What I learnt from AEL Course

To start with, I made some time to recall the original motivation to join AEL Course. My professional goal is to become a successful multicultural researcher providing empirical evidence to support practice in intervention of mental disorders. Ideally, I would pursue position in academia-oriented settings. In terms of that, for one thing, working in the institutions requires me to be furnished with teamwork ability with my colleagues, and students from diverse disciplines. I believe that leadership is characterized by a sense of spontaneity, which motivates one to be active, and always takes initiative in activities where he or she is involved. For the other, as a nurturer of knowledge and skills in the future, it is necessary for me to maintain professionalism and specialization, which cannot flourish without learning from the scientific educators and current practitioners.

First, the academic training course held by universities cross different countries and regions has indeed enhanced my ability to work collaboratively with my fellows. Each lecture in AEL incorporates a large amount of group discussion and group work. Usually, the professors will introduce fundamental theories or philosophies regarding an on-going issue or problem in educational and psychological field. After that, they allow students to share their own experience and opinions. For example, a possible question in educational field might be “how do you define well-educated?”, and some examples of answer can be “ability of critical thinking”, “showing kindness and modesty”, “life-long study” and so on. Such kind of interaction is fascinating since it can not only deepen our understanding towards what we have learnt but encourage us to positively engage in teamwork.

Second, the interdisciplinary approach of the educational program has equipped me with a solid academic foundation through comprehensive perspectives. I learned the basic ideas of SDGs so that I realize the importance to deal with equity problems in education, as well as the significance to seek into treatment according to certain developmental stage in mental health endeavour, also to assess problems from eco-biological system’s point of view. In order to grasp the image of problems and investigate the efforts to tackle them in Japan’s society, I conducted interview in truant support institution oriented for high school students and employee support facility for people with disorders. The lecture, together with the fieldwork in AEL Course were precious enough for us to embrace the chance to learn from both theories and practice.

Taken together, I am convinced that AEL Course has prepared me to realize my dream, which is to become an active and responsible researcher with a great commitment to bridge different kinds of cultures, and with high devotion to solid my specialization and further my professionalism.