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Educational Development in Developing Countries and International Cooperation [MA]

Since "The World Conference on Education for All", held by the World Bank, UNESCO, UNICEF and UNDP in 1990, and through the "Social Development Summit", OECD's "New Development Strategy" and so on, the importance of the education sector has been more and more recognized by international organizations and bilateral donor agencies. Indeed, the international society well accepted the idea that basic education is a part of basic human rights a and it plays a key role for socio-economic development, intercultural understanding and peace building.
On the other hand, explosive expansion of flows of people across national boundaries, rapid development of global economy, fast progress of information technology and arising knowledge economy has changed significantly the feature of education. As studying abroad became very popular, a number of educational institutions expanded globally as a knowledge of business and more educational services were provided virtually. This change demands educational policies, which used to be discussed mainly only domestically, to be reformed with global perspectives.

The objective of this project research is to approach various aspects of the education sector in developing countries, which faces contrasting demands of "Education for All" and "Education for Knowledge Economy", and to explore and suggest the future of international cooperation for education.

In this project research, students are expected to learn and finally be able to utilize one (or more) of four academic disciplines, namely, political science, economics, sociology and anthropology, to approach educational development of their region of interest or international exchange/cooperation activities in the field of education. Alternatively, students may approach the issues from the perspectives of educational sub-sectors, such as women's education, higher education and science education after they learn significant technical knowledge on these sub-sectors.

In the first year, students are expected to take "Theory of Educational Development in Developing Countries and International Cooperation" and "Policy Analysis of Comparative and International Education" to acquire overall knowledge on various research methods and international trends of this field. At the same time, the students are expected to decide research fields, educational sub-sectors, and analytical methods for their MA research with careful consultations with the supervisor. In the second year, the students are asked to present the progress of their research several times at the project research sessions and finally complete their MA thesis. Outside the project research, it is highly desirable for the students to participate in internship opportunities at international organizations and NGOs and fieldwork in developing countries of their research interest. Also, it is planned to invite outside professional experts in this field to the project research sessions for seminars and discussions with the students.

Policy Analysis of Comparative and International Education [PhD]

Since "The World Conference on Education for All", held by the World Bank, UNESCO, UNICEF and UNDP in 1990, and through the "World Education Forum" and UN's "Millennium Development Goals" in 2000 , the importance of the education sector has been more and more recognized by international organizations and bilateral donor agencies. Indeed, the international society well accepted the idea that basic education is a part of basic human rights and it plays a key role for socio-economic development, intercultural understanding and peace building.

On the other hand, explosive expansion of flows of people across national boundaries, rapid development of global economy, fast progress of information technology and arising knowledge economy has changed significantly the feature of education. As studying abroad became very popular, a number of educational institutions expanded globally as knowledge industry and more educational services were provided virtually. This change demands educational policies, which used to be discussed mainly domestically, to be reformed with global perspectives.

The objective of this project research is to approach various aspects of international education, which faces contrasting demands of "Education for All" and "Education for the Knowledge Economy", and to explore and suggest the future directions of educational policies and international cooperation/exchange in education.

In this project research, students are expected to utilize one (or more) of four academic disciplines, namely, political science, economics, sociology and anthropology, to approach educational development of their region of interest or international exchange/cooperation activities in the field of education. Alternatively, students may approach the issues from the perspectives of educational sub-sectors, such as women's education, higher education and non-formal education after they learn significant technical knowledge on these sub-sectors.

Ph.D. students are expected to have not only Master degrees but also certain knowledge on educational sub-sector and research methods, on and with which they conduct research for their Ph.D. dissertations. Also, they are required to write at least one research paper a year to be presented at academic conferences. However, as doctoral degree candidates are only required to complete and submit their dissertation to earn the PhD degree and no additional coursework is necessary at GSAPS, the program places few scheduling limitations on its doctoral candidates. Therefore, students may complete their Ph.D. dissertations without sacrificing their occupations. Ph.D. students are expected to finish the program within 3 years. Outside the project research, it is highly desirable for the students to participate in internship opportunities at international organizations and NGOs and fieldwork in countries of their research interest.