Home > Policy > White Paper, Notice, Announcement > White Paper > JAPANESE GOVERMENT POLICIES IN EDUCATION, SCIENCE, SPORTS AND CULTURE 1995 > Remaking Universities Chapter 4 Section 1 2

The popularization of university education will be accompanied by a rise in the number of students with increasingly diverse abilities and academic backgrounds. There is also likely to be an increase in the number of students who lack a clear perception of their aims in entering universities and of their future careers. Consideration will therefore need to be given to such aspects as the provision of guidance and the development of flexible career paths, taking into account the likelihood of further diversification of upper secondary educational programs. Meanwhile, advances in various academic fields will be reflected in the increasing sophistication and volume of subject matter that must be taught in specialized fields. Although undergraduate education may be considered complete in its own right, it will also be necessary to select carefully the basic elements of education in the light of the philosophies and objectives of individual universities and to review educational content in terms of its relevance to graduate education.

The content of education appears to be growing more sophisticated and intensive. At the same time, the diversification of educational backgrounds at the upper secondary level is creating a need for supplementary education at the university level. Another issue is the provision of opportunities for people with outstanding ability in specific fields to experience university-level education at a younger age than usual. In fiscal 1997 students who have studied under new, diversified upper secondary educational programs will begin to enter universities, and it will be necessary to provide an even more finely tuned response that reflects the linkage with primary and secondary education. Other priorities from the viewpoint of developing basic skills that reflect internationalization and the shift to an information-oriented society include the enhancement of cross-cultural communication and the improvement of information education.

Universities need to respond to these varied priorities by clarifying their philosophies and goals and by individualizing and diversifying their activities. They also need to give more in-depth consideration to the types of students that they are likely to admit, the general and specialized education that they provide, and the abilities that they wish to instill in students. It is anticipated that this process of reassessment will lead to the division of universities into a number of types.

It is also necessary to reconsider the role of undergraduate education in the context of higher education as a whole. One of the most important priorities from now on will be to create a system that can accommodate the increasingly diverse needs of students while maintaining content and standards that are appropriate to higher education and to ensure that this system can support scientific research and foster outstanding human resources who will play a leading role in the community. As universities become more diverse, we will also need to consider approaches to education and research and their integration in ways that reflect the vision of individual universities.

Social change and changes in various fields of study have created a need to reevaluate the organization of university faculties and departments. Although traditional faculty and department boundaries are still dominant, an increasing number of fields, such as information, human studies, and environmental studies, cut across those boundaries. In this era of rapid change it has become essential to master not only knowledge and methods in specialized fields but also comprehensive, interdisciplinary knowledge and methods. In many cases it is unreasonable to expect students who have just graduated from upper secondary schools to choose among specialized subjects. Instead students should be allowed to discover the fields in which they wish to major as they study a wide range of fields. Efforts should be made to create a system that enables students to be recruited not by subject but in groups according to faculty so that they can define their fields of specialization in stages and can easily switch majors and career paths partway through their studies.

Through the revision of educational content and methods, universities should foster in-depth debate about what is really basic and essential in each specialized field. They should also encourage deeper discussion of such issues as syllabus development and enhancement and the development of standardized curricula. It is also necessary to provide classes that transcend faculty and department boundaries, as well as forums for interaction among teachers and students in different fields. In regard to classes, the emphasis should be on small-group teaching, two-way communication, direct experience, and activities that encourage students to think for themselves.

Other priorities include the use of the semester system ^* , the introduction of day/evening programs that suit worker lifestyles, the provision of more classes for special register students, the establishment of appropriate performance evaluation systems, including recognition of studies at other institutions of higher education, and measures to promote the use of information equipment and educational multimedia.

The importance of general education is obvious. Its significance is growing in today's increasingly complex social environment, in which the results of new research tend to have more social and ethical ramifications than in the past.

One of the results of the 1991 amendment of the Standards for the Establishment of Universities was the abolition of the distinction between general and specialized education subjects. The purpose of this change was to enable students to acquire specialized knowledge and technology throughout their four-year (or six-year) undergraduate careers while widening and deepening their general education, building comprehensive judgment skills, and enriching their human qualities. As discussed in chapter 2, section 1, individual universities have implemented various modifications and improvements in line with the spirit of this change. The 1991 report of the University Council contains the following statement: "The council expects individual universities to make determined efforts to realize this philosophy and put these aims into practice, aware of the extreme importance of philosophies and goals for general education and unbound by subject frameworks. We have faith in the insight of university personnel with regard to this matter." Universities need to remain aware of this statement as they work resolutely to provide general education that reflects their educational philosophies and goals by means of curriculum reform and university-wide deliberations.

Another priority is the improvement of the educational content and teaching methods used in universities and graduate schools. In addition to efforts by individual universities, this process requires research and development concerning interuniversity curriculum and instruction methods and specialized fields within disciplines. Efforts in this direction have only recently begun, and it is necessary to establish organized systems for continuous research on higher education.

Improvement of the educational abilities of university teaching staff through faculty development is a vital prerequisite for the enhancement of educational functions at the university level. The provision of education is a vital part of the mission of universities, no matter how diversified they may be. It is necessary to promote and provide active support for these efforts.