Sim, Jasmine Boon-Yee

This study explores the meanings and contradictions embedded in the Singapore social studies curriculum and challenges educators and policy makers to face those contradictions straight on. The authors reviewed current social studies syllabi and texts, and scripted discussions on itizenship and the social studies curriculum. The participants in these discussions were teachers taking pre- or post-graduate and in-service courses in social studies curriculum at the National Institute for Education.

Social studies is introduced as a new compulsory and examinable subject in all Singapore secondary schools at the upper secondary level in 2001. It will be examined for the first time at both the Singapore- Cambridge General Certificate of education 'Normal' and 'Ordinary' Levels (GCE 'N' and '0' Levels) in 2002. Social studies was conceived in the context of National Education. The purpose is to enhance students' understanding of the key issues central to Singapore's survival and success. This article examines the development of social studies in Singapore secondary schools at the upper secondary level. Interviews were conducted with teachers and students in 20 schools in Singapore on the initial teaching and learning of social studies; the findings and its pedagogical implications will be discussed.

Across and within democratic societies, youths’ experiences of education for citizenship vary widely. A growing body of research suggests that students’ experiences of democratic citizenship education will differ according to how academic programs, community culture, socio-economic status, and gender intersect with prevailing conceptions of equality, mutual respect, and reciprocity. This qualitative study explores how democratic citizenship education is enacted in two secondary schools with very dissimilar academic programs and policies. A key finding in the study is fissures in perceptions of civic engagement and democratic rights between students from the two schools, thus suggesting that academic programmes and policies can differentiate the manner in which students are groomed to fulfill their roles as citizens.

This study focuses on how Singapore teachers enact the social studies curriculum and give purpose to citizenship education, using the concept of the teacher as a curricular-instructional gatekeeper. It provides detailed description on the conceptualizations of citizenship among social studies teachers, drawing from interviews and lesson observations. Unlike studies carried out in the United States that ignore the role of the institution, the negotiation of the institutional curriculum is foregrounded in this study. The qualitative multiple case study will be used to provide insights and depth of understanding and practice of social studies teachers and their conceptions of citizenship.

This article examines the nature and purpose of the social studies curriculum in the light of the demands of citizenship education in Singapore. The development of social studies at the secondary school level is located within the history of citizenship education in Singapore. While the core focus of the subject continues to be that of nation-building, the introduction of social studies is also a significant milestone in the development of citizenship education in several ways. A major initiative is the emphasis on developing more thinking citizens. As a result, social studies is best taught apart from an explicitly moralising context, and in a context in which divergent thinking and views are tolerated. It also suggests ways in which social studies can provide young people with the skills and knowledge to function as citizens in the 21st century.

We adopted the theoretical model of the IEA Civic Education Study (CivEd) described as the Octagon, which reflects an interactive perspective of civic development. The model shows the ways in which the everyday lives of young people in homes, with peers and at school serve as nested context for constructive thinking, learning, and action in the social and political environment. At the centre of the octagon is the student, surrounded by public discourses of goals, values and practice relevant to civic education. The discourses influence the individual through various socialization agents, including the family, peer group, and school. Circumscribing these processes are the ‘macro-systems’, composed of institutions, processes and values in politics, economics and religion, the country’s international position, social stratification, and narratives in national and local communities. In all, 28 nations participated in the IEA CivEd.

The Ministry of Education (MoE) in Singapore has recently implemented the Curriculum 2015 (C2015) which focuses on the Desired Outcomes of Education (DoE), embodied in the “Confident Person”, “Self-directed Learner”, “Active Contributor”, and “Concerned Citizen”. A new curricular initiative, Citizenship and Character Education (CCE), emphasizes the integrative nature of citizenship and 21st century competencies to bring about the DoEs, was implemented in schools in 2011. A fundamental assumption exists amongst policy makers that education policy will, when translated to school contexts, be implemented faithfully by teachers. But teachers at the institutional levels are not mere passive receivers and implementers of policy decisions. Citizenship is value-laden, and its meanings are varied and contested. Invariably, citizens in the same state will understand citizenship differently. This mixed methods study investigates (a) teachers’ conception of good citizenship, and (b) conditions that will have implications for good citizenship pedagogies.

This qualitative study examines how critical reflexivity is manifested in and enacted by seven Social Studies teachers, in the Singaporean context of ethnic diversity, increased affluence and socio-political constraints. The cases show that critically reflexive teachers are strongly influenced by their lived experiences to develop good self-understanding and a deep sensitivity to systemic inequalities around them. Critical reflexivity presents as a continuum, with most teachers working towards improving their students’ critical thinking and awareness to inequity through their teaching, while some undertake personally transformative journeys that also effect change in their immediate communities. Findings provide insights on the motivations behind critically reflexive attitudes, and also point to factors that hinder a greater development of critical reflexivity. We suggest that critical reflexivity attitudes can be developed in teachers via programs such as currere, for enhanced teaching practice. Findings also highlight the nuances in the nature of citizenship values in the Asian context, suggesting that critical reflexivity involves small and subtle actions of change and agency in teacher-practitioners.