The Why and How of Fostering International Academic Exchange at Schools in Taiwan

A high quality workforce with global competence is the key to survive today’s globalized market. The Taiwan government published its White Paper of International Education for Primary and Secondary Schools in 2011. This research examined the relative importance of objectives of international education announced by the government, and to determine the most efficient international academic exchange approaches for achieving the objectives. Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was adopted as the major calculation instrument, and a self-developed questionnaire was administered to school principals in Taiwan. The research results indicated that cultivating keen observation capability for international comparison, understanding critical global issues, and understanding interdependence of global relationships are the most important objectives for international education at the primary and secondary levels. Moreover, as different implementation approaches may contribute to different objectives, it is important for school principals to select the right implementation approaches to fit their unique environmental and educational focus.