History of the Graduate School of Education and the Faculty of Education

The Faculty of Education at the University of Tokyo was established in May 1949, when the university was reorganized under the new system and five courses offered by the Department of Education of Faculty of Literature under the old system were established as an independent faculty. The College of Arts and Sciences was also established during this time. In 1947, the Basic Education Law and School Education Act were enacted and the “6-3-3” school system was introduced. Universities throughout Japan established faculties of education and liberal arts, in line with the policy for postwar education reform, which advocated that the former “normal” school system of teacher training schools be revised and that faculties of education be established at national universities. In response to the call for reform, the Faculty was established to perform the following three tasks: (1) pursue specialized research in the field of education while training expert researchers and
teachers; (2) train educational administration officials, directors, and instructors of social education, and school administrators with insight and a grounding in education; and (3) assume esponsibility for training teachers for the secondary school attached to the new University of Tokyo. The three tasks remain essentially unchanged today, despite the university’s shift in emphasis toward graduate education.

Although, at the planning stage, the Faculty of Education was set to offer 18 courses, it adopted the small department system and began its journey as a five department faculty containing epartments of Education, Educational Psychology, School Education, Educational Administration, and Physical Education. Changes that have occurred since then are included in the chronology below: