日本におけるアジア高等教育研究の展開 <論稿><創立20周年記念特集 : 高等教育研究の回顧と展望>

Development of Studies on Asian Higher Education in Japan <Special Issue : Retrospect and Prospect of Higher Education Studies>

Otsuka Yutaka

大学論集

Daigaku ronshu: Research in higher education

[PISSN] 0302-0142

[NCID] AN00136225

This paper analyzes how studies on Asian higher education have been carried out in Japan since World War II. The goal is to examine problems in the existing studies and to identify themes and issues for further development. For this purpose, 716 related studies which have already been published in Japan (44 books and 672 theses and papers respectively) were collected from various university bulletins, academic journals and other periodicals as well as several bibliographic resources.

First, an overview was conducted of these 716 studies in a quantitative fashion. From the time of their publication, it can be noted that studies on Asian higher education gradually developed in the 1970s and flourished in the 80s. The most publications in a single year was seen in 1984, when 48 papers were published. As for the number of studies by country or area examined, China came first with 367 (51.2%), followed by South Korea with 112 (15.6%). Aside from these two countries, accounting for which amount two third of the total, relatively numerous studies have been carried out on Thailand (41 or 5.7%), Indonesia (25 or 3.5%), Malaysia (20 or 2.8%) and others. Here can be seen an extreme disproportion in the country of study. A balance in the distribution of studies by region is desirable. With respect to period addressed, approximately one third of the publication are on pre-war or pre-modern themes, although the majority of studies are on themes contemporaneous with the time of publication.

Next, the qualitative aspects or contents of the studies were focused upon. Studies were categorized under thirteen headings i.e., 1)macro level studies including general views, holistic system and policy, reform etc., 2)study abroad and internationalization, 3)students and teachers, 4)teaching of Japanese language and foreign languages, 5)particular individual institution, 6)curriculum and teaching methods, 7)admissions, 8)reserch, specific disciplines and academic circles, 9)pre-modern higher education, 10)colonial higher education, 11)distant higher education, 12)adult higher education, and 13)miscellaneous.

An examination of each classification reveals that a remarkable number of books and theses have been written on study abroad and the teaching of Japanese language. Writings on students, particularly on student activism are also numerous, while relatively few deal with college teachers. There is almost none written on administration and finance. It would also seem that more studies are needed concerning the important topic of colonial higher education, which serve to clarify the nature of Japanese colonialism in comparison to that of western suzerain countries.

With regard to methodology speaking, only a few studies have been based on field surveys using questionaires. Also, almost all studies focus on one particular country or area, while those using a comparative approach are very limited.

Education [ 370 ]

jpn

広島大学大学教育研究センター

[ISSN] 0302-0142

[NCID] AN00136225