Field Study in Washington, D.C. (Shoko YOSHII)

From 8th to 20th March 2015, I participated in field study exercise in Washington D.C. under the supervision of Prof. Keiichi Ogawa. During the first-half of the study, I attended and gave a presentation about my research academic at the 59th Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) annual conference, held at Washington Hilton Hotel. In the second-half, I visited the World Bank, and had a discussion about research and career development, with several officers and alumni from Ogawa-seminar in Washington D.C.

While attending CIES, I joined two big sessions closely related to my research interest, which is religious education in public school of Indonesia. First session was “A special panel on current issue on Indonesian education: Teacher certification, distance learning and narrative of success for rural youth”, and second session was “Religious Education”. I learned a lot of things from various points of view, such as education policy, education system, and effect of religious education on students. In addition, I met a researcher at the session, whose research topic is very similar to mine. He kind gave me valuable and motivational advised about research.

After the CIES conference, I joined the second half of the training, where I visited World Bank and interviewed officers about research and carrier development. I interviewed Dr. Halsey Rogers who is Lead Economist with the Education team in World Bank, and managed a research project about teacher policy in Indonesia. During the interview, he kindly gave me information about the research, and we discussed about Current Issue of Education in Indonesia. In addition, Dr. Tomomi Miyajima who is an Education Specialist in World Bank, kindly gave me carrier advice as a woman.

In conclusion, the field study enabled me to network, learn new practical information about education and career development. I met a lot of education development specialists and researchers and learnt from them. Finally, I would to extend my sincere gratitude to my academic advisor, Professor Keiichi Ogawa, for giving me this rare and unique opportunity meet new people, create networks and learn practical knowledge and skills. Gratitude also goes to all the Ogawa-seminar alumni in Washington, D.C., namely; Dr. Shinsaku Nomura, Dr. Mari Shojo, Dr. Nobuyuki Tanaka and Ms. Miho Nomura for taking time off their busy schedules to interact with us.

Shoko Yoshii
Master Student