Cosmopolitan pedagogies for the 21st century literature classroom
This study seeks to examine the challenges and opportunities faced by schools in facilitating cosmopolitan dispositions or virtues in their students, in particular, through literature lessons. The project is driven by three key research questions:
1. What forms of cosmopolitan dispositions are observed in students in literature classrooms and in sample assignments in the selected schools?
2. How do literary texts develop cosmopolitan dispositions in the teaching of literature in the selected schools?
3. How pedagogical approaches do teachers employ to develop cosmopolitan dispositions in the teaching of literature in the selected schools?
Education for twenty-first century global capacities: A comparative case-study of two schools in Singapore and the United States
All over the world, governments and policymakers continue to proclaim the need to educate students for the 21st century. In this study, we argue that the impetus for 21st century education should be more accurately termed, 21st century global education which refers to education that seeks to equip students with the knowledge, skills, and sensitivities to compete and navigate the challenges caused by globalization in the 21st century. Based on this initial definition, we examine three theoretical models that may inform the conceptualization and enactment of 21st century global education in schools.
The first model is Human Capital Theory (HCT) which focuses on economic globalization resulting in economic reasoning used to justify policy initiatives and reform. HCT reinforces economic utilitarianism resulting in educational goals prioritizing the teaching of competencies. The second model is the Human Capabilities Approach (HCA) that emphasizes the importance of the intrinsic goods of education (as opposed to its mere instrumental utility). HCA argues that the development of human well-being is deemed the highest end which individuals should seek to attain and which government and public policies should be directed towards. HCA draws attention to the ends of education centred on the development of capabilities to support human flourishing, which involve opportunities for individuals to pursue what they value, freedom to choose among the opportunities given, and agency to construct one’s goals and values. The third model the Cosmopolitan Capacities Approach (CCA) is an extension of HCA. CCA is premised on the philosophy of ethical cosmopolitanism entailing questions about what it means to equip students as cosmopolitans or citizens of the world. CCA perceives that capabilities should not merely foster an individual’s well-being but that in doing so, the individual is then empowered to use his knowledge and skills to empower others. Thus, CCA focuses on the ends of cultivating capacities which denotes the ability or power to perceive, understand, empathize with and defend or find solutions to addressing the concerns of others.
The cosmopolitan foundations of ethical criticism: Perspectives from the “East” and the “West”
Since the late 20th century, Literature education has entered an ethical turn in response to hyper globalization, the intensification of digital technology, the dangers of post-truth and rising instances of intolerance worldwide. Consequently, influential scholars have rekindled the age-old connection between Literature and ethics. After discussing this turn to ethics and highlighting the pedagogical cosmopolitanization of ethical criticism, this article uncovers the ways in which cosmopolitan ethics grounds recent conceptualizations of ethical criticism and its various strands—relational, analytical, and historical. This paper examines these strands drawing from both “Eastern” and “Western” philosophical traditions. It then offers responses to criticisms of cosmopolitan ethical criticism, namely, arguments concerning moral reductiveness and moral determinism. It demonstrates how these arguments paradoxically reinforce subjectivity to the exclusion of intersubjective accountability and further justify cosmopolitan ethical criticism as tied to its teleological and plurivocal purposes respectively. Cosmopolitan ethical criticism provides the critical tools needed to counter parochial meta-narratives which are essential for human flourishing via societies characterized by hospitality, empathy and inclusivity.
Towards a transnational model of critical values education: The case for literature education in Singapore
Once regarded as the most essential subject in the national curriculum vital for civilizing the public, English Literature has now lost its place of prominence. In this paper, I focus on Singapore where the subject was a core aspect of the colonial curriculum and where it is currently facing declining enrolment at the national examinations. In the first part of the paper, I discuss how Literature initially functioned to propagate colonial values education in Singapore and how, following Singapore's independence, its goals were overtaken by a nation-state model of values education. Limitations of this model provide the grounds for a transnational model of critical values education that, as I argue in the second part, may be powerfully conveyed through Literature. It is Literature’s capacity to facilitate transnational critical engagements with values and explorations of identity especially involving highly sensitive aspects related to gender, race, and religion that represents the strongest justification in the light of its present demise. What Literature offers is the possibility of engaging with values beyond the confines of Empire or nation by grappling with essential questions about what it means to be a cosmopolitan as opposed to a nationalistic citizen inhabiting the world.
Examining models of twenty-first century education through the lens of Confucian cosmopolitanism
Today, the intensification of global interconnectivity is a key characteristic of the twenty-first century. This has spurred governments and policymakers to envision how best to equip future-ready citizens who can navigate increasingly globalized workplaces resulting in the worldwide popularity of models that articulate twenty-first century competencies. Twenty-first century education models perpetuated by transnational and multinational organizations posit an idealized vision of the future-ready citizen equipped with requisite skills to compete in the global economy. Informed by economic rationality, such models promote a consequentialist approach to education where the primary aim of schools is to develop citizens as human capital who can thrive in globalized workplaces and ultimately contribute to the progress of their nation. In this paper, I focus on the twenty-first century education model currently infused across schools in Singapore. Using this as an example, I examine models of twenty-first century education from the lens of Confucian cosmopolitanism. I explore how the application of Confucian cosmopolitanism can facilitate an ethical re-orientation of twenty-first century education that shifts the focus from instrumental competencies to humanistic virtues needed for a more hospitable future.
Empowering students through cosmopolitan literacies: Pedagogical examples from classrooms in Confucian heritage cultures
In our globally interconnected age, language plays a fundamental role not only in facilitating communication across cultures but in fostering dispositions of intercultural understanding. In this chapter, we argue for the significance of cosmopolitan literacies for the development of ethical, global citizens. Cosmopolitanism, or citizen of the world, has typically been theorized from the perspective of Western philosophy. In this chapter, we focus on theorizing key concepts of cosmopolitanism from Eastern traditions, particularly Confucianism. We delineate these concepts to highlight the core principles of cosmopolitanism literacy, which refers to reading, writing, speaking, listening, and other meaning-making practices that serve to develop critical, aesthetic, and ethical engagement with diverse others in the world. Using examples drawn from Language and Literature classrooms in Asia, with particular attention to Confucian Heritage Cultures, we explore how teachers have sought to develop students’ cosmopolitan literacies through pedagogies that cultivate an ethical orientation, transnational attunement, critical engagement, and transformative action. We conclude with a discussion of some of the limitations and possibilities for future research.