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1. 1990s University Education Reforms and Liberal Education (General Education) in Japan

According to Yoshida (2013), the history of liberal education (general education) in Japanese universities since 1946, when the new university system was introduced, can be divided into four categories (Table 1). The generalization of the Standards for the Establishment of Universities in 1991 was an important turning point in this process. It had a major impact on university education through new trends, such as (1) more flexible boundaries between general education and specialized education courses, (2) the organization of educational improvement and enhancement activities (FD), and (3) quality assurance through syllabus and class evaluation questionnaires. In particular, the College of Liberal Arts, which was established in several national universities, was abolished, diversifying the nature of liberal education and common education at each university. In addition, the organization for liberal education implementation was unclear, leading to several universities supplementing it with a university-wide mobilization system.

Table 1

Transformation Process of General Education in Japan (Yoshida2013, 268-269)

Since the 2000s, as the function of practical human resource development through university education strengthened, importance was placed on the required qualities and abilities, such as ”basic skills for working adults” (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) and ”undergraduate skills” (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology). As a result, each university began to set generic competencies (competencies) as common educational and academic goals. Simultaneously, the common education element, which cultivates knowledge and skills useful to society, became stronger than liberal education.

Following the 1991 introduction of the general standards for the establishment of universities and the 2012 qualitative shift in university education (especially the spread of active learning), Japanese university education is currently facing the third wave of the education that integrates humanities and sciences, and STEAM education. In June 2022, the Cabinet approved the Policy Package on Education and Human Resource Development for the Realization of Society 5.0 (Council for Science, Technology and Innovation, Cabinet Office) as an educational reform extending from school education to university education. Several factors have led to the demand for an integrated arts and sciences education and STEAM education in universities; however, two things must be considered. First is the move toward cross-curricular education based on the new Courses of Study, which was implemented in upper secondary schools, starting from the 2022 academic year. This forced a university education transformation, connecting school and university education. Second is the changing image of human resources required by the new society. In particular, the way to foster human resources who can create science, technology, and innovation to compete globally is a primary question. Table 2 presents a list of major policies and keywords related to university education reform in Japan since the 2000s.

Table 2

List of Major Policies and Keywords Related to University Education Reform Since the 2000s

As this approach to human resource development is about to undergo a major shift, Ataka (2020) presented the basic liberal arts in the new era (Figure 1). The industry has voiced the need to develop liberal education in line with this model, from elementary and secondary education to university and graduate school education (Industry- University Council on the Future of Recruitment and University Education 2020).

Figure 1

Liberal Arts in the New Era (Ataka2020, 172)

2. History of the Japan Association for College and University Education and the Characteristics of Its Research Activities

2.1. Establishment of the Liberal and General Education Society of Japan and its Activities

The Liberal and General Education Society of Japan, founded in 1979, changed its name to the current Japan Association for College and University Education in 1997. It has been active for more than 40 years while increasing its membership. The Association’s history has been influenced by major changes in Japanese university education since the 1990s. The number of members has increased from 314 members (individual members) at the time of the establishment of the Liberal and General Education Society of Japan to 1,538 members (including group members) as of March 2023.

The three missions of the Liberal and General Education Society of Japan, as stated by its first president Ogiya, in the first issue of the Journal of the Liberal and General Education Society of Japan published by the society, were as follows:

• Facilitate the exchange of information on research activities related to general education and the accumulation and transmission of research results, thereby, promoting the legitimate development of research activities.

• Strengthen the institution in charge of general education as an educational institution arising from the university’s essence as a device for developing learning based on free inquiry and critical analysis, and learning grounded in humanism and supported by human thought and feeling.

• Extend the general education benefits, which liberates people from narrow-mindedness, fosters comprehensive judgment on a wide range of issues, and makes mutual understanding possible beyond differences in position, both within the university and the society at large.

The basic content of the society’s activities was established when it was known as the Liberal and General Education Society of Japan, and the format of the congress primarily consisted of lectures and symposiums. The results continued to be published as papers in the society’s journal. In 1980, the year after the society’s establishment, the Research Project, one of the pillars of the society’s research activities, was launched and the results were published in the society journal. The society hosts an annual conference in June and a research meeting in November. The journal is published twice a year to record the results of these meetings.

The 25-year history compilation committee of the Japan Association for College and University Education (2004) mentioned the characteristics of the society’s membership. While in other academic societies, the members are individual researchers, this society has three memberships - individual members, group members, and journal distribution organizations. The group membership reflects the situation of the universities before and after the association’s establishment and allows them to join the association and help their general education operations. A major characteristic of the individual members is the diversity of their major field of study. As shown in Table 3, since the establishment of The Liberal and General Education Society of Japan, they have covered almost every major field of study to date.

Table 3

Number of Individual Members by Field of Study (The 25-year History Compilation Committee of the Japan Association for College and University Education 2004, 79)

3. Examples of Undergraduate and Graduate Education Reforms Emphasizing Liberal Education (Kanazawa University)

For nearly 20 years since its incorporation as a national university in 2004, Kanazawa University has been reforming its educational system based on the concept of interdisciplinary integration and collaboration among different fields. In addition, in fiscal year 2014, the University was selected as the ”Top Global University Project (SGU)” by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), and formulated the ”Kanazawa University Global Standard” (Figure 2), which sets educational and academic goals for the university. The curriculum of liberal education and common education was reorganized based on the standards. The Academy for International Core Education was established in 2016 as the implementation organization for these new liberal arts and common education. During this period, similar organizations were established at Kyushu University, Tokushima University, and other universities.

Figure 2

Kanazawa University〈Global〉Standard (KUGS)

The key point of Kanazawa University’s efforts to reorganize the curriculum for liberal and common education is that, in undergraduate courses, opportunities to cultivate a broad range of cultures and diverse perspectives has been established in the liberal arts and common education courses to develop the learning strength for specialized education. In several academic departments, students are required to take certain courses to broaden their academic horizons during their first year and the first semester of the second year.

Due to a series of educational reforms to provide flexible educational programs that transcend traditional disciplines and opportunities for students to make independent career choices, in FY 2020, the university was selected by the MEXT for the ”Human Resource Development Project for Supporting Knowledge-Based Society (DP)”. It is working to strengthen the functions of liberal arts and common education to support specialized education in undergraduate programs and to systematically develop education that integrates the humanities, sciences, and STEAM education, whereby, students can take courses in entrepreneurship, design thinking, and data science. Through the establishment of the fourth academic field, the ”Integrated Academic Field,” and the ”Leading STEAM Human Resource Development Program (KU-STEAM)” for students in all academic fields, the university is systematically developing innovative human resources by promoting STEAM education that integrates the humanities and sciences across disciplines.

The context of the promotion of integrated and STEAM education at universities is a social and national theme that contains important implications for the future of science, technology, and innovation in Japan. However, it will take a considerable amount of time to break down the customary dichotomy of ”arts” and ”sciences” that begins in school education, and the stereotypes of ”traditional specialties” in society and industry that accept university graduates and postgraduates. It is important to create an environment in which learners can verbalize their study results and their sense of growth in the arts and sciences, and provide convincing explanations to companies and communities and be accepted by them. From this perspective, Kanazawa University is focusing on the ecosystem from ”upstream” to ”downstream” of human resource development to establish a High School-University-Graduate School Connecting Curriculum Model centered on inquiry and STEAM education and a KU-STEAM Assessment Model to visualize learning outcomes through arts and sciences integration and cross-disciplinary learning. The project aims to establish an Individualized Optimized Learning Support Model that integrates academic advising and peer support.

Following the undergraduate program educational reforms emphasizing liberal education, from FY 2022, the graduate school version of liberal and common education will be required for all graduate schools based on interdisciplinary integration and collaboration across fields to foster researchers and skilled professionals with a broad perspective.

4. Expectations for Comparative Research on Liberal Education in South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan

As mentioned above, university and liberal education (general education) in Japan have dramatically changed since the 1990s. In particular, around 2020, the factors affecting university education, included the policy-making process, became diverse. Hence, it has become important for university students to not lose sight of university education. In this context, liberal education is an important theme related to the raison d’etre of the university.

In particular, Japanese university education tends to be Galapagosized, and several Japanese students may be tired of the internal competition. Therefore, it is important to continuously discuss the significance of the universities and the methodology of university education with neighboring Asian countries, taking liberal education as a theme.

This is my personal view, however, even as the research themes handled by the Japan Association for College and University Education have expanded and subdivided in recent years, there is a need to pursue liberal education that has been handled since the days of the Liberal and General Education Society of Japan. In this borderless era, we believe that it is time to objectively look at the current state of liberal education in our countries and improve it through further enhancing comparative research in South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan on the theme of liberal education.

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