Know the connection between research and SDGs. TEIKYO SDGs Report We will unravel how the research activities conducted by Teikyo University professors are linked to the SDGs.

My research activities relate to SDGs Goals 1, 4, 8, and 10. Kaeko Suzuki
This teacher

Associate Professor Department of Education and Culture Faculty of Education Teikyo University

Professor Kaeko Suzuki​

What kind of teacher?

After graduating from university, I worked as a teacher at junior and senior high schools in Tokyo. Later, I was involved in local educational activities at the Ministry of Education in El Salvador, Central America. Upon returning to Japan, I pursued Graduate School to deepen my research on school education in Latin America. I then joined Faculty of Education at Teikyo University, where I currently work.

WHAT ARE 17GOALS OF SDGs?

Education from the Perspective of Border Regions: A Sensibility of Gradient and Response to the SDGs Professor Suzuki belongs to a research team aiming to integrate border studies and comparative education, and has been investigating the educational situation in the border region between the United States and Mexico. Border studies has a perspective of "transparency," which considers what passes through and how, regarding people, goods, and cultures in border regions. This perspective seems useful as a way to grasp the framework of the 17 goals of the SDGs.

01. Considering Education from the Border Region Between the United States and Mexico

One of Professor Suzuki's research themes is applying the framework of border studies to comparative education, focusing on the border region between the United States and Mexico. He believes that education and border regions are highly compatible themes because education is a field of study deeply intertwined with the functions of borders, such as nation-building, language, identity, and migration.

02. In the border region on the Mexican side, crossing the border to attend school is a common occurrence.

In the area between San Diego, California, and Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, numerous Mexican families cross the border into the United States every morning. Children go to school, and parents go to work. After work, they pick up their children and return to their homes in Mexico. This is a daily routine. Because of the high wage levels in the United States, their income increases, and the Americans also rely on Mexican workers to some extent, creating a mutually supportive relationship.

03. View national borders not as "walls" but as permeable "cell membranes."

In border studies, this phenomenon is understood as the "permeability" of borders. This is the idea that borders do not function as "walls" that block everything, but rather as something that allows or blocks things, like a cell membrane, and that educational opportunities are shifting. In California, basically all children are guaranteed the right to education if they have proof of U.S. residency.

04. California's flexible education policies foster educational diversity.

In California elementary schools, online classes were implemented across national borders during the COVID-19 pandemic, and pocket Wi-Fi devices were lent to families with sufficient internet access. With more schools offering separate classes in Spanish in addition to English, and employing bilingual teachers, Mexican children are finding an environment where they can live comfortably amidst diverse cultures and backgrounds.

05. The perspective of "transparency" is also useful in understanding the color-coded framework of the SDGs.

Each of the 17 SDGs has its own color, and while there may seem to be distinct boundaries, if you look closely, the colors blend together at the boundaries, creating a gradient. For global challenges that cannot be color-coded, such as education and economic issues, both a way of thinking that divides them into borders and a way of thinking that views them as a gradient are necessary. Whether it's about isolation, penetration, or both, understanding how these factors work is essential when considering education and the future of society.

See more details