Taming cosmopolitanism: the limits of national and neoliberal civic education in two global cities

ABSTRACT

This paper analyzes global education policy and curricular documents in Singapore and Hong Kong. Using a discursive approach, we characterize curricular aims through various cosmopolitan perspectives. We posit that although touted as Asian global cities, Singapore and Hong Kong are cases where neoliberal and nation-centric educational agendas have effectively rebranded cosmopolitanism and tamed its transformative potential. To develop this argument, we review theories and critiques of cosmopolitan forms of global citizenship education deemed necessary to prepare young people for complex global social conditions. We discuss cosmopolitan principles on identity, values, and deliberation and draw on critical cosmopolitanism and Asian forms of cosmopolitanism to provide a discursive framework for analyzing curricular intentions in the two cases.     

Re‐envisioning the Future: Democratic Citizenship Education and Islamic Education

In this article we address the issue of why democratic citizenship education should be incorporated more meaningfully into Islamic education discourses in formal institutions in the Arab and Muslim world. In the Arab and Muslim world civic and national education seem to be the dominant discourses. We argue that the latter discourses are inadequate to address some of the dystopias in the Arab and Muslim world such as the perpetuation of patriarchy, uncritical obedience to the state (often dictatorships), and blind patriotism. Consequently we posit that unless a culture of acceptance and hospitality (i.e. cosmopolitanism) is cultivated at Islamic educational institutions the possibility of democratic citizenship education unfolding is quite remote. That is, the future of Islamic education can only be re‐envisioned if an amended version of democratic citizenship education can inform Islamic education discourses in institutions—one constituted by a culture of acceptance and hospitality.     

Are education and nationalism a happy marriage? Ethno-nationalist disruptions of education in Dutch classrooms

Following Gellner, citizenship education has often been framed in terms of nationalism. This framing is supported by methodological nationalism that legitimizes nationalism as either functional (civic nationalism) or natural (ethnic nationalism). Based on a triangulation of qualitative and quantitative data, this study of the dynamics in the classes of a Dutch faculty of social professions highlights the disruptive impact of nationalism on citizenship education, spilling over to other courses as well. Ethno-nationalist discourses in Dutch media and politics as well as in multiculturalism approaches used in citizenship education fuel conflicts between non-migrant students and students with a migration background that disrupt education. It is argued that in globalized settings like these classes, a more viable approach to citizenship education would take an institutional instead of communitarian perspective.     

教育:全球化、本土化与本土生长——从比较教育学的角度观照

民族主义和世界主义是比较教育学研究中的一对观念上的基本矛盾 ,在全球化的后殖民时代背景下 ,这对矛盾又有新的表现。本土化无法成为弱势文化有效的解殖出路 ,在“和”的模式中寻求多元发展 ,第三世界的教育和文化才有可能在本土生长中逐步解殖     

Citizenship,citizenship education,and the state in China in a global age

Citizenship and citizenship education change during periods of social transition, such as globalization. As globalists have argued, while globalization undermines the state, local institutions, values, cultures, and identities, it also facilitates liberal democracy and a common consumer culture. Citizenship education is urged to respond to globalization and its impact on both global and local communities. In reality, virtually no nation state adopts merely global citizenship; rather, they adopt frameworks of multileveled/multidimensional citizenship. With particular reference to citizenship education in the People's Republic of China (PRC), this paper challenges globalists' views for over‐exaggerating the domination of global forces over domestic ones. In particular, the paper examines the complicated struggles associated with the reconfiguration of the PRC's socialist citizenship and citizenship education that have occurred in response to social changes, including globalization. The paper explains the role of the PRC's state in such reconfiguration and offers a new framework that regards citizenship education as being based on different players' sociopolitical selections from a multileveled polity.     

Exopedagogy: On pirates,shorelines, and the educational commonwealth

In this paper, Tyson E. Lewis challenges the dominant theoretical and practical educational responses to globalization. On the level of public policy, Lewis demonstrates the limitations of both neoliberal privatization and liberal calls for rehabilitating public schooling. On the level of pedagogy, Lewis breaks with the dominant liberal democratic tradition which focuses on the cultivation of democratic dispositions for cosmopolitan citizenship. Shifting focus, Lewis posits a new location for education out of bounds of the common sense of public versus private, nationalism versus cosmopolitanism, inclusion versus exclusion, human versus civil rights. This is the space of the commonwealth whose actors cannot be identified as ‘citizens’ but are rather the anonymous multitude. In conclusion, Lewis finds a model for organizing this commonwealth in the work of Ivan Illich, whose learning networks speak to the urgent political and pedagogical need for exodus from the conceptual vocabulary that defines much of the contemporary field of educational theory.     

Deconstructing neoliberalism in global citizenship discourses: an analysis of Korean social studies textbooks

ABSTRACT

This study explored ways in which official social studies textbooks in South Korea promote global citizenship given the dominant neoliberal ideology in the field of education. Employing soft versus critical global citizenship education (GCE) and critical discourse analysis, this study analyzed 12 middle-school (seventh to ninth grades) social studies textbooks that are mandatory in Korean public schools. The findings of this study demonstrate the prevalence of a neoliberal agenda and nationalist rhetoric in the global citizenship discourses in the textbooks. We discussed the extent to which themes for GCE including globalization, cultural diversity, peace, sustainability, and associated skills and dispositions were instrumental in perpetuating neoliberal economic values and nationalism while marginalizing social justice and multiculturalism in official textbooks.     

Decolonization,Nationalism, and local identity: rethinking cosmopolitanism in educational practice in Hong Kong

ABSTRACT

Cosmopolitanism and its application for education in western societies has been well examined. Yet cosmopolitanism in society and in education has not been systematically explored in many Asian societies. Facing a large number of people from diverse backgrounds, the society and its education system in Hong Kong are troubled by issues similar to those found in western postindustrial societies, related to cultural and national belonging and identity. Prejudice and racism towards ethnic minorities – particularly those from South Asia and Africa, is quite common. Additionally, animosity and hostility to mainland Chinese newcomers has increased and intensified in the context of Hong Kong’s “repoliticization” after its 1997 handover. This article aims to explore how cosmopolitanism is understood, valued, and approached in Hong Kong education. We start by exploring the role of decolonization and nationalization in political education in Hong Kong. We then discuss cosmopolitanism, and consider how it impacts particular social and educational issues in Hong Kong. We also provide an analysis of discourses on cosmopolitanism taken from Hong Kong General Studies and History textbooks, to identify challenges faced in facilitating cosmopolitan values, a balance of identities, and global citizenship in Hong Kong education.     

当代世界公民教育的理念考察

为了把握当代世界公民教育的理念，首先应该在民族主义和民主主义的紧张关系中把握公民教育的基本价值趋向，其次要把握在全球化背景下民族主义的新动向及其对公民教育的影响，最后要透过民主主义中自由主义(新自由主义)与共和主义(社群主义)的论争来把握公民教育理念的新走向。     

Family Policy,Welfare, and Single Motherhood in the United States and Denmark: A Cross-National Analysis of Discourse and Practice

Family and child care policies in the United States and Denmark are discussed. Key issues in the article address the contrasting discourses that frame policies about the poor, about women and welfare, about single motherhood, and about the role and responsibility of government in providing for the welfare of children. The dismantling of entitlements and the shredding of the safety net in the United States is critically analyzed and contrasted with the Danish discourse of universalism and social citizenship rights.     

Family Policy, Welfare, and Single Motherhood in the United States and Denmark: A Cross-National Analysis of Discourse and Practice

Family and child care policies in the United States and Denmark are discussed. Key issues in the article address the contrasting discourses that frame policies about the poor, about women and welfare, about single motherhood, and about the role and responsibility of government in providing for the welfare of children. The dismantling of entitlements and the shredding of the safety net in the United States is critically analyzed and contrasted with the Danish discourse of universalism and social citizenship rights.     

Republican cosmopolitanism: democratising the global dimensions of citizenship education

This paper considers the nature of citizenship found in recent republican cosmopolitan work within political theory. It argues that republican cosmopolitanism, which seeks to recognise the importance of both cosmopolitan and active citizenry within global political communities, offers important insights through which the nature of global citizenship education may be understood. After identifying the central substantive tenets of republican cosmopolitanism, key issues raised by these for citizenship education are discussed. It is suggested that citizenship education can benefit conceptually from understanding and interrogating global issues from a republican cosmopolitan perspective, and that in turn recourse to republican cosmopolitan ideas raises important questions concerning the nature and focus of global aspects of the citizenship curriculum.     

Reviews

At Key Stages one and two, citizenship education is described in terms of non-statutory guidelines along with personal, social and health education. Whilst PSHE and citizenship are no doubt linked, they are not synonymous. Citizenship is concerned with thought and debate in the public arena, and as such has identifiable underpinning discourses. With this in mind, this article seeks to assist primary school teachers in conceptualising citizenship and distinguishing it from PSHE. To facilitate this, two scenarios are highlighted and examined for the way in which they are or are not examples of good citizenship education.     

Community and Collectivism: the role of parents’ organisations in the education system

This paper outlines the theoretical and empirical starting‐points for a research project addressing the role of parents’ organisations in the education system. It argues that a study of relationships conducted between homes, schools and parents’ groups and organisations has the potential to illuminate key concepts in education, considering as examples ‘citizenship’ and ‘community’. The paper is divided into three main sections. The first briefly describes the study's background, its scope and methodology. The second section considers the use of some of Antonio Gramsci's work in providing a theoretical starting‐point with which to explore the construction and maintenance of hegemonic discourses surrounding parenting. The concluding section of the paper widens the discussion to consider two key concepts, community and citizenship. It is argued that the discursive positioning of these concepts, in other words, how they are understood and defined, influences the ways in which relationships between parents and the education system are perceived and construed. This is illustrated with reference to readings of'citizenship’ and ‘community’ which emphasise, not consensus and homogeneity as in traditional definitions, but conflict, difference and multiplicity. The paper concludes that there is a continued need for empirical data focusing on everyday citizen and citizen‐state interactions which reveal how individuals live within, and understand and experience these relationships.     

辖区政府间竞争的制度框架:美国的经验及其启示

本文从联邦、地方和社会三个层面分析了美国辖区政府间竞争赖以运行的制度框架,宪法、法院以及联邦补贴构成联邦层面的制度框架,地方政府自主权、地方政府间合作机构以及地方政府间契约则是地方层面影响辖区政府间竞争的主要因素和机制,在社会层面则介绍了居民们多样化的需求表达方式以及直接参与治理对辖区政府间竞争的规范作用。在此基础上提出这种制度框架对中国的启示有:竞争优先的理念,理性划分中央与地方间关系,法治化框架,以及政府职能方面供应与生产的分离。     

Discursive institutionalism: towards a framework for analysing the relation between policy and curriculum

Discourse approaches in education policy analysis have gained prominence in the last decade. However, though the literature on policy discourses is growing, different conceptions of the ‘discursive’ dimension and its potential for empirical analysis related to the field of curriculum policy have not yet been fully researched. To address this gap in education policy research, this article explores the framework of discursive institutionalism. Using background and foreground ideas and coordinative and communicative discourses on three analytically distinct levels, this article proposes and discusses a framework for empirically analysing, explaining and understanding education reforms on the transnational and local levels. The introduced conceptual framework represents an integration of discursive institutionalism (DI) and curriculum theory (CT) to provide a more multifaceted set of concepts to explore the lending and borrowing of transnational education policies and their application at both national and local levels. These concepts have been applied as analytical tools in a research study on the most recent curriculum reform in Sweden, and they may serve as an example of how different ideas, discourses and levels can be distinguished in research studies to maintain the complexity of education reforms.     

美国民族主义溯源、特点及其影响探析

美国作为当前的头号资本主义强国,其民族主义的发展在全球范围内都会引起不可轻视的影响。文章主要通过论述美国民族主义的形成发展及其特点,并且通过一些国际史实论证美国民族主义的存在及其在国际舞台上的双重性影响。     

How to be Singaporean: becoming global national citizens and the national dimension in cosmopolitan openness

ABSTRACT

This paper looks at how cosmopolitanism is practised amongst Singaporeans who have experienced Singapore’s education reform in the 1990s. Cosmopolitanism in Singapore is tied to state-intervention with a national orientation. To complement Singapore’s push towards cosmopolitanism, the education reform in the 1990s promoted the idea of a national citizen with a global orientation. I looked at 40 Singaporeans born after the year 1990 to investigate cosmopolitan attitudes that have emerged from the tensions between cosmopolitanism and nationalism. To meet the state’s ideals of cosmopolitanism, these Singaporeans employed strategies to practice a particular form of cosmopolitan openness which prioritise national interests. Nationalism and cosmopolitanism co-exist in Singapore and share a dialectic relationship as I argue that these Singaporeans are global national citizens.     

What Facilitates and Supports Political Activism by,and for,Undocumented Students?

Historically, undocumented students have been unable to attend public and private institutions of higher education in the United States. Lack of citizenship and/or financial aid precludes many from ever applying to college or other post-secondary institutions. This can create feelings of oppression, stigmatization, and/or inferiority for undocumented youth, who had no say in their ever coming to the United States. In the absence of a sustainable federal law that facilitates higher education attainment for this population, some states have enacted their own permissive policies. The present study utilizes a critical consciousness framework and a constant comparative approach to explore one permissive policy in a focal state. To this end, the authors attempt to answer the question of what motivates undocumented students, through the lens of critical consciousness, to engage in political activism, and what is the role of adult-allies? Findings support and extend our understanding of critical consciousness dimensions, vis-à-vis the revelation of ten themes and subthemes unique to this sample. Implications for policy, practice, and future research are also discussed.     

当代俄罗斯公民教育的特点及启示

俄罗斯是一个在历史反思中寻求民族振兴的国家。在经历社会动荡之后,俄联邦政府积极进行公民教育改革,凸显了俄罗斯公民教育的鲜明特点,即注重公民教育的民族性、公民教育内容的系统化、公民教育系统的网络空间化和公民教育课程的现代化。这些对我国的公民教育具有一定的借鉴意义。