毋忘初衷──通識教育在東海大學的理念與實踐

A Review of the Ideal and Practice of the General Education in Tunghai University

1955 年創校的東海大學，是臺灣第一所推行通識教育的學府。六十年來，通識教育在東海經歷不同階段的變化，其間甚至中輟十多年，迄今卻仍是學校教育重心之一，盡力發揮人文教育的理想。本文分三個部分，第一部分說明早期東海通識教育理想的思想淵源和教育目標，說明通識教育在學校中斷的原因。第二部分說明1980 年代以來，通識教育在東海的條件和挑戰，從臺灣整體教育環境的巨大變遷，到東海教育理想的失落和追溯，進而探討實施通識教育所需要的條件。第三部分說明現階段東海通識教育的新圖象，說明通識教育的課程架構和規畫特色，說明學校如何面對新環境的挑戰，採用各種創新做法，以期在現實環境落實公民教育的理想。

Founded in 1955, Tunghai University was the pioneer in Taiwan to introduce liberal education to its curricula. Sixty years from it was first introduced, general education in the university has underwent various stages of development, including a suspension of such a program for more than a decade. Struggles do not stop general education to be one of Tunghai University's top priority, promoting humanistic ideals. This paper will review the practice of general education in the university in three sections. First, it looks into the ideological origins and aspirations of the university’s liberal education in the early period, with further explanations on why the program was once disrupted. Second, it investigates the circumstances and challenges facing Tunghai University in developing its liberal education since the 1980s. It begins by investigating the major changes under the greater context of Taiwan's education system, then reviews the ebb and flow of Tunghai's vision of education, and further discusses the necessary criteria for successfully implementing liberal education. Finally, this paper elaborates on the new mechanism currently adopted by Tunghai University. This demonstrates the design and features of its curricula and explains how the university responds to the challenges in the new educational environment with creativity. With new curricula as its backbone, the university hopes to make its ideal civil education a reality.