평생학습사회의 실현을 위한 대학·지역 파트너십에 관한 고찰 -와카야마현「학교지원지역본부사업」을 중심으로-

Abstract

As our society is more decentralized and is turning into an aging society with a low birthrate, the self-governing ability of local communities becomes one of the most essential factors for the self-reliance and sustainable development of local communities. In the meantime, having entered the universal stage, Korean universities reinforce their roles as a higher educational institutes more likely in order to accept a variety of learners because of the advent of a lifelong learning era and to participate in dealing with local community issues. While going through social changes similar to those of Korea, Japanese universities reinforce their partnerships to improve fundamental local capacities by cultivating people of talent, while stimulating local communities with the goal of realizing a lifelong learning society. In 2012, the Japanese Ministry of Education, and the Japanese Central Education Council established ‘the University Reform Execution Plan’ and ‘the Second Educational Promotion Basic Plan’ respectively. Both of these plans proposed reinforcing the functions of ‘the Center of Community (COC hereafter)’, which shows the direction of reforms local communities and universities should take in the near future, in response to social demands and needs. This study intends to investigate the activation of local communities and the promotion of partnerships between universities and the same local communities. To achieve this aim we have selected the Wakayama University as a typical case of ‘COC’ as suggested by ‘the Second Educational Promotion Basic Plan (Report on the Deliberation Progress)’. It is expected that the results of this study can propose a direction of partnership that both Korean local communities and universities should take, and a solution to the realization of a lifelong learning society of citizen participation.