E-Journal of Philosophy of Education:
International Yearbook of the Philosophy of Education Society of Japan, Vol. 1, 2016

The Education of Transferable Skills at Japanese Universities

Misao HAYAKAWA
Sugiyama Jyogakuen University
Abstract
Colleges and universities in Japan are responding to the shift of educational goals due to the diffusionof new learning methods such as active learning and deep learning. The positive use of active learningand deep learning is a common goal for schools and colleges in our country. This movement generated
a new task for our college education: the mastery of transferable skills. It is one of the centralcomponents of general attributes for our college students to learn during their university lives.
Transferable skills are the essential components of practical intelligence, which will be applied tofuture life situations. The aim of learning transferable skills is to nurture a person of independent mind
and cooperative intelligence. Colleges of education are expected to play an important role not only inthe provision of liberal arts education to their students but also in the development of special teacher
education programs for their students to learn the methods of active learning and deep learning.
Those students are the future teachers who will disseminate the methods of active learning and deeplearning to their students. We should carefully watch the development of this reform movement at ourschools and colleges.
Keywords
Active learning, deep learning, transferable skills, teacher education, independent mind, cooperative
intelligence

Introduction
Colleges and universities in Japan faced a radical change of educational policy during
the early 1990s. Especially college education and university research went through adrastic change during this decade. The Deregulation of University Establishment
Standards, which started in 1991, set the basic orientation of the present reform. Also, theThe Education of Transferable Skills at Japanese Universities

65

enactment of the National University Corporation Law in 2004 accelerated this trend. Inthe 1990s, the teaching methods and learning techniques widely practiced in theAmerican colleges were introduced into Japanese college education. The Ministry ofEducation, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) reported that theintroduction of these methods and techniques improved our college teaching practices
and upgraded the quality of our students’ learning activities.
In the meantime, Japanese universities had to respond to the market principle
introduced by the MEXT to win competition-based financial support for excellent
research. This policy accelerated the development of useful university research activities
and university researchers suddenly noticed the merits of evidence-based scientificresearch. In this sense, our university reform was basically initiated, supported, andaccelerated by the government. Also, the government started to introduce a new policy
of functional grouping of our national universities based on the two standards of “researchand service.” This policy will be another stimulus for transforming the function andhierarchical structure of colleges and universities in Japan.
The service ideal is rapidly changing the mission of our university teaching andresearch. In the process of changing from loosely structured communities to tightly
controlled organizations, Japanese universities are facing the challenge of incorporating
the new ideal of “serviceability” into their own missions. This service ideal also
influences the direction of our college education. Our colleges and universities should
produce “useful” human resources for the 21st century society. In this context, the newgoal of our undergraduate education will be discussed with reference to the learning oftransferable skills, one of the main goals for our college education proposed by the MEXT.
1. The new goal of college education in Japan: The mastery of transferable skills
In 2008, the Central Council of Education announced a new goal for our college
education. It is called the education of “Bachelor’s competencies,” or “graduateattributes.” They are the common learning outcomes of undergraduate education andthose competencies or attributes consist of four skills. Those four skills are “knowledge,generic skills or transferable skills, interpersonal and social skills, and comprehensive
learning and thinking ability.” These skills are essential for all our college graduates tolive in the 21st century knowledge-based society. The focus of this proposal is the masteryof generic skills or transferable skills. They include such skills as “communication skills,numerical skills, information literacy, logical thinking, and problem-solving skills.”
The focus of our undergraduate education after World War II has been the nurturing
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M. HAYAKAWAof the “breadth” of knowledge. Now, the focus has moved to the mastery of useful andpractical skills. Generic skills or transferable skills are considered to be practical anduseful skills in the 21st century. The mastery of these skills for college graduates is awidely shared goal by British universities.
Liberal arts education in Europe started as the education of seven liberal arts in theMiddle Ages. Liberal education in the modern age stressed the importance of thecultivation of intellect or mind for the educated person. However, the idea of intellect ormind was gradually transformed after the infiltration of natural sciences into college
curricula. American universities in the 20th century experienced the influence of thescientific method upon the social sciences and the humanities. Gradually, the concept of“practical intelligence,” which appreciates the value of practical and useful knowledge,influenced the goals and contents of the college education. Up against this tide of higher
education in the United States, the College of the University of Chicago introduced the“Great Books” curriculum and the education for “speculative intellect” in the 1930s(Butts, 1939). This program adopted the study of classics as the core of their curriculum.
After World War II, Japanese college education adopted the idea of “generaleducation” proposed by Harvard University (Harvard University, 1945). The basic goalof general education was to cultivate the free person living in a new democratic society
through the learning of “intelligence in action.” Intelligence in action is an intellectualand practical tool not only to cope with pressing problematic situations but also to be
applied to future life situations. At the beginning of the 21st century, Japanese colleges
and universities confronted the unfinished task of the 20th century college education: thecultivation of practical intelligence, which is presently called the learning of generic skills
or transferable skills.
2. Active learning for the education of independent mind
In accordance with the rising need for learning the generic skills or transferable skills
at our colleges, new types of learning methods are also proposed: active learning anddeep learning. While the first phase of our university education reform during the 1990s
can be called the time for innovation in “teaching,” the second phase of that in the 21stcentury can be called the time for innovation in “learning.” It is also called the time for
introducing innovative learning methods, because the active and participatory learning
methods are required to upgrade the qualities of the learning activities of our college
students.
According to the survey conducted by the MEXT, almost 70 percent of our college
Thematic Research: Higher Education as a Field of Philosophy of Education: Frontiers of Philosophy of Education

The Education of Transferable Skills at Japanese Universities

67teaching is conducted in lecture style and only 30 percent is delivered in an active type ofteaching such as seminar, experiment, fieldwork, internship, etc. Another survey
conducted by the MEXT informs us that those students who are good at problem-solving
tend to score high on tests and examinations and those positively engaged in active
learning find independent and cooperative learning more congenial. The OECD’s
Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) test evaluates student academic
performance in both basic knowledge and the application of knowledge to life situations.
In order to cope with this PISA test, our schools started to concentrate on the teaching ofcreative problem-solving knowledge.
The diffusion of active learning at our colleges also aims to promote the disseminationof problem-solving skills and transferable skills. Problem-solving skills are required forthe solution of a pressing current problem and for tackling future life situations. We needmore experience in the teaching of problem-solving skills and the assessment of themastery of transferable skills at our colleges and universities. New types of performanceassessment to evaluate the mastery and validity of transferable skills are still at thedevelopment stage. The introduction of active learning in college education willtransform the curricular contents and evaluation system in the near future.
3. The mastery of the structure of knowledge through deep learning
Deep learning, an advanced form of active learning, is also considered to be anothermethod for the mastery of transferable skills. It aims to advance student’s learning
abilities such as the deep understanding of concepts, the bridging of concepts withexperience, the discovery of the structure and pattern of knowledge, the promotion ofcritical thinking, and the deeper interest in knowledge. Deep learning consists of themixture of two orientations: one is a deep commitment to the object of learning and theother is the widening of the horizon of knowledge.
The problem-solving learning adopted by Japanese schools after World War II wascriticized as a vulgar form of activism—a busy but empty learning activity. Deep learning
should avoid the trap of the misguided idea that to be active is a guarantee of learning
deeply. Active mind or intelligence grows because the student thinks and learns deeply.
In that sense, we try to examine the untested possibility of experiential learning andcooperative learning of the 20th century: the nurturing of independent and cooperativemind. Deep learning in the 21st century, which aims to promote the advancement ofindependent mind and cooperative intelligence, will be a common method shared byprimary, secondary, and higher education in our country.
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68M. HAYAKAWAFor the time being, the mastery of transferable skills through deep learning will be avital tool for the activation of our college education. Deep learning should be useful andeffective for all the students. We need the evidence that every student can learn deeply.
Every student can engage in some type of deep learning: some are intelligent enough tolearn the sophisticated method of research and inquiry, others are good at learning themethods of problem-solving, and still others are committed to productive projects. The
diffusion of deep learning is harder than that of active learning. We should carefully
examine the relationship between active learning and deep learning and its implications
for the mastery of transferable skills.
In addition, we should refer to the role and meaning of the dominant type of teachingat Japanese colleges: lecture. Lecture is an unpopular learning method for the present
educational reform in our country. In contrast to the emphasis upon student’s active
learning and deep learning, the role of lecture is rarely discussed. Lecture is considered
to be one-way and passive, and teaching is of secondary importance compared withlearning. We should notice that the deep understanding and interpretation of the structureof knowledge can be achieved through the education by lecture. An excellent lecture has
its own unique structure and irreplaceable quality. It will be a stepping board for selfreflection and the beginning of deeper thinking. Can a MOOC or flipped classroom be
an alternative tool for an excellent lecture? The proposal of active learning and deeplearning will be a good opportunity for rethinking the meaning of lecture in the 21stcentury.
4. The role of transferable skills in teacher education
The education of transferable skills in our country will be utilized for another purpose:
education in response to the diverse needs of our students. Ortega Y Gasset, the Spanish
philosopher, indicated that the university in the 20th century would be an institutionaccessible to the average man (Ortega Y Gasset, 1944). This is true for Japaneseuniversities. Our colleges and universities need to develop new academic programs
responding to the diverse interests and needs of our youth. The education of transferable
skills is considered to be an effective means to this end. Our universities are required tomaintain the tradition of liberal education to cultivate a new generation of independent
citizens. The mastery of transferable skills will play a significant role in achieving thisgoal. Transferable skills must be integrated with the tradition of liberal education. In thatsense, the learning of transferable skills should play a pivotal role in nurturing the art ofproblem-solving and inquiry and the love of wisdom.
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The Education of Transferable Skills at Japanese Universities

69In our present higher education reform, the colleges of education play a central rolein promoting the diffusion of active learning and deep learning. They should be a model
school to impart the teaching and mastery of transferable skills to their students and toupgrade the quality of their own teacher education programs. Some colleges of education
are successful in introducing the new learning systems such as problem-based learning,
the flipped classroom, cooperative learning, etc. They are ready to develop unique teacher
education programs for nurturing the future teachers who will be experts of teaching
through active learning and deep learning. They are missionaries to spread the method ofactive learning and deep learning. Colleges of education should become experimental
centers of active and deep learning, so that they can disseminate the results of theireducational experiments to the primary and secondary schools. We need to watch
carefully the future development of active learning and deep learning at our colleges ofeducation.
Conclusion
The idea of in loco parentis is firmly embedded in the tradition of Japanese college
education. This culture of “caring” is pervasive throughout various practices of ourcollege education and, thanks to this culture of protection, those students who succeed ingraduating from their colleges within six years were almost 88 percent in 2014. Needlessto say, we should be careful not to produce a loosely controlled system of college
education, where over-protection is dominant and the mastery of transferable skills tocope with real-life situations is insufficient. The introduction of active learning and deeplearning into our college education and the learning of transferable skills should produce
a new balance between the search for academic excellence and the care for students.
The reconstruction of university education is one of the vital concerns of our country.
Our colleges and universities, where more than 50% of our 18-year olds enroll, should
exemplify the three missions of higher education: education, research, and service. In
such citadels of higher learning, some students attend the classes of liberal education for
the nurturing of free and independent minds, others engage in the cutting-edge research
activities, and still others seek advanced professional training.
Our duty is continuously to reconstruct our higher education system in order toimplement the ideals of original research, education, and service in the rising tide oftighter control and lessening discretion. Can the teaching and learning of transferable
skills be a new means to promote this goal? Now is the time for us to examine the role oftransferable skills as an essential tool for the reconstruction of 21st century higher
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M. HAYAKAWA

education.

References
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Griffin, P. & Care, E. Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills: Methods andApproach. Springer, 2015.
Harvard University. General Education in a Free Society. Harvard University Press, 1945.
Illich, I. Deschooling Society. Penguin Books, Ltd., 1971.
Jaspers, K. Idea of the University. Peter Owen Publishers, 1965.
Matsushita, K. ed., Dipu Akutibu Raningu - Daigaku-jyugyo wo shinka saserutameni(Deep/Active Learning: New Style of Learning and Evaluation). Keiso Shobo, 2015.
Ortega y Gasset, J. Mission of the University. Princeton University Press, 1944.

Thematic Research: Higher Education as a Field of Philosophy of Education: Frontiers of Philosophy of Education