Liberal Arts Education and Degree Seeking Program

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  • リベラルアーツ教育と学士学位プログラム
  • リベラルアーツ キョウイク ト ガクシ ガクイ プログラム

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<p>　 Even though we recognize much diversity in college education among Japanese Universities, every graduate receives the same degree : a Bachelor. I would like to pursue in this paper what the meaning of our Bachelor degree system is. I propose we should have a common understanding of the degree requirement, otherwise we may put the system in danger. How can we gain a common understanding of the degree system?</p><p>　 Japanese colleges are chartered by the Ministry of Education and Science based on the chartering regulations which were established by the Ministry itself. So we want to find a common basis for the degree requirement in the regulations. However, this is impossible, since there is no essential statement on degree requirements in them. We must look for the basis of degree requirements elsewhere.</p><p>　 For the purpose of finding the basis of the common requirements, first we examined the accreditation standard set by JUAA (Japan University Accreditation Association). We find the JUAA standard is mostly for professional education, which is traditional in Japan.</p><p>　 Then we analyzed a report written by the National Council on University Education, which is entitled, “Universities in the 21st Century.” The report proposes a new college education the so-called “GAKUSI KATEI” in Japanese. The idea of GAKUSI KATEI is a compromise idea between professional education and liberal arts education.</p><p>　 Lastly we studied AALE (The American Academy for Liberal Education) standard of liberal arts education. Through the study, we discovered a difference in character between the Japanese standard and the AALE standard. The Japanese standard is for knowledge based education while the AALE standard is for ability based education. This difference is crucial. We may find a basis of common degree requirements if we accept and apply an idea of standard for ability based education to our education system.</p>

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