Available licenses/qualifications

Licenses (Department of School Education)

仢Mandatory (Required for graduation)丂乑Available

(Note 1) Teacher's Licenses are classified as follows: Grade 1 License and Grade 2 License. The differences between Grade 1 and Grade 2 are the basic qualification and the number of required credits. Anyway, if a student graduates a four-year course of a university, both of the above mentioned requirements will be satisfied, accordingly the main difference between Grade 1 License and Grade 2 License is the number of credits acquired. Grade 2 License will be granted if a student acquires more credits than those for the Grade 2 License.

(Note 2) In the Course for Child Development and Education, the mandatory (required for graduation) license (qualification) can be chosen from the following two patterns: "Teacher's License for Preschool - Grade 1 & Teacher's License for Nursery School & Teacher's License for Elementary School - Grade 2" or "Teacher's License for Elementary School - Grade 1".

(Note 3) A person who wishes to acquire the Teacher's License for Preschool - Grade 1 as the main license is required to acquire both of the qualification for Nursery Teacher and Teacher's License for Elementary School - Grade 2.

(Note 4) A person who wishes to acquire the Teacher's License for Elementary School - Grade 1 in Course for Child Development and Education is recommended (but not required) to acquire any one or more of the following licenses: Teacher's License for Preschool - Grade 1, qualifications of Nursery Teacher, Psychologist, Social Education Supervisor, School Librarian Teacher.

For Teaching Practice and Nursing Care Experience, click here.

For the former curriculum before the reorganization (four departments), click here.

Nursery Teacher

丂Nursery Teacher is a national qualification, provided under the Child Welfare Act.
Nursery Teacher is the specialty qualification, which is necessary for teachers in nursery schools (for infants), foster homes, maternal and child living support facilities, support facilities for persons with disabilities and infant home. Qualified "Kodomo-en", a new type of child institution, is now promoted by the government, and new national system of Kodomo-en will start from 2015. Principally, staff working in Kodomo-en must have the license of Nursery Teacher, which covers both the Teacher's License for Preschool and the qualification of Nursery Teacher.
In Akita University, you can acquire the qualification of Nursery Teacher together with Teacher's License for Preschool and Teacher's License for Elementary School, by acquiring necessary credits. The quota for Nursery Teacher is 20 persons. Mainly students studying preschool education in the Course for Child Development and Education wish to acquire the qualification of Nursery Teacher, but other students, for example, students in the Special Support Course and the Course for Compulsory School Teachers can also acquire this qualification.
To acquire the qualification of Nursery Teacher, it is necessary to study subjects relating to children's mental and physical development, welfare, children's health and nutrition, family support, nursery theories and techniques, and also it is necessary to have practice in nursery care facilities and child welfare facilities for at least thirty days. We prepare effective curriculum to enhance the specialty in the fields of nursery care of infants, nursery care and welfare, child care support and associated education/nursery care between preschools and elementary schools, so that students can acquire the qualification.

Social Education Supervisor

丂Social Education Supervisor is the profession necessary to be positioned in the Board of Education in each prefecture and each city. A Social Education Supervisor will give guidance and advice regarding how a social education institution should be, how its activities should be and/or regarding the management and activities of a social education institution, to the staff of social education facilities such as community centers, libraries and museums, and to the leaders of educational institutions, such as young men's association, boy scouts, women's association and PTA (parents and teachers association).
You can acquire necessary credits for the qualification by studying the subjects relating to social education as provided under the Ordinance of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, which are opened in the Faculty of Education and Human Studies.
仸To become a Social Education Supervisor, it is necessary to acquire required credits of subjects on social education and also it is necessary to have the following experience for more than a total of one year.

i) Period of working as a Social Education Assistant Supervisor;
ii) Period of working in a profession related to social education in the government, public agency or social education institution, which are officially appointed by the Minister of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology;
iii) Period of working in a profession related to a social education-related business conducted by the government, public agency or social education institution, which are officially appointed by the Minister of Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology to be useful for acquiring knowledge and techniques for a social education supervisor (except for the period of the above i) and ii)).

仸The qualification of School Librarian Teacher can be acquired by acquiring required credits. A person who is qualified as a School Librarian Teacher can work as a School Librarian Teacher only if he/she passes the employment examination for each institution/agency.

School Librarian Teacher

School Librarian Teacher is the qualification for conducting the specialty work in school libraries in elementary schools, junior high schools, high schools and special support schools. To acquire the qualification of School Librarian Teacher, it is necessary to attend lectures given by a university delegated by the Minister of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology to give such lectures, in addition to acquiring the license for elementary school, junior high school, high school or special support school teaching.
If a student acquired all the ten credits required for the qualification during his/her enrollment in the Faculty of Education and Human Studies of the University, he/she will be deemed to have acquired the requisite credits of the subjects.

Qualified Psychologist

The qualification of Psychologist is a standard certified by the Japanese Psychologist Association (a Public Interest Incorporated Association) to a student who has studied psychology in a university.
The qualification of Psychologist is considered to serve as the standard for acquiring further qualifications such as Clinical Psychologist, School Psychologist and School Counselor after graduating from a psychology-related faculty of a university and further studying in a graduate school or working in a special clinical profession. This qualification can be acquired by filing an application with and passing the examination by the Japanese Psychologist Association (at a charge).

Certified Sports Instructor: Certified by Japan Sports Association (a Public Interest Incorporated Association)

Certified Sports Instructor is qualified by the Japan Sports Association (a Public Interest Incorporated Association) and its affiliated organizations, based on the system for certifying sports instructors. A Certified Sports Instructor can instruct how to play sports safely, properly and joyfully, making use of the instructor's knowledge of sports medicine and sports science, eventually to teach the substantial pleasure and wonder of sports.
A qualification "Sports Leader", as the basic sports instructor, can be acquired after acquiring required credits and applying for the qualification. As for the qualification of "Assistant Manager", as the managerial qualification, it is not necessary for the applicant to attend a lecture of instructor education. It can be acquired by passing the examination in the year of graduation.
Further, when attending the lecture for acquiring other qualifications such as instructor qualification by each kind of sport, fitness qualification and medical conditioning qualification, attending to common subjects of I and II are exempted. For the detail of each qualification, see the homepage of the Japan Sports Association 乮http://www.japan-sports.or.jp/english/tabid/104/Default.aspx乯. (As for the acquisition of the qualification of Assistant Manager, we are now applying for the Japan Sports Association. As such, the detail may be changed.)