日本大學國際化之研究：
以「東京大學」與「早稻田大學」為例
Building Global Universities:
University Internationalization in Japan
周祝瑛 政大教育系教授
摘要
近年來，高等教育國際化已逐漸成為各國大學追求卓越的重要目標。2003年時，國際大學協會(International Association of Universities，IAU) 報告更明確指出，國際化已成為高等教育的重要發展趨勢。然而，日本政府於1980年代即已開始提出相關因應政策，並透過大學國際化來加強高等教育的競爭力。日本政府對於高等教育國際化的重視乃是於因日本人口走向少子化、老齡化社會，使大學必須面對轉型的迫切需要而來。尤其在2004年日本實施國立大學行政法人化之後，大學面對國內外競爭壓力，因而必須向海外拓展疆域。有鑒於此，本研究旨在了解日本推動國際化的動機及其重要性為何？高等教育國際化政策又如何在大學中具體落實？在推動過程中又遇到哪些困難？本文以東京大學及早稻田大學為個案研究對象，透過文獻分析與實地訪談之方式，進行資料蒐集與比較分析，來探討兩校於國際交流之實施策略並進行比較，並對台灣國內大學之國際化提出建議。研究結果發現：兩校的合作交流對象以歐美國家居多；國內外籍留學生及本國學生互動鮮少；亞洲地區學生（如中國大陸、南韓與台灣）為留日學生大宗，而日本學生出國留學仍多偏向選擇歐美先進國家；英語函授課程的利弊目前在日本仍有相當大的爭議。
關鍵字：高等教育、國際化、日本教育、東京大學、早稻田大學
Building Global Universities:
University Internationalization in Japan
(i) Research rationale
In the new knowledge economies of the twenty-first century, globalization is profoundly re-shaping societies, including higher education systems. In this more inter-dependent world order, societies are increasingly measured by their international competitiveness, and their capacity to reach out beyond national borders. Nowhere is this more true than in the world of universities, which compete vigorously to attract international students, and academic staff, and which now increasingly measure their academic output and curriculum according to international standards. While the development of internationally significant universities has become the goal of many, universities in East Asia are at disadvantage in this process thanks to Western networks in academe. In many ways, knowledge that is not part of American- and Euro-centered mainstream journals, books, and other indices of academic production is not considered to be real knowledge (Altbach, 1998). This hierarchy of knowledge production means that universities in non-western countries must strive even harder to achieve so-called world-class level. Among the most basic tasks is access to the information that is produced internationally, and the ability to contribute internationally (Welch, et.al, 2005).
Currently, many governments and institutions from Asia are making efforts to build up world-class universities, including China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan. In so doing, these countries must take advantage of knowledge from throughout the world to develop further links with institutions from international partners in order to improve national and international research and development. Indeed, internationalization is a key strategy with which to further facilitate teaching, research and administration of universities in Asia. In this case, how do Japanese universities measure up, according to these international standards? One thing is clear that each society aims to produce world-class universities in the 21st century, and is using international benchmarks to measure progress. For example, in China, Project 211 has been pouring numerous resources into national/ key universities, to develop world class institutions since mid-1990s. In Taiwan, the World Class Research University Project (2003), and the ‘Five-year, Fifty Billion Budget’ plan (estimated 1.6 billion USD, 2005) for research universities are attempts to ‘march’ towards world-class universities, over a five-year period (Chou & Ho, 2007) .
Whereas in Japan, according to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), university reform in Japan consists of three drives. The first is "Merging National Universities" to strengthen education and research. The second is Converting National Universities to "Corporations" by adopting managerial concepts used in the private sector. The third is "Fostering Universities of the World's Highest Standard" which strives for creating universities with vitality and international competitiveness (MEXT,2005). The last one is a responding effort to the building of global universities through more and more international engagements.
As a result, it is of great importance to draw Japanese experience in review issues such as ,what features in internationalization that exist among Japanese universities? What difference does internationalization make to institutions, and how is it understood by staff? What kinds of strategic responses are needed to promote vibrant and more internationally significant academic relations in Japan? How can internationalization assist Japanese society in making their top universities even more competitive? Does internationalization conflict with indigenization in Japanese higher education? If so, in what ways? How is the increased influence of the English language affecting internationalization in Japan?
(ii) Significance of the Research Project
This project is significant because it represents how Japanese higher education system is positioning itself in the new, increasingly multi-polar, global knowledge system by charting the rising significance of Japanese universities in Asia in the global knowledge network. The striking economic success of East Asian countries includes a key focus on education, especially plans to develop world-class universities. The rise of Japanese universities is increasingly prominent, and has potential to change the world higher education landscape. A study of university internationalization in Japan is an important illustration of this phenomenon. (Yang, 2002, Welch and Mok 2003).
The project seeks the following aims:
· examine how leading Japanese universities perceive and implement internationalization policies.
· map information on the extent and character of university internationalization in two selected universities.
· compare internationalization policies and practices between leading public and private institution.
· focus on the role of scholarly relations between Japanese universities and other countries,
· clarify the role of regionalization in the internationalization process.
· Investigate any ongoing academic and student exchange, workshops, seminars, lectures, as well as multiple collaborative efforts between Japanese and overseas universities.
(iii) A comparison between this Research Project and other domestic or foreign projects.
Efforts to internationalize the professoriate are common to most Asian countries in spite of their differences. For example, unlike China and Taiwan which have sent their best and brightest overseas, to gain valuable knowledge, that can assist the further development of its universities(Choi 1995, Wang and Wang, 1998, Cohen 1997, Can 2000, Ma and Cartier 2003). In the meanwhile, Japanese corporations send more employee for overseas assignment or in-service training than Japanese universities ( ). Not until recently, did Japanese government announce university reform policies by recruiting more international students to study in Japan, and by encouraging more academic pact and agreements between Japanese and overseas universities. Incentives have now been introduced, especially by top universities, to collaborate with highly skilled international scholars and international prestigious universities. (UNDP 2001, Welch, 2001, ???).
In addition, strategies to drive internationalization of the curriculum differ between Japan and other Asian counterparts. Current drivers in Japan include its recent policy in recruiting 100,000 international students to study in Japan. In addition, it is expected that most university courses could be taught in a foreign language, including use of a foreign-language textbook. The desire for international competitiveness, including of its graduates, and university curricula, is the principal driver. In each case, however, the urge towards globalization is tempered by a desire for indigenization (Yang and Tsieh 2000, Welch 2000), and by the wish to preserve the best of each society’s traditions. For Japan, the issue then is how to integrate international knowledge, while building a solid higher education system that retains distinctively Japanese elements ( Hayhoe 1996), Altbach (1998). In so doing, this project will fill the gap in the pre-dominant Western literature by providing empirical data from Japanese universities, the Asian model.
References (Other than those listed in Author’s CVs.)
Altbach, P.G. (1998). Comparative Higher Education: Knowledge, the University and Development. Comparative Education Research Center, The University of Hong Kong.
Chan Kwok Bun (Ed.) 2000, Chinese business networks : state, economy and culture. Singapore : Prentice Hall, Pearson Education.
Chen, Sun (2003) Higher Education in a Knowledge-based Economy, Retrieved 20 August 2003 from HYPERLINK "http://www.ipo.sdu.edu.cndata/sunzhen.htm" http://www.ipo.sdu.edu.cndata/sunzhen.htm
Choi, H., (1995) An international Scientific Community, Asian Scholars in the United States. Praeger.
Chou, Chuing & Ho, Ai-Hsin (2007). Internationalisation of higher education in Taiwan:
A case study of National Taiwan University, unpublished preliminary research findings.
Cohen, R., (1997) Global Diasporas. An Introduction. London, University College Press Wang, L-C., and Wang, G-W, (1998) The Chinese Diaspora. Singapore, Times Academic Press.
Arnove, R.F. (1999). Reframing comparative education: The dialectic of the global and the local. In R.F. Arnove & C.A. Torres (eds.), Comparative Education: The Dialectic of the Global and the Local. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Johnston Alastair Iain and Ross, Robert S. (1999) Engaging China: The Management of an Emerging Power. London and New York: Routledge.
Hayhoe, Ruth (1996) The International Role of Japanese Universities, Nagoya University, Japan.
Knight, Jane and De Wit (eds.) (1997) Internationalization of Higher Education in Asia Pacific Countries. Amsterdam, EAIE.
Ma, J.C. and Carolyn Cartier (Eds) 2003 The Chinese diaspora : space, place, mobility, and identity. Lanham, Md. : Rowman & Littlefield.
Masemann, V. (1997). Recent directions in comparative education. Presented at The Annual Conference of the Comparative and International education Society, Mexico City.
MEXT(2005), Progress for Incorporation of National Universities, online information available at http://www.mext.go.jp/english/news accessed on 28 February 2005.
Ministry of Education (2001) Education Statistics of the Republic of China. Taipei: Ministry of Education.
Ministry of Education (2002) Education Statistics Indicators Republic of China. Taipei: Ministry of Education.
Ministry of Education (2003) 2002 nian quanguo jiaoyu shiye tongji fazhan gongbao, Retrieved 11 September 2003 from HYPERLINK "http://www.edu.cn/20030514/3084774.shtml"
http://www.edu.cn/20030514/3084774.shtml
World Bank (2000) Higher Education in Developing Countries: Peril and Promise. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank.
Swing, E.S. (1997) From Eurocentrism to Post-colonialism: A bibliographic perspective. Presented at The Annual Conference of the Comparative and International education Society, Mexico City.
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Yang, S-K., and Tsieh, (Eds.) 2000 Educational Sciences. Internationalisation and Indigenization. Taipei, Yang-Chih Publishers.
Methodology of Research Project
Sampling of Interviewees involves the selection of particular universities and particular participants within individual institutions. Within each university, ten participants will be sampled, including three managers and seven academics. The initial approach will be made to the administration (through contacts in Japan). Academics will be sampled to ensure range - from lecturer to professor levels, both males and females, and different disciplines, according to their proportion in the wider university population. All participants will have at least five years’ experience in the university to obtain a sense of changes in each university over that time period.
Methods Data collection and analysis will involve documents and interviews. Documents will be used to analyze the context of internationalization policy at the university level. University documents will provide the localized context (historic, geographic, social, economic and cultural dimensions) and specific policies on internationalization in two Japanese universities prior to the collection of interview data. Semi-structured interviews will be used to access the live experience of participants in relation to policies on internationalization and the implications for institutional and individual academic life.
A consent form will be completed by all respondents. Interviews, lasting approximately 60 minutes each, will be conducted in either Japanese or English. Interviews will be taped, with the participants’ consent. Tapes will be translated and transcribed and entered into the NUD.IST (Non-numerical Unstructured Data Indexing Searching and Theorizing) software program to facilitate analysis of a huge volume of qualitative data.
A few major research questions will be the focus of the data analysis, with emergent themes forming subsections. A meta level comparative analysis between two institutions will be possible because equivalent policy documents at macro and micro levels will be collected, matched samples will be selected in universities and the same core interview questions will be used, despite with probes to identify unique features. A trend report of the preliminary data analysis will be made available, including via the Project Website, to participants from each university, with encouragement to feedback comments, thereby enhancing the validity of the data, and facilitating ongoing dialogues and links for further research. On-line surveys to include a larger number of academics in a larger number of universities may be used to extend the sample.