My initial idea that I want to tackle in the project

The premise and my creed

-Education should be something to support individuals and society to get close to being fulfilled.
-If each of us is fulfilled, we can afford to take continuous actions to improve society.

The issue I want to tackle
Aspects of education deteriorating individuals.

The backgrounds

　1. My personal experience in Japan

Before I finished my bachelor’s degree, I believed I would be successful if I got into a good school and joined a prestigious company. Therefore, I endured the harsh and competitive environment despite feeling stressed. However, soon after I started working, I realised what I devoted myself to for a long time could not bring me happiness. I had been depressed when working in my previous company, although most people around me gave me compliments when I was hired. 

In the struggle to seek out what made me fulfilled, I got a chance to stay in “Folkehøjskole” in Denmark. There was no grade or evaluation which had given me so much pressure in the past. Instead, the school provided me with a white space where I could pursue what I was interested in from the bottom of my heart. Furthermore, I finally felt enjoyable while learning, and this experience helped me find a suitable job running an educational programme inspired by Folkehøjskole in my country.

　2. Social issues we confront

In addition to the personal perspective written above, the results from several surveys of Japanese adults motivated me to move on to the research. For example, the inquiry examined by the Japanese Cabinet Office in 2013 indicated the lowest self-satisfaction rate for 18-29-year-old citizens (45.8%) among seven target countries. The research by the Nippon Foundation in 2019 revealed that only 18.2% of 18-year-olds believed they could change their society and country.  

The specific point I want to focus

I would like to detect critical issues in our education that keep people away from being fulfilled. In order to acquire deep insights, I plan to focus on higher education in Japan specifically. However, other systems also have similar characteristics (such as being strongly driven by marketalization/industrialisation), so I hope my research will generate some insights into education in other countries.

*The photo attached is from the class I took (just walking and talking) in Denmark