英文摘要
|
This essay starts with a historical reflection on the development of general education in Taiwan's higher education from 1980s, in which the relation between general education and specialist education (i.e. professional training, academic training) is particularly focused. In the first section of this essay, the authors give a short account of how general education was implemented in 1980s and argue that some difficulties were embedded since then. In particular, there were two. First, the leadership class of Taiwan's higher education seemed to have no clear idea of what the role general education should play in university education. Second, the promotion of general education was short of strong administrative support, and often faced strong opposition from the sector of professional education. In the second section, the authors try to map out various difficulties that general educationalists currently encounter; there are both difficulties from within and without. In the third section, the authors inquire the possibility of connecting general education with specialist education. They suggest that either some courses of general education can be specialized in terms of increasing their teaching-studying hours or some specialist trainings can be broadened to contain some philosophical or historical courses closely relating to the trainings concerned. In the concluding remarks, it is claimed that Taiwan experience can have some significance for general educationalists in mainland China.
|