A Study On General Education Of University Of Botswana The Status Quo Characteristics And Challenges

With the rapid development of globalization and the changing demand of society transformation, the Talents Training Mode of higher education institutions is also undergoing tremendous changes. The main aims of the specialty and curriculum provision, the talents training of higher education institutions all over the world are to broadening the students’ knowledge horizon, cultivating their sound creativity and inquiry ability. Meanwhile, the basic trend of this reform is to highlight the importance of general education, which designs to develop students’ wide range of life skills and analytical skills that can be converted to elements cultivating the high-quality citizens and the main force for national development. Therefore, the general education is increasingly becoming the main concern and reform field in higher education sectors across the whole world.Whether the general education can reap a sound and independent development in developing countries is of great significance. At present, developed countries and regions, like America, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan, are mainly taken as the research objectives on the study of General Education in higher education institutions, while developing countries and regions, like African countries are abandoned into the dark side of this study field. The debate on the General Education of the higher education institutions in developing countries are relatively less. Therefore, taken University of Botswana, the only public comprehensive university in Botswana as a study case, this thesis states its current development, characteristics and developing issues, aiming to ponder over some beneficial advice and inspiration on the General Education reform in developing countries.This thesis consists of six parts. The exordium elaborates the study background, purposes, contents, methods, significances and the overview of relevant research at home and abroad.The first chapter depicts the development history of general education in the University of Botswana, growing out of nothing, and then breeding from the initial auxiliary course system, and undergoing the undergraduate education reform in2002when it got its real development in UB. The rapid development of globalization trend, the demands for higher education to realize social and cultural development, the exertion of the important role of affiliated institutions as well as the goal of achieving all-round individual development, all these have promoted the development of general education in UB in the21century,Chapter2to chapter4have analysed the current situation and characteristics of general education in UB, which includes seven complete and distinctive modular courses field, the capacity-oriented curriculum planning, diversified types of courses, distinctive informal general education curriculum development.In addition, the arrangements for teachers of required courses displays a characteristic of centralization while the teachers of elective courses presents a decentralized trait. Besides, at the management level, academic autonomy plays a dominant role during the development of general education in UB. The government and the Higher Education Committee exert indirect influences on its development, mainly through the policy guidance.Chapter5is to explore the challenges and problems during the development of general education in UB. Lacking of internalized understanding of the general education leads to transplant other country’s development mode blindly. And because of the prevalence of utilitarian thoughts, ignoring the local cultural elements when it comes to the curriculum development and so on. The general education development in UB is still leaving in the searching stage without shaping into a local and suitable mode. There are many challenges and problems. The general education objectives still neglects of considering the spread of the national consciousness and the universal culture values of humanity. Course structure is relatively imbalance and course modular is partially not clear. In addition, lacking of liberal courses which has absorbing the local elements remains a serious issue. The state and the government guidance force haven’t given play to a sound and due role to guide the development of general education in higher education institutions in Botswana. The affiliated system of higher education of UB is of inefficiency, not exerting its due influence on its affiliated institutions on the development of general education, losing its role of national demonstration.Through exploring the characteristics and challenges of general education in UB, standing on the side of developing countries, chapter6aims to come up with several rewarding advices. In the context of globalization, the general education reform needs the reformers changing its passive adaptation attitude to an active one, taking the sound general education curriculum provision as the basic elements of realizing the goal of general education, their own cultural heritage as well as their economic and social development demands as the starting points. In the game of globalization and localization, general education in developing countries is still facing a lot of problems and challenges. In the perspective of local value orientation and national culture moisture, form the local curriculum development to the benign administration and assessment of general education, the developing countries still have a long way to go. Through the study of general education in UB, this thesis expects to provide a useful external perspective and reaping some rewarding advice.