A Comparison of the Internationalization of Education in Taiwan and Japan: The Perspective of Elementary School Principals

Abstract

Due to the increasing need to develop a globalized workforce, like many countries across the globe, Taiwan and Japan have extended the efforts to internationalize education to the elementary-school level. This study focuses on elementary school principals from both countries and explores the importance that these school leaders place on the level and ordering of various factors in the internationalization of education efforts. Using a questionnaire-based research design, a researcher-made instrument was administered to the principals of both countries, and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) as well as descriptive statistics were used to compare the internationalization of education goals of both countries in terms of the effectiveness of ordering and practical implementation. Afterwards, the study utilized corresponding analysis (CA) to determine the views of the principals of both countries regarding the relationships between the goals and strategies of international education, which are summarized therein. Finally, through the data obtained and resulting discussion, the study offers some suggestions for the educational institutions and educators of both countries related to the implementation of an international education.

Promoting International Education for Indigenous Elementary Schools in Taiwan: School Principals’ Perspectives

“…The results of this study reflect less success in indigenous elementary schools than in non-indigenous elementary schools in encouraging staff to attend international education workshops (Lin & Chen, 2013). In the indigenous elementary schools, encouraging staff to attend international education workshops has not been at all effective.…”

“…In Lin and Chen's (2013) research, Taiwan's non-indigenous elementary schools' principals ranked such dimensions in the same order. Principals in every school considered that the students should be the primary beneficiary.…”

“…This concept can also be applied to elementary schools' internationalization (Knight, 1997). Indeed, many countries, including Taiwan, have already implemented international education in the lower grades in schools (Lin & Chen, 2013).…”

“…As a result, nations' educational strategies have become concerned with countries' human development and competition, ultimately prioritizing the promotion of educational internationalization strategies that extend even to primary schools (Lin & Chen, 2013). …”

Internationalization in schools—Perspectives of school leaders

“…Other educational contexts, such as primary and lower secondary schools (referred to as 'schools' in the following), are also displaying a burgeoning interest in internationalization, although research remains scarce (Byram, 2012;Heidemann, 1999aHeidemann, , 1999bYemini, 2012Yemini, , 2014Yemini & Giladi, 2015). The importance of leadership has been widely emphasized in the successful internationalization of education (Heidemann, 1999a;Heyl & Tullbane, 2012;Nolan and Hunter, 2012), but leaders are rarely the subjects of internationalization research (Lin and Chen, 2014;Tinkham, 2011). With that in mind, the processes of internationalization at the school level and with regard to leadership require further research.…”