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Dispute on the reference standard for economics in Japan and its international backgrounds: is pluralism vs. standardization an appropriate scheme in economics education?

Author

Listed:
  • Kiichiro Yagi

    (Kyoto University
    Setsunan University)

Abstract

A dispute over economics education occurred in Japan in 2013 when the draft of the Reference Standard for Economics Education (RS Economics) of the Science Council of Japan (SCJ) was known to non-mainstream economists. This article reconsiders this dispute with its international background (OECD-AHELO, Bologna Process, QAA's Subject Benchmark Statement for Economics in the UK). OECD's AHELO project could not proceed from its Feasibility Study to Main Study. QAA's SBS Economics has made considerable concessions to the pluralistic opponents of mainstream economics. Confirming a paradigm shift in assessing the outcomes of higher education, the author critically examines the opposition scheme between Pluralism and Standardization around economics education. Further, he suggests the possibility of developing undergraduate-level economics education in the "universal stage" of higher education in the direction of resurgent general education (liberal arts study).

Suggested Citation

  • Kiichiro Yagi, 2024. "Dispute on the reference standard for economics in Japan and its international backgrounds: is pluralism vs. standardization an appropriate scheme in economics education?," Evolutionary and Institutional Economics Review, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 47-80, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eaiere:v:21:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s40844-023-00263-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s40844-023-00263-x
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alan Freeman, 2009. "The Economists of Tomorrow: the Case for a Pluralist Subject Benchmark Statement for Economics," International Review of Economic Education, Economics Network, University of Bristol, vol. 8(2), pages 23-40.
    2. Samuel Bowles & Wendy Carlin, 2020. "What Students Learn in Economics 101: Time for a Change," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 58(1), pages 176-214, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Economics education; Above contents skill; Subject-specific skills; Generic skills; Standardization; Pluralism in economics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A11 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Role of Economics; Role of Economists
    • A12 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Other Disciplines
    • A22 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics - - - Undergraduate
    • B4 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Economic Methodology
    • B5 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches

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