确保与提高大学教育质量——日本的视角

在概括日本大学改革宏观背景和动力的基础上,分析了20世纪90年代初期以来不同阶段相关改革政策与实践的变化,总结并探讨了国立大学教育质量保证与提高的基本类型及特点.文章还探讨了上述政策与评估制度对大学教育质量保证和提高产生的影响及问题.在结论部分,文章指出,20世纪90年代初期以来日本大学有关教育质量保证和提高的政策变化不仅受到这一时期国内和国际大背景的影响,而且还受到国立大学传统、内在特点以及现有内部管理结构和方式等的影响.此外,由于目前有关大学教育质量保证和提高的政策实际上是大学和政府合作或冲突、调和的结果,政府和大学仍对目前的政策和质量保证体系的操作产生直接影响,因此,目前大力提倡的第三者评价制度是否可以真正从第三者的角度对日本大学教育质量进行评价等值得进一步探讨.最后,目前在制度层面由政府制定有关保证和提高大学教育质量的政策、呼吁其他利益集团、包括第三者参与评估、建立质量保障系统等非常必要和重要,但改变目前国立大学的内部管理结构和方式、激发教师的积极性、提高教师本身的素质等,对保证和提高教育质量更有决定性意义.

Assuring and Enhancing the Educational Quality in Universities: A Perspective from Japan

Based on an analysis of context and rationale, and changing strategies and practice in different phases since the early 1990s, this article identifies major types or arrangements of assuring and enhancing the educational quality and touches on their characteristics, with a focus on Japanese national universities. Then the article examines effects and issues of current strategies and practice. In the conclusion, the article argues that, since the early 1990s changes in the strategies and measures for enhancing the educational quality are not only affected by recent domestic and international driving forces, but also impacted by the traditions, inherent character and the existing governance patterns in Japanese national sector. Besides, as the current strategies and measures are essentially resulted from conflicts, a coordination, or compromise between government and national university, and both government and individual institutions exert a direct and profound influence on the current quality assurance system, it is debatable whether the present quality assurance system is an absolute and real third party evaluation and whether it can do evaluation or accreditation from a perspective of an absolute or real third party. Moreover, it is important and imperative for government to implement relevant policies for assuring and enhancing the educational quality in national sector at a national level, to call for more stakeholders, including a third party and students, and to incorporate market mechanism into individual institutions, however, the attitudes and initiatives of faculty members and implementation of faculty development at program or study level eventually play the most decisive role in assuring and improving the educational quality.