お問合せ
資料請求
寄付GCL Program
GCL (Global Communication and Leadership) Program
All KUAS International Student Dormitory residents will be required to participate in the GCL Program once a week to develop their communication and leadership skills. The GCL Program is a fun, team-based exercise, created with the ultimate goal of developing students' English communication skills and team-based problem solving abilities.
The GCL Program invites lecturers at KUAS to step away from the classroom and speak to participants about their life experiences, both inside and outside the classroom. The GCL Program involves learning about world affairs, improving presentation skills, and working together with students from different cultures, making it a fulfilling experience that will aid participants in their future careers.
*The 2022 GCL program's contents are subject to change.
GCL Program Objectives
With the aim of nurturing our graduates into top-class professionals, Kyoto University of Advanced Science structures its curriculums that emphasizes the three pillars of professionalism, communication skills, and basic intercultural literacy. At our International Student Dormitory, this aim is reflected in our GCL Program, which seeks to fully utilize the dormitory's unique international environment to further enrich students' on-campus learning experience.
The goal of the GCL program is to help students develop their capacity for logical thinking and communication skills. Specifically, the GCL program aims to help students acquire the following skills outside of the classroom through the valuable experience of interacting with students from different backgrounds.
- The ability to speak properly in front of others (presentation skills, communication skills)
- The ability to tackle social issues as a team (leadership skills)
Important
The GCL program will be held once a week from 19:30 to 21:00 (during the final class period of the day) at the International Student Dormitory. Participation in this program is mandatory for dormitory residents.
After September 2021, approximately half of the dormitory residents will be international students. We ask that students who apply for admission to the dormitory do so with an open mind and willingness to engage in extracurricular activities as an opportunity for personal growth.
Program Structure
The GCL program consists of two tracks: the Communication Track (C Track) for learning communication skills and the Leadership Track (L Track) for learning leadership skills. Each consists of a mixture of lectures and team exercises for several participants.
At KUAS, the GCL C Track and L Track are run concurrently. Lectures cover a wide range of topics, including practical know-how, social issues, and culture. Lectures are provided not only by instructors from KUAS, but also from professionals from NPOs, companies, and other universities.
These programs are planned and managed by the dormitory RAs (Resident Assistants). At the KUAS International Student Dormitory, faculty members act as RAs. They live in the dormitory with the students and provide them with guidance.
Communication Track
The C Track consists of two parts: lectures provided by professional instructors using teaching materials such as the Toastmasters Speechcraft Program, and exercises in groups consisting of about five students.
In the beginning, students will be trained to speak in teams about topics related to their interests and to provide comments and feedback to each other based on a set of pre-determined rules. Team members will occasionally be shuffled so that all dormitory students can get to know each other.
Speechcraft is a world-class teaching tool for speech techniques that will help students learn to enjoy giving speeches while building their confidence.
Participants are permitted to give talks in Japanese until they get accustomed to speaking in English. The goal of the program is to gradually move to speaking in English, and at the end, to be able to give a talk in English without difficulty. At the end of the semester, the GCL Program will hold a speech contest.
SPEECHCRAFT
Speechcraft is the teaching material utilized in C Track. It was developed by Toastmasters International, a global educational NPO, to help students develop their presentation skills. Toastmasters operates in 143 countries around the world, and in Japan, there are 203 clubs with almost 4,400 members. With the assistance of the dormitory RAs, the Toastmaster instructor will also be invited to campus to give lectures to our dormitory students.
Leadership Track
Each floor of the dormitory will consist of one team (10 students) that works on an assignment and presents the results in English at the end of the semester. Participants learn leadership and teamwork skills through the exercise of choosing a problem, setting a goal, assigning roles to team members, and finally completing their project. In addition, the dormitory's RAs will provide advice, guide participants in gathering information, and promote the exchange of opinions among group members.
The issues to be tackled will be selected from among a collection of SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). Lecturers will be invited to give talks on these topics to the program participants, and then the participants will select which issue they wish to address.
Participants will find that the communication skills acquired in the C track will also prove useful in the L track, and each team will need to conduct research, prepare presentation materials, and exchange opinions, even outside of the GCL program hours. To do this, participants are encouraged to make use of the shared lounge on each floor.
SDGs
As mentioned above, in Track L, each team will choose a theme from among the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals).
The SDGs are international goals for a better and more sustainable world by 2030, as stated in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted at the United Nations Summit in September 2015. Seventeen issues have been adopted, including poverty, education, gender equality, clean energy, urban development, ocean-related issues and more. By working on these SDGs, L Track participants will learn in-depth about global issues and work in teams to propose solutions. At the end of the semester, a presentation competition will be held for all teams.
