The Graduate School of Education is a relatively new school within Waseda University ? with its master's and doctoral programs starting in 1990 and 1995 respectively. But it has its roots in the Waseda University Higher Normal School which opened in 1903 - and the successor of which, the School of Education, provided for the foundation of its opening. The Graduate School also has close ties with the Institute for Advanced Studies in Education, which was originally started in 1986 as the Center for Advanced Studies in Education. With its expansion to include a Mathematics Major in 1998, the Graduate School has developed into an institution for truly wide-ranging studies in education. When the School of Education was founded under Japan's postwar system of education, it occupied a unique place in the higher education of this country as the only school of education at a private university; both the master's and doctor's programs of its Graduate School have also played a leading role in postgraduate education in Japan.

The purpose of our Graduate School is to train scholars of theoretical research into the various sciences of education, and scholars of pedagogical research into the various subjects of the school curriculum, in addition to specialists in personnel training in fields including primary, junior high, and senior high school education. A final purpose is to facilitate the continuing training of those who are already active in various sectors of the field of education. The Graduate School covers a broad range of fields of research and education such as education, social education, educational psychology, the training of prospective and incumbent teachers, information technology, teaching Japanese language and literature, teaching Japanese as a foreign language, teaching English as a foreign language, and education in history and geography,, social sciences, and mathematics. It also covers academic disciplines that provide support for research and education in the aforementioned fields, namely, Japanese linguistics, Japanese literature, English and general linguistics, English literature, American literature, geography, history, political science, economics, sociology, mass media and communication studies, algebra, geometry, information mathematics, and all related fields. The faculty of the Graduate School is organized in a way that facilitates comprehensive research and education that embrace those disciplines.

The members of our faculty are both active researchers in their respective fields and, at the same time, enthusiastic educators. Because the students, too, are eager to participate in innovative programs, I am happy to say that our Graduate School, with its long-standing tradition, handed down from the Higher Normal School, abounds in a pioneering spirit which will help us to continue to expand our horizons.

The doctoral program was started only a few years ago, but the number of doctorates we have awarded has steadily increased. More and more junior and senior high school teachers have received training at our Graduate School. And there is an increasing number of full-time faculty members at institutions of higher education who have studied at our Graduate School.

With our faculty, students and alumni working hard for the establishment of comprehensive educational research in the new century, it is my hope that our Graduate School will continue to develop and to play an active role at both a national and an international level.

This course aims at the research of educational theories and practices by synthesizing educational sciences and other related disciplines, and at training human resources in high schools, junior-high schools and other educational fields. This course consists of five majors; School Education Major, Japanese Language Education Major, English Language Education Major, Social Science Education Major and Mathematics Education Major. These majors are based respectively on five departments of the School of Education, Waseda University: Department of Education, Department of Japanese Language and Literature, Department of English Language and Literature, Department of Social Studies, and mathematics major in Department of Science.

The foundation of this course is the master's course, launched in April, 1990. It is obvious from its aim and curriculum that this doctoral course has been designed to play a leading role in the education of academic researchers, educational professionals, and experts in teaching a particular subject who can explore new perspectives for research into practical theories in each educational field, which means a further expansion of the instructional system working in the master's course.

This course consists of two majors; Educational Basis Major and Educational Subject Major.

Educational Basis Major has three subjects (education, educational psychology and social education). This major is divided into 12 courses of research instruction (seminars), so that it corresponds to the variety of expertise in education and research.

Subject Education Major has eight subjects (curriculum/content of Japanese language education, curriculum/content of English language education, curriculum/content of social science, curriculum/content of Mathematics education). This major provides students with 29 seminars, so that it corresponds to the variety of expertise in education and research.

Majors	Degrees (Field of Specialization)
Fundamental Studies of Educational Sciences	Doctor of Education
Curriculum Area Sciences	Doctor of Education or Doctor of Science
Educational Sciences Japanese Language and Literature Education English Language Education Social Studies Education	M.A. in Education or M.A. in Educational Practice
Mathematics Education	M.A. in Education or M. Science