Reforms in Higher Education of Japan

Abstract

The paper describes and analyses the content of fundamental reforms in higher education of Japan. The detailed literature analysis confirms that for the past 75 years it has been reformed many times. The key reform, characterized by the development of a completely new structure of higher education, occurred in 1945. Rapid economic development of Japan is associated with a series of factors, including the sequence of performed educational reforms; implementation of democratic approach towards education; autonomy of educational and academic processes; qualitative gradual internal and external audits in universities and evaluation of the higher education quality; sustaining the principles of deontology in education; adaptation of higher education to state and global marketing requirements; internationalization of educational and academic processes; actualizing the necessity of English language competency; improving effectiveness of primary and secondary education, since it affects the level of university applicants and educational outcomes. The research outlined that current educational reforms are directed at training highly professional and competitive specialists, able to participate in global economic processes and lead them in different countries. Internationalization of educational processes ids focused on developing skills of multicultural knowledge and interaction, abilities to understand and consider critically global historical and economic processes. The study states that, in addition to performed reforms, high technological and economic level of Japan is associated with highly developed personal ethical values of the Japanese, namely: self-respect and respect to others, hardworking and self-discipline, punctuality, responsibility and politeness.