Message from the President
Hirotoshi Tanigawa, Ph.D.
I was appointed the fourth president of the Japan Association for Developmental Education (JADE) in August 2017. I will strive to fulfill our duties in a way that reflects the achievements of past presidents.
JADE was founded in 2005. The purpose of JADE is mainly to conduct research on how to support the learning of students in higher education institutions (e.g., universities, junior colleges, technical colleges, vocational schools, and graduate schools). Since its establishment, JADE has played a pivotal role as a front runner in the fields of learning assistance and developmental education in higher education.
JADE’s research focuses mainly on teaching methods and theory, organization theory, and evaluation methods and theory. Currently, JADE has seven Regions/Chapters (or branch societies) and eight Special Interest Groups (SIGs, or expert subcommittees). JADE promotes activities at both national and local levels through its national conference and through the activities and conferences of each Region/Chapter and SIG.
JADE’s aims for further development include the following:
(1) Establishment of a definition of “remedial education”
(2) Collaboration and cooperation with overseas academic societies and organizations
(1) means sharing among JADE members the definition of “remedial education”. A report by the Central Education Council (2008) stipulated that “remedial education” should be incorporated into campus life, not into the regular curriculum. As a result, remedial education has come to be associated with non-credit courses or activities in higher education settings. However, the majority of presentations made by JADE members at conferences are based on a view associating remedial education with accredited activities. For this reason, I think that JADE needs to consider its own definition.
Regarding (2), JADE is planning to collaborate and cooperate with overseas academic societies and organizations, especially those in the United States, such as the College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA), the National Association for Developmental Education (NADE) and the National College Learning Center Association (NCLCA). The aims of such collaboration and cooperation consist of (1) the joint holding of conferences, (2) collaborative research, and (3) information exchange.
Finally, I would like to express my appreciation for the dedicated activities of all JADE members and to ask for your continued cooperation in the future.
