The purpose of this study is to discuss how to promote deep learning in international exchange for students who specialize in education at a Japanese university. The aim of this learning is for them to gain diverse perspectives and senses of value by visiting kindergartens and schools in Taiwan through participation in a Taiwan study tour.
The goal of the study tour is twofold: the first is to encourage students to understand the impact that macro systems, such as the politics and economy in East Asia surrounding Taiwan, had on the educational content in Taiwan by using the bioecological model proposed by Bronfenbrenner (1979, 1986). The second is to promote understanding in the existence of conflicts among the many different “voices” concerning relationships with China and Japan heard in Taiwan by introducing the concept of polyphony proposed by Bakhtin(1995).
There are three outcomes from this study tour that 61 university students participated in over 12 years. Firstly, visiting historical museums as well as educational institutions in Taiwan allowed students to understand how the complex history and political circumstances in Taiwan formed the current relationship between Japan and Taiwan and lead to differences in educational content between the two countries. Second, hearing many different senses of value and voices among students from Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea enabled students to think deeply about how national identity should be conceived as well as the characteristics of education in Taiwan. Third, an encounter with the views on marriage and professions of Taiwanese people promoted reconsideration of the students regarding their own life course.
Results may suggest that the experience of international exchange through hearing different “voices” in East Asia during one’s adolescence is important not only in these experiments outcomes, but also in providing an essential basis for lifelong learning.
