Taiwan: Students, Education, and Academia

Abstract

To be sure my role as an educator in Taiwan has been of primary importance in the last 20 years. I have taught countless classes and innumerable students in dozens of schools and homes, from children to high school students to university classes. As well, I have taught countless others in local businesses, government offices, cram schools, and one-on-one tutoring situations. Much is going on in education in Taiwan, and important changes have been made recently. Notably, a 12-year mandatory educational system has been instituted, which has raised the level of education in Taiwan to international levels. Student scores on international tests have been high, indicating how students can respond well to the best teaching methods (to be examined below). The nation recently organized the 2019 International Conference of Curriculum Leadership for Principals, seeking to facilitate the implementation of the 12-year program, internationalize elementary and secondary schools, and develop curriculum direction. The Ministry of Education has also launched its Life Education Middle-Term Project, with the aims of developing life skills and values in young students. I find this to be a very positive development in youth education in Taiwan, perhaps outside of my university focus, but no doubt an important area of research and development (I have written on Life Education before). The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also launched its Teen Diplomatic Envoys Program, which dispatched a group of teen students to Indonesia and New Zealand in January 2020 “to engage in academic and cultural exchanges with non-governmental organizations and high schools” (Taipei Times, January 21, 2020). I quite like this idea. In another important area, Taiwan is seeing a new focus on industry-academia collaboration, which is branching into many new areas of research and development. I am myself participating in one such industry-academia project at this time. Other developments in Taiwan education have been rich and worthwhile, including “exam free” pathways to upper secondary school (more on this below), relaxation of an overly restrictive curriculum (particularly aimed at young students), subsidies for students from disadvantaged homes, support for physically impaired students, improved vocational education, widely available arts education, and the promotion of e-learning.