Educational Philosophy and Policy

Educational Philosophy

The educational experience offered at Eiko Gakuen is founded on Christian values and the spirit of the founder of the Society of Jesus, St. Ignatius of Loyola. Eiko Gakuen's basic philosophy is to assist each student in developing the skills God gave him to the fullest extent of his potential.

The Ideal Individual Eiko Gakuen Aims to Cultivate

  • 1. A person who studies tirelessly in pursuit of the truth
  • 2. A person who is open-hearted and humble in spirit
  • 3. A person who has the courage to act according to his convictions
  • 4. A person who joyfully exercises his strengths in the service of others
  • 5. A person who knows that he is small in the presence of God and is filled with reverence for the Almighty
  • 6. A person who can be tasked with great deeds and fulfill his mission

The Six Key Phrases of Eiko Gakuen

  • MEN FOR OTHERS, WITH OTHERS
    Live for others and with others.
  • AGERE CONTRA
    Conquer the urge to turn away from difficult tasks and instead work diligently until the each task is fulfilled.
  • MAGIS
    Grow your talents to the furthest extent possible.
  • AGE QUOD AGIS
    Do the things you must do, when you must do them.
  • NOBLESSE OBLIGE
    Put the skills and positions given to you to the greatest possible use.
  • AD MAIOREM DEI GLORIAM
    Give glory unto Almighty God.

Unique Characteristics of an Education at Eiko Gakuen

1. Close liaison with families, which hold the true and original right to educate their children

It goes without saying that the people primarily responsible for a child’s education are that child’s parents. School education is critically dependent on parental understanding and cooperation. This is especially so for children of junior-high-school and high-school age, for whom the family has an especially vital role to play.
For this reason close liaison with families is essential to Eiko Gakuen. The School needs parents to understand our activities, our educational philosophy and our policies.
To facilitate close communication between parents and teachers, Eiko Gakuen holds a number of meeting and social events throughout the year. In addition to one-on-one interviews between parents and homeroom teachers, Eiko Gakuen hosts PTA meetings twice a year, as well as informal get-togethers in each district of our catchment area (consisting of 20 districts).

2. Individual consideration for each of the students within each group

While the basic format of Eiko Gakuen is group education, we are always mindful that each of the students who make up each group is a unique, irreplaceable individual. At Eiko Gakuen we do much more than simply impart knowledge to students. Through interactions between teachers and students and among students, we foster an experience wherein every student understands that he is valued and accepted. That experience lays the foundation upon which every student can grow and develop as an individual. Though students are taught in a group, every boy is encouraged to discover his own place in the School and build supportive relationships with those around him. To ensure this individual support, total enrollment per school year is capped at 180 students.

3. A variety of experiences and opportunities appropriate to each boy's stage of development

The School is a unified six-year education institution. These six years are divided into three stages, consisting of the introductory stage (corresponding to the first and second years of junior high school), the intermediate stage (third year of junior high school and first year of high school) and the advanced stage (second and third years of high school). Guidance plans and other approaches are fleshed out separately for each stage.

Introductory stage Through participation in everyday school life and school functions, students become thoroughly versed in the basic habits of study and daily living.
Intermediate stage Students' understanding of basic habits is deepened at this stage, and they begin to diversify their studies, proceeding on their own initiative. This is when students build a platform for the volunteer service and other good works. They are also guided in pursuing voluntary, self-motivated activities.
Advanced stage At this stage students experience playing a leadership role in club and sports activities, school functions and so forth. Students continue of their own initiative to pursue the studies of previous years, build up their own potential and prepare for the future in consideration of their own aptitudes.

4. Self-awareness as a Member of the International Community

The global society of the future will see brisk movement worldwide of people, goods and information. In such a world, Eiko Gakuen students and other beneficiaries of Jesuit education worldwide are required to be able to consider issues from a global perspective based on Christian humanism. People who possess such qualities are called upon to immerse themselves in international society, not to build walls to protect their own countries or ethnic groups but to build bridges among the nations and peoples of the world and contribute to their happiness.
To achieve this objective, Eiko Gakuen makes use of a global network of Jesuit educational institutions. For example, the School dispatches students to and accepts students from Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu in the Philippines and dispatches students to Boston College, a Jesuit university in the US state of Massachusetts.

5. Ethical and religious education

Eiko Gakuen focuses on all-round education, an approach that essentially informs all of the School’s guidance on studies and living habits. To instill these principles thoroughly in students, Eiko Gakuen offers an exclusive course in ethics, as it has since its earliest days.
Now and in the future, students will have to make choices and judgments about what they should and should not do. As important as it is to accumulate a large body of knowledge, it is just as important, if not more so, to be able to think rigorously about decisions and judgments, make the right decisions and execute them. By offering classes in ethics, Eiko Gakuen aims to foster that capability in its students.
As a Catholic school, Eiko Gakuen believes that religion is a vital foundation for our existence as human beings. However, catechism is not a required subject at Eiko Gakuen, nor do we require students to worship Christ. Because nothing is a more important part of an individual than his religious faith, we believe that faith must come into being in freedom, born and nurtured in the deepest places of the heart.
For students who express an interest of their own volition, mass is held regularly in the school chapel, and opportunities for Bible study are provided as extracurricular activities in each school year. We encourage interested students to gain spiritual nourishment through a deeper understanding of the teachings of Christ, the spiritual bedrock on which the School is founded.