In the twenty-first century, universities around the world are regularly reinventing themselves and continually addressing their roles and/or pur- poses in today’s global environment. Globalization has had many positive impacts on academic institutions, but it has also raised a variety of serious philosophical concerns. In this day and age, should universities focus more on practical skills and employability, or, do these institutions have a respon- sibility to concentrate on deeper issues concerning humanity? Although this question has frequently been debated in academic circles, the arguments are intensifying due to the ever-increasing influences of globalization. In this essay, I will focus on Japanese universities whilst attempting to answer the question above. I will first illustrate how globalization has affected universi- ties in Japan and then use data gathered from a student survey conducted at a private Japanese university to help identify some of the issues concern- ing Japanese students and faculty members alike. Finally, I will outline how an interdisciplinary approach to education may help Japanese students develop practical skills whilst simultaneously advancing their interests in critical thinking.
Liberal Arts Majors
and Competent English Speakers:
―Educating the Mind While Developing Global Students in Japan―
Rose Samuel
Globalization and Japanese Universities
In “Globalization in Japan: Education Policy and Curriculum,” Lynne Par- menter discusses the effects of globalization on Japanese educational insti- tutions and writes, “Globalization has impacted higher education in Japan not only through structural reform of the system, but also in terms of the form and content of educational provision” （210）. Parmenter also points out that Japanese “universities are encouraged by government to be increas- ingly engaged in globalization processes and networks” （210）. This strong encouragement from the Japanese government has resulted in an influx of foreign staff, professors, and researchers at Japanese universities, which, in turn, has helped in the development of international friendly curriculums. In many cases, institutions are hoping that their improved global competitive- ness will help attract a growing number of international students. And, as a direct result of the increased attention to globalization, young Japanese stu- dents are gaining intercultural competence while being exposed to greater foreign language learning opportunities. According to Martin Carnoy in
“Globalization, Educational Change, and the National State,” additional lan- guage learning opportunities are extremely important because multilingual graduates are in high demand around the world （22）.
The growing need for competent foreign language speakers in Japan’s corporate world has drastically increased in the 21st century, and this too has had a significant influence on Japanese universities. Multinational corpo- rations like Bridgestone, Rakuten, Fast Retailing Co. （Uniqlo） and Nissan have all made English their official company language. In fact, work-related promotions at some of these corporations are directly related to an individ- ual’s English abilities. In The Japan Times article entitled “Rakuten’s Eng- lish- only Policy Endures Close Media Scrutiny,” Geoff Botting describes
Uniqlo’s English policy.
Meetings with at least one non-Japanese in attendance are all to be conducted in English, and internal reports will need to be written in the language. Staff are being asked to achieve a score of at least 700 on the Test of English for International Communication, or TOEIC.
Multinational corporations like Bridgestone and Rakuten have moved towards English because of their economic concerns regarding Japan’s aging society, and these companies view overseas markets as a chance to expand global recognition as well as overall profits. Although these multina- tionals have not directly influenced Japanese university curriculums, their demands for internationally competent English speakers have indirectly put pressure on universities to help develop graduates with strong language and intercultural capabilities.
A Global Environment and the Role of Japanese Universities
The effects of globalization have had many positive influences on Japa- nese universities, but there are those who question the overall value of such changes. In “Defining Globalization and Assessing its Implications for Knowledge and Education, Revisited,” Nelly Stromquist and Karen Monk- man discuss university globalization issues in the following:
Today more than ever, there is a need to ask, “What purposes will education have in the globalization age?” Will it succumb to pressure to make us more productive and increase our ability to produce and consume, or will it be able to instill in all of us a democratic spirit which values the common good （16）.
The fact that Japanese universities, under the encouragement of the Japa-
nese government, are moving towards a more global atmosphere indicates that they are attempting to produce more employable and productive uni- versity graduates. On the surface, this move appears to be an exercise in common sense, but what are the social implications of these actions? In
“Repositioning Higher Education as a Global Commodity: Opportunities and Challenges for Future Sociology of Education Work,” Rajani Naidoo addresses the ever-changing university environments when she writes:
The perception of higher education as an industry for enhancing national competitiveness and as a lucrative service that can be sold in the global marketplace has begun to eclipse the social and cultural objectives of higher education generally encompassed in the conception of higher education as a ‘public good’ （250）.
According to Naidoo, the push towards globalization in universities around the world is coming at the expense of learning for the sake of acquiring knowledge with the hopes that this knowledge will ultimately benefit the
“public good.” Naidoo’s concerns run parallel to the question posed at the outset of this essay, which essentially asks about the purposes of universi- ties in the 21st century. In order to gain a better understanding of the Japa- nese student perspective on this issue, 132 first-year students in the Faculty of Letters at Rissho University were asked to anonymously answer four questions in a student survey （see Appendix A）. The results can be seen below:
Question 2
24%
14%
46%
16%
What is the most important reason for a university education?
Getting a good job
Acquiring a skill like speaking English Learning
Having fun for four years
Question 3
92%
8%
Do you think learning a second language will increase your employmentopportunities?
Yes No
Question 4
0%
11%
17%
8%
17%
42%
5%
What would you like to do after you graduate?
housewife/househusband government worker Japanese company international company teacher/counselor
don’t know, I just want to learn other
As shown above, 46% of students surveyed identified “learning” as the most important reason for a university education, while 42% of the students were not sure what they wanted to do after they graduated. Despite these numbers, the overwhelming majority of students indicated that a second language would help improve their employment opportunities. These results show that there is still an incredible demand for a liberal arts edu- cation in Japan while at the same time there is a definite awareness of the practical implications with regard to learning a second language. Based on this information, the success of institutions going forward will revolve around how they manage to balance these two demands.
The movement towards globalization at Japanese universities appears to be meeting government demands and Japanese students seem to realize the importance of acquiring a second language, so why are so many in aca- demia concerned with this current trend? In “Teaching for well-being: Ped- agogical Strategies for Meaning, Value, Relevance and Justice,” Luisa Deprez and Diane Wood provide a possible answer to this question.
Academic fields, especially in the humanities, social sciences, and the arts, are under considerable pressure to demonstrate relevance defined almost exclusively in terms of post-college job acquisition. However, while economic responsibility and stability are important, they should not be education’s raison d’etre, particularly at the cost of discarding aims directed toward human well-being （145）.
Deprez and Wood further note that an education in the liberal arts helps students “think critically while exploring a wide horizon of perspectives, experiences, interpretations, and theories”（146）. Like Stromquist, Monk- man, and Naidoo, these scholars are defending the idea of education for edu- cation’s sake and point out that university educators should not focus on
employability at the expense of critical thinking skills. According to Deprez and Wood, this is a very relevant argument because current job skills as they exist today may become obsolete in the future, and thus critical think- ing skills may ultimately prove to be a much more valuable lifelong com- modity.
Interdisciplinary Education:
Developing Practical Skills While Educating the Mind
Regardless of how strongly one feels about the purpose of a university education in Japan, justifiable arguments can be made for the development of practical skills while equally legitimate arguments can be made for the development of critical thinking skills and/or the idea of learning for learn- ing’s sake. One possible compromise that might help amalgamate these two differing ideologies can be found in the increased attention being paid to interdisciplinary education. Like David Killick, in Developing the Global Stu- dent: Higher Education in and Era of Globalization, there aren’t too many professors who would disagree that “higher education should be a process of empowerment”（2）. Additionally, as Alberta Spreafico points out in “Lib- eral Arts Education and the Formation of Valuable Capabilities,” education should “take into full consideration people in all their multidimensional ele- ments and their relation with the social and global context”（129）. My ques- tions, if people are “multidimensional,” why can’t their respective educations also be multidimensional, and why can’t universities in Japan focus on employability while simultaneously focusing on the development of critical thinking skills? The global environment in the 21st century inspires complex human concerns and these multifaceted problems often require interdisciplinary solutions, which is why young students will benefit from a
practical yet well-rounded education.
Interdisciplinary research and education has traditionally concentrated on the amalgamation of academic disciplinary ideas, which is why it may prove to be very useful for Japanese universities in the 21st century. To my mind, the world genuinely needs subjects like history, literature, philosophy, and sociology. We cannot expect to better ourselves, or humanity for that matter, without continuous developments in the liberal arts. However, in a global world, and from a practical standpoint, young Japanese students need to develop their language skills and intercultural awareness. So, how can a Japanese university accommodate the various educational demands placed on it? In “The Integration of Content and Language as a Driving Force in the EFL Lesson,” Dario Banegas provides a possible answer to this question when he explains that universities could benefit from designing content courses in foreign languages. According to Banegas, “Foreign language learning becomes an engaging activity when knowledge of the world is approached through it”（94）. If universities do manage to combine language learning with actual content and the development of critical thinking skills, it would not only be an “engaging activity,” it would also be an undeniable and incredible venture into interdisciplinary education.
Conclusion
A university education has continually evolved over time. In Japan, like many countries around the world, advances in globalization have put pres- sure on universities to adjust to the economic and social environments of the twenty-first century. Japanese universities have adapted to these exter- nal pressures and have, with the support of the government, increased their global competitiveness by employing foreign researchers and professors.
These moves may have strengthened the overall employability of young Japanese graduates on an international scale, but they have also raised some important philosophical concerns. These concerns primarily focus on a university’s role in the development of critical thinking skills and/or the idea of educating individuals for the betterment of the “common good.” It has been suggested here that an interdisciplinary approach to education will help synthesize the competing ideologies while assisting young edu- cated individuals to better prepare for a future in a global society. After all, a university education should not just prepare a student for life it should be significant part of an individual’s life.
Works Cited:
Banegas, Dario. “The Integration of Content and Language as a Driving Force in the EFL Lesson.” International Perspectives on Motivation: Language Learning and Professional Challenges. ed. Ushioda, Ema. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.
Boni, Alejandra and Walker, Melanie. eds. Human Development and Capabilities:
Re-imagining the University of the Twenty-first Century. New York: Rout- ledge, 2013.
Deprez, Luisa and Wood, Diane. “Teaching for well-being: Pedagogical Strate- gies for Meaning, Value, Relevance and Justice.” in Boni and Walker 145-161 Spreafico, Alberta. “Liberal Arts Education and the Formation of Valuable
Capabilities.” in Boni and Walker 129-144
Botting, Geoff. “Rakuten’s English- only Policy Endures Close Media Scrutiny.” The Japan Times. August 22, 2010.
Accessed April, 3 2015:
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2010/08/22/national/media-national/
rakutens-english-only-policy-endures-close-media-scrutiny/#.VR4ge0uzjwJ Killick, David. Developing the Global Student: Higher Education in an Era of
Globalization. New York: Routledge, 2015.
Naidoo, Rajani. “Repositioning Higher Education as a Global Commodity: Oppor-
tunities and Challenges for Future Sociology of Education Work.” British Journal of Sociology of Education, Vol. 24, No. 2, 249-259. 2003.
Stromquist, Nelly and Monkam, Karen. eds. Globalization and Education: Inte- gration and Contestation Across Cultures. Plymouth: Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2014.
Carnoy, Martin. “Globalization, Educational Change, and the National State.” in Stromquist and Monkam 21-38
Parmenter, Lynne. “Globalization in Japan: Education Policy and Curriculum.” in Stromquist and Monkam 201-215
Stromquist, Nelly and Monkam, Karen. “Defining Globalization and Assessing its Implications for Knowledge and Education, Revisited.” in Stromquist and Monkam 1-19
Appendix A
University Education in the 21st Century A Rissho University Student Survey
１．Why did you choose your major?
なぜあなたはあなたの専攻を選んだのですか？
２．What is the most important reason for a university education?
大学教育の最も重要な理由は何ですか？
Ａ．Getting a good job / 良い仕事を取得
Ｂ．Acquiring a skill like speaking English / 英語を話すようなスキルの獲得 Ｃ．Learning / 学習
Ｄ．Having fun for four years / ４年間楽しんで
３． Do you think learning a second language will increase your employment oppor- tunities?
あなたは第二言語があなたの雇用機会を増加させる学習であると思いますか？
Ａ．Yes / はい
Ｂ．No / いいえ
４．What would you like to do after you graduate?
卒業後に何をしますか？
Ａ．I would like to be a housewife/househusband. 主婦 / 主夫 Ｂ．I would like to be a government worker. 公務員
Ｃ．I would like to work for a Japanese company. 日本企業に就職
Ｄ．I would like to work for an international company. 国際的な企業に就職 Ｅ．I would like to be a teacher/counselor. 教師 / カウンセラー
Ｆ．I don’t know, I just want to learn as much as possible right now.
わかりません，今は，できるだけ多くを学びたい。
Ｇ．Other その他 .
（2015年10月７日受理，2016年１月17日採択）
