The study aimed to ascertain the impact of the childcare course at on high school level students' childcare competencies and the patterns observed among those who pursued childcare education. The choice and descriptive questionnaires and the Nurturing Trait Inventory (developed by Fujimura, 2010) were administered to students, and semi-structured interviews with teachers were conducted at the high school in Okinawa Prefecture. The students were separated into two groups, one consisting of those who were taking childcare courses and the other consisting of those who were taking other courses. The Mann-Whitney U test was then performed on the two groups. As a result, it was demonstrated that the childcare-related course exhibited significantly higher scores than the other courses on the "power of action" and "nurturing" subscales of the Nurturing Trait Inventory (p < 0.05 and p < 0.1, respectively). And it was also suggested that the preparation, production, review and practice of practical training within the course may have exerted an influence on the "power of action" variable. Furthermore, it was suggested that learning to assist preschool children while obtaining certification in childcare may have influenced the nurturing trait. The choice and descriptive questionnaires revealed that many students who took the curriculum in childcare and were motivated to learn about childcare and to become a nursery teachers changed their attitudes towards childcare and desired to progress to a designated nursery teacher training facility or to seek employment in the childcare field.

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Quality of Work Life (QWL) reflects workers' satisfaction and fulfillment in their job and work environment. In Japan's aging and shrinking workforce, achieving sustainable and healthy working lives has become a pressing issue. While QWL research has addressed various elements, few comprehensive scales have been developed specifically for the Japanese context. This study aimed to develop a new QWL scale—Sustainable Quality of Working Life (S-QWL)—from the perspectives of human resource management and organizational sustainability. Based on a broad review of domestic and international literature, we extracted core conceptual domains and constructed a theoretical framework. The S-QWL scale consists of three primary domains: Work-Life Balance, Job Match, and Overall Satisfaction. Job Match is further divided into two subdomains: Personal Performance and Work Environment. Eighteen items were developed by referencing existing scales and expert review to ensure clarity and relevance. The S-QWL scale provides a practical and multidimensional tool for assessing QWL in Japan. It offers a foundation for improving employee satisfaction, retention, and productivity by reframing workers as "capital" rather than "cost." Furthermore, enhanced QWL may positively impact families, communities, and broader societal well-being. Future validation studies using empirical data are needed to confirm the scale's reliability and utility in workforce and policy development.

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The current Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act emphasizes the necessity of parental intervention by stating that "schools and child welfare facilities must make efforts to educate and raise awareness among children and parents for the prevention of child abuse." However, in Japan, comprehensive preventive education for parents is not commonly implemented. As a results, both Japanese parents and the younger generation, who will eventually become parents, may have limited knowledge of child abuse and child-rearing. This study aimed to clarify the structure of child abuse prevention education programs for parents by comparing programs in Japan and other countries. A literature search was conducted using Google Scholar to identify articles related to child abuse prevention education for parents. The search keywords used were "prevention education," "child abuse," and "program." A total of 15 relevant studies were identified, none of which were from Japan. The programs targeting parents were primarily structured from two perspectives: (1) preventing parents from becoming perpetrators, and (2) empowering them to protect children from abuse. Many of these programs demonstrated evidence of effectiveness.

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This study aimed to summarize the teaching of programming education for children with intellectual disabilities since 2017 and clarify its trends and effects. From the analysis of programming education practices in Special Needs Schools for intellectual disabilities, as presented in prior research, it was revealed that programming education began to be gradually implemented in 2018. Currently, it is conducted within Activities to Promote Independence at the elementary department level and in science and mathematics-related subjects at the middle and high school levels. Regarding the teaching materials used, out of fourteen cases, ICT devices were utilized in ten cases, while unplugged methods were used in four cases. The main educational effects observed were improvements in computational thinking skills, the promotion of collaborative learning through enhanced interpersonal relationships and communication abilities, increased trial-and-error capabilities among learners, and heightened awareness of learning. Looking ahead, it is considered necessary to accumulate further programming education practices in the field of intellectual disability education. In line with the trend toward subject-based education for individuals with intellectual disabilities, efforts must be made to explore the implementation of programming education not only in Activities to Promote Independence and science/mathematics-related subjects but also across a variety of other subjects.

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Financial education is practiced in countries around the world. However, few studies have comprehensively investigated financial education practices in other countries. Therefore, this study refers to the work of Miwa et al. (2024), which conducted a scoping review of financial education practices in Japan using the Financial Literacy Map, to provide an overview of international financial education practices and to examine their characteristics through a comparison with Japanese practices. Using the keywords "financial education" and "practice," 21 studies employing quantitative analytical methods were extracted. Based on a categorization aligned with Japan's Financial Literacy Map, the most frequently addressed areas were "household management" and "life planning," with 14 studies each. These findings suggest the necessity for future research in Japan to utilize measurement scales for assessing the effectiveness of financial education practices.

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Purpose: In the event of a disaster, foreign residents are considered vulnerable as "persons requiring evacuation assistance" or "persons requiring special consideration". Meanwhile, the Cabinet Office's disaster prevention and mitigation activities follow a basic policy focused on "self-help" and "mutual aid," and its implementation for foreign residents during disasters has been attracting attention. Identifying feasible self-help and mutual aid actions to prepare for natural disasters is an urgent issue to protect the lives and health of foreign residents in Japan. The purpose of this study was to clarify the self-help and mutual aid behaviors of affected international students in Japan during the difficult circumstances they face in the wake of a disaster. Methods: The study subjects were four international students who were affected by the Kumamoto earthquake in April 2016. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to investigate their situations and behaviors during the difficult period after the disaster. Interviews were conducted in Japanese or English, with an average interview time of 42 minutes. The analysis followed a qualitative descriptive approach targeting the extracted categories and subcategories. The survey period was from November 2018 to February 2019. Results: All subjects had never experienced a disaster in their home country or earthquake in Japan prior to the event. The subjects had been in Japan for only two to three years and had not undergone any training for disaster prevention and mitigation. Half of the subjects had difficulty communicating in Japanese. The international students' self-help actions in the aftermath of the disaster were grouped into two categories of "overcoming language barriers" and "escaping from the disaster area" as well as six subcategories. Mutual aid behaviors were grouped into four categories of "being helpful to others," "opening one's heart," "participating in the community," and "contributing to the community" as well as 11 subcategories. Conclusion: International students were able to solve various difficulties that arose during the chaotic aftermath of a disaster by taking proactive actions in response to their surrounds. The results could serve as useful clues for solving various problems that arise in emergency situations, regardless of nationality or gender. They provide knowledge and universal lessons for all types and scales of disasters from the perspective of self-help and mutual aid.

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The purpose of this paper is to survey the development of school education for children undergoing medical treatment. In this paper, the development of education for children undergoing medical treatment is examined based on examples such as visiting guidance by visiting teachers in North America and the care given to children in children's hospitals. The research method for this paper was a literature review. Regarding the educational response to children receiving medical treatment in the United States, previous historical research on special classes was reviewed, and an overview of the development of the educational system and educational thought was prepared. An overview of the early development of education for children undergoing medical treatment in the United States is provided. Regarding the development of education for sick children, the expansion of the system of guaranteeing of access to appropriate education and other developments is significant, but there is as yet insufficient research on these advances. Based on historical cases in the United States, this study examined the educational security of children under medical treatment and care. It is important to trace the process of the ideological development of educational security for children receiving medical treatment and to note that educational security for eligible children has been promoted even in times when the system of compulsory education was not assumed.

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