Confucian thinking in Singapore’s citizenship education

ABSTRACT

Teachers in Asia are often perceived to occupy passive roles as citizens, subject to collectivist goals which take precedence over the interests of the individual. This assessment typically stems from a liberal-democratic perspective, which prioritises the individual as autonomous and self-responsible. While many endeavours have been undertaken by scholars outside education research to debunk the simplistic understanding of Asian thinking as passive, there remains a lack of attention to the distinctive features of Asian cultures and thought within the field of citizenship education. This article aims to provide a more nuanced understanding of citizenship education in Singapore, and challenge the perceived passivity of teachers in Asia by exploring—particularly from a Confucian perspective—how a group of social studies teachers made sense of citizenship. We identify three emergent themes from the interview samples: Relationality, Harmony and Criticality and discuss them accordingly.     

艾丽斯·杨的多元文化主义公民资格观与公民教育观探析

在全球化时代,一体与多元成为世界发展的两种趋势.以艾丽斯·杨为代表的多元文化主义公民教育思想在20世纪末以来已经成为世界公民教育理论与实践中一个令人注目的亮点.普遍与差异、同质与异质成为多元化时代公民教育不可忽视的两组矛盾.     

A case for cautious optimism? Active citizenship and the Australian civics and citizenship curriculum

In late 2013 a new curriculum for Civics and Citizenship education was published by the Australian Curriculum and Assessment Reporting Authority for use in Australian schools. In line with previous curricular initiatives concerning education for citizenship in Australia a key rationale behind the new subject is the education of “active citizens”. Research evidence over the last 25 years paints a mixed picture regarding the extent to which the translation of policy intent has been successfully implemented within Australian schools. Exploring the new subject of Civics and Citizenship in Australia in the context of previous initiatives and existing research evidence, we explore the contested and complex nature of active citizenship around three key issues – the scope and form of action that constitutes citizenship in one’s communities, how young people themselves conceptualize and experience participation, the potential that active citizenship opportunities are interpreted as being synonymous with the use of active teaching and learning methods. On this basis we argue that the new curriculum provides some optimism for those committed to education for citizenship in Australian schools, but that this optimism needs to be tempered with a degree of caution.     

What do citizens need to know? An analysis of knowledge in citizenship curricula in the UK and Ireland

Contemporary citizenship education tends to focus on the development of skills through real experiences, which has led to a relative neglect or simplification of knowledge and understanding. This article outlines a framework for analysing citizenship curricula drawing on Young’s notion of ‘powerful knowledge’ and ‘knowledge of the powerful’ and on Shulman’s account of subject knowledge, which includes substantive concepts and epistemic criteria. These ideas are used to analyse the citizenship curricula in the four nations of the UK and Ireland to assess the extent to which they provide an adequate account of knowledge and understanding of citizenship. The article concludes that it is important to reconsider the relationship between the genuinely educational aspects of citizenship education (where ‘powerful knowledge’ opens up new and diverse understandings) from the normative aims, which are more akin to a form of socialisation (where ‘knowledge of the powerful’ closes down certain possibilities).     

华夏中心说对中国古代、近代外交的影响

华夏中心说在中国是一种有着悠久传统的文化价值观念,其产生有着深远的历史根源。在几千年的中国历史中,华夏中心说深深影响着中国的古代、近代外交。     

Pre-service teachers’ interpretations of religious policy in citizenship education in China

Studies about religion and education in post-Mao China have become more common in recent years, but very few have touched on teacher and religious education at the basic education level. This study adopted a mixed methodology approach (questionnaire, interview and lesson design analysis) to report Chinese pre-service teachers’ interpretations of religious policy in citizenship education. The analyses of the findings reveal that pre-service teachers actively constructed their understandings of religion-citizenship, rather than passively adopting the officially promoted religion-citizenship relationship.     

The marginality of migrant children in the urban Chinese educational system

The present paper explores issues of the educational marginality of migrant children in urban settings in two cities in China. The numbers of urban migrants exceed 100 million and are growing as China modernizes. This is creating tensions between residents and recent arrivals who lack residential registration and access to public services. As a result, migrant children often attend informal, private and usually unregulated schools of low quality organized by their communities. These tend to reinforce social stratification and reproduce marginality across the generations. The paper argues that state failure to provide basic education risks a growing divide between urban residents and recent migrants that has social consequences that must be addressed to remove discriminatory practices and resolve potential conflicts between hosts and migrant communities.     

论公民教育中应该处理好的两个基本关系

公民教育作为为社会—政治共同体培养合格成员的一种教育,必须处理好两个基本关系:一是民族主义与民主主义之间的关系;二是权利与义务之间的关系。前者涉及公民教育的目的,后者涉及公民教育与道德教育的关系。无论前者还是后者,都并非一种非此即彼的取舍关系,而是一种需要动态平衡的关系。因此,需要根据国家和社会发展的需要做出相应的调整。     

Fostering citizenship in China's move from elite to mass higher education: An analysis of students’ political socialization and civic participation

This study examines the patterns and interplay of college students’ political orientations and socialization toward citizenship and civil society in the Chinese sociopolitical context, alongside China's move to mass higher education. Data were collected from a nationwide survey conducted in 12 Chinese universities in 2007. The analytic framework is adapted from the classic comparative studies on civic culture pioneered by Gabriel Almond and Sidney Verba. The policy implications and conclusions made by this paper suggest alternative ways for higher education institutions as civic actors to nurture active citizenship learning, to foster students as reflective and open-minded social agents, and to facilitate the growth of vibrant civil society.     

Globalisation,city development and citizenship education in China's Shanghai

Globalisation has extended the competition between nation-states to that between metropolises of the same or different nations. Many studies have shown how nation-states respond to the challenge of globalisation by reconfiguring their citizenship education curriculum into a multileveled framework comprising personal, social, local, national and global dimensions. However, how metropolises reshape their citizenship education to meet the demands of their nation-state's national solidarity in order to respond to the external challenges of globalisation, and the global–national–local relationships arising from the reconfiguration are under-researched. With reference to Shanghai, the study aims to explore the perceptions of students and teachers about the dynamics and complexities in the juggling of global, national, local, and personal–social dimensions of multiple identity in a multileveled polity. Data are drawn from a questionnaire survey and interviews with students and teachers including principals. The study shows that students and teachers considered these four dimensions important, and that complex relationships between these dimensions exist. The article argues that in an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world these dimensions intersect with, and are complementary to, one another. In a multileveled polity, different actors including global forces, nation-state, local government and individuals interact in an intertwined manner in the processes of remaking cities for modernisation and globalisation.     

论公民教育是全部教育的转型——公民教育意义的现代化视角分析

公民教育并非只有工具性的一面,就目的性而言,它乃是全部现代教育的终极目标.公民教育目标的确认具有中国社会与教育转型的历史必然性和现实必要性.公民教育实际上应该是、也必须是全部教育的转型乃至整体社会的改造.     

论公民教育

培养公民是一切教育目标表述的基础 ,也是国家对教育的基本要求。公民教育已成为当代西方政治哲学、教育理论关注的热点问题 ,其具有代表性的理论主要有自由主义公民教育、社群主义公民教育和多元文化主义公民教育。社会主义政治文明建设不仅是社会主义民主制度的设计和完善问题 ,更重要的是培养一代认同、积极参与并具有实践能力的公民。因此公民教育的目标一定要明确地包含在基础教育的目标中 ,公民教育的内容也一定要渗透在相关的课程之中 ,并通过公民教育目标整合基础教育中的道德教育、思想政治教育和社会教育以及相关的教育活动。     

公民身份与公民教育的社会理论解读

公民身份是公民教育活动的出发点和旨归,公民教育是养成和塑造公民身份的有效途径,二者密不可分。对于公民身份与公民教育的研究,涉及诸多社会学科,需要一种综合性、跨学科的理论工具来整合各个学科的资源。社会理论或许是讨论公民身份与公民教育的理想平台。在社会理论的视野中,公民身份需要宽泛的理解,公民教育应涉及全球化视角、批判性认知、多元化内涵、制度化保障等诸多方面。     

Teaching for citizenship in Lebanon: Teachers talk about the civics classroom

National and Civic Education is a program of study compulsory across all grade levels in Lebanon aimed at promoting social cohesion and active citizenship. A sample of 19 civics teachers in Lebanon across four of the six governorates participated in semi-structured interviews. The conversations delved into their conceptions of citizenship and citizenship education and their reflections of classroom teaching experiences. Their responses revealed complex inter-relations among nationalist conceptions of citizenship, pedagogies of rote learning, emotional repercussions from controversial topics and limited opportunities to think critically and engage in dialogue in the classroom.