中国独立学院の存在意義に関する実証研究

―その質保証と差別化を中心に―

抄録

  The massification of Chinese higher education not only has a significant effect on the expansion of opportunities to enter university, but has also influenced the development of and diversity within the Chinese higher education system. This is evident in its structures, purposes, institutional types, and talent cultivation functions and priorities. During this development, we note that a new institutional type, so called the “Independent Colleges”, was established in 1998. These independent colleges are an instructional innovation established by public universities (so-called parent universities) using private funds. Since their introduction, independent colleges have played an important role in terms of “propelling the development of Chinese higher education”, “responding to university educational demand”, and so on.

  On the other hand, questions regarding the tendency for such parent-child relationships to weaken each independent college’s mission have been neglected. Combined with the problem of their perceived poor quality, the significance of the existence of independent colleges is not clear. Considering this matter, it is necessary to assess independent colleges based on closer attention to issues of quality and the transmission of institutional characteristics from parent universities. However, little is known about these independent colleges regarding quality assurance practices and differentiation within the sector. How to negotiate a functional relationship with the parent university while maintaining a distinct educational mission and guarantee of autonomy in independent colleges, in addition to protecting the quality of their educational provision, are some of the most important issues in Chinese higher education.

  Thus, the aim of this paper is to explore the significance of Chinese independent colleges based on student survey data collected in 2014, in Fujian Province, China. Furthermore, the paper discusses some useful implications that can play a role in the development and future of Chinese independent colleges. To achieve this, I focusing on two perspectives of quality assurance and differentiation. First, I approached the problem from the perspective of two practitioners, based on an analysis of “who” (the practitioner), does “what” (the evaluation index), and “how they do it” (the means), to clarify how the government and the institution undertake quality assurance activities. Simultaneously, I explored the effects of these activities in terms of: “whether a unique educational mission has been set” and “whether the goal of this mission have been achieved”, through the survey of student satisfaction and goal achievement. Then regarding the second perspective, to assess the level of differentiation from the parent university, I use the same indicators to examine efforts related to “applied human resources” and student satisfaction from general universities and key universities.

  The findings of this paper can be summarized as follows, revealing the significance of the existence of independent colleges.

  Firstly, regarding the problem of “quality”, it was clarified that most students at independent colleges recognize that they are to be trained as “holistic human resources”, in accordance with the main mission of independent colleges. Furthermore, even though they may be inadequate in the provision of skill-based or practical knowledge, educational programs are being positively evaluated by most students attending an independent college. These findings are potentially evidence of the positive effects of independent colleges’ efforts to develop their reforms focusing on aspects such as “curriculum organization”, “specialized setting”, and “organization of faculty” to shape their own unique characteristics. In short, based on these analyses of “mission” and (View PDF for the rest of the abstract.)