English Abstracts

Leadership Roles of Vice-presidents in
National University Education Reforms
NATSUME Tatsuya

The purpose of this article is to clarify the leadership roles ofVice-presidents as well as the difficulties such roles entail in national
university educational reforms.
The functions of vice-presidents are as follows; 1) determine thetargets and concrete contents of educational policy, 2) coordinate
opinions among various actors in universities, 3) oversee thecommittees of education, 4) monitor educational reform progress
made by various actors.
Vice-presidents face many difficulties in fulfilling their functions.
Working with several faculty members and administrative staff
requires coordination of opinions among stakeholders, which may bechallenging. Vice presidents, in general, are busy with daily duties andresponsibilities, and thus have limited time to formulate effective
ideas for educational reform.
To overcome these challenges and difficulties, many vice presidents
manage to develop good ideas by functioning independently, withpresidents, other vice-presidents, and administrative staff.
Following are the implications we obtained from interviews withvice-presidents:a) The role of a vice-president is important for implementing
educational reform.
b) Vice-presidents, however, have limited opportunities to exhibit
their leadership skills.
c) We need overwhelming the concept ofheroic leadership
and/or charisma leadership.
d) We need to distinguish whether the role of a vice-president isthat of a representative or a manager.
Professor, Center for the Studies of Higher Education, Nagoya
University303

Leadership Functions of Vice-President for
Education at National Universities
OTSUKA Yusaku*
NATSUME Tatsuya**

The challenges faced by leadership positions within university
executive divisions have attracted attention in Japan. Therefore, aquestionnaire survey was conducted targeting vice-presidents foreducation at national universities to explore how their leadership isformed and exercised and what challenges they face. Questionnaires
were mailed to the vice-presidents at all national universities (65responses, collection rate: 75.6%). This paper reports the tallied
results of this survey to share data on the current state of leadershipby vice-presidents for education.

The key finding is that vice-presidents are appointed by presidents after having served in otheruniversity offices as trustees or heads of departments. Much of vicepresidents

time is consumed in meetings with education-related

committees and administrative staff; it seems that their position isbusier and more stressful than expected. Factors that hinder
educational reform include the lack of crisis awareness on university
campuses, inadequate cooperation among departments, andinsufficient coordination within the administrative department. We
have identified needs for appropriate training opportunities for vicepresidents as a step toward improving the current situation as well as
providing venues where information on the latest trends in highereducation university development can be shared.
*Professor, Center for the Promotion of Excellence in HigherEducation, Kyoto University**Professor, Center for the Studies of Higher Education, Nagoya
University304

Current Issues on Leadership Development for
Academic Administrators in the US
NAKAJIMA HidehiroThis paper examines the design and implementation of leadershipseminars for academic administrators on the basis of participant
observations. Academic Affairs Meetings hosted by the American
Association of State Colleges and Universities are among the major
seminars for executives in higher education institutions in the US.
These seminars succeed in providing opportunities for participants toreflect on personal leadership and organizational changes. Although
the program is quite different from other residential seminars, mostparticipants evaluated the seminar as worthwhile because learningfrom others' experiences is crucial for building confidence in one's
own leadership style. The implications derived from this case study
are as follows.

First, it is important to provide opportunities for

executives in Japanese higher education to exchange and shareleadership experiences with others in similar institutions. Second,
centers for higher education research in national universities in Japan
should play an important role in creating leadership development
seminars for executives, who wish to learn alternative ways ofmarketing and training designs.
Associate Professor, Graduate School of Professional Development for
Educational Design and Management, Meijo University

305

Institutional Management andProfessional Development of Managers
in UK Higher Education
OHMORI Fujio

This article examines the practices of institutional management
and trends in professional development of managers in UK higher
education and finds out implications for Japan.

Special emphasis isplaced on the importance of contexts at both levels of the nationalsystem and institutional governance.
The article starts with a literature review on such topics asmembers of top management teams, Vice-Chancellors andPro-Vice-Chancellors, institutional management becoming corporate,
the current state of leadership, and career paths for managers.

It isintended to reach a systemic understanding of these topics and clarify
the above-mentioned contexts.
The reality of institutional management, including strategicmanagement, is explored through a case study of the University ofNottingham.
Then, this article proceeds to introduce findings from an interview
with officers from the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education,with focus on the Top Management Programme. The findings
include emphasis on strategic management, change management andinnovation.
Through the discussions of the overall research results, a numberof implications for Japan emerge.

The crucial ones include not only

the necessity of professional development for managers but also thatof aligning such development with changes in the national system andinstitutional governance, which will enable autonomous institutionalmanagement.
Professor, CentreUniversity306

forHigher Education, TokyoMetropolitan

Key Leaders in University Reform:
Case of Leadership Program by the Australian
Learning and Teaching Council
NAKAI Toshiki

This paper profiles key leaders in university reform, analyzing 43
projects funded by the Leadership for Excellence in Learning andTeaching Program of the Australian Learning and Teaching Council.
Each project focuses on diverse aspects of leadership in university
education reform. While few focus on top level leadership, many
projects focus on leadership in middle or lower positions.

Severalprojects seek to improve leadership skills of course coordinators, aposition which lecturers can fill. About half of the projects adopt theconcept of distributed leadership, which is less formally defined andsometimes focuses on leadership skills of faculty members without
any formal positions.
Many projects in the program are based on the concept of
post-heroic leadership, which is recently discussed in the field ofmanagement. On the other hand, recent policy recommendations
made to Japanese higher education are based on heroic leadership,
where in presidents and deans play more leadership roles in institutions. The case of Australia provides us with different aspects ofleadership in university organizations.
Associate Professor, Center for the Studies of Higher Education,
Nagoya University

307

Governance Reform and Leadership Skills
Development in French Universities
NATSUME Tatsuya

The objectives of this article are as follows;
1. To clarify the actual situations surrounding the policies andpractices of university government in national universities.
2. To elucidate the actual situations surrounding professional
development workshops that are organized by a special
training organization.
Although the French government has implemented certain reforms
for university education since the 1980s, not much attention has been
paid to university governance. Moreover, collegial style governance!
was regarded as the basic rule of university governance under the lawsof higher education in 1968 and 1984, which were promulgated after thestudents" movement in the 1960s and the left-wing government in the1980s.
Since the 1990s, the French government found it necessary toimprove university governance by shifting from the collegial style! tomanagerial style. This gave the Conference of University Presidents
some support, including workshops for developing management skills
and knowledge, which are conducted in special training centers run by
the Ministry of Education. At the same time, the target students forthe workshops are administrative staff, who work alongsidepresidential teams, not presidents and vice-presidents themselves.
Workshops for presidential teams seem to be the challenge for the nextstage of reform.
Professor, Center for the Studies of Higher Education, Nagoya
University308

Action Learning Methodology:
Making Formative Relationships between
Practice and Research
KAWAI Toru

Recent higher education reforms have occasioned and enablededucational practices based on experiential learning, such as service-learning, project-based learning, and cooperative education.

Inthese educational practices, participants engage in problem-solving
actions outside the campus and combine them with on-campus study.
This is the methodological basis of action learning, which has spreadthrough various practices in higher education. The purpose of thisarticle is to consider the assumptions and effectiveness of action
learning.

More specifically, I begin by reviewing past articles on

action learning and existing definitions on the basis of the studies of R.
Revans, the founder of action learning. Second, I examine previous
case studies of action learning and their relationships with other action modalities, such as action research and action science. Third, I
consider the fundamental ideas and effectiveness of action learning.
The fundamental idea of action learning stresses the importance ofbalancing action with learning in a synergistic manner. It also acknowledges the critical role of reflection in mediating between action
and learning.

I conclude that action learning is an effective way inhigher education both as action and learning of students and staffs
make use of reflection.
Graduate Students, Graduate School of Education, Kyoto University
Research Fellowship for Young Scientists, Japan Society for thePromotion of Science309

Historical Development of Career Support atPostwar Japanese Universities
YATAGAWA Rumi

This paper looks at the development of career support, which has
rapidly expanded and attracted attention over the past 10 years, froma multidirectional approach focusing on changes in the social structures of post-war Japan.
Student welfare and guidance activities have been incorporated
into university education as supplementary activities to make inner-curriculum education more effective. Later, under conditions ofincreasing student diversity, counseling efforts intensified and shiftedfrom a university-centric guidance approach to a supportive approachbased on student perspectives.
While career guidance in the past was provided as a part of welfare
and guidance functions, today s career support has become a central
student-support activity. Furthermore, as courses related to careerformation were introduced as part of the standard curriculum, career
support, which had been an extra-curriculum activity, became rapidly
incorporated as an inner-curriculum activity.
For this reason, career support is growing under current conditions,not only for the purpose of assessing the contents and results ofeducation but also as a proactive measure in response to the various
contemporary educational issues at Japanese universities and labor
issues among the youth.
Research Fellow, Center of Development and Support of Higher
Education, Rikkyo University

310

Undergraduate Education andGrowth of Students
KANEKO Motohisa

For any reform attempts for improving college education, grasping
the actual process and outcome of student learning in relation withvarious inputs is indispensable.

What are the students learning, how

are they learning, and which are the more important determinants?
Positive analyses in this research is just beginning in Japan. From
this perspective, this paper first tries to delineate a frame of reference
for analyzing the different aspects, or dimension, of knowledge andability that are expected to be obtained through college education(Section 1).

In the following sections, major determinants of theoutcomes are examined with respect to specialized knowledge(Section 2), generic competencies (Section 3), and development ofself-identity (Section 4) based on a survey data on forty-eight thousand
Japanese under graduate students. The major findings include; 1)
motivation to learn is the most consistent and significant factor
determining the learning outcomes at the three dimensions;2) thestyle of teaching, such as the posture to entice students interests andstudents participation, also plays significant roles, especially informing generic competence; and 3) even for forming self-identity, theteaching styles have positive contribution.
General Research Manager, Center for National University Financeand Management(Visiting Professor, Center for the Studies of Higher Education,Nagoya University)311

Graduate Education and ResearchTraining: Comparative Analysis
between Japan and the US
FUKUDOME Hideto

This paper discusses contemporary issues of graduate education
and research training in Japan and clarifies the most critical issues forJapanese graduate education through a comparative analysis with theUnited States.
Graduate schools of major American research
universities have massive and systematic research training systems.
They have large impact on universities not only in Japan but also inother countries that attempt to establish competitive researchtraining systems. After the Second World War, Japan developed
new graduate schools based on American models.

However, thereare certain principal differences between the graduate education
systems of the two countries.
This paper first reviews the directions of graduate education reformin Japan. It proceeds to compare the graduate education of the twocountries with special focus on certain issues, more specifically, thecritical differences in the structures of graduate programs and theprocesses of getting Ph.D. degrees. On the basis of these analyses, I
will discuss what is necessary for Japanese graduate education toformulate and implement higher quality research training that makes
the most of its unique characteristics.
Associate Professor, Research Institute for Higher Education,
Hiroshima University(Visiting Associate Professor, Center for the Studies of HigherEducation, Nagoya University)

312Professionalization of University Teaching in
the United Kingdom
KATO Kaori

The British higher education sector has in the last decade
established a professional recognition system to acknowledge andsupport all staff who are responsible for teaching and supportinglearning.
This paper investigates what professionalizing university teachingin the United Kingdom means forthe key profession

and centeredon higher education communities.
Firstly, I describe the policies and strategies of the system, and thecrucial roles played by SEDA in its development.
Secondly, I explore the significance of the system against thegrowing complication and difficulties faced by teaching staff atuniversities.
Finally, after reviewing and examining the system, I conclude thatthe professionalization of university teaching is a positive step towardsupporting professional development not only for the academic
profession but also for diverse teaching careers in higher education. It
also enhances professionalism in university teaching for professional
communities focused on student learning experiences.
Associate Professor, Centre for Faculty Development, NiigataUniversity(Visiting Associate Professor, Center for the Studies of Higher
Education, Nagoya University)

313