提升雙向國際交流品質．化解高教與人才危機

Promoting the Quality of Two-way International Mobility to Mitigate the Crisis of Higher Education and Talent Development

教育是培植人才、推動國家永續發展與建設的根基，而宏觀優質的國際化教育則是落實此種信念、帶動社會進步與現代化的重要平臺。這也是前史丹福大學校長Gerhard Casper、前哈佛大學校長Derek Bok， 以及在2013 年上任的英國高等教育暨科技部長Greg Clark 堅信並推動的理念。六十年來，台灣從平凡落後的農業社會轉化為科技與國際經貿蓬勃發展的新經濟體，也開創了加州大學高棣民(Thomas Gold, 1986) 筆下的「台灣奇蹟」，與哈佛大學傅高義(Ezra Vogel, 1991) 稱許的「亞洲四小龍」。這種殊榮除了歸功於傳統中華文化，與政府在早期啟動的前瞻性高等教育政策外，國際化教育的推廣與落實，扮演著台灣進化的助力。六十年代前後的台美國際教育交流所形成的人才培育顛峰，更奠定了台灣全方位發展的穩固基礎。然而，在二十一世紀全球競爭與國際化教育成為發展常態時，台灣大學生原有的學術熱忱、前瞻宏觀、國際視野，與國際學術競爭力等素養，卻因二十年前廣設大學的誤導，以及少子化的形成，造成人才培育與國際化教育的急速倒退；甚至西方文明社會極為重視的民主精神與品格教養，也因此逐漸在現今的台灣社會中蒸發。除此而外，台灣在八十年代的國際教育榮景與英語文活力，也已從高峰逐漸下滑。如何在新世代中以創新思維來重建台灣原有的高等教育潛能、倡導品格教育、實踐創新理念，藉以提升國家全面的國際競爭力，則有待全民與政府的共同努力。提升雙向國際交流與教研品質、減縮大學數量、積極招攬國際生，是化解高教與人才培育危機的途徑。藉此亦可回歸價值倫理、強化師生的創新思維與英/ 外語能力。如此方能及時整頓台灣的高等教育品質、提升國際競爭力，從而超越當前教育危機，因應不斷翻轉與創新的世界潮流。

Education in general, and internationalized education in particular, is the capstone of national development and human capacity building. Former president of Yale University Richard Levin (2006) stated in strong terms, "As never before in the long history, universities have become instruments of national competition as well as instruments of peace. They are the locus of the scientific discoveries that move economies forward, and the primary means of educating the talent required to obtain and maintain competitive advantage."Former Stanford president Gerhard Casper shared the same view. Current University Minister of Universities and Science of UK, Greg Clark (2014) has gone further by putting weight behind outbound study. Taiwan used to be a role model justifying what Levin claimed, for being the top of "Four Little Dragons of Asia" as well as being lauded for its globally acclaimed "Taiwan Miracle." And yet, the misleading policy of recklessly expanding universities in the 1990s has jeopardized the solid educational and social foundation, causing the quality of higher education to decline rapidly, with its consequence of failing to nurture competitive talents as it used to. To brace for such a national crisis, it is imperative that the government minimize the quantity of universities by degree, and simultaneously promote the quality by rejuvenating its international education policy through a two-way (inbound and outbound) policy, allowing and recruiting more international students to enrich and diversify the university programs in Taiwan.