2000 Volume 9 Issue 2 Pages 63-77
In Japan, most of the graduate schools related to international development (GSRID) are now focusing on practical education in addressing development issues. To this end, the overseas fieldwork (OFW) was introduced as an effective education tool, tailored to suit real development problems in the field; however, the actual situation of application is not so clear yet. Therefore, this article attempts to explore OFW's role in the 21st century. The final aim of education for international development in Japan is to educate people who will perform activities related to international development. They require two abilities: (1) be well versed in theory and (2) be able to perform the actual tasks of international development. OFW provides students with such abilities as: (1) measuring a development phenomenon by some basic standards clearly and (2) capturing the phenomenon more accurately in the field.
A questionnaire survey results from GSRID in Japan regarding OFW shows that 4 out of 35 schools have already introduced OFW in their curriculum. Of the 31 schools that are yet to introduce OFW, 57% have plans to do so in future.
OFW has had two types of practice for study purposes. Previously, a discipline-oriented approach focusing on a specific field was popular. Recently, an interdisciplinary approach was introduced to give methodology training in the field such as PCM method, KJ method etc., to solve problems in developing areas. The latter is more pragmatic in solving real-life problems than the former, and thus, is essential for students to execute international development activities in the field. To introduce OFW, more instructors and sufficient budgets are required. However, shortfalls are still faced. Perhaps, collaborative efforts in seeking assistance from other international organizations or by combining with other counterpart universities (via academic exchange agreements) for a joint OFW would ensure that the tasks of OFW are easily carried out.
