This blog consists of a short written interview with Professor Pei-I Chou, National Taiwan Normal University. It is part of a cluster of blogs that present perpectives on Global Education and Learning in the Asia Pacific Region by prominent figures working in countries across the region, and supports an ANGEL webinar on the 16th of February. Find out more here
************************************************************************
Kjellgren and Richter (2021) stated that the definition of Global Competence (GC) encompasses both intercultural and sustainability dimensions. In the following paragraphs, I will elaborate on these aspects of global education and learning. Additionally, I will illustrate how various educational levels, including higher education as well as primary and secondary education, support policies related to Global Education for Learning (GEL).
In Taiwan, global education began to develop after the lifting of martial law in 1987. Since then, Taiwan's educational policies have shifted from a China–centered assimilation approach to one that emphasizes multiculturalism and highlights the voices of Taiwan's Indigenous peoples. Later, Taiwan underwent a period of rapid economic growth, which attracted many new immigrants from East and South Asia. The number of new immigrants surged from 17,512 in 2001 to 135,080 in 2011. In that same year, 21,516 new immigrants arrived in Taiwan for marriage, making up approximately 13.01 percent of all married couples, according to the National Immigration Agency (2012). The increasing ethnic and cultural diversity in Taiwan highlights the need for multicultural education policies.
Historically, environmental education (EE) has had a robust local tradition associated with detrimental effects on Taiwan’s natural environment and human health resulting from industrial development. Recently, ESD emerged as a general policy related to UN– and UNESCO–led initiatives. EE and ESD rhetoric have been juxtaposed or regarded as equivalents for official and educational use (Yeh, 2017). Not a member of the UN, Taiwan follows the norms of the UN for SD and works with other countries to promote global SD (Executive Yuan, 2022). The Taiwanese government has translated and transformed these international initiatives into national policies (Huang et al., 2021). In December 2002, the Basic Environment Act authorized the official position of the National Council for Sustainable Development (NCSD; Law and Regulations Database of the Republic of China 2002). In 2009, the NCSD formulated the Sustainable Development Policy Guidelines (Executive Yuan, 2009), highlighting the importance of ESD competency cultivation through cooperation among the government, academics, industries, and international organizations. The Environmental Education Act was implemented to help citizens understand the interactions among individuals, society, and the environment and enhance their environmental awareness, ethics, and responsibility toward SD (Legislative, 2011). According to the EE Act, the government should direct schools to develop environmental learning programs and teaching materials and to implement teaching activities (Law and Regulations Database of the Republic of China, 2017). It also mandates that civil servants, including government officials, school administrators, teachers, and K–12 students, complete at least four hours of annual environmental and sustainability education coursework.
In higher education, Taiwan’s government has made strides toward the internationalisation of higher education since the early 2000s. In 2001, the White Paper on University Education Policy released by the Ministry of Education (MOE, 2001) indicated the insufficiency of internationalisation in higher education. Therefore, two programmes – Enhancing International Competitiveness of University Plans and Improving English Proficiency of Higher Education Students – were developed to boost universities' global competitiveness and enhance students’ English proficiency. These programmes were tailored to promote greater engagement with foreign universities by providing greater mobility opportunities and improving language competencies (Chan, 2021).
In 2013, the MOE (2013) released the White Paper on Talent Cultivation that pushed universities to deregulate and transform in response to the challenges of globalisation. The goal was to develop global human resource planning and cultivate globally competent talent possessing essential skills such as global mobility, employability, information and communication technology, innovation, global citizenship and foreign language proficiency. To achieve this, domestic universities were encouraged to strengthen connections and cooperation with overseas universities to provide opportunities for expanding students’ international perspectives and increase their global mobility and competitiveness.
In 2018, the National Development Council of the Executive Yuan launched The Blueprint for Developing Taiwan a Bilingual Nation by 2030 to improve English proficiency and national competitiveness. As part of this initiative, the MOE (2021) launched The Program on Bilingual Education for Students in College (BEST) to encourage universities to offer courses in different fields using English as the medium of instruction. The goal is to produce skilled bilingual professionals, enhance teaching abilities in English and establish a bilingual environment.
In 2011, the Ministry of Education (MOE) proposed the "White Paper on International Education for Primary and Secondary Schools" (referred to as IE1.0) to cultivate talents that possess international literacy and a global perspective. The expectation was that through various internationalization activities in education, we could nurture individuals with a strong national identity, embody international literacy, global cooperation, and a sense of global responsibility. The primary measure to promote this initiative was to provide subsidies to schools for the implementation of the "School–based International Education Project" (SIEP). In April 2019, the MOE established the "Primary and Secondary Education Internationalization Office" (PSEIO) to review the outcomes of implementing IE1.0. Following this review, the "White Paper 2.0 on International Education for Primary and Secondary Schools’ (referred to as IE 2.0) has been proposed from 2020 to 2025. With the vision of "Connecting with the World.", the primary and secondary education sectors are expected to achieve three main goals: (1) Cultivating Global Citizens (2) Promoting Education Internationalization (3) Expanding Global Exchanges.
Universities in Taiwan were encouraged by the bilingual policies to enhance their connections and cooperation with overseas institutions. These initiatives aim to provide more mobility opportunities for students, thereby improving their language skills and global competitiveness. Additionally, K–12 schools were encouraged to participate in the School–based International Education Project (SIEP) and to implement online bilingual teaching projects through collaboration with schools in English–speaking countries.
The policies, projects, and curriculum content related to global / international education in Taiwan primarily focus on improving language skills, which are essential for fostering intercultural understanding. However, these initiatives often reflect a neoliberal marketplace perspective that emphasizes global competitiveness and capitalist development. Our study(Chou & Wang, 2023；Chou & Ting，2016；Chou, Cheng, Lin, & Wang, 2015) revealed that the Taiwanese curriculum prioritizes consumers’ choices and lifestyles over issues of power, politics, and citizenship. Topics related to social justice and human rights receive insufficient attention and Goal 1 no poverty gets the least attention among the SDGs in Taiwan's curriculum. I hope educational policymakers and curriculum developers to critically examine the representation of the SDGs and other global issues within the curriculum. It's crucial to organize these topics coherently and to ensure they are connected across all curriculum guidelines, areas, and subjects at every educational level.
Although Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations, the Taiwanese government actively participates in initiatives related to sustainable development (SD) and education for sustainable development (ESD) led by the UN and UNESCO. They translate and adapt related documents into national policies (Huang et al., 2021), adhere to SD norms, and collaborate with other countries to promote global sustainable development (Executive Yuan, 2022). Taiwanese universities are encouraged to strengthen their connections and cooperation with international institutions. Additionally, K–12 schools are seeking partnerships with overseas sister schools to implement bilingual teaching projects through collaboration. I believe that ANGEL and similar international educational communities could serve as excellent platforms to support Taiwan in further developing global education and learning (GEL).
The Taiwanese government actively engages in initiatives related to SD and ESD or GE that are led by the UN and UNESCO. They translate and adapt relevant documents into national policies. However, GEL needs to be tailored to local contexts that address the underlying causes of many global issues. Moreover, it is important to include more indigenous voices in these initiatives in Taiwan.
I am currently involved in a project sponsored by the National Science and Technology Council: Parental Involvement in Education for Sustainable Development: Current situation survey and development and implementation of curriculum experiments and empowerment workshops (2024/08/01~2027/07/31, NSTC 113–2410–H–110–023–MY3).
I also served as the principal investigator for recent ESD projects funded by the National Science and Technology Council, which are listed below: Localization of Education for Sustainable Development Goals: (1) Transforming Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment Based on Learning Objectives (2023/08/01~2024/07/31, NSTC 112–2410–H–110–017–). (2) Teaching for a sustainable future: Integrating education for sustainable development competencies into teacher education (2022/08/01~2023/07/31, MOST 111–2410–H–110–013–). (3) Constructing Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment for Education for Sustainable Development: Taking a Future Focus (2019/08/01~2022/07/31, MOST 108–2511–H–110–003–MY3). (4) Global Competency Approach for English Curriculum Development, Teacher Training and Instruction Implementation: Taking PISA 2018 Global Competence Assessment as a Frame of Reference (2018/08/01~2019/07/31, MOST 107–2410–H–110–059–; 2017/08/01~2018/07/31, MOST 106–2410–H–110–021–).
My recent research publications are as follows:
Pei-I Chou is a professor at National Sun Yat-Sen University in Taiwan. She previously served as the associate dean of the College of Social Sciences and the head of the Institute of Education. Her research interests focus on the sociology of education and curriculum development, particularly on global education and textbook analysis.
Webinar presenting research results of an international project examining the role of higher education institutions in integrating Global Education, with a particular emphasis on teacher education.
Be part of a session on the theme “Teacher Education for Global Social Justice” at June's International Conference in Berlin.
Carousel image attribution: "panoramio (2525)" by William “Patrick” Ma. Under CC 3.0
The establishment of this network and website has been made possible with funding support from the European Commission.
The activities and publications of the network are the responsibilities of the organisers, the Development Education Research Centre, and can in no way be seen as reflecting the views of the European Commission.
