The Social Inclusion of People with Disabilities

What is PBL COIL?

PBL COIL refers to the advanced-level, practical COIL-based classes in NU-COIL, Nanzan University's unique tailor-made educational program.
Through "Career Oriented International Collaboration PBL" classes, students from Nanzan University and its overseas partner universities work together to address the business and public administration issues faced by companies, organizations, and government agencies.

PROJECT / CLLABORATION : Partner university-Nanzan University-Company

In this academic year, the AJU Center for Independent Living proposed that we create an accessibility map for Nanzan University as a new project.
A field study was conducted on campus with people with disabilities living in wheelchairs, and the students themselves sat in wheelchairs to experience what it is like to move around in a wheelchair.
We discussed our observations from the field study and the subsequent questions generated from the observations with students at the University of Denver. We compared and discussed the situation and infrastructure of the two campuses while exchanging photographs.

What left an impression on you when you were exchanging opinions and information with students from the University of Denver?

In Japan, many people have a negative image of people with disabilities, and they tend to avoid the topic. On the other hand, students from the University of Denver talked about their friends and family members with disabilities in a rather forthcoming manner.

I felt that the problems of people with disabilities are something which the students from the University of Denver are more familiar with. For example, when asked if they had the experience of helping those with disabilities, they immediately shared their experiences, such as helping their friends that use wheelchairs by pushing them around on campus and offering Braille menus at the eateries where they were working part-time.
I had no such experiences at all and could not think of anything. I became painfully aware of how this is not something I am well acquainted with.

On the other hand, in the United States, there are facilities that are not very common in Japan, such as buttons for opening heavy doors, but there are facilities that are common in Japan, such as Braille blocks and AED, that are not necessarily so common in the United States.
However, the fact that the older buildings on campus could not be accessed by wheelchairs was common to both universities. We should actively incorporate the good points of each campus.

Tell me how you felt after experiencing fieldwork with members of the AJU Center for Independent Living.

When I got on a wheelchair, the world that I saw physically and mentally was completely different. First, when you sit in a wheelchair, your eye-level will be low, so everything seems towering over you.
For example, the vending machine button was out of reach, and the entrance to the toilet felt narrow as if it was pressing against me. I felt very uneasy going anywhere alone.

There were a lot more things that cannot be done than I had imagined. It became clear that what I was doing without any difficulty whatsoever in my daily student life, such as opening doors, moving in the classroom, buying things at convenience stores, and studying at desks, would not be possible just because I was sitting on a wheelchair.

When there was an inclined plane that allowed me to easily roll myself up, or a mirror that made it convenient for me to get in and out of the elevator, I was very pleased and my heart became warm.
Those small changes had a significant impact on the way I felt.

Before I took this class, I had never paid much attention to the signages and facilities for people with disabilities. I didn't even know that there was a multipurpose toilet at Nanzan University. But when I actually sat in a wheelchair, these things became more noticeable to me, and it felt good.

What are you thinking of when going through the nerve-wracking final presentation?

If I really wanted to create an environment that would make everyone's lives easier, I thought it would be best to listen attentively to different groups of people and listen to their opinions about my plan.
Otherwise, it will just be an exercise that makes me feel good and makes me think that I am doing this for someone out there.

You hardly see any wheelchair users at Nanzan University. I think the most effective way of creating an accessible environment is to first let many people know that there are facilities which are convenient to use for those who are disabled. When there are actually people who are making use of these facilities, we can ask them what needs to be improved and hence make the necessary improvements.
Therefore, I hope that those who see this map will want to come to Nanzan University, and this will be a step towards creating a better campus.

Think back about the entire process and tell me what you have learnt and how you felt.

I wanted to expand my horizons, and I have been consciously trying to increase the opportunities I have to talk to people from overseas since I was a freshman. However, this time, I participated in a project with members of the AJU Center for Independent Living to learn how to see the world through the eyes of people with disabilities, and my horizons have expanded greatly. For example, I began to observe carefully what the Braille blocks are like at the train station and check the position of the elevator, which I normally would not do.

At train stations and shopping malls, I began to pay attention to what kind of consideration has been given to people with disabilities, and whether there are people who might struggle to use the facilities.

My grandfather and grandmother were old and physically handicapped, so I used to think I had to help them do everything. However, after Mr. Tsuji told me, "They will ask for help when they want to do something that is beyond them. All you have to do is to help them when they ask for it." I tried as much as possible to watch over them without interfering too much. Then I realized that both my grandfather and grandmother were spiritedly doing the things they wanted to do.

I used to think that I am not someone who holds any kind of bias, but when I met Mr. Tsuji, who spoke to people in such an engaging and cheerful manner, I realized that I held the stereotype that being disabled means being pessimistic and not good at being with other people, and I was really shocked. I began to realize that many of my beliefs are just my own imagination or my preconceived notions, to an extent far greater than I thought.

Tell me about your feelings and expectations when this project was conceptualized and its implementation finalized.

Honestly, I was worried. It was an international studies course that had nothing to do with social welfare at all, so I was not confident that my ideas could be conveyed to the teachers and students and that I could get them to understand what I was trying to say. However, I heard that there were exchange opportunities with overseas universities, and to me it was also a great opportunity to learn about more advanced issues overseas, so I adopted the stance that we will learn from one another together.

Tell us what you felt through your interactions with students in special lectures and fieldwork, and what left you with a deep impression.

In fieldwork, the students conducted what is called an accessibility survey to see what was difficult to use for wheelchair users, which included experiencing what it is like to be in a wheelchair. They quickly got used to how to operate a wheelchair, and it was wonderful how they adopted an attitude of actively conducting their own survey.
In particular, during the survey, a major achievement was how they realized that there was a problem with the way the Braille blocks were installed for the visually-impaired. In addition, they also decided on their own to include the location of the AED as part of the survey, so I got the feeling that they did some kind of preparatory study and were highly aware and sensitive to the problems that the society is facing.

What are your thoughts and feedback for the students' presentations and proposals?

At the interim presentation stage, I was somewhat uneasy, but by the final presentation, they have managed to put together their information in a way which was easy to understand. The quality of the presentation itself was very high and you would not think that it was a presentation of a student. The content of the presentation was also highly applicable and useful in the society.
They used many photographs that they had exchanged with the students at the University of Denver, and I was surprised by how deeply they explored the topic, from thinking about the factors which led to the differences, to the analysis of the legal system and accessibility policies.

What do you think about the idea of universities collaborating with external institutions? From the perspective of an external institution, how are these collaborations meaningful?

I believe that a discussion between groups of people with different perspectives, namely, the university students and people with disabilities like us, about a social issue like how to create an accessible environment, can make us think more about and have a higher level of awareness about one of the problems of the modern society. This is not just for the students and us, but this also includes the personnel related to the university. Although I have been speaking as a guest lecturer in various places, I have never conducted fieldwork or discussed how to solve the social problems that were thrown at us. It feels like we, as people with disabilities, have also come to think about things from an international perspective, and we have become aware that we should come together to think about and act on something.
I was reminded again that a bi-directional and mutual understanding of one another's perspectives, like what we had with the students this time, is the foundation to the inclusive social structure that the modern society today demands.

Finally, can you tell me about your impressions, any messages which you may have for the students, how you felt about the entire initiative, and so on?

I felt that this project could have been a little bit longer if conditions permit. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Mr. Fujikake for guiding the students through trial and error.
Students will become active members at the forefront of society in the future, and I would like students to understand the importance of thinking about different social problems from various angles, and to consider the perspectives of what people in need may want and how these problems can be solved. Although it was only a short course, I would like to thank everyone involved, as I have discovered many things myself through this journey. Thank you.

What were the effects of this initiative on students at the University of Denver in terms of Japanese language education?

The students at the University of Denver who participated in this study had only just started studying Japanese, and most students said that they were new to interacting with Japanese people. I think it was a very good experience to be able to communicate with Japanese students using the Japanese language.
Some people said that this exchange increased their motivation, making comments such as "I want to become better at speaking Japanese," and "I want to know about the Japanese culture." In addition to the differences between the American culture and the Japanese culture, I think that it was a fruitful exchange where we tried to find commonalities between the two countries. Since there are many students who want to study abroad in Japan, they said that it was great to have been able to hear directly from students at Nanzan University about their university life and campus.

The students exchanged opinions on the theme of "social inclusion of persons with disabilities." What were the impressions and responses from students at the University of Denver?

Many students said they were "surprised" after hearing from students at Nanzan University about Japan's system and the current situation, because they had the impression that Japan was not very progressive in terms of creating an accessible environment. Furthermore, the exchange was a good opportunity for them to reconsider how to accommodate people with disabilities in the United States and also the issue of accessibility in their own university. At the Zoom meeting, they were able to share with students from Nanzan University photographs of accessible places on the campus of the University of Denver and to explain the American system, which was very meaningful. I think that this kind of exchange of opinions provided a learning experience for the students.

The other day, when I was interviewed for a web magazine produced through the students' own initiative, I was asked, "What is important when you are giving a lecture and what do you pay the most attention to?"
Until last year, I have always given the answer that what is important is to value the opinions and ideas of students. However, after experiencing this year' s PBL COIL B class, I realized again how important communication with collaborative organizations is when it comes to implementing this type of class.

Even if we have the opportunity to get someone to come and give a special lecture, we cannot possibly get someone to come every time and be around to answer questions from the students all the time. Therefore, in order for students to proceed with the project, it is necessary for the teacher-in-charge to be there for the students, to fully digest the content of the special lecture and convey it to the students in a way which is more comprehensible, and to repeat this at necessary intervals. In addition, I realized that it is very important to, if time permits, discuss with the guest lecturer the objective of the course - what kind of expectations we have of the students and what we want them to realize and think about, when it comes to implementing a course of this nature.

At symposiums, other universities sometimes ask questions about how we can build a system of collaboration with external organizations. Of course, we may seek collaboration again from companies and organizations that have a long history of connections with us, but this is not always the case.
In any case, whether a collaboration can be realized depends on negotiation, and it does not mean you can always get the other party to give in to our needs and things do not always go according to our plans and expectations. The same applies not only to companies and organizations but also to collaborations with overseas universities.
However, in order for the collaboration to be a satisfactory arrangement and to get some kind of mutual agreement, I think what we need is to clarify a common purpose and understand each other's goals. It may sound obvious, but it really dawned on me how important this is when I tried to carry it out.
I look forward to building new collaborative systems, while learning from my teaching experiences so that I can challenge new possibilities in the future.

Future Prospects of PBL COIL

Use of LMS

By having affiliated schools and Nanzan University's students and faculty exchange information in real time on the learning management system platform, it is possible to advance real-time communication that is unique to COIL classes even further.
We plan to expand the use of this LMS in the future.

Details of Class Support

Creating Relations between Basic COIL and Academic COIL

We aim to establish a step-up type of learning model in which the different categories of COIL classes--Basic COIL and Academic COIL--are prerequisites for PBL COIL.

Details of COIL Classes

NU-COIL Career Oriented International Collaboration

Companies and organizations that are interested in collaborations with this university through NU-COIL (e.g., PBL COIL and internships) are
welcome to contact us using the e-mail address provided below.

Contact information for inquiriescoil-support@nanzan-u.ac.jp

Nanzan UniversityNU-COIL Program