This volume provides an in-depth analysis of historical and recent developments of senior learning in Taiwan, where publications in English have been scant. It takes a broader view on lifelong learning and active ageing from a theoretical/conceptual base written by prominent international authors- this represents the ‘outside in’ perspective. The ‘inside out’ on the other hand signifies an in-depth investigation of initiatives written by authors from Taiwan who are closely involved with developments in policy and practice. The volume is situated theoretically in the intersection of complementary concepts such as lifelong learning, active ageing, later life learning, learning communities and social movements. It is located geographically and culturally in East Asia where senior learning/education is expanding in response to large populations of older adults and concerns about their physical and social well-being. It is argued that Taiwan is leading the way in terms of innovation and community engagement in regard to older adult learning/education and can thus serve as a model for neighboring countries. By analyzing historical precedents, cultural dynamics, policy trends, research sub-fields and community engagement this book is of interest to both East Asian and Western scholars, practitioners, policy-makers and students amongst the fields of lifelong learning, social gerontology and educational psychology.

This book investigates the ways in which the social purposes of adult education are (re)interpreted over time, and between the global south and global north. It brings together thirty-seven authors from fourteen countries with extensive experience as academics and/or practitioners in the field. The book is inspired by the work and life of Lalage Bown, a leading proponent of post-colonial and inclusive visions of education for all. Over her long life she worked tirelessly to promote access to basic and higher education for people of all ages and backgrounds: with a deep commitment to striving for greater equality for women. Following an Introduction, the book is structured around four main themes: Adult Education and Social Justice; Decolonisation, Post-Colonialism and Indigenous Knowledge; From Literacy to Lifelong Learning; and, Fostering Excellence, Policy Development and Supporting Future Generation of Adult Educators. The book concludes with reflections on Lalage Bown’s Enduring Legacy.

This book is a product of intercultural dialogues between Rainer Kokemohr from Germany and educational scholars from Taiwan, during a period of more than 15 years. When professor Kokemohr served as a part-time chair professor at the College of Education, NCCU, he had the opportunity to observe different schools and to dialogue with many scholars. Section One of the book presents discussions on pedagogical norms and goals. Section Two brings together articles that discuss educational goals in relation to concrete social interactions or special, pedagogically significant phenomena and structures that determine teaching-learning processes within educational institutions. In Section Three, the authors discuss the challenge of modern education in view of historical or life-historical educational conditions.

Chou and Ching examine the processes of schooling in Taiwan amidst social, cultural, economic, and political conflict resulting from local and global dilemmas. Collectively, these issues offer a panoramic and in-depth glimpse from the past to the future of educational trends in Taiwan.

This open access book examines the implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic for education systems and argues that major education reforms will be necessary, particularly in the Global South, to address the learning loss caused by the pandemic. To inform those reforms, knowledge about the implementation reforms in the Global South is necessary, and such knowledge is seriously lacking as the existing literature on the implementation of educational change focused principally in reforms in countries in the Global North. This book contributes to address this gap by examining five major education reforms in India, Egypt, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Senegal, and by presenting two novel approaches to climate change education using a bottoms up strategy of reform. The chapters examine the implementation process drawing on a theoretical model of educational change by Reimers (published in Educating Students to Improve the World by Springer in 2020). The book concludes discussing the implementation of such reforms as an evolutionary and learning process, characterized by four dimensions: the goals of the reform, the drivers of the reform, the reform strategy, and the mindsets about educational change which undergird the implementation strategy.

In the spring of 2014, the Sunflower Movement’s three-week occupation of the Legislative Yuan brought Taiwan back to international media attention. It was the culmination of a series of social movements that had been growing in strength since 2008 and have become even more salient since the spring of 2014. Social movements in Taiwan have emerged as a powerful new actor that needs to be understood alongside those players that have dominated the literature such as political parties, local factions, Taishang, China and the United States. This book offers readers an introduction to the development of these social movements in Taiwan by examining a number of important movement case studies that focus on the post 2008 period. The return of the Kuomintang (KMT) to power radically changed the political environment for Taiwan’s civil society and so the book considers how social activists responded to this new political opportunity structure. The case chapters are based on extensive fieldwork and are written by authors from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds and methodological approaches; in some cases authors combine being both academics and activists themselves. Together, the chapters focus on a number of core issues, providing the book with four key aims. Firstly, it investigates the roots of the movements and considers how to best explain their emergence. Secondly, it examines the development trajectories of these movements. Thirdly, it looks at the best way to explain their impact and development patterns, and finally it assesses their overall impact, questioning whether they can be regarded as successes or failures. Covering a unique range of social movement cases, the book will be of interest to students and researchers interested in Taiwanese society and politics, as well as social movements and civil society.