Commentary: Modernity and Reflexivity in Vietnamese Higher Education—Situating the Role of the Ideological, Capacity Building, Learning Organisation, and Policy Reform

Abstract

As a notable example of resilience and strength, Vietnam as a nation has made extraordinary progress as a nation given its colonial history, in addition to its ability to overcome the ravages of war and economic turmoil within the latter half of the previous century. The higher education sector of Vietnam among other sectors has made progress which testifies to the success of the 1986 Doi Moi reforms and the political will of the State and its people to move into a progressive era in the nation’s history. However, while there have been commendable advancements which have been documented by local and international scholars, yet key issues remain as it relates to the rate and articulation of progress within the higher education sector. This chapter argues that the advancements within higher education in Vietnam is an articulation of Modernity in general, but more importantly and particularly, Asian or Vietnamese Modernity. Drawing upon the work of scholars in the previous chapters of this volume, the concluding chapter in this section presents a review of their work by further attesting the unity of their separate yet related claims in relation to the role of ideology, capacity building, learning organisation, and policy reform in higher education. The concept of a reflexivity defined here and derived from scholarship in both reflexive modernisation and governance, which is one way not only to understand past and ongoing developments within the higher education sector, but also as a means of perhaps mitigating challenges and seizing hold of potentials for advancement through reflexive policy and practice.