NEWS

ICU Community Collaboration Event Nishimitaka Gakuen Mitaka City Daini Elementary School Visits ICU

Update: December 13, 2024

On November 8, we received 129 sixth graders from Mitaka City Daini Elementary School for their university visit. This event was planned as part of the children's career education, and was realized with the cooperation of the ICU Festival Committee and student staff active in the open campus.

The event consisted of two parts. The first part was a campus tour guided by student staff, with a tour course for each theme, "Learning at ICU" and "Life at ICU," according to the children's interests.
In the second part, a talk session was held in the Auditorium of Diffendorfer Memorial Hall East Wing, featuring Professor Yoko Kobayashi (English Education Program) and four student representative, followed by a Q&A session with participating children.

Student staff members gently guided elementary school students as they toured the campus. It was impressive to see how elementary school students were listening intently to the representative students talk about "a day in the life of a university student," "what they are studying at university," and "their dreams for the future."

During the Q&A session, a wide range of questions were asked, from those that specifically delved into the image of a university student to those that related to daily student life, such as "How do you feel about attending ICU?".

Comments from the children who participated in the program

• I was impressed by the fact that at ICU, students can choose the subjects they want to study. In elementary, junior high, and high school, classes are fixed, but I liked the freedom of being able to choose the subjects of my choice.
• I was impressed by the fact that I can think in many different ways. I thought I would be able to see things from more diverse perspectives.
• I also learned that while university has the advantage of allowing you to freely make your own decisions, it also comes with a lot of responsibility behind it.
• I thought that I had to have a specific dream in order to enter university, but I now know that this is not true and that it is possible to search for a dream after entering university.
• Through the university visit, I realized that while I had thought university life was all about studying, there are many other important aspects besides academics.
• I thought that because the university was founded after World War II, it accepts each person's ideas and individuality

Comments from professor and students who participated as a staff

• As I tried to communicate the appeal of ICU clearly, I was also able to reflect on my own university life and realized its richness and fulfillment.
• The children attended the talk live with curiosity about the unknown world of university, bypassing junior high and high school. I was happy about that. We were able to discuss a wide range of topics, from pure questions to deeper matters.
• While thinking about how to answer the questions I received, I also reflected on what I want to learn at university and whether I have a dream, making me think a lot about these things myself. I would be happy if the things I can convey as a university student now resonated with the elementary school students.
• By directly addressing the pure questions from the elementary school students, I felt that there was a shift in my own awareness of university.
• The students suggested that they wanted to progress while interacting with the children. The 6th graders actively participated in discussions and raised their hands, so I believe we were able to hold a "dialogue" style talk live, true to the spirit of ICU. I would be happy if the children learned something memorable about the place called "university."(Professor)

We would like to continue to cooperate with events related to community collaboration in response to requests from elementary schools and junior high schools near our campus.