Internationalization within Higher Education

116 Pages·2018·1.637 MB·English

by  Elizabeth Stigger, Marian Wang, David Laurence, Anna Bordilovskaya

SPRINGER BRIEFS IN EDUCATION
Elizabeth Stigger
Marian Wang
David Laurence
Anna Bordilovskaya
Internationalization
within Higher
Education
Perspectives from
Japan
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Elizabeth Stigger Marian Wang
(cid:129)
David Laurence Anna Bordilovskaya
(cid:129)
Internationalization
within Higher Education
Perspectives from Japan
123
ElizabethStigger DavidLaurence
Naruto University of Education ChubuUniversity
Naruto Aichi
Japan Japan
Marian Wang Anna Bordilovskaya
Kobe University RikkyoUniversity
Kobe Tokyo
Japan Japan
ISSN 2211-1921 ISSN 2211-193X (electronic)
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Foreword
The modern higher education system in Japan has its historical origin as an
implantation ofmainly Westernacademictradition.Its first system designedinthe
late nineteenth century during the Meiji period was developed with the support
oftheinvited foreignexperts bytheJapanesegovernment. Theexplicitpurposeof
thistransitionperiodineducationwastomodernizeJapaneseeducationafteralong
period of national isolation. However, many of these invited foreign experts left
Japan after a short period because the Japanese government replaced them with
Japanese academics who had been sent to study in Western countries. As a result,
these Japanese academics developed an understanding of other education systems,
so as to install changes within the Japanese system. However, foreign academics
have still decided to settle in, or at least continued to be committed to academia
within Japanese society.
Until the beginning of the 1980s, the Japanese government had legally pro-
hibited the appointment of non-Japanese citizens to full professor positions at
nationalandlocalpublicuniversities.DespitethisregulationsincetheMeijiperiod,
non-Japanese academics have continued to teach and do research at Japanese
universities.Furthermore,evenwiththisregulation,theworkenvironmentevolved
to sometimes allowing non-Japanese academics to be employed through special
limited-term contracts such as specially appointed “foreign university teachers” at
public universities oreven as full professors at private universities. According to a
survey by Hiroshima University, however, the absolute majority of non-Japanese
university academics in 1979 were those who were engaged in foreign language
education, and they mostly came from Western nations, especially from
English-speaking countries (Research Institute for Higher Education, 1980).
Thenumberofnon-Japaneseuniversityacademicstaffincreaseddrasticallyafter
the Japanese government allowed them to gain full academic positions at national
andlocalpublicuniversitiesin1982.In2015,thenumberoffull-timenon-Japanese
academic staff accounted for 7,735 positions according to the national statistics
School Basic Survey (MEXT,2015).Furthermore, approximately13,000part-time
foreign teachers were employed; however, this number may be somewhat unreli-
ableasitispossiblethatonepersonmayhavetakenseveralpart-timepositions.In
v
vi Foreword
addition, official statistics of those who have acquired Japanese citizenship and
teach at universities and also teach in Japan are not available to the public.
However, through a nation-wide survey implemented in 2009, Yonezawa, Ishida,
and Horta (2013) revealed that a substantial number of these non-Japanese aca-
demics were engaged in research in the science and engineering fields, and many
of them had been trained through postgraduate education in Japan. Thus, the
relationship between Japanese higher education and academics from non-Japanese
origins has evolved since the Meiji era. Through educational developments, some
Japanese universities are attracting and training foreign nationals, who then con-
tinue to stay in Japan. Nevertheless, despite advances made in the science and
engineering fields, it remains a fact that almost half of thenon-Japanese university
academics today, teaching at Japanese educational institutions, are engaged in
foreign language education.
When we read literature on Japanese or East Asian higher education written by
the authors with non-local origins, we tend to treat them as “outsiders’”. This may
have evolved from the uchi-soto mentality, which defines group interactions
(Hashimoto, 2013; Rivers, 2010). Uchi defines the inside or group belongingness,
whereas soto defines outside or other groups. Many “outsider” comparative edu-
cationresearchersandJapanesestudiesexpertshavewrittenaboutJapanesehigher
education within their role of field workers. Field workers in principle should
maintaintheirperspectivesas“observers”.TheytreatJapaneseuniversitiesastheir
research fields, and through this many of them have taken an approach of “par-
ticipatory observation”. On the other hand, some of these works could be under-
stood more as the voices of “insiders”, while they are treated as “outsiders” views
because they define themselves, or they are defined by the others as soto of the
major communities within the Japanese universities. These voices, however, do
offer an account of Japanese higher education from within, including the harsh
critiques that are not rare. However, it is unfortunate that due to their nationality,
these “insider” voices are understood as “outsider” voices.
This book is unique as a collection of articles on the internationalization of
Japanese higher education as “insiders’ observation”. All the authors are of
non-Japaneseorigin,buttheyarecommitteddeeplytoJapanesehighereducationas
academicworkers.As anumber,thestaffmembersofnon-Japanese origin arestill
anabsoluteminorityatJapanesehighereducationinstitutions.Thisdoesnotmean,
however, that they should be treated as “outsiders”. There is a wide consensus
amongthoseconnectedtoJapaneseuniversitiesandsocietyingeneralthatJapanese
highereducationshouldbeinternationalized(Burgess,Gibson,Klaphake,&Selzer,
2010; Goodman, 2007; Howe, 2009; Huang, 2006; Tsuruta, 2013). The university
staff members of non-Japanese origin are an indispensable component of the
internationalizationofJapanesehighereducation,andtheirvoiceshouldbetreated
as insiders of Japanese higher education. Particularly, education under policies,
which are encouraging the holistic development of a globally minded student
population, should stress the importance of learning from not just the voice of the
“insiders’”,butalsofromthevoiceof“outsiders’”.Yet,evenwithinthisdivide,itis
Foreword vii
experienceandthewillingnesstounderstandwhichshouldbedenoting“insider”or
“outsider”, not origin.
The insiders’ observations of this book cover multilayered dimensions, from
macronationalpoliciestotheinteractionsinsidetheclassrooms.Theauthorstryto
understand and engage in their students, colleagues, organizations and then the
whole society not only for writing articles but more for seeking the well-beings of
all the stakeholders in higher education, including themselves.
ThisstrongandfaithfulcommitmenttoJapaneseuniversitiesandsocietyisrather
impressive, considering the current overstress of international competition within
national and institutional policies in Japan. In this situation, I believe it must be
uncomfortable,asoftenthoseworkingatuniversitiesaretoldthattheyaredoingso
only for improving indicators such as the ratio of international faculties, which is
becoming popular components of international university rankings (Kim, 2016).
Through the perspective of this book, however, we may be able to find many
attractiveacademicswhoareengagedinthedailyroutineofuniversityeducationin
Japan.IntheeverydaystudylifeatJapaneseuniversities,Japaneseandnon-Japanese
are interacting not as “global human talents”, the resources of national competi-
tiveness, but rather as the colleagues, classmates, or team members that seek a
common ground in respect for multicultural values, identities, and understanding
which are fundamental intheinternationalization ofhigher education.
Iamnotconfidentthatpeoplelearning,teaching,ormanaginghighereducation
in Japan are unique…maybe not. It is also true that the Japanese higher education
systemandpracticesarefarfromperfect.ButIwouldliketocommendtheauthors
of this book and the people surrounding them, for their sincere attitudes to
understandothers,andtheircommitmenttohighereducationinJapanastheirown
community.
Sendai, Japan Akiyoshi Yonezawa
Tohoku University
References
Burgess, C.,Gibson,I.,Klaphake,J.,&Selzer,M.(2010).The‘Global30’ProjectandJapanese
higher education reform: an example of a ‘closing in’ or an ‘opening up’?. Globalisation,
SocietiesandEducation,8(4),461–475.
Goodman, R. (2007). The concept of “Kokusaika” and Japanese educational reform. Globali-
sation,SocietiesandEducation,5(1),71–87.
Hashimoto, K.(2013).‘English-only’,butnotamedium-of-instructionpolicy:theJapaneseway
of internationalising education for both domestic and overseas students. Current Issues in
LanguagePlanning,14(1),16–33.
Howe, E. (2009). The internationalization of higher education in East Asia: A comparative
ethnographic narrative of Japanese universities. Research in Comparative and International
Education,4(4),384–392.doi:https://doi.org/10.2304/rcie.2009.4.4.384.
viii Foreword
Huang, F.(2006).InternationalizationofuniversitycurriculainJapan:Majorpoliciesandpractice
sincethe1980s.JournalofStudiesinInternationalEducation,10(2),102–118.
Kim, S. K. (2016). Western faculty ‘flight risk’ at a Korean university and the complexities of
internationalisation in Asian higher education. Comparative Education, 52(1), 78-90. doi:
https://doi.org/10.1080/03050068.2015.1125620.
Ministry ofEducation,Culture,Sports,ScienceandTechnology(MEXT). (2015).Gakkokihon
chosa (Schoolbasicsurvey) 2015.Tokyo:MEXT.Retrieved from http://www.mext.go.jp/b_
menu/toukei/chousa01/kihon/1267995.htm.
Rivers, D. J. (2010). Ideologies of internationalisation and the treatment of diversity within
Japanese higher education. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 32(5),
441–454.
Research Institute for Higher Education. (1980). Nihon no daigaku niokeru gaikokujin kyoin
(ForeignfacultiesatuniversitiesinJapan).Hiroshima:RIHE,HiroshimaUniversity.
Tsuruta, Y.(2013).Theknowledge society andtheinternationalization ofJapanesehigher edu-
cation. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 33(2), 140–155. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/
02188791.2013.780674.
Yonezawa, A., Ishida, K., & Horta, H. (2013). The long-term internationalization of higher
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Contents
1 Introduction: Internationalization in Higher Education . . . . . . . . . . 1
Elizabeth Stigger
1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Internationalization of Higher Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2.1 Competition Within Higher Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2.2 Rankings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.3 Influences on Incorporating Internationalization Strategies:
The Japanese Context. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.3.1 Historical Influences on Prestige. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.3.2 The Role of English in Japanese Education. . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.3.3 Hierarchical Influences on Change Within Japanese
Higher Education. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.4 Instituting Internationalization: The Need for Bottom-Up
Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.4.1 An Under Represented Element in the
Internationalization of Japanese Higher Education . . . . . . . 13
1.5 Chapter Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2 Trends in Access to Higher Education in Japan: One Institution’s
Responses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
David Laurence
2.1 Introduction: Demographic Trends. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.2 The Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.2.1 Martin Trow: Elite to Mass to Universal Access . . . . . . . . 23
2.2.2 Higher Education in the World of Universal Access . . . . . 25
2.2.3 Internationalization and the Low-Prestige University in
Japan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
ix