宮崎国際大学　大学考

先般、IDE現代の高等教育「No.527教養と大学」（２０１１年１月号）に掲載された高等教育関係者の教養教育に対する見解を紹介し、私の考えも若干述べました。その特集を読んだ折に猪木武徳氏の論文に関心をもったのですが、理解できない文脈がありましたので、同氏の著書「大学の反省」（ＮＴＴ出版）を購入して繰り返し読みました。読み返すたびに著者の専門領域を超えた（著者は労働経済学者）多岐にわたる深甚な学識経験と社会の課題に対する深い洞察力には感服いたしました。　

私が「大学の反省」を読んだ第一の理由は「教養と大学」に掲載された猪木武徳氏の論文で主張された「デモクラシーは自由で強い公共精神を持つ市民を前提とする。健全なデモクラシーのための人材を育てるには、地方自治、ＮＰＯ、裁判員制度などを通して公共精神が涵養されねばならない。その公共精神の基礎は人文学的な素地のある教育にある。」というくだりを良く理解したかったからです。ここで猪木氏の言われる人文学はリベラル・アーツ教育又は教養教育と読み替えてもよいと思います。論理が飛躍しているように感じられて趣意がよく理解できなかったのですが、「大学の反省」を読んで良く理解することができました。簡潔にいえば、猪木氏はリベラル・アーツ教育の上に専門教育を受けた公共的知識人public intellectuals とも称すべき人材が人間社会には必要であると説いているのです。

大正時代と昭和時代初期に活躍した政治家高橋是清は、権勢を誇った陸軍軍部を恐れず、陸軍は少年期の男子を陸軍幼年学校に入学させ、陸軍内部だけで教育して偏狭な幹部に育て上げている害を公然と説いたと言われています。日本の不幸はこういう所にもあったのかと暗然とした気持ちになります。こういう歴史上の事実をみると教養教育の重大さに気付かされます。今起こっている東京電力の福島第一原子力発電所の事故も、設置前の設計思想の中に天災を十分予想して参画した公共的知識人がいたのかどうか疑問に思えます。事の重大さがよくわかっていない人たちの総意で、「民主的」に設置が決められたのではないかと疑いたくなります。

猪木氏の著書を読み、福島第一原子力発電所崩壊のニュースを見ると、教育問題は人類社会の存亡がかかっている問題だと思うようになりました。優れた職業的専門家、英語でいうprofessionals、つまり社会的エリート、社会的リーダーが絶対的に必要であるというのは当然ですが、その人たちには専門家としての能力だけではなく、豊かな教養教育に裏付けされたcritical thinking能力がなければならな いでしょう。さらにいうならば、このエリートを支えるできるだけ多くの教養教育を受けた人材が、日本はもちろん世界中に必要です。若者には物事を多面的に観察し、深く考えるための時間を十分かけた訓練が必要です。それが私たちが再起できる道ではないでしょうか。


LIBERAL ARTS EDUCATION REVISITED　

In my past blog, I introduced some views on liberal arts (or kyoyo) education expressed by some people in higher education in IDE Current Higher Education (No.529) featuring “Kyoyo and the College” (2011 January Issue), and I voiced my opinions to some extent. When I read it, I took interest in the article written by Takenori Inoki, but as I found some part in it that I could not grasp well, I purchased his book entitled Daigaku No Hansei (or Reflection of the College) (NTT Publishing Co., Ltd.) and read it over and over again. Every time I re-read his book, I was impressed by his wide-ranging, rich academic background, one that goes beyond his expertise (he is a labor economist), and his profound insights into social issues.

The major reason why I read Daigaku No Hansei was because I wanted to understand better his argument in “Kyoyo and the College”, where he states that“Democracy exists based on the assumption that citizens are free and possess a strong public spirit. In order to develop people for healthy democracy, public spirit must be nurtured by local governments, NPOs, or through the lay judge system. The foundation of the public spirit is found in the education that is based on humanities”. I believe the humanities referred to here by Mr. Inoki can be substituted by liberal arts education or kyoyo education. At first I did not understand his intention well, as there appeared to be a jump in logic, but I was able to understand it clearly by reading his book, Daigaku No Hansei. Simply put, Mr. Inoki argues that human society needs people, or “public intellectuals”, who are educated in the Liberal arts prior to engaging in specialized education.

Korekiyo Takahashi, a Japanese politician who was socially active in the Taisho era and in early Showa, not fearing the then powerful military, is reportedly said to have publicly voiced his opinions on the harm caused by the military forcing male children in boyhood to enter the Army Cadet School where they were educated only by military personnel to become officers with parochial views. I am saddened to learn that the calamity experienced in Japan was manifest even in ways such as this. Learning such historical facts, we are reminded of the importance of liberal arts education. Considering the recent accident involving the Tokyo Power Company’s Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant, it is doubtful that “public intellectuals” had joined the project for building the plant with any concept of the need for the design to anticipate fully the varying magnitudes of natural disasters. I cannot help suspecting that it was “democratically”decided that the nuclear plants would be built by a consensus of people who had not fully grasped the seriousness of the matter.

Having read Mr. Inoki’s book and watching the news of the collapse of the Fukushima No.1 nuclear plant, it occurs to me that the issue of education is of grave importance to the survival of humanity. It is a matter of course that we definitely need highly-skilled vocational specialists, or “professionals” in English, or in other words, the elite of society or leaders of society. Those people, however, need to be equipped not only with the abilities of professionals, but also with critical thinking skills that are rooted in rich liberal arts education. Furthermore, the entire world, Japan a given, needs people who have had as much liberal arts education as possible in order to support those elites. Today’s youth need to be trained to observe things from multiple perspectives and to take the time to think deeply about them. That is the path for us to take in order to make a comeback, isn’t it?

昨日（平成２３年２月２１日）付けの日本経済新聞に河合塾が調査した国内大学でのアクティブ・ラーニングの取り組み状況が報告されていました。調査は工学系（機械・電気系学科）と経済系学部について行われたものです。調査によると工学部系の大学では比較的よく普及しているが、文系学部では取り組みが遅れていると報ぜられています。

本学のような国際関係、教養系、語学系の大学でどのように取り組まれているかは不明ですが、教科内容から察して他の文系学部よりもよく普及しているのではないかと思われます。アクティブ・ラーニングは大学で従来行われてきた（今も行われているとも言える）大教室での講義の対極にあるような授業形態です。本学では平成６年開学当時から、この方法で授業を行ってきました。上記新聞報告の書き出しに「学習者中心に教育」を基準にした大学教育の質保証で、その鍵を握るのがアクティブ・ラーニング（能動的な学習）であるという説明があります。

大学はある程度少人数での演習やゼミがあったとしても、基本的には大教室で講義を聞くところというのが今でも普通に行われていることです。講義という形式は大学運営上きわめて経済的です。また場合によっては講義は学習上でも効率のよい知識伝達の手段であることを否定しませんが、多くの場合手抜きの誹りを免れることはできないでしょう。たとえ少人数になっても本質的に大人数と変わりはありません。少人数教育というのも曲者です。１０００人が１００人になっても少人数です。１００人が１０人になっても講義である以上は本質的には変わりはありません。しかし、本学で行っているような１５人前後のアクティブ・ラーニングによる授業とは大違いです。指導する教師の労力は講義とは比較にならない程きつく、授業に主体的に参加する学生の労力も講義を聞いてノートを取るだけの場合とは大違いです。

新聞に報じられているように、大学は教育の質を保証するために、ティーチングを主体にしたアクティブ・ラーニングを推進すべきであると思っています。大学は講義を聞くところではなく授業に参加するところです。講義を聞いて知識を獲得するだけの場合と、知識獲得に加え、考えて教師やクラスメイトと知的交流の場に主体的に参加しているのとでは違いがあって当然です。


ACTIVE LEARNING

In the Nikkei yesterday (the 2011 February 21st edition), there was a survey report made by Kawaijuku on the situation regarding the implementation of active learning methodology at Japanese colleges and universities. The survey was conducted only for engineering-related departments (departments with mechanical and electronic science divisions) and economics-related departments. According to the survey, active learning methodology is in relatively widespread use at engineering-related institutions, but humanities departments have been slow to adopt it.

There is no way to know how the situation is at institutions, like MIC, that offer programs in international relations, liberal arts or languages, but considering the nature of their programs, they seem to adopt such methodology much more than other humanities departments. The active learning methodology is a teaching methodology that is almost at the opposite end of the spectrum from the old method of lecturing (which is, to be sure, still in use) in a big classroom. MIC has been exercising this method of teaching since its founding in 1994. In the headline of the aforementioned newspaper report, there is a statement that reads, “in the framework of quality control of higher education with ‘learner-centered education’ being the norm, the key concept is active learning”.

Even though there are exercise classes or seminars in a relatively small class-size, most universities usually offer courses in a big classroom where students listen to the lectures. The lecture format is extremely economical from the standpoint of the financial management of the university. In addition, depending on the situation, it cannot be denied that it offers an effective means of delivering knowledge in teaching. At the same time, however, in most cases, it cannot escape criticism for its nature of cutting corners. Even if the class size becomes small, the situation essentially remains the same as the large classroom. The word “small-size class education” is also tricky. A class of 100 students can be called a “small-size class” when the number of students is reduced from 1000. Even if the number becomes 10 from 100, as long as the class is taught by lecturing, there is virtually no change in quality. There is a huge difference between such a class and the classes at MIC, where the active learning method is used to teach 15 or so students. The workload of the teacher is incomparably heavier than that of one who lectures, and in terms of effort on the part of the students, there is a huge difference between actively participating in class and just listening to a lecture and taking notes.

As has been reported in the press, in order to guarantee high quality education, I believe the university should promote an active learning methodology in teaching. The university is a place to participate in class, not just listening to the lecture. There should definitely be a big difference between the case where you just get knowledge by listening to a lecture and the one where, in addition to getting knowledge, you actively participate in intellectual communication with your teachers and classmates, thinking deeply about the issues in hand.

一昔前のことですが、教養が邪魔して云々という冗談めかした言葉がはやったことがあります。学生や若い知識人の間のはやり言葉で、あるタレントの発言が出どころだったように記憶しています。職場で「教養が邪魔してできないよ」とか「教養が邪魔していないね」と軽口や憎まれ口をきくのがはやっていました。

その当時の若者にとっては冗談であったにしろ、教養というものは人格の規範であったことは確かです。今ではこのような言葉はあまり聞くことはありませんが、暗黙の行動規範とか、恰好悪いというような感覚的な形での行動規制がなされているように思えます。このような形での教養の発露は穏健な社交上の問題でしょうが、平和な人間社会形成の上ではもっと根源的な教育的課題があります。

「IDE現代の高等教育No.５２７」２０１１年１月号は「教養と大学」という特集です。この特集には著名な大学の学長や知識人が寄稿されています。この特集は平成１４年２月２１日に出された中央教育審議会の「新しい時代における教養教育（答申）」とは当然でしょうが、趣が違って修養主義的な教養論だけではありません。

「教養主義の没落」（中公新書）著者の竹内洋氏（関西大学教授）はいまや教養主義のメッカだった文学部に入学してくる学生も教科書以外の本は読んだこともありませんと公言するのも珍しくなく、多くの学生は教養主義も教養も無縁なところにいるとし、教養の墓掘人を大学みずからが演じていると大変厳しい論評をされています。同じ大学教授の筒井清忠氏（帝京大学）は教養というものは、知識人の世界に実質的担い手を持たないものとなってしまい、大学・高等教育におけるその再興は容易ならざる状況にあるとし、大学学部段階の教養教育化を日本における教養復興の、ひいては「真性の知識人」＝総合的知識人復活の方途としてはどうかと提言されています。

竹内、筒井の両氏の見解は現在の学部教育に対して否定的で学部教育を教養教育に変えねばならないとの強い主張になっています。同様に鷲田清一氏（大阪大学学長）、青柳正規氏（国立西洋美術館館長）、猪木武徳氏（国際日本文化センター所長）も学部教育を教養教育化したほうが良いという見解ですが、もっと哲学的な深い思慮に基づく改革が必要だと考えておられるようです。例えば鷲田氏は専門家であるためにはその分野を複眼的にみることができるような教養が不可欠であるとし、専門教育と教養教育を並行させる必要を説いておられます。青柳氏は学部教育をできるだけlater specializationにしていくことが必要と述べ、猪木氏は人文学が教養であって、人文学を学ぶことによって独立心が養成されるという考えです。その教養教育が専門教育、職業教育の土台でなければならないという主張です。

以上の識者の考えとは少し異なり、清家篤氏（慶応義塾塾長）、坂東真理子氏（昭和女子大学学長）、羽入佐和子（お茶の水女子大学学長）の見解は現在の学制のなかで修養的教養教育を充実させていくという考えと教育的構想を示された現状を改善していこうとする意見です。

本学は設立当初から一貫して４年制の教養教育を行う大学として運営されています。「英語で行う国際的リベラル・アーツ教育」が本学を端的にあらわしています。本学の教育方針はいささかも変わることはありませんが、IDEに寄稿された識者の見解は本学教育の内容の深化をはかるという意味で示唆に富んでいます。



KYOYO
*The Japanese word kyoyo encompasses the notion of cultivation, refinement, sophistication, class, breadth of knowledge, etc., which refers to one’s achievement of acquiring proper knowledge and mannerisms through formal and informal learning experiences. It is also used to refer to liberal arts in higher education.

A long time ago, there was a time when the expression, “my kyoyo prevents me from doing something”, which was said as a joke, became very popular. It was a buzzword among students and young intellectuals, and if I am not mistaken, it came from a TV personality. It was trendy to joke around or make wry comments at work by saying something like, “My kyoyo doesn’t allow me to do that” or “You are not bothered by kyoyo, aren’t you?”

It is certain that for young men and women at the time, kyoyo was a canon of one’s character, despite its use as a joke. We rarely hear such expressions any more. They have been replaced with the kind of implicit codes of conduct or feelings shown in expressions like “it is not cool”. Indeed, these expressions seem to have the effect of controlling the behavior of young people. This kind of appearance of kyoyo is a matter of peaceful diplomatic social interactions, but when it comes to the construction of peaceful human society, it poses more fundamental educational issues.

The 2011 January Issue of IDE Current Higher Education (No.529) features “Kyoyo and the College”. This issue contains many articles written by intellectuals and presidents of prominent universities. Admittedly, unlike the report titled "Regarding Liberal Arts Education in the New Era" published by the Central Council for Education on February 21, 2002, which is different in its perspectives, the articles contained are not limited to discussion of discipline-oriented education.

Yo Takeuchi (Professor of Kansai University), the author of Downfall of Liberal Art-ism (published by Chuko Shinsho) says that today it is not unusual to find some students even in the department of Literature, once a mecca of liberal arts-ism, who do not hesitate to say that they have never read any books other than their school textbooks and that they are nowhere near liberal arts-ism or kyoyo. Based on such a fact, Professor Takeuchi harshly criticizes Japanese colleges for playing the role of gravediggers. Another college Professor, Kiyotada Tsutsui (Teikyo University) states that kyoyo is something for which no one in the current world of intellectuals bears a role of leadership; thus, its resurrection in college or higher education will be difficult to realize if the situation stays as it is now. He then proposes the idea that replacing the current undergraduate education with liberal arts programs is not only the way to resurrect kyoyo in Japan, but also the way to realize the rebirth of “true intellectuals” or all-around intellectuals.

The opinions of both Professor Takeuchi and Professor Tsutsui are negative with regard to the current undergraduate education and share a strong argument that advocates changing the current undergraduate education into a liberal arts education. Likewise, Seiichi Washida (President of Osaka University), Seiki Aoyanagi (Director of the National Museum of Western Art) and Takenori Inoki (Director-General of International Research Center for Japanese Studies) are positive about the idea of changing the current undergraduate education into a liberal arts education, but they seem to believe that such reform needs to be based on more profound philosophical ideas. For instance, Professor Washida believes that in order for one to be a specialist in some field, it is indispensable for them to possess the kind of kyoyo that enables them to see the field from a multifaceted perspective and he advocates the idea that specialized education and liberal arts education need to be provided simultaneously. On the other hand, Mr. Aoyanagi says that undergraduate education needs to be specialized as late in the program as possible, and Mr. Inoki believes that the humanities constitute kyoyo and by studying the humanities, people can develop their sense of independence. In other words, such education in kyoyo, he argues, must be the foundation of specialized education or vocational education.

Slightly different views come from Atsushi Seike (President of Keio University), Mariko Bando (Pesident of Showa Women’s University) and Sawako Hanyu (President of Ochanomizu University), who express the desire to improve the self-discipline-oriented liberal arts education in the current educational settings and to change for the better the current state of affairs where new educational plans have been shown.

Since its foundation and up to now, MIC has been run as a four-year liberal arts college, and the term, “International Liberal Arts Education Conducted in English” clearly shows the nature of its education. Although MIC’s educational mission is never impacted, the views of the scholars shown in IDE offer valuable insight for deepening MIC’s education.

大学卒業生の就職状況が著しく悪いことが新聞などで報じられています。本学の現在の状況は、担当者に聞くところによると、例年に比べて良いとは言えないが、宮崎県や全国の平均を上回り善戦しているとのことでした。就職活動にかける学生や就職促進担当者の熱意は必ず実るものと信じたい気持ちで一杯です。本学卒業生の就職状況は伝統的に優れていますが、それは、就職活動をする学生の自立した態度と担当職員の熱心な努力のたまものです。また、本学の教育内容が社会に受け入れられていることに自信を持って良いと思っています。

就職について雑誌などに書きたてられ、また当事者である学生達もマスコミの取材インタビューなどで答えているのは資格取得を含めた専門教育のことです。医歯系、法曹系や理工系に限らず文系の学部でも、ほとんどの学生は、専門教育を就職のための手段ととらえているように見えます。資格取得が就職の決め手のように言われますが、４年制大学卒業者の場合は教員免許以外では資格が問われるものはそう多くはないと思われます。大学院の課程修了者の場合は当然ながら専門性が問われますが、４年制大学卒業生に問われるものは属人的な社会適応性（あるいは当該企業への適応性）以外は本人のやる気と品位に関わっているように思います。品位とは教養と呼ばれる基礎学力と物事に対する対応力です。専門教育の知識力はそれほどには問われていないようです。問われるとすれば、専門教育を通して訓練された専門職業への基礎対応力ではないでしょうか。

多くの大学で専門教育を熱心に行い、また専門分野の研究大学という役割を担っています。大学によっては実学（実用学と言った方が正確かも知れません）を標榜しているところも多数あります。

学士課程での専門教育は一人前の専門家育成という意味では無理があるのではないでしょうか。もちろん、例外的に優れた能力を持った学生がいることはあり得ることですが、一般的には無理です。現代の科学技術は全ての分野で容易に理解習得することができないレベルにあります。

実学教育にも疑問があります。色々な大学の宣伝を見ると実学教育というのは実利教育と読み替えてもよい技能習得教育のようです。実学の価値を否定するものではありませんが、大学教育の中心に据えるのはいかがなものかと思います。このような教育は本来「専門学校」の任務です。あるべき大学教育から逸脱しています。実学というのならば、大学では虚学を学ぶべきではないでしょうか。虚学とはすぐには役に立たない学問です。あえていえば、文学や哲学がそのよい例です。数学や芸術もこの範疇に入るかもしれません。繰り返すことができない若き日に目先の利益を離れたことにも没頭することできたら、それは大変エキサイティングなことです。



JOB-HUNTING

It is reported in the newspapers that university students graduating this year are faced with extreme difficulty in getting jobs. The current situation of MIC students, according to the career counselor, is not as good as previous years, but it is no so bad as the percentage of the students who have received job offers is better than both the national average and that of Miyazaki Prefecture. I want strongly to believe that the students’ dedicated efforts and the passion of the career counselor will eventually be rewarding. The traditionally very high job placement rate of MIC graduates is attributable to students’ independent attitude in job-hunting activities and the dedicated effort of the career counselor who helped them. In addition, we should be proud of the fact that MIC’s educational program has been well accepted by the society at large.　

When it comes to job-hunting, what is often talked about in magazines and other media and what is referred to by job-seeking students when they are interviewed by mass media, is specialized education that also enables students to acquire various licenses and qualifications. Most college students, not only those in medicine or dentistry, law or the sciences, but those in the arts as well, seem to regard specialized education as a means of getting a job. However, as far as the graduates of 4-year institutions are concerned, though it is often said that having qualifications will be a determining factor in getting a job, in fact, I do not think there are many jobs in society that require qualifications except for teaching positions, which requires a teaching certificate. In the case of those who have completed a graduate program, naturally their specialized skills are called into question, but when it comes to the graduates of 4-year institutions, what is expected of them, in addition to their interpersonal social adaptability (or adaptability to a given company), has more to do with guts and character. Character consists of the basic academic skills that are referred to as Kyoyo, or refinement, coupled with the ability to cope with things in an effective manner. Not much is expected, it seems, of specialized skills or knowledge gained in specialized education. If anything, greater importance is placed on the acquisition of the basic skills one needs to adapt to his or her specialized job assignment.

Many universities are actively engaged in specialized education and they assume the role of research institution in their own specialized fields. There are also many other universities that proclaim they are teaching “jitsugaku” (this may more appropriately be called “jitsuyogaku” or pragmatic studies).

I strongly doubt that specialized education in undergraduate programs is meaningful for developing a mature specialist in any field. Admittedly, we could find a student with exceptional talent who would make it meaningful, but this is not the case for most students. Every field of current science and technology stands at a level that is not easily understood and learned.

There is a problem with practical education. As I see the publicity of various universities, the practical education depicted can be understood as materialistic education, which is, in effect, an education for learning various skills. I do not necessarily deny the value of practical education, but I feel pretty uncomfortable to see it being placed in the core of the college curriculum. This type of education is originally the responsibility of the senmon gakko, or the vocational school. It deviates from the original intent of college education. Therefore, for the sake of argument, kyogaku or impractical studies, as opposed to jitsugaku, should be taught at college. Kyogaku here refers to studies that have no immediate practical value. I dare say that literature and philosophy are good examples of such studies. Mathematics and art may also belong to this category. If you can be devoted to something that is far from immediate benefits in your unrepeatable youth, I find it so exciting.

平成２３年１月１６日付日本経済新聞４０面に山崎佳代子氏の「言葉という運命」というタイトルの寄稿文が掲載されていました。山崎氏は３０年以上前、当時のユーゴスラビアに留学したことがあり、アフリカのギネア・ビサオ出身の留学生と学生寮で同居し、その留学生はポルトガル語が公用語であるが、同じ留学生の山崎氏とは母語のセルビア・クロアチア語で話し、その上、プライドをもって毎日就寝前に母語の再学習に励んでいたという想い出話が書き出しです。まだ電子メールが使えなかった時代であるから、郵便が日本あるいは友人知人からの唯一の通信手段で、郵便局留めにした郵便を毎日期待を込めて受け取りに行ったこと。日本語に飢えていて「マルテの手記」の日本語訳などを貪り読んだこと。知人の日本人宅に招かれて思い切り日本語で話したことなどを思いを込めて書いておられます。そして、最後に日本語を抱えながら異国で生きていると言葉の大切さがはっきりすると結んでおられます。

山崎佳代子氏はこの寄稿文に添えられた紹介文には、現在ベオグラード大学教授で、詩人であり翻訳家であることが述べてあります。私は山崎氏を存知あげなかったのですが、インターネットでみると、多数の著書を出版されている高名な方であることが分かりました。

個人的な想いはさておき、言葉はあらゆる学問探求の道具となり、人と人とを結びつける強い力を持ちますが、一方では人のみならず国と国とを引き裂く暗い力も持っています。山崎氏は言語学者ではないが、文学などを研究の対象にした言葉の学問をしている学者ではないかと勝手に想像していますが、その根底には母語である日本語が思考や情感の芯になっているように思えます。

外国語を学ぶということは外国語を通して母語を学ぶことであると言った方がいます。つまり、私たちにとって例えば英語を学ぶということは英語を通して日本語を学ぶという見方です。考えたり、思いを巡らせたりすることを学ぶと言い換えれば、私たちにとって英語を学ぶというのは、どうしても日本語と対比しての頭脳活動ですから、日本語を学ぶということにもなります。論理が少し飛躍しているようにも思えますが、外国語を学ぶというのは、何語であろうと終局的には日本語を学んでいるように思えます。


THE DESTINY OF THE LANGUAGE

On the 40th page of Nihon Keizai Shimbun issued January 16, 2011, there was an article written by Ms. Kayoko Yamasaki entitled The Destiny of the Language. The article begins with recollections of more than 30 years ago, when Ms. Yamasaki went to what was then Yugoslavia to study and lived in the dormitory with a student who came from Guinea-Bissau in Africa. Although the official language of the student’s country was Portuguese, she spoke to Ms. Yamasaki in Serbo-Croatian, her mother tongue, and every night before going to bed, she used to eagerly restudy her mother tongue with a sense of pride. Ms. Yamasaki then went on to say that since there was no email at the time and the postal mail was the only means of communication with Japan and her friends and acquaintances, she used to go to the post office every day looking forward to getting the mail that came through general delivery. She also talked about her avid reading of the translated version of The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge out of thirst for Japanese language and an episode in which she was invited to the home of a Japanese acquaintance when she spoke Japanese to her heart’s content. She wrote about those episodes as fond memories. She concludes by saying that one clearly realizes the importance of language if one keeps Japanese deeply seated in his or her mind when living in a foreign country.

According to the introduction accompanying this article, Ms. Kayoko Yamasaki is a professor at University of Belgrade, Serbia, as well as a poet and a translator. I had no knowledge of her before, but having checked on the web, I found that she is a prominent figure who has published a lot of books.

My personal ruminations aside, while language can be a tool of academic pursuit in any discipline, and may play a powerful role in creating bonds between humans, it also possesses dark ability to tear apart not only individuals, but countries. Though Ms. Yamasaki is not a linguist, I get the feeling that she is a scholar who is studying language using literary works as resources for her research. Regardless, deep down, Japanese as her mother tongue seems to form the core of her thought and emotion.

Someone once said that learning a foreign language is, in fact, tantamount to learning one’s mother tongue through the foreign language. For us, it means that learning English is, in effect, the act of learning Japanese through study of English. If thinking and pondering are considered to be part of the learning process, our studying of English results in the learning of Japanese, as it entails brain activities that involve Japanese being constantly consulted. Though this may seem like a slight leap in logic, it seems that learning a foreign language, whatever it is, means to learn Japanese after all.

教育関係者にお聞きしたことがあるのですが、以前、小学校などの運動会で短距離競走の順位をつけない学校があるという話を聞きました。教育的に良くないという見解によるということでした。芸術教育において、コンクールなどの表彰にも反対するという方がいるということも聞きます。

受賞至上主義は芸術教育に馴染まないという見解であるとも聞きました。教育的に見て競争という事は良くないという見解には賛同できません。競争の結果の順位で人間の全ての価値が決まるというようなことは誰が考えてもありえないことです。その競争において優れているという事だと誰もが知っているからです。競争があってこそ誰もが努力を重ねるのだと思います。通常の人間は競争なくして努力はないと言ってもよいでしょう。

こんなことを考えているときに、前述のノーベル賞受賞者の根岸先生のインタビュー記事を新聞で読みました。先生曰く、Moneyは追いかけると逃げるが、Excellenceを追いかけるとMoneyが追いかけてくると話されました。先生は徒手空拳、何もなしにやみくもに研究に励んだというのではなくて、研究費獲得に苦労の揚句、このような達観した考えを持つようになられたのだろうと思いました。研究費が欲しいという事だけを追求すると、研究費は得られないが、優れた研究をすると研究費が追いかけてくるという経験談でしょう。成程と感心しました。私のような凡人の仕事にも当てはまる言葉と思った次第です。

競争という言葉には少々不適切な響きもありますが、意味するところは切磋琢磨です。切磋琢磨してこそExcellenceが得られるのではないか、そして目標を高くしてこそExcellenceが得られるのではないかと思うのです。


MONEY OR EXCELLENCE (Part 2)

I have something to ask educators. Some time back, I heard that there are some elementary schools where they do not determine the order in the short-distance race at their athletic meets. This is based on the view that such a practice is educationally wrong. I hear that in the area of art education, some people are opposed to giving awards in competitions.
It seems that they think that prizes for the prize’s sake is not right for art education. I cannot, however, agree with the view that competition is educationally wrong. No one agrees with the idea that the whole value of a person is decided based on the resulting order of the competition. Everyone understands that those who excelled in one competition simply excelled in that particular competition. Because of the competition, I believe, everyone makes an effort. I think I can safely say that for ordinary people, very little effort is made without the impetus of competition.

When I was thinking this way, I happened to have read the aforementioned interview article of the Nobel Prize laureate, Dr. Negishi, in the newspaper. He says in the article that money escapes you if you pursue it, but if you pursue excellence, money will follow you. I think he came to have such a profound idea not because of his single-minded devotion to research, as if he were empty-handed, but because he was devoted to research while making painstaking efforts in getting research grants. If you pursue research grants, you won't necessarily get them, but if you strive to do excellent research, the grants will come to you, something he must have learned from his own experiences. I am impressed by his convincing words. I thought his words should apply to the work I do as an ordinary man. The word competition sounds a little inappropriate, but what it means is to engage in Sessa Takuma in Japanese, or to develop yourself through friendly competition. I believe that through Sessa Takuma, we should achieve excellence and that we should achieve excellence by always setting your goals high.

今年は二人の日本人科学者がノーベル賞を受賞されました。化学賞の鈴木章先生と根岸英一先生です。新聞やテレビなど色々なところでお二人の動静が伝えられています。私とは無縁のお二人ではあっても同じ日本人として誇らしい気持ちになります。鈴木先生はインタビューに答えて、いろんな賞を貰ったけれどもノーベル賞は格別だと言っておられました。世界一の賞を授賞されたという感慨なのでしょう。素直に喜びを表されるお二人は好感度抜群です。授賞式や晩餐会などの公式の場でのお二人のリラックスされたご様子には超一流の科学者の余裕が感じられました。

現在の民主党政権になって、「事業仕分け」という政府の活動が始まり、政府関連の事業が公開審査を受けるようになりました。従来は行われていなかったことなので新鮮な感じを持って見ていました。一般的な感想ですが、審査する人たちは歯切れのいい質問をされるし、審査結果をすっきりと述べられます。それに対して、審査される側は歯切れが悪く、言い訳が多く、見ていて気の毒になります。素人がみていても企画のまずさが歴然としていて、こんな酷い国家予算を使っていたのかと義憤を感ずるものもあります。多額の国家予算を使うという事にならば厳しく審査されるのは当然のことでしょう。

しかし、落ち着いて考えると、私たちに伝えられたのはニュース性のある問題企画であって、大半はそうではなかったのではないかとも思えます。そうでなければ各省庁の仕事は停止しているはずです。公開の場になると、やはり見せ場では審査側は有利です。失礼ながら批評家は楽だと思われるところもあります。価値判断の見解の相違ということもあります。超高速最新鋭のコンピュータ開発をめぐって、世界一のコンピュータを開発したいという立場の担当者に対して、予算削減の立場から「どうして世界一でなければならないのですか。二番ではだめですか？」という問いかけを政府関係者が行ったことが話題になりました。

軽率な判断かもしれませんが、スポーツの世界で、優勝と準優勝は大違いなどともよく言われます。心情的にはこのことと相通ずる価値観ではないでしょうか。科学者もスポーツ競技者も人間である以上、首位に立つには凡人の想像を超える葛藤や努力があるであろうことは容易に想像できます。論理や功利性で人の活動を審査するのは無理なところがあります。



MONEY OR EXCELLENCE (Part 1)

This year, two Japanese scientists – Dr. Arira Suzuki and Dr. Ei-ichi Negishi – were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. They have been featured in various media such as newspapers and television. I have nothing to do with them, but I feel proud to be Japanese just like them. In response to a question at the interview, Dr. Suzuki mentioned that even though he was awarded many prizes, the Nobel Prize was an exceptional one, a statement which must have come out of his deep emotion for the fact that he was awarded the most valuable prize in the world. Displaying openly their honest feelings of happiness , these two people enjoy high public popularity. Their relaxed manner at the award ceremony, receptions and other official events gives the observer a sense of their self-composure as topnotch scientists.

The current DPJ (Democratic Party of Japan) administration initiated the administrative project called “budget screening”, an open screening process through which many government-related programs are to undergo. Such a process having never been done before, I was watching over it with a fresh mind. My general impression was that the examiners asked pithy questions and announced their decisions in a clear-cut manner. On the other hand, those who were questioned slurred their words with a lot of excuses and they made me feel sorry for them. Some of the projects were found to have obvious shortcomings even to the eyes of amateurs like me, which made me feel righteous indignation at their sloppy use of our national budget. As long as they use a lot of the national budget, it is a matter of course that such projects must be strictly screened.

However, when one takes a minute to putting things in perspective, we could say that the projects we were shown on the news were inherently problematic and that most of the projects screened may have been non-problematic. Otherwise, the administrative business carried out by each Ministry should be brought to a halt. At an open hearing, the examiners are in an advantageous position when the event is shown in the media. I am sorry to say, though, that the job of the critic is an easy one. Differences of opinion can be seen in their value judgments and an episode illustrating this was once talked about: Regarding the project of the development of the fastest and the most-advanced computer, in response to the person in charge of the project telling the panel of examiners that they wanted to develop the world’s best supercomputer, one of the government officials, tasked with cutting wasteful spending in the budget, raised a question, “Why are you insistent on the world’s best? Why not the second best?”

In the world of sports, first place and second place are said to make a huge difference, though this may not be based on any objective consideration. Emotionally speaking, the value judgment here should correspond well with that of the person in charge of the aforementioned project. We can easily imagine that as long as they are human, both scientists and athletes struggle and make efforts beyond ordinary people’s imagination to reach the top in their own fields. There is always a problem in judging one’s activities based only on logic and merits.

大学の危機的状況というと、経営者の一人である私自身はすぐに少子化に伴う学生数減の問題に考えが進んでいきます。それも大問題ですが、本当の大問題は大学の教育力にあると思います。そうです、教育力が問題なのです。大学の事が話題になると、大学の入試の偏差値やブランドが問題にされてきました。その傾向はやや衰えたと言われていますが、いまだにそれが払拭されたとは思えません。本当は大学の教育力が問題なのにです。そうです、大学は教育力で価値判断されるべきです。ところが今、それとは別な問題があります。危機的状況と言ってよいと思います。

11月1日の毎日新聞10面に大学生のコピペのことが記事になっていました。コピペとはレポートを書くにあたって、文献の必要な部分をコピー（切り取って）し、ペースト（貼り付け、つまり編集）することを指しているのです。ある大学の先生がコピペを行っているかどうかをチェックするコンピュータソフトを開発したとも報告されていました。学問や知的活動の世界では、剽窃という犯罪的行為が昔からあったので、今さら驚く程のことではないかもしれません。でもコピペを摘発するコンピュータソフトができたと聞くと、暗い気持ちになります。コピペをして何になるのだと言いたくなります。自分を駄目にしていくとは思わないのでしょうか。大げさにいえば、日本はどうなるのかという不安な気持ちになります。

11月2日の朝日新聞には立教大学大学院の岸本光永教授が、考える教育―教師の「質問力」を鍛えて―という題で寄稿されています。岸本教授によると大学院においても学生が書くレポートも書物やインターネットの情報をつなぎ合わせたもの（つまりコピペ）が多いと指摘し、対話形式の講義にしたり、具体的な社会問題に即してグループ討議をさせたりして、論理的に考える方法と技術を訓練すると見違えるほど学生は変わると述べておられます。つまり、MICのクリティカル・シンキングやアクティブ・ラーニングを取り入れると論理的思考力が高まるという事を述べておられるわけです。論理的思考力を養うには訓練が必要であるが、論理的に考える力が向上すると、短時間で知識を獲得することも可能になると述べておられます（必要に迫られて勉強するからでしょう）。そのためには教師は慣れ親しんだ一方通行の知識教育の枠を脱して「質問する力」を鍛えなければならないとも提言されています。これこそが考える教育なのですという主張です。

MICは創設時からこの教育を行ってきているのです。



CRITICAL AND ACTIVE

When I hear of the critical situations of the college, as one of its chief administrators, my thoughts quickly go to the problem of the diminishing number of students due to the declining birthrate. Admittedly, it is a serious problem, but what is really serious is the problem of the educational ability of the college. Truly, this is where the problem lies. When it comes to the issues of the college, people often talk about problems regarding the deviation values for entrance examinations and the development of the college as a “brand name” institution. Though such tendencies are said to be diminishing to some degree, I do not believe they have completely dissipated, despite the fact that the true issue to be discussed is that of the educational value of the institutions of higher education. Yes, colleges should be judged by their educational abilities. On the other hand, we are currently faced with a different problem. I would say we are in a crisis situation.

In the November 1 edition of the Mainichi Shimbun on page 10, there was an article about “COPIPE” phenomenon observed among college students. “COPIPE” refers to the practice of copying (cutting) and pasting (i.e., editing) of the necessary parts of documents when students write their term papers. It was reported that some college faculty developed a software program that can screen papers and check to see if they contain sections composed using COPIPE. In the world of academics and intellectual activities, the criminal act of plagiarism is long existent. Thus, such an action may not be so surprising. However, learning the news of someone’s creating a software program to detect COPIPE makes me feel gloomy. It makes me want to ask such students what benefit they could possibly expect to achieve from COPIPE. I wonder why they do not think that they will only end up hurting themselves. To put it in more exaggerated terms, such a phenomenon makes me feel so worried about the future of Japan.

In the November 2 issue of the Asahi, Professor Koei Kishimoto of Rikkyo University Graduate School wrote an article entitled Education of Nurturing Thinking-Developing Teachers’ Ability to Question. According to Professor Kishimoto, even in graduate school, there are many papers written by the students containing sections created by putting together the information taken from books and the Web (i.e., COPIPE parts). However, students who do such a thing will remarkably change if lectures are implemented based on dialogue and group discussion of concrete social issues, or if they are taught ways to think logically and the skills to do so. What he is saying is that by incorporating MIC’s critical thinking and active learning methodology, students’ logical thinking skills will certainly develop. He says that developing logical thinking skills requires some training, but once they improve their skills, it is possible for students to acquire more knowledge in a shorter time (maybe because they study hard out of necessity). In order for that to happen, he insists that teachers need to develop their “questioning skills”, forgetting about their well-accustomed unilateral knowledge education. He calls this “education for thinking”.

MIC has been exercising such education since its founding.

MICの姉妹校宮崎学園短期大学のホームページに山下忍学長の新しい「学長折々の記」が掲載されています。私はこの欄を読むことを楽しみにしている一人です。私のブログを読んで下さる方々にも山下先生の折々の記をお読みになることをお勧めします。

山下先生の文章には若者に対する愛情が満ち溢れ、若者ならずとも読んでいて背中を暖かく押されているような気持になり勇気が出ます。

山下学長によると、宮崎学園短大のオープンキャンパスに参加した高校生に求めたアンケートで、「この短大に入学するとしてどのようなことを考えたか」の答えの中に、「勉強をする」との覚悟と意欲を示すものが多かったとありました。ほんとに嬉しいニュースです。

福沢諭吉の若き日のことを述べた福翁自伝を読むと、塾の仲間と競い合って勉強した時のことが事細かに書いてあります。その中の一つに、外国（オランダ）の貴重な文献を入手した人（当時は当然社会的地位が高い）の情報があると、その人を拝み倒して借り出し、文献の返済期限を守るために日中はもちろん夜を徹して仲間と共同で書き写した様子が詳細に紹介されています。塾の仲間はただただ勉強したい一心で頑張っている若者の集団です。寸刻を惜しんで勉強をするというのはこういうことなのでしょう。

鹿児島の方言に「議を言うな」というのがあります。議という字が正しく充てられているかどうかよく知りませんが、議とは理屈とか言い訳というような意味です。鹿児島ではよく「議をいうな、やれ！」と言います。私が今言いたいのは、黙って勉学に励むべきだと言いたいのです。

わが短大同様、MICにも、とにかく勉強したいという気持ちに駆られている学生が大勢いると信じています。勉強をしてすぐにどうにかなるということは中々ありませんが、とにかく勉強しよう。私も年をとったけれども、寸刻を惜しんで勉強します。一度しかない人生ですから。



AT ANY RATE, IT’S IMPORTANT TO KEEP STUDYING

A new blog post recently appeared on the website of Miyazaki Gakuen Junior College, a sister school of MIC, in the President’s Occasional Note, written by Shinobu Yamashita, the President of the Junior College. I am one of the many readers who look forward to reading this column. I recommend those who are reading my blog to also read President Yamashita’s President’s Occasional Note.

President Yamashita’s writing is filled with affection toward young men and women, and when you read it, even if you are not young anymore, you feel like you are being given a supportive push and you feel your spirits rise.

According to President Yamashita, the questionnaire given to participants in the open campus of Miyazaki Gakuen Junior College includes the following question: “What came to your mind when you decided to enter this junior college?” And many of the answers to this question reportedly included a statement showing the students’ determination and high motivation to study at the College. This was such good news to hear.

In Yukichi Fukuzawa’ s The Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa, where he wrote about the events that happened in his youth, there are many episodes where he described in great detail about studying in competition with his friends at a juku (a private school). One of those episodes talks about how upon hearing about a man who got a precious foreign (Dutch) book (the man had probably been of high social standing), Yukichi went to see him and successfully borrowed the book after repeatedly begging the man to lend it to him. The story depicts the way he copied the book in collaboration with his friends day and night in order to return the book by the set date. All of his friends at school were a group of youths who were just single-mindedly devoted to study. Their attitude shows what it means to study without wasting even a single minute.

In Kagoshima dialect, there is an expression, “Do not say any “gi”.” I don’t know if “gi” is spelled right, but “gi” means something like theory or excuse. In Kagoshima, they often say “Don’t say any “gi” and just do it!” What I want to say is that you should be devoted to study without saying anything.

I believe that both MIC and our Junior College must have a lot of students who are strongly motivated to study. Even if one studies hard, the fruits of one's study are rarely demonstrated quickly. But, let’s study anyway! I am old now, but I will continue to study without wasting even a minute, for you only get one life, after all.

文芸春秋11月号にローマ人の物語等の大著で有名な塩野七生氏の「最近笑えた話」というエッセイが掲載されています。楽天とユニクロが社内では英語オンリーに決めたことを笑えた話として問題点を指摘された内容です。塩野氏の論点はご自分の経験から、どんなに優れたバイリンガルあるいはそれ以上であっても、所詮想像力を発揮できるのは母語であるから、日本の会社が英語オンリーというのは滑稽なことであるという主張です。彼女は文学者ですから、想像力がお仕事の上で極めて重要であることは私にもよくわかります。でも、楽天やユニクロはビジネスを行っている会社で、文学作品を創作することを生業とはしていないので、文学的な想像力が生かされる職場とは思えません。国際的な企業が英語オンリーというのは社内のコミュニケーションをスムーズにしたいという配慮によるものと思われます。グローバル化社会で企業はしのぎを削って競争しているわけですから、効率の悪いコミュニケーションの手段を選択したとはとても思えません。

人間の想像や思考という頭脳活動は言語を介して行われることは私たちが日常的に経験するところです。私も以前アメリカに住み、英語だけしか使えない環境で研究に従事した経験があります。英語がままならない状況で英語で仕事を始めた時、自分のあまりの幼稚さに悩みました。その時私は英語の世界に自分自身を没入させたいと固く決意していましたから、日本語に逃げ込むことを意図的に避けました。こういう状態になると、独り言も夢も英語になるものです。英語で夢を見るというのはよく聞いていましたが、それは本当です。英語にだんだん慣れてくると、英語で考えていたのか日本語で考えていたのかを意識しなくなります。特に研究がうまくいっている時は自分で信じられない程英語が能弁になります。（真実は、聴き手が興味を示して聞きいってくれたのかもしれませんが）これは誰にでもあることだと思います。良い英語であるかどうかは別にして、英語で文章をつづることも何の苦労もありません。むしろ楽しみになることもしばしばあります。

塩野氏の論を読んでいて、私の想像でしかありませんが、このような考えの人は割合多いのではないかと思います。私は言語心理学を学んだことはありませんが、母語を使えば、習得した外国語を使うより豊かな想像や、より力強い創造性を生みだす力があるだろうと容易に想像できます。しかし、ビジネス界では効率のよいコミュニケーション手段を採るのは当然のことですから、社内で英語オンリーというのは頷けます。会社の仕事で母語で考えることまで禁止しているとは思えません。ましてや英語を使うことで日本人の矜持まで失うという事はないと信じています。

ノーベル賞を授賞された日本人科学者で、アメリカで研究された方が多いのは周知のことです。この方々はアメリカ人の同僚と英語で議論し、英語で考えられたということも容易に想像できます。母語ではない英語が研究上の障害になったとは思えません。



BILINGUALITY

In the November issue of Bungeishunju, there is an essay titled A Recent Funny Story written by Ms. Nanami Shiono who is famous for such works as her multi-volume Roma-jin no Monogatari (The Stories of the Romans). She refers to Rakuten’s and Uniqlo’s deciding to implement an English-only policy at work as being something that is laughable and points out its problems. Ms. Shiono claims that from her own experiences, no matter how high one’s bilinguality is, it is ultimately their native language that brings forth their creativity in everything; thus, she asserts, it is ludicrous for Japanese companies to make an English-only policy for their workers. Ms. Shiono is a scholar of literature, so even I understand very well that creativity is of the utmost importance in her work. However, since Rakuten and Uniqlo are both commercial companies and their business does not lie in creating literary works, I don’t think literary creativity plays any part in their workplace. I believe the reason why such global companies decided to implement the English-only policy is because they want to make communication in the workplace smoother. In our globalized society, companies are engaged in fierce competition. Therefore, it is hard to believe that they would choose an inefficient means of communication.

Human brain activities, such as imagination and thought, happen through the medium of language, something that we experience daily. I have lived in America and engaged in research in the environment where English is the only means of communication. In the beginning, when I started to do work in English, which was for me difficult to manipulate, I suffered a lot from my childish skills of expression. At that time, as I was determined to devote myself to the world of English, I consciously avoided escaping into Japanese. Once you are put in such a situation, you find yourself speaking to yourself in English and dreaming in English. I had often heard about dreaming in English, and now I can tell you with certainty that it really happens. As you get used to English, you begin to lose your consciousness of whether you are thinking in English or in Japanese. Especially when my research was going well, my English would be unbelievably fluent and effective. (This may be due to the fact that the audience was attentively listening to me, showing great interest in whatever I had to say.) I think this could happen to anyone. Putting aside the quality of English, you could find yourself having no difficulty in writing things in English. Rather, you should often find it enjoyable to write in English.

As I read Ms. Shiono’ essay, I got the feeling that there should be many people who think the way I do, though this feeling is limited to my own imagination. I have never studied psycholinguistics, but I can readily imagine that by utilizing our mother tongue, we should be more capable of generating richer imaginations and more vigorous creativity than by utilizing a foreign language that is acquired later in life. That said, however, it is understandable why companies would choose to exercise the English-only policy at work, for it is a matter of course for the business world to take up the most efficient communication tool to run business. I cannot imagine that their intention is to ban their employees from thinking in their mother tongue when they are at work. On top of that, I believe that those employees who are expected to use English at work will not fail to maintain their pride as Japanese nationals simply by using English at work.

It is common knowledge that many of the Japanese Nobel prize laureates have done their research in the United States. We can well imagine that these people were engaged in discussion with their American colleagues in English while thinking in English. I do not believe that the English language, which is not their mother tongue, had posed an impediment to their research in any way, shape or form.