On June 25, DFW2015 program held presentations about tentative research proposals by each group. Presenters explained their research topics, objectives and research methods. They also received comments and advises from Mr. Tolu Sawahata, Prof. Usami, Prof. Yamashita and Prof. Kusaka. After revising their research plan based on these comments, three groups will conduct their pre-survey in Odai town on July 10.
After the 1st stage of preliminary seminars on introduction to the Philippines, we entered into the 2nd stage of this year’s OFW preliminary seminar. It started with lectures on how to write research proposal by Prof. Peddie, Mr. Takahiro Kiyohara and Ms. BALCITA Glo Ann Nazareno.
Prof. Peddie provided us a comprehensive lecture about how to write research proposal. Besides introducing the basic structure of a proposal, he also used examples to give detailed explanation of the important components of a research proposal.
As a new part of OFW preliminary seminars, we also invited Mr. Kiyohara and Ms. Glo to share their experiences in OFW last year. I believe their experiences are quite helpful for our participants to prepare their own fieldwork in Coron.
From today, there is almost a month for our participants to prepare for their proposals.
Look forward to their presentation ! Good luck!
On June 17, Dr. Aser provided us his 3rd lecture for OFW2015 preliminary seminars.
As an expert in the field of goverance, Dr. Aser shared his framework and understanding about goverance in general and its context in the Philippines. His summary of dynamic views of governance is very helpful for the audience to understand how to understand and consider governance in the veiws of self, community, power and process.
OFW2015 Preliminary seminars just finished the 1st stage of introducing the Philippines to our participants. From next week, the seminars will invite speakers to introduce more details about research skills. Hope these will be helpful for our participants.
After two month lectures about general knowledge about rural development in Japan, current situation in Odai Town and skills for fieldwork, from June, our three working groups started their preparation for making group research proposals. By using the 1st period of Monday and Friday, participants are working together actively. Group advisors are also taking part in group meetings or discussions. Look forward to the research proposal presentations on June 26.
Today, Prof. Kusaka provided an intensive, critical and comparative interpreation about political history of the Philippines. He reviewed the colonial experiences, independent revolution and democracy development in the Philippines. The comparative point of view on the continuties and differences of Filipino’s identities and their attitude towards history and their experiences enhanceed our understanding of the country and people.
As 2nd lecture about Odai Town, on June 5, our participants enjoyed lecture by Mr. Nishide from Odai Town local government for DFW2015. This lecture was about the depopulation of Odai Town and their solutions and strategies for solving the problem.
Participants raised many questions to Mr. Nishide in order to further understand the situation in Odai town. It seems they have started recognizing their own interest in Odai town and current work is to further narrow down their focus and move forward to structure the research. Look forward to their proposal presentation in the end of June.
Today, Dr. Aser comprehensively introduced Coron, our field for OFW2015, from diverse dimensions including economy, goverance, education and culture. This lecture provided many information for our participants to further understand the situation in Coron. Meanwhile, it also raised many questions for our participants to further explore and narrow down their research interests and focus. Look forward to their progress!
On May 29, 2015, we are pleased to invite Mr. Tolu Sawahara from Minamata City KUGINO RURAL CENTER to introduce his rural development philosophy and practices in Kugino area, Minamata City. His experiences are very helpful for our participants to further understand the real situation and issues in rural Japan. Also, it will become good reference for them to design their own research in Odai Town in Mie Prefecture in October 2015.
On May 27, 2015, Professor Hirofumi Nagahama from Mejiro University talked about value education and education reforms under the globalization in the context of the Philippines. He left an very interesting question for participants which is “How the Philippines should make balance in their education reform between accommodating domestic needs and initiating global education reform at the same time? “. Students who are interested in education issues in the Philippines raised questions and had further discussion with Professor Nagahama after during and after the seminar.
DFW2015 Working groups had group discussion after a preliminary seminar on May 25, 2015. Participants started to narrow down their focus on their interests and concerns about issues in Odai Town. Look forward to their presentation in the end of June.
