Higher Education
Higher Education
Currently, the Department’s main goal in the area of higher education is to cultivate top-notch educators in child education, special education and elementary schools along with talents in the subjects of general art, science and physical education. At present, there are two institutions under this education category including Taipei Municipal University of Education and Taipei Municipal Physical Education College. Hopefully, the two will combine to form Taipei Municipal College Network and further consolidate into a composite metropolitan college.
Today, Taipei Municipal University of Education boasts a long profound history of 113 years since its founding over a century ago. Prior to August 2005, the University’s
mission is to prepare elementary school teachers of highest quality. In recent years, the University is transforming into a University of Arts and Science Studies that focuses on preparing teachers. At the end of 2008, the University operated with 3 schools, 14 departments, 23 graduate programs (13 offered by the departments with 3 independent graduate programs that offer 7 master degree programs), and 3 doctorate programs, recruiting a total of 4,486 students.
The mission of Taipei Physical Education College is to cultivate outstanding athletes, coaches, sports talents, sports business managers and social physical education workers. In 2006, the college was relocated to its new Tianmu campus and currently operates with 8 faculties, 8 graduate programs (3 of which were integrated and the remaining 5 graduate schools are independent) and 1 doctorate program with a total of 2,088 students.
●Important Measures
1. Taipei Municipal University of Education undergoes transformation and reform for redefinition and new development
The University was formerly the first institution for higher education of teacher training. It was renamed on August 1 2005 with major changes made to its organizational structure and administrative framework. The School of Education, School of Humanities and Arts and School of Science were established to redefine the institution’s definition. Some of the universities existing graduate schools have applied to offer interschool/faculty/department courses. In addition, the university will also offer new degree courses so students can acquire useful professional knowledge and be prepared for future employment. In 2007, the University established its Information Technology Department, and the graduate school launched master degree programs including child development, communication disabilities, art therapy, science education, teaching Mandarin as a second language, and digital learning. In 2008, the University included social learning and master’s degree teaching program and a doctoral degree program for education administration and assessment research.
2. Taipei Physical Education College promotes excellence and sets up standards in sports to nurture professional talents
The College actively pursues the cultivation of outstanding athletes. It has nurtured numerous professional athletes who have won awards in global competitions. In addition to the exceptional performances delivered by Shih-Hsin Chen, Chien-Ming Wang, Hsin-An Chen, Wen-Ting Tsun, other outstanding athletes including Hsin-Mei Liu, Chia-Jung Chuang, Yu-Tsuo
Wang, Shu-Wei Hsieh, Kuan-Chi Lu and Chi-Chieh Hsu have successfully boosted Taiwan’s reputation around the world through their remarkable performance in international games. Several sports candidates representing the College have also performed exceptionally well in other large-scaled international events and achieved impressive results. The College also operates the only world-class laboratory for inspection of professional sport surfaces and workout facilities in the Asia Pacific, to ensure athlete safety.
3. Improve students’ language competence, actively promoting international academic exchanges and sports and art performances
Both schools are working toward improving students’ language competence to enhance their future competitiveness and broaden their international vision. Taipei Municipal University of Education actively pursues international academic exchange programs, offering international courses under strategic alliances by using video- conference facilities and distance learning. To assist teachers to undertake further education or give lectures abroad, the University is in discussion with its sister school, the University of Glasgow to offer double degree courses and jointly organized the 2005 Taipei-Caen Culture Exchange event with Caen Province, France. Taipei Physical Education College is dedicated to international development. In addition to convening international symposiums, the College also undertakes frequent exchange programs with its sister school, the University of Northern Colorado as well as art and sports exchanges with international groups. The College was invited on several occasions to perform overseas, which is very beneficial in promoting Taiwan’s international image. As athletes are often required to compete in international events abroad, they are required to have adequate command of English to facilitate communication. As such, the school expects better English proficiency from students. Upon admission, new students are required to take language proficiency tests to be placed to different level classes based on their performance in order to effectively learn at a level suitable for them.
●Future Prospects
1. Refurbish old school buildings, construct a new campus and improve schools’ hardware and software facilities
2. Plan for the two schools to combine resources and consolidate for further integration
3. Improve the competitiveness of universities in Taipei City.
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