Principals’ Attitudes towards International Exchange Activities in the Context of Taiwan

Globalization has rendered frequent and convenient cross-country interaction and thus led to the emergence of international education. Drawing on an international education white paper specifically designed for students at primary and secondary schools in Taiwan, this study explores attitudes of principals towards the advantages, disadvantages and implementation challenges of the white paper. A self-developed questionnaire was utilized and distributed to 120 principals in Taiwan with a return rate of approximately 74%. The results indicate that while many benefits brought by international exchange activities have been recognized, some unexpected outcomes have also been identified as possible hindrances for students’ learning and development. Extra exchange activities may increase students’ pressure for learning; instructors’ subjective international outlook may cause misleading international cognition, and focusing on powerful countries may lead to a narrowed international outlook. In addition, some implementation challenges explored in this research also manifest the existing administrative problems embedded in school systems such as lack of qualified teaching staff and administrators and lack of mutual cooperation among faculty. These findings can be referenced by Taiwanese policy makers to improve or revamp the white paper in the future.