Department of Childhood Sport Education

Help young children grow through sports and support their healthy development, both mentally and physically.

The Department of Childhood Sport Education offers two different courses of study options, which are the Course of Childhood Sport Education and the Course of Early Childhood Education. These integrate NSSU’s unique academic programs focused on infants’ and young children’s exercise, with emphasis not only on the improvement of their physical fitness and athletic abilities but also on the development of their mental motivation, communication capability, and motor control function. The students enrolled at the Department aspire to become the type of instructors that can help create a healthy and contented society, filled with vibrant young children that will inherit it.

Curriculum duration:	Four years
Academic degree:	Bachelor (Childhood Sport Education)

Class size:	Course of Childhood Sport Education: 120 students Course of Early Childhood Education: 50 students
Graduation requirement:	138 credits at least

Career paths and qualifications

Typical career paths

Course of Childhood Sport Education

Elementary school teachers
Kindergarten teachers
Junior sports instructors
Para-sports instructors

Course of Early Childhood Education

Kindergarten teachers
Nursery teachers
Social welfare facility staff
Certified babysitters
Para-sports instructors

Licenses and qualifications that may be obtained

Course of Childhood Sport Education

Elementary school teacher class-1 license
Kindergarten teacher class-1 license
Junior sports instructor
Entry-level para-sports instructor

Course of Early Childhood Education

Kindergarten teacher class-1 license
Nursery teacher
Entry-level para-sports instructor
Certified babysitter

Key departmental features

Learn specialized knowledge and skills.

After taking the first introductory course titled Childhood Sport Education Theories, the students learn more about young children’s body mechanics, mental and physical growth and development, health education, childhood sport instruction, sports physiology, sports biomechanics, and childhood sport education theories including shokuiku(food and nutrition education) in the subsequent core courses.

Improve expression and action capabilities.

The curriculum includes various sports demonstration courses that improve the students’ physical exercise skills as are required of nursery teachers and educators adept at providing proper instructions and support in physical education and sports. The electives being offered include apparatus gymnastics, soccer, rhythmic gymnastics, softball, table tennis, trampoline, basketball, badminton, track and field, and recreation.

Develop practical education skills.

The courses that are part of the teacher certification program offer ample opportunities for the students to engage in debates, mock lessons, etc. such that what they learn in the liberal arts and specialized education modules and the experience gained during the school and nursery teaching practicums, which occur several times in the third and fourth years, become interconnected and complement each other. Through this process, the students learn all the practical skills that they need to become competent educators, nursery teachers, and childhood sport instructors when they graduate.

Sample courses

Introduction to Teaching Profession

Improve the skill srequired to become elementary school teachers.
Instructor: Yuki Hashitani

Key features of this practical course

The course teaches essential skills that will allow the students to become competent and effective school and nursery teachers from the very start of their careers.
The course is designed to enhance the students’ chance of realizing their professional aspirations.
The content covers all the subjects elementary school teachers are required to teach.

Playful Exercise for Infancy I

Facilitation of young children’s healthy mental and physical development through play
Instructor: Seira Kawada

Key features of this practical course

Learn about ‘play’ from the vantage point of kindergarten and nursery teachers.
Group work format is used.
It also integrates a perspective of movement that will occur when infants grow into school children and engage in various exercise and sporting activities.

Course of Childhood Sport Education

Learn knowledge and skills essential for becoming instructors that can provide education conducive to young children’s mental and physical growth.

The experience individuals have of building their basic physical fitness, enjoying playing team sports, and bonding with others in their infancy to childhood has a significant impact on the formation of their personalities in subsequent years. The Course of Childhood Sport Education imparts to the students the essential expertise and practical education methods that competent instructors must have available to effectively communicate to their students the joy of moving one’s body along with the benefits and excitement that sports bring.

Sample courses

Childhood Sport Instruction Theories

Review exercise instruction programs using the framework of PDCA to make them more fun for children.
This course allows the students to first learn the basic theories and methods of sport instruction applicable to young children, after which they move onto designing instruction programs, providing instructions, reviewing the results, and formulating improvement measures in the PDCA cycle framework while applying the theories learned previously. The course also uses micro-teaching to have the students take turns in playing the role of young children in mock lessons in order to improve their instruction programs.

Childhood Sport Training Study

Learn key knowledge on training that promotes young children’s healthy growth.
To ensure young children’s healthy mental and physical growth, it is essential to subject them to physical loads suitable for their age and development status. In this lecture course, the students learn the proper training methods that can be applied during infancy and early childhood, along with the knowledge and skills necessary for formulating training programs appropriate for various stages of children’s growth and development.

Lifelong Sport Theories

Examine methods and measures for enabling pleasurable lifelong participation in sports.
This course involves examination of the significance, current status, and issues surrounding lifelong sport while reflecting on the various social changes currently taking place. Each student is instructed to contemplate what actions and initiatives might be needed to create an environment where people can participate in sporting activities in an enjoyable manner throughout their lifespans. The students are also given an assignment of creating lifelong sport event plans, which is designed to enhance their understanding of lifelong sport.

Course of Early Childhood Education

Engage in playful exercise and health instruction practice, optimized for the particularinterestsand developmental stage of individual children. Study toward the goal of becoming kindergarten and nursery teachers.

The Course of Early Childhood Education’s curriculum, which includes many practicums, is designed for the students to learn the broad insights and practical skills necessary for understanding young children, and provide them with suitable guidance and support concerning matters related to their play and living. In particular, the students can use this Course to put themselves on the path to becoming kindergarten and nursery teachers that are competent at providing instruction and support on young children’s fitness building, playful exercises, and healthy lifestyle.

Sample courses

Nursery Immersion Experience (nursery schools and facilities)

Experience what it is like to work at nursery schools, and learn practical childcare operations.
This course, integrating both lectures and practice in classrooms and practicums at nursery schools and facilities, allows the students to learn about infants’ development and the necessity of proper instruction, and the important roles that nursery teachers play in them. It also teaches the students the right attitude and manners with which to carry themselves at the practicum sites, and the overview of those childcare facilities. The curriculum is set up as such that the student can gain immersive experience in the field during the first year and leverage it to do well in their practicums at nursery facilities and schools in the subsequent years.

Baby Care I

Comprehend the current state of childcare for babies and infants, and learn practical knowledge and skills.
In this course, the students learn the essential knowledge and care methods that can be applied while providing childcare involving babies and infants that are still unable to communicate with language fully, and how to observe and handle them in a highly attentive and considerate manner. The course also imparts practical skills that the students can apply in the field, which allows them to understand the current circumstances and issues that surround the early childcare industry, the types of childcare practices that are considerate of the children’s subsequent growth and development after their infancy, effective ways to promote communication and cooperation among facility staff members, children’s parents, local communities, etc.

Childcare Psychology

Understand children’s development from the perspective of psychology such that childcare can be provided in a manner suitable for their individual developmental stage.
In this course, the students learn the psychological theories and knowledge that explain how a young child’s mind and body develop, and improve their understanding of children, thereby forming the foundation based on which the students can provide proper childcare. In particular, the course focuses on the process and characteristics of learning seen in babies and infants, so that the students can use the knowledge to engage in childcare interactions more competently later.