I presented two papers at the World Educational Research Association held in Singapore from November 22nd to 24th, 2023. Although it was November, I was overwhelmed by the heat in Singapore, but was very honored to finally have the opportunity to meet face-to-face with researchers from all over the world. Through discussions with researchers and practitioners working on early childhood education and DE&I, my motivation for future research activities further strengthened.

The venue, Nayang Technological University, is a globally acclaimed university that also has the Department of Education, and is dedicated to teacher education in Singapore. The campus is so vast that there were days when I took a wrong turn and finally made it to the venue. I saw some students of education enthusiastically participating in the classes, and I received the impression that they were all using the latest technology to for their teaching classes. As a practitioner in higher education, there were many things I wanted to learn from him.

Singapore was just beautiful. What was especially surprising to me was that the subway was completely automated, with no driver or conductor (as far as I could confirm) on board. The train started and stopped very smoothly, there were almost no delays, and it was a comfortable subway ride to the conference venue. Also, the commercial facility adjacent to the airport, Jewel, is very well built, and I was able to enjoy the waterfall falling from the ceiling while eating and reading, so I didn't become bored while waiting for my flight for hours. There is hot water in the nursing room. There are chairs that anyone can sit on easily. There is a lot of greenery. You can always hear the sound of water flowing from the waterfall, and there are plenty of relaxing elements even in a crowded facility. As I walked around in Jewel, I was impressed, thinking that it must have been planned by a diverse group of people sharing their opinions based on their experiences. I became more and more interested in learning more about Singapore, its history and policies, which came up with the idea of ​​constructing such a facility.

I will be presenting two of my studies at the World Educational Research Association annual meeting in Singapore this month. One of my presentations will be on the universal early childhood education policies in Tokyo and NYC, and the other on the (lack of) diversity in early childhood literacy.  I am very much looking forward to meeting fellow educational researchers from all over the world and learning about the newest research in my fields.