An exchange meeting was held with the delegation from Daisaku Ikeda Research Institute for Education and Development (IEDDAI), University of Alcalá

On November 20, Director Alejandro Iborra, Deputy Director Ana Belén García Varela, and others from the Daisaku Ikeda Joint Research Institute for Education and Development (IEDDAI) at the University of Alcalá, Spain, visited Soka University and conducted an exchange meeting with IRISE researchers and staff.

The institute was established at the University of Alcalá, Spain, in June 2019 as the first "Ikeda Research Institute" in Europe, where research on the educational philosophy of Soka University's founder is being conducted. Value creation education is offered in the master's program, and the completion ceremony for the first class was held in September of this year.

On the day of their visit, the delegates engaged in discussion with the members of IRISE. Director Iborra and Deputy Director Ana Varela introduced the activities of their institute, which was followed by a lively exchange of ideas.

The following are excerpts from what Director Iborra and Deputy Director Ana Varela shared.
(Director Iborra) "Our institute focuses on human education, combining Dr. Ikeda's philosophy and educational psychology. The main theme is Transformational Learning. The institute conducts research by linking developmental psychology and educational psychology to study how students, through their experiences and daily lives, undergo transformation not merely in terms of emotional development, but at a deep, qualitative level. In addition, as a bridge between the East and the West, we have emphasized spreading and transmitting the ideas and knowledge of Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and Daisaku Ikeda to the Western world."

(Deputy Director Ana Varela) "Our ultimate goal is for each student to think about education from a human perspective and implement change in the real world, based on Dr. Ikeda's education. We will continue our efforts to 'build a society for education' as advocated by Dr. Ikeda."

A joint research project, "Teachers' Roles in Value-Creating Education," conducted by Deputy Director Ana Varela and Dr. Tetsuko Watanabe of IRISE, is currently underway. Collaborative efforts are being made to examine the founder’s educational philosophy from the perspective of humanistic education and value-creating education, aiming to clarify the role of promoting human education.