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7168Riyadh
Joined: 19 Jan 2009
Posts: 149
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 Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 8:08 pm Post subject: |
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Phew...after reading through this thread I'm just glad I'm not hustling for work in the Taiwan uni system these days. I mean, it's just nuts...
(15 years+in Taiwan) |
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forest1979
Joined: 10 Jun 2007
Posts: 507
Location: SE Asia
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| Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 4:19 pm Post subject: |
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Presently it is a very important time for TW higher education.
How universities respond will determine their longevity, or not.
MCU has responded to transitions in higher ed in their own way.
In many respects that is a positive thing.
However how it is enacted inside the university affects the staff often in a poor way.
Working in a Taiwanese university isn't always easy.
OK, few teaching hours, but lots of politics to contend with that affects one's quality of life. |
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romanworld
Joined: 27 May 2008
Posts: 388
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| Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 1:54 am Post subject: |
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| forest1979 wrote: |
Presently it is a very important time for TW higher education.
How universities respond will determine their longevity, or not.
MCU has responded to transitions in higher ed in their own way. |
Yes, Ming Chuan University anticipated the falling birth rate and therefore started to look overseas to recruit students to make up the shortfall in numbers. This as you say was a positive thing. However, it seems that the powers that be at MCU never read the story in the Bible of the Tower of Babel, which told of how Man attempted to build a city with a tower "with its top in the heavens". God of course became angry that Man was challenging His authority and destroyed the Tower with "a great wind". Likewise with Ming Chuan University, which started as a humble College [for Women] in 1957, but of late has invested heavily in MSCHE accreditation, believing that it can compete with the likes of Columbia University. It would have been better for Ming Chuan to be less ambitious and remain a small Ladies College. In that way, it may have weathered the current crisis in Taiwan Higher Education.
Last edited by romanworld on Fri Jul 22, 2011 2:43 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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forest1979
Joined: 10 Jun 2007
Posts: 507
Location: SE Asia
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| Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 7:36 am Post subject: |
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I got the gist!
Perhaps it would be interesting for someone like Scott Summers to write at this site about being at MCU.
He used to have a blog but I noticed it's basically dead now. |
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romanworld
Joined: 27 May 2008
Posts: 388
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| Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 2:42 pm Post subject: |
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| forest1979 wrote: |
Perhaps it would be interesting for someone like Scott Summers to write at this site about being at MCU.
He used to have a blog but I noticed it's basically dead now. |
When I used to reside in Taiwan, I occasionally checked out the blog by Sommers, but it was basically full of misinformation, especially about Ming Chuan University and tertiary education in Taiwan in general. I recently saw a poll of the top ten blogs posted by foreigners living there, and Scott Sommer's blog didn't even make it onto that list. |
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Shimokitazawa
Joined: 16 Aug 2009
Posts: 458
Location: Saigon, Vietnam
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| Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 5:31 pm Post subject: |
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| forest1979 wrote: |
I got the gist!
Perhaps it would be interesting for someone like Scott Summers to write at this site about being at MCU.
He used to have a blog but I noticed it's basically dead now. |
That would be nice but I suspect that he would promote Ming Chuan University if were to log on and talk about his experience there.
From what I remember when reading his blog, he praised MCU for being one of the cutting edge universities in terms of its English language center. Meanwhile, I knew people that were fleeing from the place and looking for work at other Taiwanese universities or simply leaving Taiwan altogether. I honestly never heard anything good about working at that place and heard more complaining and negative comments than anything - e.g., politics (as Forest mentioned already).
Mind you, this was half a decade or so a go and so Sommers may no longer be as upbeat about the place as he once was. |
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romanworld
Joined: 27 May 2008
Posts: 388
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| Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2011 9:48 am Post subject: |
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| Shimokitazawa wrote: |
| Mind you, this was half a decade or so a go and so Sommers may no longer be as upbeat about the place as he once was. |
Having said that, Sommers wasn't always "upbeat", as for example when he wrote about Ming Chuan seeking accreditation from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, or MSCHE:
Keep in mind that accreditation is not a guarantee of quality.
Here he cuts to the chase. More of this kind of objective blogging may have ensured the survival of his blog, but . . .
http://backupposts.wordpress.com/2009/04/11/middle-states-commission-on-higher-education-and-the-accreditation-of-ming-chuan-university/ |
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romanworld
Joined: 27 May 2008
Posts: 388
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| Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2011 10:14 am Post subject: |
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| forest1979 wrote: |
| Without making up for the declining birthrate, and the vast numbers of universities competing for the same MoE budget, its inevitable some will 'die'. |
Here's an interesting article hot off the press which relays the startling fact that there are more abortions in Taiwan than live births. "Estimates suggest that for every pregnancy in Taiwan ending in birth, three end in abortion. On July 17, paediatrician and university professor Lue Hung-chi claimed that between 300,000 and 500,000 abortions are carried out in the country each year."
http://www.womensviewsonnews.org/2011/07/more-abortions-than-births-in-taiwan/
With the birth rate already low, and the abortion rate high, one wonders how much longer universities can last? In fact, one wonders how long Taiwan as a country can last? |
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adogadie
Joined: 18 Sep 2010
Posts: 82
Location: Taiwan
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| Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2011 9:13 am Post subject: |
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| romanworld wrote: |
| forest1979 wrote: |
| Without making up for the declining birthrate, and the vast numbers of universities competing for the same MoE budget, its inevitable some will 'die'. |
Here's an interesting article hot off the press which relays the startling fact that there are more abortions in Taiwan than live births. "Estimates suggest that for every pregnancy in Taiwan ending in birth, three end in abortion. On July 17, paediatrician and university professor Lue Hung-chi claimed that between 300,000 and 500,000 abortions are carried out in the country each year."
http://www.womensviewsonnews.org/2011/07/more-abortions-than-births-in-taiwan/
With the birth rate already low, and the abortion rate high, one wonders how much longer universities can last? In fact, one wonders how long Taiwan as a country can last? |
They have this same problem in Europe; and now some of the Europeans governments are attempting to encourage, particularly native Europeans.
Same trend with Europeans Americans in the states, too. That's why all these big corporations and supranationals are pushing for more immigration, refugees and asylum seekers to off set the lack of man power and turn the world into NWO cultural Marxist state for the poor workers, while the rich enjoy their lives exploiting every signal country on the planet.. And because TV and Government pushes abortion on their own population, the Government will have to lift the quota on how many more laborers they they need. Perhaps Taiwan's' homogenous population will be something of the past; and I am sure the culture will go with it. |
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romanworld
Joined: 27 May 2008
Posts: 388
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| Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2011 7:38 pm Post subject: |
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| adogadie wrote: |
| . . . and I am sure the culture will go with it. |
The Taiwanese preference for boys has led many hospitals to perform illegal abortions if the MRI scanner shows that the foetus is a girl. The government is so concerned about this that it has promised to revoke the licences of hospitals that perform these illegal operations.
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Asia/Story/STIStory_669541.html
Presumably if these foetuses hadn't been aborted, they would have grown up, gone to school, and then onto university . . . |
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forest1979
Joined: 10 Jun 2007
Posts: 507
Location: SE Asia
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| Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 1:59 pm Post subject: |
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Romanworld - Maybe Scott Sommers isnt posting as he is busy with his doctoral studies. Fair play to him if he has to put his website on the back burner whilst doing that, and also I saw on Amazon he has an edited volume out. Obviously, given his career circumstances his blog has become less of a priority.
I read his blog intermittently and I did find much useful info within. Ok the tone of the blog shiftted from comments on TEFL in ELCs to a more political evaluation of education policy it nonetheless, coupled with Michael Turton's university teaching website, a very useful start point for people wanting to come to TW to work. Ok too I didn't always agree with what was said by him, or in the comments as well, but at least he made an effort to put word out, and with it create discourse. It's a loss I think that he now only uses his blog very infrequently.
As for his grasp of MCU I cannot comment. I have no idea what his stance is at MCU, or how is career there is progressing. That's his private deal and unless I see him about and speak to him then I won't know, and can't say. It might be easy to bash him but I'd personally have him blogging again even though, to repeat myself, I didnt agree with all he said. However I dont agree with most of what people say anyway! |
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romanworld
Joined: 27 May 2008
Posts: 388
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| Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 5:57 pm Post subject: |
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| forest1979 wrote: |
| Romanworld - Maybe Scott Sommers isnt posting as he is busy with his doctoral studies. |
Or maybe people just aren't reading it because they, like me, found it too dogmatic, opinionated and often erroneous? If he'd been less subjective about matters and been on the money about MCU and education in Taiwan generally, I think his blog would still be alive . . .
And while we're on the subject of Ming Chuan University(MCU), I found this article from the Taipei Times about how they were trying to woo students from China at a higher education fair in Shanghai back in April. The article states:
However, Taiwanese schools did not draw a lot of visitors, with only a few students showing an interest in applying to the schools for undergraduate studies and none looking to enroll in master�s or doctoral programs.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2011/04/25/2003501649
As we both agree, Chinese students are flooding to western countries in massive numbers because the perception is that a western education is the bee's knees. Taiwan is simply not on the radar:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13114577 |
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forest1979
Joined: 10 Jun 2007
Posts: 507
Location: SE Asia
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| Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2011 4:48 am Post subject: |
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Well, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. As I said, I haven't 100% agreed with all he has posted but much decent info on TW in the past, and he has been busy with his job...no doubt...and studies.
As for the article, it's just a news story. Unless universities are in TW are cheap then how the hell can they compete with Macau, HK, or SG...especially when graduates can potentially get work permits after their studies to stay there? There is much serious journalism that can be written about TW higher education and whilst I reserve people's right to speak what they like of it the article is nothing short of page filling in newspapers. Presently there is a serious lack of discourse on education and changes within it in TW. Less opinion and more facts, please. |
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romanworld
Joined: 27 May 2008
Posts: 388
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| Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2011 6:15 pm Post subject: |
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| forest1979 wrote: |
| Presently there is a serious lack of discourse on education and changes within it in TW. Less opinion and more facts, please. |
Well, here's a fact: Taiwan lacks scholars that are capable of conducting in-depth research on fundamental science and interdisciplinary science . . .
And here's why according to a Harvard Professor:
. . . research resources are mainly controlled by the government and senior professors. If the system continues, it will be difficult for young scholars to surpass senior counterparts . . .
. . . and with the vested interests of the scholars, the system will remain unchangeable.
. . . and finally it's important to encourage people to be creative, and that if you are simply conforming with others, you do not necessarily produce outstanding performances.
So, what are we to conclude from this? The obvious answer is that Taiwan is a fossilised and outdated feudal academic environment that serves ONLY the power elite in the MOE and the individual universities. There is no room for iconoclasts in such a system . . . and therefore no room for new and exciting research. No rational fee-paying international student would opt for such an inferior product.
Go here for the China Post story: http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national-news/2011/08/07/312553/Harvard-professor.htm |
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forest1979
Joined: 10 Jun 2007
Posts: 507
Location: SE Asia
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| Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2011 3:18 am Post subject: |
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Taiwan lacks scholars that are capable of conducting in-depth research on fundamental science and interdisciplinary science...
nothing to do with the lesser budgets of Taiwanese universities in comparison to American ones?
It's easy for a Harvard prof to criticise. When you're at the very top there's only one direction to look...and thats down upon the rest of the world. |
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