliated Schools Study Abroad Program is exactly what Yukichi Fukuzawa called "jinkan kosai (society)" itself.