Aiming for a society where all children can live "like children"

In high school, I was interested in various fields and had trouble choosing a university. Among them, SFC was the one that most attracted me when I looked at the syllabus. I was excited to see that the curriculum was designed to allow students to challenge themselves not only in their areas of interest but also in new fields, and I felt there were diverse learning opportunities. That is one of the reasons I chose SFC.

Another reason is that I had been interested in Professor Miki Akiyama's research even before taking the entrance exams. Since I was a child, I have been interested in the "mind," and I was drawn to Professor Akiyama's perspective and research, which explores well-being from a healthcare standpoint using both "epidemiological" and "social science approaches."

After enrolling, I encountered a more diverse range of classes than I had expected, and I was sometimes surprised by the breadth of topics, thinking, "I never thought I could study something like this at a university..."

I love interacting with children and have long been interested in their well-being. Currently, I am a member of the Miki Akiyama Research Group, where I am researching themes related to children's well-being in both individual and group research projects. For my individual research, I plan to conduct a survey of university students on the theme of "clarifying the relationship trends between parenting attitudes and children's personality formation," based on Symonds's "parenting attitude typology" and the "Big Five personality traits model." By integrating and analyzing these two models, I hope to clarify the relationship between parenting and personality formation.

I focused on "parenting" because, through my part-time job, I interacted with various children and their guardians and felt that the parent-child relationship significantly influences a child's behavior and emotions. In particular, I sometimes felt that a child's upbringing was reflected in their reactions when praised or scolded. However, I do not believe in unilaterally blaming the caregiver based on the child's condition; rather, I see it as a mutual relationship where the caregiver also changes in response to the child's development. By examining the tendencies in personality and ways of thinking from both the caregiver's and the child's perspectives, I believe we can find hints and solutions for the many challenges of child-rearing.

By analyzing the survey results in detail, I hope to find clues to improve the caregiver-child relationship and contribute to the well-being of children, including their caregivers.

The goal of our group research is to "create a society where all children can live 'like children.'" To achieve this, we engage with various children through fieldwork, listening to their voices and needs. The Miki Akiyama Research Group has teams working on diverse themes such as bone marrow banking, mental health, gender, and second careers. Within the group, I belong to the "Children's Carer Team," and through a connection with a member, I learned about and began to address the social issue of educational support for sick children.

As a place of learning for children undergoing medical treatment, there is a public system called "in-hospital classes," but the installation rate is low at 32% nationwide, and it is limited to compulsory education. This creates a problem where there is no support for high school students who are at major turning points, such as university entrance exams or employment. Furthermore, because dual enrollment is not permitted, the number of children who can actually receive an education is small.

In response to this situation, there are organizations across the country where university students take the lead in providing educational support. In fiscal year 2023, we visited eight organizations and interviewed them about their initiatives. Then, with the aim of building a nationwide network connecting organizations that support the education of sick children, we held a two-day forum titled "A Forum to Consider 'Places of Learning' Created by Children Undergoing Medical Treatment and Students" as a joint project with the NPO Your School and the Department of Palliative Medicine at Saitama Medical University International Medical Center. We invited the organizations that cooperated with our interviews to Mita Campus, where we were able to exchange many opinions with everyone involved in educational support.

At SFC, there are abundant opportunities to present research findings, such as at the ORF (Open Research Forum) and academic exchange conferences. Additionally, when we visited organizations nationwide as part of the Children's Carer Team's activities, our expenses were supported by a research grant system. I feel that the well-established research environment and support system are also strengths of SFC.

In my individual research, I have now entered the stage of implementing my research plan. Over the next year, I intend to continue my fieldwork with children while thoroughly conducting analysis and reflection.

At SFC, there are many encounters with unique and individualistic faculty and students engaged in interdisciplinary research. The environment where researchers from different fields inspire each other, deepen their learning, and demonstrate creativity is unique to SFC. I am confident that the connections I've made at SFC will become a great asset in my future life.