Moral and civic education – the hidden curriculum in Macau

Macau, as a society, is a crossroads where East–West encounters have been taking place for centuries. This paper examines some of the contemporary issues and implications for moral education. After a brief introduction to the social background of Macau, the paper describes the characteristics of Macau's education in general and the development of its moral education in particular. This has taken place in the context of the strong influences on morality of both Catholicism and Confucianism. An outline of the current curriculum of moral and civic education is followed by a critical appraisal of its implementation over the last few years. By means of this case study of Macau, the paper argues that a communitarian‐oriented morality in Macau is justified, and it also suggests how, by turning attention to its history, a minimal set of values can be constructed for Macau's particular social setting. Finally, some further educational challenges for Macau's future moral and civic education are reviewed.     

From “survival” to “leadership”: the practice of civic education in Australia

This chapter describes the study as it was conducted in three public high schools in Sydney: a governmental comprehensive high school, a non-government or private high school, and a government “selective school”. The results suggest that civic education revolved around an identifiable, yet not clearly articulated, set of civic values. For teachers, civic education's main goal was to prepare students for harmonious integration into Australia's highly multicultural society, to maintain and reinforce social cohesion, and, consequently, to foster acceptance of diversity. For students, civic education was an enigma. Although they participated in civic education experiences they could rarely identify them as such. Furthermore, few students could identify subject matter of civic education through what was taught in school subjects.     

Citizenship education ‘goes global’: extra-curricular learning in an overseas campus of a British civic university

Active citizenship is increasingly being framed in the context of lifelong and life-wide learning. However, research on young people’s participation in and experience of different forms of civic practice, particularly in informal settings in different sociocultural contexts, is scarce. Consequently, little is known about how these experiences shape their learning about active citizenship, their understanding of the self and their relationship to society. This paper reports findings from a small-scale qualitative research on students’ experiences of participation in extra-curricular activities (ECAs) in a UK Transnational Higher Education institution in China, in relation to the development of active citizenship and lifelong learning capacity. The findings suggest ECAs can provide opportunities for students to accumulate knowledge and develop skills, attitudes and values that underpin the promotion of active citizenship, while developing habits and skills essential for lifelong learning.     

Effects of computer-aided and blended teaching strategies on students’ achievement in civic education concepts in mountain learning ecologies

The need to enhance students’ learning outcomes has become integral in secondary schools in developing countries due to increased students enrollment. Research has shown that the strategies utilized in teaching secondary school students have significant influence on their learning outcomes. At present in Nigeria, public secondary schools have not been deploying learning technologies to teach students despite the surge in enrollment. This study, therefore, determined the effects of computer-aided and blended teaching strategies on students’ achievement in civic education concepts in mountain learning ecologies. The study adopted the pretest-posttest, control group, quasi-experimental design using 3 × 2 × 3 factorial matrix. Seventy-eight students from six intact classes in secondary schools in Ondo State were selected for the study and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Five instruments used were: Students’ Knowledge of Civic Education Test (r = 0.78), Academic Ability Test (r = 0.72), Online and Blended Teaching Instructional Guides for experimental groups, Conventional Lecture Method Guide for the control group and Teaching Strategies Evaluation Sheet. One hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of significance. Data was subjected to Analysis of Covariance, Estimated Marginal Means, and Scheffe’s Pairwise Comparison. There was a significant effect of treatment on students’ achievement in Civic Education concepts (F _{(2; 61)} = 4.93, p < 0.05; η ²  = .14). The students exposed to Computer-aided teaching programme had higher adjusted achievement mean score (\( \overline{x} \)= 27.86), than the blended instructional strategy group (\( \overline{x} \)= 23.06), and the control group (\( \overline{x} \)= 18.69). It was, therefore, recommended that teachers in secondary schools in mountainous locations should explore the benefits of teaching with Information and Communication Technology based strategies in civic education classrooms.     

Influences of shadow education on the ecology of education – A review of the literature

Shadow education, also widely known as private tutoring or supplementary education, has attracted increasing research attention in the past two decades. The global expansion of shadow education, as well as its penetration to different educational stages and social classes, are believed to have far-reaching implications for the overall educational landscape. However, despite a steadily growing body of literature, no study to date has systematically reviewed the influences of shadow education from an ecological perspective. Therefore, borrowing Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory, this paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of how shadow education influences different levels of educational ecosystems (i.e. individuals, micro-, meso-, exo-, and macro-system). Based on 74 empirical studies published between 2000 and 2020, the review reveals complex influences exerted by shadow education on multiple systems (e.g., students, mainstream schooling, families, and larger socioeconomic structures), contributing to a more sophisticated understanding of this phenomenon. The paper then discusses how the rise of shadow education creates significant changes to the ecology of education in which it operates, and concludes with implications for future practice and research.     

Teachers’ cultural autobiography as means of civic professional engagement

Abstract

This article will present my autobiographical journey: from communism to capitalism, from the banking system and the pedagogy of the oppressed to problem-posing education. My personal experiences are seen as a way of emigrating internally and as part of the struggle through the process of self-actualisation and self-understanding. In effect, the practice of intellectual freedom shifts from a personal to a civic perspective. My wish for social justice, especially for children from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds living in a global society, will be considered, with reference to the voluntary work in the Romanian community. Thus, from a postmodern perspective, the autobiographical process is not just about self, but also about the Other.     

Australian Students’ democratic values and attitudes towards participation: indicators from the IEA civic education study

In September 1999, over 3000 Australian students in 115 schools representing all schooling sectors participated in the Australian component of the IEA Civic Education study. In this paper, the focus in particular is on Australian students’ democratic values and on their attitudes towards participation and social action. The results suggest that while Australian students have a well-developed set of democratic values, they adopt a passive rather than an active style of engaging in conventional citizenship activities. They will participate formally through voting and they will pursue issues where they see some community benefit but they do not see themselves exercising an effective presence in the formal political system. The implications of these results are discussed in relation to the characteristics of citizens needed in a democratic society and the role that schools can play in adopting curriculum and pedagogy that will engage young people in the development of their civic knowledge.     

Moral education in Hong Kong: Confucian‐parental,Christian‐religious and liberal‐civic influences

A brief review of the social and educational context of Hong Kong shows that the publication of the General guidelines on moral education in schools in 1981, by the Hong Kong Education Department, marked a milestone in the development of moral education. The Guidelines explicitly asserted moral education as one function of schooling, whilst also formally recognizing the home and the community as two main influences. This paper narrates how three moral sources of influence – namely Confucian‐parental, Christian‐religious and liberal‐civic – have shaped the development of moral education in Hong Kong from 1973 to 2003. It then examines in more detail: parental influence at home – the Confucian moral source in Chinese family; schooling influenced by religious sources – taking Christian schools as an example; and the Independent Commission Against Corruption as an official agency for moral education – a liberal source calling for civic morality. In conclusion, the post‐colonial emergence of nationalistic influence in the recently constituted Chinese Special Administrative Region, advocating national identity as the new core value, is traced and the implications for future moral education in Hong Kong are considered.     

‘Freedom can only exist in an ordered state’: harmony and civic education in Singapore

This paper uses the concept of stories of peoplehood to examine how the Singapore government has constructed a story of harmony and to consider how this story has influenced two important school subjects focused on civic education: Social Studies and Character and Citizenship Education. Stories of peoplehood, including constitutive, economic and political power stories, play a central role in the political project of people-making which involves defining the nature of membership in a political community and promoting a collective political identity. This study provides an alternative way of conceptualizing the goals and curriculum content of civic education and it also offers an example of how a nation state with a strong Confucian tradition has chosen to address the educational goal of living together through the promotion of values such as social cohesion and community relationships within a story of harmony. The study also shows how Singapore political leaders construct a narrow and limited discourse of harmony within the curricula and use it to legitimize policies that privilege particular groups, limit political freedoms, marginalize groups with less power or status, and circumscribe the kinds of actions a citizen can legitimately take.     

The role of online games in promoting young adults’ civic engagement

In this review, we present an argument for the need to support young adult’s civic engagement and we explore the role of online games in supporting such engagement. In doing so, in the first section of the paper, we offer a definition for civic education and citizenship alongside a discussion for the pedagogical frameworks that better support young adults’ development of related skills. Following that, we synthesize existing research findings on the role of online games in supporting young adults’ civic engagement. Based on the outcomes of this review, in the last section of the paper, we offer a set of game design principles alongside suggestions for pedagogical approaches and organization of learning environments that have the potential to maximize young adults’ civic engagement.     

Speech education ‐ ways and means of political education in Germany

This study of the utility of evidence differs from previous studies in its use of a respondent‐generated matrix of information and sources. This matrix comprised three dimensions (expertness × trustworthiness‐acquaintanceship x information type] and was used to produce Q‐statements which subjects sorted according to a most useful‐Jeast useful criterion in three hypothetical decision‐making situations. The Q‐analysis revealed several types of persons, including: types which found directive information most useful, types which preferred unknown but competent sources, and types which depended upon sources who were known and trusted regardless of the kind of information the source offered.     

Review of Chinese aerospace medical education

In the 21st century, the aerospace industry and aerospace medicine have got significant development in China and abroad. With the advancement of the aerospace industries, the aerospace medical education system was established on the basis of the Faculty of Aerospace Medicine, the Fourth Military Medical University in 1963. During the 47 years development, the Faculty has accumulated valuable experience. We＇d like to give a general review on the present situation and development of Chinese aerospace medical education, based on the four aspects： division of aerospace medical education specialties and disciplines, institution of Chinese aerospace medical education, main objects of aerospace medical education and experience.     

Research-based teacher education? Exploring the meaning potentials of Swedish teacher education

In this article, we explore the meaning potentials of teacher education in terms of the significance of a research-based approach and the different pedagogic identities that such an approach implies. The study’s aim is to examine the important factors for education to be considered research-based and to identify and analyse the research base of teacher education in Sweden. The results from the analysis of a large number of course documents and from a survey administered to teachers and students in four teacher education programmes indicate that the emerging potential meaning is that teacher education is generally a strongly framed professional education with a relatively weak and adapted research base. The analysis of the classification and framing of disciplinary content and pedagogy in the Swedish teacher education curriculum points at different pedagogic identities emerging from the different meaning potentials that are made available to the students. We argue that a thorough understanding of research-based teacher education needs to be grounded in both course content and its research base as well as other possible pedagogical aspects of research-based education; the education as a whole must be included in the concept of research-based education.     

Higher education in further education: delivering higher education in a further education context—a study of five South West colleges

This paper comprises a summary of research into the teaching of higher education (HE) courses in further education (FE) learning environments. A comprehensive study of college management and teaching staff attitudes together with teaching practices, pedagogy and research was carried out with six partner colleges of the University of Plymouth where a substantial amount of HE teaching was delivered. A questionnaire was developed, piloted and distributed to all staff teaching HE in the colleges, with a similar but separate questionnaire being used for management. Five colleges responded. We present data relating to the differences in teaching practice and pedagogy between FE and HE teaching and the problems of realizing these in FE learning environments. We also look at the ways in which independent study and critical reflection among learners are developed. The questions of research and scholarly activity and their relevance to HE teaching are addressed. Considerable challenges are faced by staff teaching mainly FE courses, on standard FE teaching contracts, being expected to deliver HE courses effectively. We also consider the challenges of delivering ‘a real HE experience’ in FE environments and those involved with going on to university afterwards.     

A system of education,not just a university: Thomas Jefferson’s philosophy of education

Because of the political reforms demanded by his political philosophy, Jefferson was always focused on instantiating a system of education to edify all persons according to their needs and to prevent those governing at every level from lusting after power and fame instead of governing in pursuance of the interests of the general citizenry. That notion of a system of education—offering a basic education for all citizens and high-lever education and access to it for the intellectually and morally elite—at the time would have been unique to Virginia and it showed the extent to which Jefferson recognized both the political ills of his day and that those political ills could only be remedied through educational reform. This paper is a critical analysis of that system of education, from ward schools to the University of Virginia.     

Assessment and the improvement of education∗

This article explores the school coordinator role in initial teacher training (ITT) in England. Recognising that mentoring is fully embedded and highly researched in ITT, it argues the role of the coordinator, while integral to partnerships, is far less researched. This paper investigates tensions in the role, between managing programme-wide quality assurance, teaching professional studies and developing school-based mentors. These questions were explored through multi-site case-studies with four HEIs and their partner schools in four linked phases of data collection. Data analysis established a range of different conceptualisations of the role, with only limited evidence of a development role with their mentors. The authors argue for policies which establish a more coherent conceptualisation of the role, and an agreed nomenclature. A key recommendation is to free coordinators from bureaucratic demands on their time to enable them to exemplify a new ‘professional multilingualism’.