Global Education In Japan: An Interview With Saint Maur International School

In a bid to gain perspective on what education professionals at international schools in Japan are doing to provide global education to their students, Savvy Tokyo reached out to Saint Maur International School, one of the oldest and most renowned international schools in Japan. Here is what they had to say. 

What does your school specialize in? 

Our school strives to meet the needs of children (co-educational, 2½ years to Grade 12) from the multi-cultural, multi-faith international community.

What parts of the school curriculum and activities include a global perspective? What technologies do you use in and out of the classrooms? 

The cultural diversity inherent in our school is one of our strengths allowing students to develop the knowledge, skills and internationally-minded approach necessary to contribute productively to an increasingly interdependent global society.

The Technology Department is committed to ensuring that our students’ balanced and global academic experiences are met with an equally balanced and diversified exposure to technology. While most schools choose to equip and train their students with one device on one operating system, Saint Maur expects students to be exposed to a multitude of the best available technological resources. We realize that technological proficiency in the 21st century is not limited to the proficient use of just one device, but being able to effectively use a variety of the best resources for the task at hand. Therefore, our infrastructure is an integration of the most powerful hardware and software offered by Microsoft, Apple, Google, Dell, Cisco, Lego, National Instruments, and more.

In 2011, Saint Maur opened a new state-of-the-art Science Center which houses a robotics laboratory and workspace. Through partnerships and collaboration with VEX, Lego, and National Instruments, our Robotics Program continues to develop and expand.

Providing an education which encourages and, through its implementation, creates life-long learners. 

How do students gain a real-world international perspective while studying at your school?

Students are encouraged to participate in community activities year-round through the CAS program. These include beach cleaning activities, helping orphanage residents, homeless food distribution, rice collection, fundraising following catastrophes affecting people in Japan and overseas, and more.

According to your school’s educational policy, what is the most essential factor for raising competitive and fully international future leaders? 

Providing an education which encourages and, through its implementation, creates life-long learners who, having acquired an understanding and appreciation of people and their differences, are able to problem solve, be creative, logical thinkers, and innovators in their respective professions.

What does your school value most in children’s education?

Creating balanced life-long learners who have empathy for others, and who through their educational experience have gained knowledge, the wisdom to apply it, and those values that enable them to become constructive contributing members of society and the global world in which they live.

To learn more about Saint Maur International School, see here.