- Maho Suda Fourth-year student, Department of Education and Child Development, Faculty of Psychology Ms. Suda was raised by parents who are both elementary school teachers, and having also been influenced by a teacher when she was in grade school herself, had already decided by high school that she too wanted to be an elementary school teacher. She entered Meiji Gakuin University because among schools that provide opportunities for obtaining an elementary school teaching license, she found Meiji Gakuin to be particularly attractive because it has a Department of Education and Child Development within its Faculty of Psychology. She fell in love with the Hakone Ekiden relay marathon when she first saw it while in junior high school, so while applying herself to her studies, she also became manager of the long-distance section of the track and field club, a position through which she can provide support for Meiji Gakuin’s participation in the Hakone Ekiden.
Becoming a teacher who is close to children’s hearts
2021.09.07
Maho Suda entered Meiji Gakuin University with the dream of becoming an elementary school teacher. “I want to become the kind of teacher who can become close with her students,” she says, “but to do that I need to understand what they’re thinking. I also wanted to learn about the human mind, so Meiji Gakuin was very attractive to me, having a Department of Education and Child Development in its Faculty of Psychology.”
Because her studies will include obtaining a teaching license, Ms. Suda has deepened her learning in many ways during the four years she spent at Meiji Gakuin, not only by studying psychology and education, but also through practical skills such as playing piano, physical education, and arts and crafts, as well as gaining experience in her second year of studies through activities at elementary schools in Yokohama and teacher training at her old school. “As a club activity, I became manager of the long-distance section of the track and field club. In the sense that it involves dealing with people, I think there’s a connection between what I’m learning in the Department of Education and Child Development and my activities as a club manager. For example, I can apply what I learned through my practical training to the care and treatment of athletes. Actually I’m kind of shy, and at first I wasn’t very good at approaching people to talk to them, but I got to know so many people through school activities that I became much better at proactively communicating with others.”
“Communication will also be very important after I become a teacher,” she says, “so I want to work toward becoming better at getting closer to people, hearing what they have to say, and expressing myself in my own words.” Ms. Suda is now in the final stages of reaching her dream of becoming an elementary school teacher. She tells us about her daily life at Meiji Gakuin University and the image of the ideal teacher that she envisions.