(Routledge Series On Schools and Schooling in Asia 5) Kerry J Kennedy - Social Studies Education in South and South East Asian Contexts - Perspectives From East Asia-Routledge (2021)

Social Studies Education in
South and South East Asian

Contexts
The education of young people is context bound. This edited volume explores the
contexts that characterise South and South East Asia and their influence on social
studies education. There is not a single context across this broad geographical
expanse, rather different religions, different political systems and different values
exert influences that create distinctive programmes that characterise different
countries. Yet there are also commonalities such as the post-colonial nature of
most of the countries portrayed in this book, determined efforts at establishing
new national communities and multiple value systems that lead to distinctive local
priorities. There are also voices of resistance in these chapters, recognising the
realities of local contexts but also recognising the need for change. Social studies
education in these contexts may well be descended from its origins in North
America, but in South and South Asian contexts, it has taken on new purposes,
new forms and new values.
Education researchers, policymakers and postgraduate students in comparative
education will find the volume useful in its exploration and comparison of the
social studies curricular and reforms that shaped them.
Kerry J Kennedy is an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Curriculum and

Instruction and Advisor (Academic Development) at The Education University
of Hong Kong. He is also Distinguished Visiting Professor in Curriculum Studies
in the Faculty of Education at the University of Johannesburg.
Routledge Series on Schools and Schooling in Asia
Series editor: Kerry J Kennedy
1 Minority Students in East Asia

Government Policies, School Practices and Teacher Responses
Edited by JoAnn Phillion, Ming Tak Hue and Yuxiang Wang
2 A Chinese Perspective on Teaching and Learning

Edited by Betty C. Eng
3 Language, Culture, and Identity Among Minority Students in China

The Case of the Hui
By Yuxiang Wang
4 Citizenship Education in China

Preparing Citizens for the “Chinese Century”
Edited by Kerry J Kennedy, Gregory P. Fairbrother, and Zhenzhou Zhao
5 Social Studies Education in South and South East Asia

Edited by Kerry J Kennedy
Social Studies Education in
Contexts
Edited by Kerry J Kennedy

First published 2022
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I would like to dedicate this book to the late
Professor Colin Marsh who was a leader of social
studies education in Australia. He was well known
for his writing and professional engagement. He
was also a keen contributor to broader curriculum
issues, and his voice was often heard on a range
of professional issues that challenged Australian
educators. He also worked in Asia – especially in
Singapore and Hong Kong – where he was well
known by teachers and professional communities.
He was a personal friend and a mentor who
continues to be missed and whose memory is
cherished.
Contents
List of figures x
List of tables xi
List of contributors xii
Series editor’s note xvii
SECTION 1
A theoretical perspective on social studies education 1
1 An exploration of social studies education in Asian contexts 3

KERR Y J KEN NEDY
SECTION 2
Politics, culture and reform in South/South East Asian
social studies education 15
2 Postcolonial national identity formation through social

studies: the case of India 17
M O U S U M I M U KH ERJEE A ND A KS HAY S INGH
3 Developing loyal citizens: a case of social studies education

in Pakistan 28
S H AH I D KARI M A ND TA KBIR A L I
4 Social studies education in Bangladesh: contextual

influences, reforms and development and curriculum 44
M I RO N KU M A R BH O WMIK, GO U TA M RO Y A ND FOUJIA SULTANA
5 Social studies education in Singapore: from cultural

transmission to social transformation 60
EE M O I KH O
viii Contents
6 Social studies curriculum in Thailand: a contested terrain 74
TH I TH I M AD E E A RP HAT TA NA NO N
7 Social studies as citizenship transmission

in Indonesian schools 89
D AS I M B U D I MA NS YA H A ND T H EO DO RU S PANG ALILA
8 The development of social studies education

in Myanmar 104
TH AW ZI N O O
SECTION 3
Social studies education in South and South East
Asian classrooms 117
9 Marginalised students and their contexts: a case from India 119

M O U S U M I MU KH ERJEE A ND S A H IL JA IN
10 Teaching and learning in social studies classrooms

in Pakistan 131
TAKBI R ALI A N D S H A HID KA RIM
11 Civic and citizenship education in Bangladesh 145

M I RO N KU MA R BH O WMIK, GO U TA M RO Y A ND FOUJIA SULTANA
12 Discussion and inquiry in Singapore social studies 161

M I N F U I C HEE A ND JA S MINE S IM
13 ‘Noble character’ as a focus in moral education in Malaysia 174

N O O R ZU L I N A S DE A S IL DO A ND MA IZU R A YASIN
14 Adaptive model of social studies learning and classroom

culture in Indonesian schools 188
D AS I M B U D I MA NS YA H A ND T H EO DO RU S PANG ALILA
15 Teaching history in Myanmar: nation building or national

reconciliation? 206
TH AW ZI N O O
Contents ix
SECTION 4
Lessons from Asian contexts for social studies education 221
16 Interrogating the nature of Asian social studies 223

KE RR Y J KEN NEDY
Index 235
Figures
6.1 Display of the 12 core values in the classroom 83

11.1 Four domains and 12 sub-domains of civic and citizenship
education 146
14.1 Project citizen develops the ability to make insightful, reasoned,
and responsible decisions 195
14.2 Examples of display portfolios and documentation 196
14.3 Showcasing class portfolios 196
Tables
1.1a Social Studies Education in Selected South East Asian Countries 10

1.1b Social Studies Education in Selected South Asian Countries 11
3.1 Proposed Components and Dimensions of Social Studies
Education 40
4.1 Social Studies Education Contents (From Grade I to Grade V) 52
4.2 Social Studies Education Contents (From Grade VI to
Grade VIII) 54
7.1 Three Traditions of Social Studies 92
7.2 Status, Goals, Content, and Learning of Social Studies 93
7.3 Purpose of Social Subjects at Senior High School Level 96
8.1 Social Studies Across the Curriculum 111
8.2 Main Aspects of Myanmar’s Teacher Education Provision 111
8.3 Levels of Assessment in Myanmar’s Education System 112
11.1 Civic and Citizenship Education Contents in Primary
Curriculum and Textbooks in Bangladesh 149
11.2 Civic and Citizenship Education Contents in Junior Secondary
11.3 Civic and Citizenship Education Contents in Secondary
11.4 Civic and Citizenship Education Contents in Higher Secondary
11.5 Civic and Citizenship Education in Classroom Teaching 156
13.1 Current Population Estimates, Malaysia, 2020 175
14.1 Learning Process Based on a Scientific Approach 189
14.2 Steps in Learning Social Studies Using the Project
Citizen Model 192
14.3 International Project Citizen Showcase Delegation
and Respective Project Goals 194
15.1 Questions Used in Interviews With History Teachers
and Researchers 213
15.2 Characteristics of the Teacher Interview Sample 214
Contributors
Takbir Ali holds a PhD degree in education, with specialization in curriculum

studies. He is Associate Professor and works as Head, Outreach, at the Aga
Khan University’s Institute for Educational Development (AKU-IED), Kara-
chi, Pakistan. He has extensive experience in development education. He has
designed and managed several educational improvement projects and pro-
grammes. He has experience in course design and teaching both in school and
higher education. He has research interest in teacher education and profes-
sional development, educational leadership and school improvement. He has
edited a book (Lessons Learnt from Implementation of Educational Reform in
Pakistan: Implications for Policy and Practice) and published his research in
international journals and book chapters.
Thithimadee Arphattananon is Associate Professor at the Research Institute for
Languages and Cultures of Asia, Mahidol University, Thailand. Her research
focuses on how education and instructional practices in schools can go beyond
the recognition of cultural differences and achieve the goal of equality for
students from diverse social and cultural backgrounds. Until present, she has
conducted research which examined multicultural education policies in Thai-
land and the practices in schools that enrolled students from diverse cultures,
namely Muslims and migrant students. Currently, she works with schools to
develop lesson plans based on the principles of critical multicultural education.
Miron Kumar Bhowmik is Assistant Professor in the Department of Education
Policy and Leadership at The Education University of Hong Kong. Previously,
he was Programme Officer at the UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau
for Education in Bangkok, Thailand. He has also worked for the British
Council and several universities in Bangladesh. His research interests include
diversity, equity and inclusion in education, “out of school”/dropout/school
failure issues, ethnic minority education, critical discourse, information and
communications technology in education, and acculturative stress and coping
behaviour, and he has published in these areas.
Dasim Budimansyah is Professor in Sociology of Citizenship at the Indonesia
University of Education. He has had extensive experience in curriculum devel-
opment and learning. In the last two decades, he developed the Project Citizen
Contributors xiii
for Civic Education and Social Studies. With the support of Higher Education
Applied Research funding, in the last five years, his innovation has been dis-
seminated in Indonesia schools. He also received research funding from the
Higher Education Research Consortium to develop a blended learning system
in general education courses for three years. The results of his research are
presented at the One Asia Convention Nagoya 2017 (4–5 August 2017) and
the Asian Conference on Education, Tokyo (31 October–3 November 2019)
and published in several reputable international journals.
Min Fui Chee is a lecturer in the Humanities and Social Studies Education Aca-
demic Group in the National Institute of Education, Singapore. She is cur-
rently the PGDE (Post-graduate Diploma in Education) programme leader
for primary social studies. Her teaching specialization is in subject knowledge,
teaching methods and curriculum leadership. Min Fui is active in professional
development courses and has served on syllabus development and curriculum
development committees in the Ministry of Education. She has research expe-
rience in ethnic relations in schools as well as teacher knowledge in primary
social studies. Her other research interest is in classroom discussion.
Sahil Jain is a research assistant at the Centre for Comparative and Global Edu-
cation at O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU). He participated at the first
World Youth Conference on Kindness organized by the International Insti-
tute for Higher Education Research and Capacity Building in collaboration
with UNESCO-MGIEP in August 2019, which promoted sustainable devel-
opment goals through the incorporation of a socio-emotional approach to
education, especially with respect to kindness and empathy. He is a graduate
in political science from the University of Delhi and a postgraduate in public
policy from O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU). For his capstone research
project in public policy, he has been studying the work on a renowned NGO
working in the education sector in India for the uplift of children from tribal
and marginalised backgrounds. His academic interests lie in the area of educa-
tion and public policy sector.
Shahid Karim is currently a postdoctoral fellow at The Education University of
Hong Kong (EdUHK). Before he embarked on his PhD journey at EdUHK,
he served at the Aga Khan University Institute for Education Development
(AKU-IED) Karachi as a research associate and as a project manager at the
Charter for Compassion, Karachi, Pakistan. Dr Karim has served in the edu-
cation sector for several years as a teacher, researcher, school administrator
and education project manager. He has studied at the Aga Khan University
Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilizations, London, England, and Karachi
University, Pakistan, for his postgraduate courses MA in Muslim Cultures and
Master of Administrative Sciences, respectively. His research interests include
acculturation and intercultural education.
Kerry J Kennedy is Professor Emeritus and Advisor (Academic Development) at
The Education University of Hong Kong. He is also a Distinguished Visiting
xiv Contributors
Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He is the editor of Routledge’s
Schools and Schooling in Asia Series, the Asia Europe Education Dialogue Series,
the Perspectives on Education in Africa Series and Springer’s Civic and Citizen-
ship Education in the 21st Century Series. In 2012, he was a co-winner of IEA’s
Richard Wolf Memorial Award for Educational Research, and in 2019, he was
the recipient of the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Citizenship
Identity and Citizenship Education European Association (CiCea).
Ee Moi Kho was a senior lecturer at the Humanities and Social Studies Educa-
tion Academic Group of the National Institute of Education, where she was
involved in pre-service and in-service education of teachers. She has sat on
numerous curriculum review and development committees in the Singapore
Ministry of Education and was involved in the conceptualization and develop-
ment of the Ministry of Education Heritage Centre. Ee Moi has been active
in promoting the teaching and learning of history and social studies through
her work with schools, providing consultancy services and training in areas of
curriculum development and pedagogy. Her research interests are in gender in
education, history, social studies and citizenship education.
Mousumi Mukherjee is Associate Professor and Deputy Director of the Interna-
tional Institute for Higher Education Research and Capacity Building. She is
also the member secretary of the Research Ethics and Review Board (RERB)
and founding executive director of the Centre for Comparative and Global
Education (CCGE) at O.P. Jindal Global University. She is a Fulbright scholar
and expert in comparative and international education with 20 years of experi-
ence in the school education and higher education sector. She has worked in
teacher education and professional development in the United States, Saudi
Arabia, Australia and India. She has also worked as an expert consultant with
international organizations, such as UNESCO-IIEP, Toronto-based Higher
Education Strategy Associates and Australia-India Institute. Recently, she has
also worked with the National Council for Education Research and Training
(NCERT) in India as an external resource person to help develop and co-
author a Handbook for Upper-primary School Teachers on Global Citizen-
ship Education. This handbook has won an award in 2019 by the UNESCO
Asia-Pacific Centre for Education in International Understanding. She has
served as Associate Editor of the Routledge journal – Diaspora, Indigenous
and Minority Education – for four years. She has published edited book chap-
ters and articles in several internationally peer-reviewed journals, including the
Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education.
Thaw Zin Oo is an economics student at the Yangon University of Economics.
In 2019–2020, he was the founder and president of The Economics Club. He
has a certificate in business skill for youth program from the Centre of Excel-
lent Business Skill Development, a certificate in mini research training from
the Youth Circle, Myanmar, a certificate in digital marketing from the Career
Assessment Studio and a certificate in research methodology from the Cre-
ative Language and Research Training Centre. In 2019 he was a volunteer for
Contributors xv
the American Centre iNature Environmental Club and the Global Platform
Myanmar.
Theodorus Pangalila has a Bachelor of Philosophy from the Seminary School
of Philosophy, Pineleng (Manado-North Sulawesi), completed in 2007. In
the year 2008, he was appointed as lecturer at the Pancasila and Citizenship
Education Department of Faculty of Social Sciences, Manado State University.
In 2011, he continued his master’s degree program at the Graduate School of
the University of Indonesian Education, Bandung, graduating in June 2013.
In 2015, he continued his doctoral program at the Merdeka Malang Univer-
sity Postgraduate Program in the social sciences study program, graduating in
September 2018. Currently, he is actively engaged in the subjects of Pancasila
philosophy, citizenship ethics, citizenship education, character education, and
political science at the Pancasila and Civic Education Department of Manado
State University.
Goutam Roy is an assistant professor at the Institute of Education and Research
(IER), University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh. He completed his MSc in Educa-
tional Science and Technology at the University of Twente in the Netherlands
and his MEd in Educational Evaluation and Research at the University of
Dhaka, Bangladesh. His teaching and research interests include assessment
in education, primary and non-formal education and STEM education. Pre-
viously, he has worked for two international NGOs as a researcher and has
produced a number of publications in the areas of students’ assessment, non-
formal education and primary education.
Noor Zulina S De Asildo is a moral education teacher who works in a district
on the East Coast of Sabah. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree (guidance
and counselling) with a minor in moral education and a Master of Science
(moral education) from Universiti Putra Malaysia. Due to the deep interest
in the field of moral education, she was given the duty to teach the subject
of moral education in school, despite graduating in the field of guidance and
counselling. She gained experience teaching moral education subjects at the
upper secondary school level of Form Four and Five for eight years before
continuing her studies for a Master of Science (moral education) under the
Federal Training Prize (HLP) program, sponsored by the Ministry of Educa-
tion, Malaysia. After three years of teaching, she was offered another HLP to
study at the doctoral level, where she is continuing to study moral education.
Jasmine Sim is Associate Professor and Deputy Head of the Policy, Curriculum
and Leadership Academic Group at the National Institute of Education, Nan-
yang Technological University, Singapore. She researches in civics and citizen-
ship and social studies education and has published widely in international
peer-reviewed journals.
Akshay Singh earned his BA degree in English literature from the University of
Delhi and a master’s in public policy from O.P. Jindal Global University. He is
currently Teaching, Research and Intellectual Pursuits (TRIP) Fellow at O.P.
xvi Contributors
Jindal Global University. He is keen to leverage his skill set by undertaking
interdisciplinary research to contribute towards the development and policy
discourse in the country. His interests lie in examining the delivery of public
services, such as health and education, through the lens of program design
and evaluation.
Foujia Sultana completed her PhD from The Education University of Hong
Kong, where she examined how e-portfolios in higher education support
students in developing their reflective thinking. Previously, she worked as an
assistant professor in the School of Education at the Bangladesh Open Univer-
sity and as a lecturer at the Dhaka International University, Bangladesh. She
has also worked for a renowned international NGO as a material developer.
Her research interests include pedagogy and e-learning in higher education,
technology-enhanced learning, ICT in education, and she has published in
these areas.
Maizura Yasin is a senior lecturer in the Department of Languages and Humani-
ties Education, Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia. Her
expertise is in the field of moral education and values education, especially
in the areas of teaching, research, consultancy and community service. She
focuses more on researching the psychology of moral education.
Series editor’s note
The so called “Asian century” is providing opportunities and challenges both for
the people of Asia as well as in the West. The success of many of Asia’s young
people in schooling often leads educators in the West to try and emulate Asian
school practices. Yet these practices are culturally embedded. One of the key
issues to be taken on by this series, therefore, is to provide Western policymakers
and academics with insights into these culturally embedded practices in order to
assist better understanding of them outside of specific cultural contexts.
There is vast diversity as well as disparities within Asia. This is a fundamen-
tal issue and for that reason and it will be addressed in this series by making
these diversities and disparities the subject of investigation. The ‘tiger’ economies
initially grabbed most of the media attention on Asian development and more
recently China has become the centre of attention. Yet there are also very poor
countries in the region and their education systems seem unable to be trans-
formed to meet new challenges. Thus the whole of Asia will be seen as important
for this series in order to address not only questions relevant to developed coun-
tries but also to developing countries. In other words, the series will take a ‘whole
of Asia’ approach.
Asia can no longer be considered in isolation. It is as subject to the forces of
globalization, migration and transnational movements as are other regions of the
world. Yet the diversity of cultures, religions and social practices in Asia means that
responses to these forces are not predictable. This series, therefore, is interested to
identify the ways tradition and modernity interact to produce distinctive contexts
for schools and schooling in an area of the world that impacts across the globe.
Against this background, the current volume dealing with social studies edu-
cation makes a welcome addition to the Routledge Series on Schools and School-
ing in Asia. Like its companion volume, Social Studies Education in East Asian
Contexts, this book examines the formal structures, their policies and reforms for
social studies education but with a focus on South and South Asian contexts. It
also looks into classroom and at times the community to highlight some very
distinctive features of learning opportunities in these contexts.
Kerry J Kennedy
Series Editor
Routledge Series on Schools and Schooling in Asia
Section 1
A theoretical perspective
on social studies education
1 An exploration of social studies
education in Asian contexts
Kerry J Kennedy
In what was likely the first attempt to focus academic attention on social studies
education in Asia Grossman and Lo (2008) argued that:
it did not seem useful . . . to use the term social studies in an Asian context
where its meaning would not be clear. Not all regions/countries offer social
science/humanities education through an integrated approach. Some still
follow the traditional disciplinary domains, while others cross disciplinary
boundaries with minimal integration (e.g. national and world histories).
(p. 4)
Inherent in this approach is a perspective that defnes social studies as an integrated

school subject rather than individual, single disciplines. Often such integration
brings together different disciplines although a deeper kind of integration might
be based on using major social issues to construct the social studies curriculum.
Debates have raged on the topic of what properly constitutes the social studies, par-
ticularly in the United States, and this was refected in the Grossman and Lo (2008)
earlier statement. Yet the statement can be also seen as problematic. It refects a
distinctly Western, and in particular a North American, view of social studies edu-
cation based on the assumption that such a view is universal. The United States
may well lay claim to having “invented” integrated social studies education. Yet
this should not preclude the identifcation of any local or indigenous views or any
exploration of how social studies education emerged in local contexts.
The purpose of this chapter, therefore, is to try and shine some light on the
origins of social education in Asian contexts. It will explore the way the mod-
ern school curriculum has been influenced by notions of social education/social
studies education in the region. As a prelude, it is important to say this approach
does not reject the idea that Western forms of social studies education have been
influential in Asia. In particular contexts, there is little doubt that Western influ-
ences have been very strong. The key issue, however, is to understand how local
and global influences regarding social studies education have worked together. In
what follows, the following issues will be discussed:
• Asia as a context for social studies education;

• Tradition and its influence on the development of social studies education in Asia;
4 Kerry J Kennedy
• The modern school curriculum and social studies education; and
• Social studies education in Asia – nations charting their own futures
Asia as a context for social studies education

To talk of “Asia” is to talk essentially of little more than an acknowledged geo-
graphic entity itself characterised by diversity. At the same time, these geographies
tell nothing of the diversities that characterise the political, social and cultural
characteristics of the entity. Indeed, so significant are these diversities that it may
problematic even to use the term “Asian” as an essentialist label. This can be
seen particularly in different geographic areas such as East Asia, South Asia, Cen-
tral Asia and South East Asia that can be differentiated along many other lines
than simply geographic location. These differences include language, religion,
political systems, social systems, cultural values and histories. National boundaries
throughout the region have constructed communities that reflect these differ-
ences. While all these communities might be labelled “Asian”, this label does not
convey the distinctive characteristics of the different communities that inhabit the
continent. Asia in its multiple aspects is an image of diversity. In this book, there-
fore, the focus is not on identifying a single “Asian” way of “doing” social studies
education. Rather, the focus will be on how such education has been adapted to
the different contexts that shape and influence schooling throughout the region.
Regional diversity represents a positive aspect of the region, particularly in rela-
tion to its potential for social studies education. Regional diversity highlights the
richness of traditions, histories and cultures, all of which go to make up the social
fabric of regional societies. Young people in these societies can benefit from under-
standing the contexts that have influenced social development both currently and
over time. Understanding the social world can help to develop a perspective on cur-
rent events as well as how such events can be constructed by ideas and commitments
that have characterised society in the past. At the same time, regional diversity means
that there is not a single story that can be simplistically applied to all societies – local
contexts will be key determining factors in the way societies develop.
Any claims made for the importance of social studies education have to be eval-
uated against the current status of school subjects that contribute to the school
curriculum in Asian contexts. On the one hand, in a world in which technol-
ogy plays an increasingly important role, where social and political polarisation is
increasing and where the future looks to be uncertain in relation environmental
issues, political populism and resistance to social diversity, the need for social
education can hardly be more important. Yet the importance of social studies is
often eclipsed by that of mathematics, science and technology subjects that are
seen to have greater economic benefits. The importance of these subjects, either
as economic drivers or as academic domains, cannot be easily discounted and
their status as key subjects in the school curriculum is rarely questioned. This
is particularly so in Asian contexts where recent discourse has often been domi-
nated by the needs of globalised economies and the competitive edge needed to
fuel those economies.
Exploring social studies education in Asia 5
The publicity given to international student assessments such as the Program
on International Student Assessment (PISA) and the Trends in Mathematics and
Science Study (TIMSS) reinforce the status of science-oriented subjects. The ter-
minology of “high performing Asia” in these studies marks out largely East Asian
societies and their high levels of performance in mathematics and science (and
in the case of PISA, reading as well) (Chen, Dorm, Krawitz, Lim & Mourshed,
2017, p. 15). At the same time, other Asian countries that do not fit the high per-
formance pattern are referred to as “developing Asia” (Chen et al., 2017, p. 15).
Whether “high” or “developing”, the reference in these international studies is
explicitly to mathematics and science achievement and the publicity given to them
continues to reify those subjects.
Efforts have been made to account for the differences between “high” and
“developing” Asia, but as shown by Perera and Asadulla (2019), this is an amaz-
ingly complex task. Yet this emphasis on achievements in mathematics and sci-
ence tends to blur the rest of the school curriculum, especially when education
systems seek to “remedy” what are often seen to be deficits in students’ achieve-
ment in these subjects. This book seeks to highlight the important fact that there
is more to the school curriculum than mathematics and science. In an interesting
analysis, for example, Ramirez, Schofer, and Meyer (2018) have shown that the
current international testing regime rather than narrowing the curriculum, as is
often claimed, has gone hand in hand with a broadening of the curriculum with
a continuing emphasis on progressive pedagogies. Yet little attention is paid to
how the curriculum has been broadened and how those subjects not included
in international testing are currently constructed in national education systems.
What is needed is a different lens than is provided by international assessments to
portray education in Asian contexts, a lens that focuses on the broader societies
in which students and schools are embedded. The focus of this book is on the
modern school curriculum. Yet it will be instructive to develop in the first place
an understanding of how forms of social education developed prior to modern
times and to assess what, if any, might have been the impact of these traditional
forms on modern developments in social studies education.
Tradition and its influence on the development of

social studies education in Asia
By “tradition” here is meant pre-colonial influences rather than anything to do
with the intrusion and impact of Western colonialism from around the sixteenth
century onwards. The focus will be on diverse influences that have operated in dif-
ferent parts of the region at different times. This is in deep contrast with Europe
at the same time where Christianity was the single most important influence on
education across the content. Asia is more complex, more multidimensional and
more challenging to try and summarise, so what follows is a brief overview.
Brown Heinz and Murray (2019) wrote with respect to Asia that “the regions
we focus on are places of extraordinary and perplexing diversity” (p. 5). Sweeping
from East to West are major religions or philosophies of the world – Confucianism,
6 Kerry J Kennedy
Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam. India and China have been the twin influences
in the region, but these were fundamentally different societies. Yet the key impact
on and attitudes towards learning came not so much from individual countries but
from the region’s religions that were both location specific (e.g. Confucianism in
East Asia and Hinduism in South Asia) and cross-regional (Buddhism and Islam).
What do these major social practices tell us about learning in premodern times?
Given the limitations in space, only Confucianism and Buddhism will be discussed.
Volumes have been written on Confucianism, neo-Confucianism and the mul-
tiple ways it has been constructed and reconstructed, including its initial deni-
gration by the Chinese Communist Party and its subsequent revival to meet the
communist state’s objectives. Thus, while Confucianism is a broad social philoso-
phy, its political value has been recognised at different times, suggesting that the
political and the social elements are often difficult to separate. Yet for the purposes
of this chapter, the main area of interest is its impact on education and learning.
Tan (2013, 2017) provided considerable insight into Confucian concepts of
education. Based on an analysis of original texts, she outlines a view of education
that is directed to creating “good people”, or in more modern terms, “good
citizens”. It is important here to mention “citizens” because education from a
Confucian perspective is seen to be the responsibility of the state and in particular
the ruler who is seen to be the one who can shape those viewed at the time as
subjects, but whom today we would regard as citizens.
There is little in Tan’s explanation that constructs subjects/citizens as free-
wheeling individuals. They need to be committed to “self-cultivation” (p. 4),
becoming the best they can be, and “social interaction” (p. 5), working with
and respecting peers and colleagues, including teachers. Yet the purpose is not
so much individual development as social development – being a part of society,
taking on board its moral values and acting in moral ways consistent with soci-
ety’s standards. This moral framework for education is explained in detail by Tan
(2017). It is important to understand because even after the impact of colonial-
ism and the development of modern education systems, this moral dimension of
education is still relevant and in many ways is a distinguishing characteristic of the
region (Kennedy & Fairbrother, 2004).
In terms of school “subjects”, Tan (2017) pointed out that in Ancient China
these were referred to as the “six arts (liuyi) consisting of “music, archery, chari-
oteering, calligraphy or writing, and mathematics” (p. 5). She goes on to point
out that the expectation was that these would be experienced in an integrated
way, “inter-connected, mutually reinforcing and practice oriented” (p. 5). What
is more, it was expected that these would be taught in such a way as to promote
the moral qualities of students, encouraging them to love learning, work hard
and always striving to be better and better.
Finally, this approach to education was not for any mass system – in pre-colonial
times (as well as colonial times) education remained an elite activity in East Asia.
While modern revivals of Confucianism, in the form of neo-Confucianism, sought
a broader application of Confucian principles, originally these were class based
and were designed for scholars. There have been cases reported of a broader
range of students in Confucian academies (Fan, 2019), but this was not mass
education. It seems to have been a way to create social mobility by creating an
elite irrespective of family circumstances (p. 202). Perhaps the irony is that what
was conceived as elite education has come to influence modern-day education
systems across many societies in East Asia.
While Confucianism spread throughout much of East Asia, Buddhism, starting
in India, “crossed (the) Indian subcontinent and expanded up to China, Japan,
Sri Lanka, Korea, Thailand, Tibet, Mongolia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Viet-
nam (and) Malaysia” (Khakhlary, 2019, p. 6). It did not always take the same
form, adapting to local contexts and often running into conflicts with existing
religions/philosophies in different parts of the region. At the same time, there
could also be syncretism as well, so in China it was often not unusual for individu-
als to be both Buddhist and Confucian.
As Buddhism spread in India, then across the region, “sangha”, or Buddhist
communities, developed. These communities were often housed in monaster-
ies that across countries became the focal points for Buddhist teaching as well
as personal contemplation and development. At the same time, there were also
lay people committed to the principles of Buddhism and who often supported
the monasteries with the necessities for life and living. While it is acknowledged
that Buddhism does not worship a particular deity, it nevertheless developed an
infrastructure that enabled teaching, learning and contemplation to take place.
Often, however, the sangha spent a great deal of time moving from place to place,
talking and interacting with local communities. Buddhism was not a static “you
come to us” religion; it went out to the people.
It is difficult to catch a single essential essence of Buddhism since different ver-
sions over time and in different places have highlighted different priorities and
concerns. Gellner and Gombrich (2015) sketched this diversity across time and
places, stressing its basic core but highlighting the differences at different times
and under different influences. They argued that,
it began as a humanist and individualistic soteriology (religious doctrine of

salvation) that preached the abandonment of ordinary householder life and
its associated rituals. Monks and nuns renounce work and worldly activity;
lay people support them in return for spiritual and ritual services.
(p. 885)
For all, the journey was about moving towards a higher and better way of liv-
ing and eventually transcending the trials and tribulations and of life through
“enlightenment”.
Buddhism in this sense was essentially humanist in nature. It eschewed “gods”
as agents of salvation, relying entirely on individuals, with the aid of the Bud-
dha’s teachings or “dharma”, to chart their own path through such processes
as rituals, sutras, meditation and reincarnation. There was no easy pathway but
multiple requirements sometimes referred to as “the Eightfold Path, (1) right
view, (2) right intention, (3) right speech, (4) right action, (5) right livelihood,
8 Kerry J Kennedy
(6) right efforts, (7) right mindfulness, and (8) right concentration” (Koenig,
King, & Carson, 2012, p. 591). There is an essential morality at the heart of
Buddhism, irrespective of the multiple traditions associated with it. Individuals
need to pursue this morality throughout life and whatever comes afterwards in
the search for enlightenment and eventually Nirvana.
The focus on Confucianism and Buddhism, as outlined earlier, highlights the
religious and spiritual values that influenced so much of the region. Yet such a
focus also underestimates the spiritual life of the region and much more could
be mentioned – Islam, Hinduism, Shinto Jainism, Daoism, Sikhism as well as
a range of folk religions. The main point, however, is that in premodern times
there was a richness and diversity in the lives of the region’s citizens, as demon-
strated throughout this section. Yet with the arrival of Western colonialists in the
sixteenth century and following, this richness and diversity were not recognised.
Instead attempts were made to impose Christianity in order to obliterate local
and indigenous values. Nevertheless, local values persisted. They provide a lens
for both understanding the region in deeper ways and appreciating the contribu-
tion of the local in any modernisation process. The West may well have brought
modernisation processes to the East, as well as processes of domination and sup-
pression. Yet these processes were overlaid on a rich and diverse history that was
never far from the surface and certainly did not disappear.
The modern school curriculum and social

studies education
It is a big leap from premodern to modern times, and in terms of the region, it is a
leap over what was essentially the colonial period that will not be dealt with here.
That period has been described as one in which education was “traditional, elit-
ist, competitive, exam-dominated, and bureaucratic” (Kennedy, 2005, p. 101).
While his reference was specific to Hong Kong, McClelland (1991) argued that
such a description was “typical of territories under British administration”. This
grammar school approach to education was not unimportant, but it did not pro-
vide the foundation for a modern education system.
From around 1990 onwards, there has been a growing interest in the school
curriculum across Asia (Marsh & Morris, 1991; Morris & Marsh, 1992; Lee
et al., 2006; Kennedy, 2007; Kennedy & Lee, 2008; Lee, 2010; Lim & Apple,
2018; Law, 2018). The work presented here represents different theoretical per-
spectives ranging from poststructuralism to functionalism. Overall, however, the
literature paints a picture of intense interest at a time of significant social and eco-
nomic development. Kennedy and Lee (2008, p. 24) reviewed curriculum reform
across the region showing that between 1997 and 2001 fundamental curriculum
reforms were being undertaken in ten regional societies, signalling the beginning
of a major curriculum reorientation. This was no coincidence.
The regional movement to curriculum reform extended from the need to cre-
ate “in virtually every country . . . the strategic imperative to transition from
manufacturing-based economies to ‘knowledge-based’ economies” (Ritchie, 2003,
p. 4). This transition required knowledge and skills far beyond those that char-
acterised the existing school curriculum. A future curriculum was needed for a
new technologically oriented world, increasingly fuelled by globalisation and the
neoliberal principles that underlie it. This economic impetus for the new school
curriculum has been outlined more fully in Kennedy and Lee (2008), and it con-
tinues to be the key influence across the region.
Thinking School, Learning Nation in Singapore in 1997, the National Education
Act, 1999 in Thailand, the Competency Based Curriculum in Indonesia in 2002
and the Smart School Curriculum in Malaysia in 1999 (Kennedy & Lee, 2008,
p. 24) are all examples of this new approach to curriculum. Tan and Gopinathan
(2000) described Singapore’s Thinking School, Learning Nation policy this way:
It focuses on developing all students as active learners with critical think-

ing skills and on developing a creative and critical thinking culture within
schools . . . key strategies include . . . (1) the explicit teaching of critical and
creative thinking skills; (2) the reduction of subject content; (3) the revision
of assessment modes; (4) a greater emphasis on processes instead of on out-
comes when appraising schools.
(p. 7)
This typifed new approaches to curriculum development across the region.

There were other global approaches such as twenty-frst century skills, transversal
competencies and generic skills. What these approaches had in common was not
the old century’s concerns with school subjects and examinations but the new
century’s concerns with knowledge and skills that can fuel innovation and cre-
ativity that in turn fuel the economy. What has been the fate of these initiatives?
A review of social studies curriculum across the region is shown in Tables 1.1a
and 1.1b. The data in these tables need to be regarded cautiously since it has
been derived from multiple sources, not all of them official. Yet they provide an
initial overview of social studies across the region. When a similar and much more
ambitious international review of social studies as a school subject was conducted
towards the end of last century, the results indicated “a worldwide shift from the
traditional history and geography content to a new form of integrated subject mat-
ter called ‘social studies’” (Wong, 1991, p. 44). The results of the current review
do not support this conclusion and suggest a much more nuanced understanding
of social studies education in South and South East Asia as well as the identification
of what might be considered a distinctive approach in broadening what is meant by
social education in these contexts.
Where the term “social studies” is used it more likely to be found in the pri-
mary school, although not all countries use it in this way (e.g. Malaysia and Ban-
gladesh). Some countries use it as an umbrella term to cover multiple disciplines
or even other integrated studies (e.g. Thailand, Myanmar and Bangladesh). His-
tory and geography as school subjects feature significantly across the region in
almost all countries in both junior and senior secondary school. Even where they
do not (e.g. in India), policy documents make it clear that these disciplines have
10 Kerry J Kennedy
Table 1.1a Social Studies Education in Selected South East Asian Countries
Country Primary Junior Senior Secondary
Secondary
Singapore Social Studies Geography Geography
www.moe.gov.sg/ History History
education/syllabuses Social Studies Social Studies
https://beta.moe.
gov.sg/primary/
curriculum/syllabus/
Character and Citizenship Education
Malaysia History History
www.moe.gov.my/ Geography Social Sciences (E)
menumedia/media- Civics and
cetak/penerbitan/ Citizenship
dasar/1207-
Islamic Studies
malaysia-education-
blueprint-2013-2025/ Moral Education
file
Chapter 4, p. 3
Myanmar Social Studies Social Study Arts Science
www.lextutor.ca/ (Geography)
myanmar/curriculum_ Social Study
framework_v5.pdf (History)
Social Studies
Geography
History
People, Places
& Environment
Global Development
Economics
Global Economics
Moral Education and Civics
Indonesia History
https://en.wikipedia. Grades 4–6 Grades 7–9 Grades 10–12
org/wiki/Education_
Geography
in_Indonesia#2013_
Grades 4–6 Grades 7–9
Curriculum
Economics
(Grades 4–6) Grades 7–9
Religion
Pancasila and Civics
Thailand Social Studies, Religions and Culture
www.act.ac.th/
document/1741.pdf
Table 1.1b Social Studies Education in Selected South Asian Countries
Country Primary Junior Senior Secondary
Secondary
India Environmental Social Social
Studies Sciences Sciences
(Classes 3–5) (Classes 6–8) (Classes 9–12)
Pakistan Social Studies History Pakistan Studies
https://en.wikipedia. (Grades 4–5) (Grades 6–8) (Grades 9–12)
org/wiki/ Geography
Education_in_Pakistan (Grades 6–8)
https://classnotes.xyz/
Islamic Studies
class-12-pakistan-studies-
notes-fbise/
Bangladesh Bangladesh Bangladesh A variety of choices
Secondary: and Global and Global depending on 1 of
www.bafed.net/pdf/ Studies Studies 3 possible streams:
ejune2015/1_National_ (Grades 3–5) (Grades 6–8) e.g. History of
Curriculum_2012_ Bangladesh and the
Moving_Towards_ World; Geography
the_21_Century.pdf and Environment;
Primary Bangladesh and
(Hossain, p. 67) Global Studies, etc.
Religious and Moral Education
an important role to play in school education. Integrated subjects are evident

(e.g. see Bangladesh, Myanmar, Pakistan and Thailand), but they are not labelled
“social studies” (although in Thailand there is an interesting integration between
social studies, religion and culture across all years of schooling). It can be con-
cluded from this analysis that American style “social studies” is not a feature of
education systems in South and South East Asia. Social studies education appears
to be more discipline based, especially in the later years of schooling, and at times
supported by integrated studies of a distinctly local nature. This is an important
feature of regional social studies education but not the most distinctive.
Every country except India has a focus on religious, moral or civic education
as a core component of the school curriculum. Usually it is a standalone compo-
nent, but as mentioned previously in the case of Thailand, it is integrated with
both the disciplines and civics. This form of education is certainly not “social
studies education” in terms of the school subjects described earlier. Yet it is this
broad form of social education that provides the starkest contrast with Western
forms of secularised social studies education. In some countries, it is confessional
religion (Thailand, Pakistan, Malaysia); in others, it is more inclusive, spanning
all major religions (Bangladesh). It takes a more secularised form in Singapore,
linked to citizenship education. In general, it could be argued that such a focus
harks back to the pre-colonial societies and values referred in the “Tradition and
its influence on the development of social studies education in Asia”.
12 Kerry J Kennedy
Colonialism may well have been rife throughout the region, but it did not wipe
out centuries of spirituality and religious attachment. Modern school systems
have reclaimed that attachment, in addition to their own style of largely subject-
based social studies education linked especially to national needs.
Where does this leave the agenda for the twenty-first century referred to ear-
lier? It seems that critical thinking, problem-solving and innovation are cross
curriculum priorities rather than exclusive subject domains in themselves. Many
of the curriculum documents make this point. In reality, the subject-based school
curriculum remains in place. Much more local research is needed to gain a bet-
ter idea of how these new cross curriculum priorities are being implemented and
with what effect. This will be an important line of research for the future.
Social studies education in Asia – nations charting

their own futures
The remainder of this book will provide deeper insights into the nature and
purposes of regional social studies education. What has been demonstrated here
is that in general, apart from some primary school social studies programmes
(Singapore, Myanmar and Pakistan), traditional school subjects such as history
and geography dominate the school curriculum. Is this likely to change as the
century progresses?
Given that the countries that make up the scope of this book have already
demonstrated some independence in charting their curriculum futures, it is most
likely the case that they will continue to adopt an independent stance. Sometimes
the anti-colonialism can be detected as when India’s national curriculum argues
against any continuing use of civics as a school subject because of its colonial con-
notations and opts for political science instead. At the same time, Singapore does
not refrain from using the very western-oriented “character education” because
it suits the country’s desire to focus on the production of “good citizens”. What
is more, it seems there will be little movement away from the focus on moral and
religious education despite the influence of secularism in much of the Western
world.
Of course, it could be argued that the adoption of a largely discipline based
social studies education is in fact an imitation of the West’s “grammar school”
curriculum rather than an independent stance on the part of South and South
East Asia’s nations. This is an issue well worth debating, but my sense is that
the subjects largely featured (history, geography, economics) are more related
to national aims and needs than any support for an older form of curriculum
formation. Ironically, these discipline-based subjects may as much be a strong
form of anti-colonialism. Nations have sought to re-establish their own his-
tories and geographies as well as ensure that young people know about eco-
nomic and social priorities needed for state development in a competitive global
environment.
The future of social studies will build on this foundation. National needs will
continue to dominate curriculum planning, and school subjects will be chosen and
developed to meet those needs. The combination of traditional academic disci-
plines, ancient religions and a focus on moral education will continue to characterise
development. On top of this will be an attempt to incorporate twenty-first-century
skills. Yet social studies subjects will likely remain in place as the chief way of pro-
viding modern curriculum experiences for South and South East Asian students.
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Section 2
Politics, culture and reform

in South/South East Asian
social studies education
2 Postcolonial national identity
formation through social
studies
The case of India
Mousumi Mukherjee and Akshay Singh
Introduction
Colonial historians and anthropologists often found the communities within
the Indian subcontinent more diverse as compared to the different European
nation-states. Citing noted Indian historian, Ramachandra Guha’s (2008) work,
Mukherjee (2015a) argued that the concept of the Indian nation-state emerged
out of the freedom movement against British colonial rule. Joshee (2008)
argued that a pedagogy of subjugation was slowly replaced by a pedagogy to
instil a sense of belonging to an independent Indian nation-state. However, this
nation-building agenda of schooling as a social process has led to an “us” versus
“them” ideology with regards to the relationship with neighbouring South Asian
nation-states (Kumar, 2001; Ghosh, 2012; Mukherjee, 2015b). This “us” versus
“them” ideology has been a hinderance for the formation of a more active form
of citizenship based on democratic rights and duties necessary for social relation-
ships in a fast globalising world in the 21st century, as argued by Sharma (2015).
Academics have particularly criticised the cultural nationalist approach of
the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) 2000, which sought to establish a
Hindu nationalist curriculum in schools across the country (Batra, 2010; Kamat,
2004; Nambissan, 2000). This chapter argues with evidence that the National
Curriculum Framework (2005) recommended several progressive learner-centric
pedagogic and inclusive approaches to teach about linguistic and cultural diversi-
ties within India, as against National Curriculum Framework (2000). Yet, the
nation-centric approach to social studies remained quite predominant even in
NCF 2005. In order to understand this postcolonial approach towards social
studies, it is, therefore, important to first contextualise social studies within the
colonial and then the postcolonial Indian context.
Contextualising social studies

As it happens in many parts of the world, the action of designing and formalis-
ing the educational curriculum within India has been influenced by the ideo-
logical orientation of the political regimes in place. During the colonial period,
the British regime was solely geared towards reproducing law-abiding obedient
18 Mousumi Mukherjee and Akshay Singh
citizens of the Raj. At the heart of the colonial enterprise of state-machinery had
been that of an “adult-child relationship” (Kumar, 1989), wherein the state had
taken it upon themselves to initiate the people into new ways of acting and think-
ing. This may be a simplistic idea, but it has deeper implications for the overall
creation of local and national identities.
Initially, the Indian leaders and intellectuals living inside the bubble of the colo-
nial education policy endorsed anglicised values and development of personal char-
acter. Even during the colonial era, however, in the writings of Vivekanand, Sri
Aurobindo, and Lajpat Rai, educational discourse acquired a national slant. These
social reformers had taken up the agenda of initiating social reforms and social
regeneration alongside the struggle of Indian masses to establish the independent
Indian identity free from bondage as British colonial subjects (Kumar, 1999).
The critique of Western education and call for an indigenously developed
model in which there was a return to radical indigenous and anti-colonial per-
spective was put forward by nationalist leaders and intellectuals such as Mahatma
Gandhi. He emphasised developing a positive cultural identity for the colonised
subject as an integral aspect of the struggle towards decolonisation. For anti-
colonists, the persistence of “colonialism of the mind” could only be overcome
by challenging the hierarchies of knowledge and values of Western superiority.
However, this led to the creation of a narrative of the idealised pre-colonial past.
It was invented to “animate the nativism and orientalist utopia of present-day
Hindu nationalists” (Kamat, 2004, p. 274).
Mahatma Gandhi’s political philosophy of basic education as expressed in
Nai Taleem (literally meaning, New Education) created an image of “harmoni-
ous village society indifferent to the inequalities of patriarchy, caste, and class”,
which was diametrically opposed to the image of “backward India” as envisaged
in the colonial imagery (Kamat, 2004, p. 274). Fifty years later, in the National
Curriculum Framework 2000, this imagery was resurrected in the curriculum
development and education policy of India, with no mention of exploitative and
oppressive structures and ideologies that are still there in many parts of the ide-
alised agrarian society (Kamat, 2004).
The project of designing the “National Curriculum Framework”, therefore,
has its roots in the colonial era, continuing well into the post-independence
period, which called for the need to form national integrity and identity. The
conditioning of the Indian mind via curriculum and textbooks brought in the
category of the individual into effective beings, who, through the inculcation of
standardised national (Indian) norms of citizenship, would become ideal subjects
of the state. Hence, it can be argued that the nationalistic framework of curricu-
lum and social studies emerged as an aftermath of the independence struggle.
Irrespective of ideological orientation, the agenda of postcolonial Indian national
identity formation has been the primary objective of successive governments
engaged in designing a curriculum framework for reforming the education sys-
tem post-independence from British colonial rule.
In the postcolonial period, the policymakers have been busy addressing the
issue of national unity, producing conflicts and debates. These debates try to
Postcolonial national identity formation 19
answer a pertinent question like – Who constitutes the body of subjects in a newly
independent nation? The discussions end up re-establishing citizens as “subjects”
of the nation-state, who are supposed to be ambassadors of Indian national unity.
It manifests itself in the form of interventions in the educational sector, which
still poses as an important tool for manipulation and cultural homogenisation.
National identity and the curriculum

As it has been already highlighted in the introductory section of this chapter,
the nation-building agenda has been very strong in the successive postcolonial
National Curriculum Frameworks (1975, 1988, 2000, 2005). The National Cur-
riculum Framework (2000), however, has been particularly criticised for taking
a Hindu Nationalist approach in framing the curriculum (Batra, 2010; Kamat,
2004; Nambissan, 2000). Hence, there have been widespread criticisms of NCF
2000. Many scholars and critics have stated that in the name of the postcolonial
nation-building agenda, NCF 2000 sought to promote majoritarian Hindutva
ideology through the social studies curriculum.
Moreover, National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
textbooks, following the NCF, brought forth the utopian concepts of secular-
ism, equality, liberty, as professed by the tenets of the constitution. Yet this rarely
translated to the level of individual citizens, owing to the historical and regional
differences that manifested as a consequence of popular political narratives. The
categorisation of national versus regional curriculum in social sciences specially
brought out the fact that curriculum cannot attain a universality that is free from
the socio-cultural constructs and historical differences between different commu-
nities (Chakrabarty, 2002). There will always be contestations and reconciliations
as part of the broader underpinnings of a nation-state. It is important, however,
to accommodate broader regional and sub-regional imaginations within educa-
tional frames to enlighten learners and students.
During the first three decades after India’s independence, there were consis-
tent changes initiated in the curriculum of social science subjects. It reflected
the recommendations of reports of committees and commissions which were
largely concerned with pan-Indian viewpoints, nation-building, and understand-
ing of Indian society, economy, and policy from a national integration perspec-
tive. The subjects that were targeted under this perspective included each of the
four subjects – history, economics, geography, and political science – particularly
for Classes 6 to 10.
Teaching history and civics

From the colonial period, history was seen as a primary vehicle for “normal-
izing the nation” (Joshi, 2010, p. 358), with certain elements of “colonial and
communal stereotyped” contents. The Indian educationists took another direc-
tion promoting nation-building by professing a particular type of nationalism,
particularly glorifying India’s national movement. Periodisation – an essential
method to study history – moved from classification based on colonial constructs
of Hindu, Muslim, and British India to ancient, medieval, and modern India
(Srinivasan, 2015, p. 54). Communal periodisation, however, continues to play
to the populistic tendencies in India. After the National Curriculum Framework
2005 was adopted, the history curriculum changed from “mainstream political
narratives” to “socio-cultural narratives”, for the learners to recognise the “mul-
tiplicity of histories and narratives which constitute India’s past” (Bhattacharya,
2009, p. 106).
Civics as a subject in the social sciences played a key role in promoting ideas
of national unity and acculturation of learners to how the nation-state imagines
itself within contemporary time. The learners of the subject were to be condi-
tioned as identifiers of a larger social collective and consciousness of the nations.
Several national curricular initiatives have consistently emerged for developing
the student’s knowledge in civic and political institutions and to expand their
understanding of contemporary social and political issues (Jain, 2004). Following
the National Curriculum Framework 2000 (NCERT, 2000), within the larger
context of the rise of regional and caste loyalties determining electoral outcomes,
the syllabus and curriculum were designed to resist heterogeneity and aimed at
efforts to homogenise the voices in the national space. Even though regional
affairs and histories were brought out in the texts and classes, there was always a
modus operandi of operationalising the same to the advantage of the majoritarian
Hindutva narrative.
The Class 6 civics textbook, for example, included a section on “Rural Com-
munities”, and how they meet their needs, the elements of livelihood, basic
infrastructural needs, gender roles, economic resources, and social norms were
discussed at length. There was, however, an intrinsic effort at negating the
particularistic trends of “rural Indian structures” and integrating these trends
within the larger framework of “Hindu” cultural space and understanding.
Similar discourses crept into the other social sciences subjects and their peda-
gogical methods. For the civics book, the reader was quite clearly imagined as
an upper-caste Hindu urban child for whom the nation is constituted through
its horizontal unity that works through the tropes of tradition, as well as a
strictly cultural engagement with diversity, that does not question the domi-
nance of the upper-caste urban self because it is naturalised within coordinates
of physical geography (Balgopalan, 2009). Moreover, as Jain (2005, p. 1941)
critiqued:
these textbooks demonise illiterates, negatively portray villages and its inhab-
itants; restrict the discussion on the caste system and untouchability to the
discourse of nation-building and progress without questioning the ideology
of ‘purity/pollution’, take no note of the overlapping boundaries of pollu-
tion and poverty and have no space for discussion on how citizens/dalits
themselves oppose and struggle against stigmatised identity. Such a discourse
may continue to perform its function in socialisation, labour selection and
institutional legitimisation unless challenged.
National Curriculum Framework 2005
The National Curriculum Framework (NCF) 2005 ushered in a major episte-
mological shift in the curriculum majors for social studies. Rather than forging
a singular national identity, the focus was on plurality and promoting unity in
diversity. The NCF 2005 attempted to chart a fresh epistemological approach
in contrast to its predecessors, by grounding itself in a set of guiding principles
to steer pedagogy into a new paradigm. It can be argued that the NCF 2005
reflected the constitutional values of secularism, egalitarianism, and pluralism.
In the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) 2005, there was an empha-
sis on the process of learning that aimed to divorce itself from the notion of
rote learning. The student is provided with a greater agency as constructors of
knowledge, rather than being just passive recipients of information. Addition-
ally, the framework revisits the role of educators in a globalised world. NCF
2005 required educators to help the learners move beyond the confines of a
textbook and a classroom. This was designed to enable the students to develop a
critical mindset which would result in questioning the accepted reality (NCERT,
2005). Further, the social sciences curriculum required educators to create link-
ages between the personal, local, and global spheres through various strategies to
provide an interconnected perspective of knowledge.
The epistemological framework of the NCF 2005 aspired to move towards the
ideals of a just and peaceful society, by encouraging plurality in perspectives. The
designers of the framework, however, emphasised the need for a balance between
the pluralistic content and local flavours. This is immensely thoughtful because
the different strata of stakeholders do not often find representation in the learn-
ing process and the textbook; this runs a risk of alienation which would render
the whole process futile. This is further reflected when the NCF (2005) acknowl-
edged that even though India comprises multiple imaginations, the national out-
look must be balanced with the local. Hence, though the NCF 2005 was in many
ways a departure from its predecessors and progressive in its vision, the agenda
for postcolonial Indian national identity formation was still very strong.
This agenda of NCF 2005 is further evident from a remarkable epistemologi-
cal shift to the civics curriculum based on the following quote (NCERT, 2005):
It is suggested that instead of Civics, the term Political Science be used. Civ-
ics appeared in the Indian school curriculum in the colonial period against
the background of increasing ‘disloyalty’ among Indians towards the Raj.
Emphasis on obedience and loyalty were the key features of Civics. Political
Science treats civil society as the sphere that produces sensitive, interrogative,
deliberative, and transformative citizens.
(p. 51)
The quote from section 3.4 on social sciences in the NCF 2005 document reveals
a strong nation-building agenda with respect to the postcolonial Indian nation-
state. Indeed, the entire document has several examples to demonstrate how the
NCF 2005 upheld the postcolonial nation-building agenda. As mentioned in the
earlier quote, NCF 2005 suggested renaming the subject civics as political sci-
ence because the baggage of obeying law and order as docile citizens under the
colonial masters was associated with the older term – civics.
The social sciences curriculum under NCF 2005 further sought to expose the
students to multiple social issues such as poverty, child labour, illiteracy, caste,
and class inequalities. The NCF 2005 framework viewed textbooks as the means
to open avenues of transformational learning, rather than a confined set of argu-
ments. It also emphasised challenging the patriarchal narrative that had been
prevalent in the social studies framework until that point and informing the learn-
ers about the agency of women. The designers of the framework highlighted the
importance of including topics like human rights and dignity in the curriculum.
This would not only sensitise the learners towards universal values but at the
same time contribute to the vision of a just and peaceful society. The shift in
the epistemic framework of the curriculum aimed to use education as a tool for
global peace that was extremely relevant due to the strife and violence-affected
nature of global dynamics. However, though the authors of NCF (2005) state
that, “Indian History should not be taught in isolation, and there should be a
reference to developments in other parts of the world” (p. 51), the curriculum
framework did not provide a clear guideline about how this could be achieved.
The challenges
The NCF 2005 attempted to revisit the role of the educators. Despite being a
visionary document, however, it failed to address the problems of social studies
education within the postcolonial Indian context. The NCERT textbook cartoon
controversy (Singh, 2012; Wankhede, 2012) is evidence of the fact that, without
integrating school curriculum and textbook development process with research
and development in the higher education sector and without institutionalising
critical thinking and critical pedagogy as part of a rigorous teacher education cur-
riculum, the problems would persist.
Srinivasan (2015) stated: “We need to help social science teachers develop
understanding of basic social science concepts, the philosophical foundations of
each of the four disciplines and modes of inquiry. The present 5–21 days in-
service teacher education programmes are insufficient” (p. 57). Even though,
NCF 2005 adopted many visionary changes, it continued to ignore teachers
as key stakeholders for transformational change through education. It failed to
address the problem related to the absent “voice and agency of teachers” (Batra,
2005, p. 4347). Yet Batra (2005) has argued that the traditional perceptions
that regarded Indian teachers as “agents of personal transformation” (p. 4347)
is indicative of the potential agency of teachers to usher in transformative change
through teaching.
However, teachers pan-India are “undertrained, undercompensated and under-
qualified” (Batra, 2005, p. 4347), a systemic flaw that has not been addressed
since colonial times. One of the reasons is that there has been little effort to
address this. It is because after the colonial masters left, the power dynamics
were hijacked by caste and class – divides within the indigenous Indian society.
This is against the vision of the founding fathers of postcolonial Indian national
imaginary, like Tagore and Gandhi, who viewed education as vehicles of trans-
formative social change and nation-building through inclusive education. The
ethos of Tagore’s Shantiniketan, Gandhi’s Nai Taleem, and the ideas of Nehru,
Ambedkar, and Maulana Azad were centred around the concept that education
would help alleviate the status of the people who were relegated to the fringes of
the society due to caste and class divides (Batra, 2005). There is an urgent need
for the future NCF to remove these systematic barriers for the educators and
democratise their participation.
Even though the previous NCFs (1975, 1988, 2000) had emphasised the train-
ing of teachers to keep up with the ever-altering landscape of education, there
was little or no evidence of it being effectively implemented. The teacher training
institutes continued to exist in silos. The NCF 2005 too, like its predecessors,
continued this legacy. It viewed teachers as “passive agents” who are trained to
accept rather than to question complex social narratives like poverty, child labour,
caste-based discrimination, and gender violence. This percolates through their
teaching, which ultimately affects the perspectives of the learners.
The Indian government is in the process of drafting the National Curriculum
Framework 2021 as a follow-up to the legislation of the National Education Policy
(NEP) 2020, where reforming teacher education has been given major emphasis.
It has been proposed in NEP 2020 that the stand-alone teacher training institutes
will be progressively brought under the umbrella of multidisciplinary universities.
It has been further proposed that the Departments of Education in the university
should work in sync with the need of the neighbourhood school education sys-
tems to train teachers to practise critical pedagogy in their classrooms. The future
will tell us how much these recommendations in NEP 2020 will be implemented
and translated into the classrooms through NCF 2021.
The way forward

Prior to the legislation of the NEP 2020 and commencement of drafting the
NCF 2021, however, a recent initiative was led by Regional Institute of Educa-
tion, Bhopal, under the NCERT. This initiative sought to reform social studies
by incorporating perspectives from global citizenship education to incorporate it
in the in-service teacher’s training programme. Global Citizenship Education: A
Handbook for Teachers at Upper Primary Level in India (GCED) was drafted and
published in 2019 by NCERT. Realising the problem that teachers have become
“passive agents” trained to accept rather than to question complex social narra-
tives, the GCED handbook was structured to provide conceptual understanding
about the concept of citizenship from a global perspective, which sought to move
beyond the “passive” acceptance of status quo as normalised through the colonial
civics curriculum and also the postcolonial political science curriculum. Through
the GCED handbook, the concept of global citizenship sought to incorporate
the “active” element of citizenship praxis/practice as a teacher into the teacher’s
training programme.
The epistemic framework of the NCF 2005 aspired for social justice that could
have been leveraged by educators to sensitise the learners about the importance
of accountability for private as well as government functionaries. Educators could
have situated the local context within the national and global contexts for the
learners to act locally and think globally. However, without any concrete road
map and necessary improvement in teacher’s training programmes, NCF 2005
failed to achieve the lofty goals. The GCED Handbook for Upper Primary School
Teachers (NCERT, 2019) sought to address this gap by designing and publishing
the handbook to be followed for necessary teacher training through the different
regional State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT).
Drawing on examples from existing NCERT textbooks, the GCED handbook
for teachers sought to demonstrate how many social, political, and environmental
problems related to poverty, inequality, discrimination, gender, terrorism, and
climate change are global in nature, though locally relevant solutions needs to be
found in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (Mukherjee, 2019).
The existing NCERT textbooks referred to the social and political problems
framed within the framework of the Indian nation-state, while providing exam-
ples of similar problems from “other” democracies. Hence, the GCED handbook
sought to trace historically the “interconnectivity” and “interdependence” of our
lives as citizens of the world. Referring to the social and political life curriculum
in the NCERT textbooks, the GCED handbook sought to demonstrate to the
teachers how the framers of the Indian Constitution did not function in isolation
and how social movements around the world informed each other. For example,
Gandhi’s ideals of non-violence, which became the hallmark of the Indian free-
dom struggle were borne out of his experience during apartheid in South Africa.
Similarly, Martin Luther King’s struggle for equality in the United States was
heavily influenced by Gandhi’s interventions during the Indian freedom struggle.
The chief architect of the Indian Constitution, Dr Ambedkar was deeply influ-
enced by the ideas of his teacher at the Columbia University in the United States,
John Dewey, and his book, Democracy and Education (Mukherjee, 2019). In this
way, the GCED handbook for teachers sought to train teachers to think globally
and act locally to achieve the lofty goals of NCF 2005. The planned teachers’
training programme following the release of the GCED handbook, however, was
halted in 2020 by the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns.
Conclusion
The schools are part of the society in which they operate, and the social studies
curriculum reflect the priorities of the authorities in power within that society.
The national curriculum framework, pedagogic approaches, and evaluation meth-
ods create the kinds of subjectivities and citizens that the powerful authorities in
society seek to reproduce – whether they are colonial authorities or postcolonial
authorities. As Apple (1979) stated:
Through their curricular, pedagogical, and evaluative activities in day-to-day
life in classrooms, schools play a significant role in preserving if not generat-
ing these inequalities. They may perform economic and cultural functions
and embody ideological rules that both preserve and enhance an existing set
of structural relations. These relations operate at a fundamental level to help
some groups and serve as a barrier to others.
(pp. 63–64)
With the recent release of the new National Education Policy 2020 (MHRD,
2020) and the commencement of the drafting of the National Curriculum
Framework (NCF) 2021, it is most likely that the NCERT textbooks written fol-
lowing NCF 2005 guidelines will be revised soon to align with NCF (2021) cur-
riculum framework. Considering the historic trend of the National Curriculum
Framework in postcolonial India, however, one can predict that the NCF 2021
will once again take a very nation-centric approach. Moreover, it might also seek
to promote a more singular narrative through education and forge national iden-
tity formation based on majoritarian ideology and values, like NCF 2000, taking
into consideration the political ideology of the current government. Time will
tell us whether the NCF 2021 and the future NCERT textbooks will align social
studies within a more nation-centric postcolonial framework or a global citizen-
ship framework following the UN Sustainable Development Goals. An approach
towards striking a balance between these two curricular priorities for social stud-
ies is of course the need of the hour.
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3 Developing loyal citizens
A case of social studies education
in Pakistan
Shahid Karim and Takbir Ali
Introduction
Social studies is an integrated field of study that draws on social sciences and human-
ities subjects. In the United States of America, social studies education advocates
‘civic competence’ and aims to help children develop the knowledge, skills and
disposition for making ‘informed and reasoned decisions’ in collective life (Levs-
tik & Tyson, 2008). Its primary purpose is to create competent, concerned and
reflective citizens (Martorella, 1985). In the case of Pakistan, citizenship education
takes place through the social studies curriculum (Ahmad, 2008). It is taught as a
compulsory subject up to the higher secondary level, with different subject titles.
Its curriculum encompasses three different school subject titles, including general
knowledge from Grades I to III, social studies from Grades IV to VIII and Pakistan
studies from Grades IX to XII.
Unlike liberal democracies, the notion of citizenship is a much-debated topic
in Pakistan. The national curriculum depicts it as a project of nation-building
and national identity formation based on religion – Islam (Durrani & Dunne,
2010; Lall, 2012). Both the curriculum and textbooks of social studies hardly
make a distinction between religious education and citizenship education
(Dean, 2005). Indeed, social studies education has been a battlefield for two
competing political ideologies and visions – theocracy and liberal democracy
since independence (Ahmad, 2008). Consequently, social studies education
“has failed to create an intelligent mindset that addresses problems objec-
tively and searches solutions competitively and collaboratively” (Anjum, 2009,
p. 119).
This chapter focuses on the theoretical and historical dimensions of the social
studies curriculum. The chapter starts with a brief description of the Pakistani
society, education and social studies curriculum in the country. It then exam-
ines the major factors that facilitated the Islamization of social studies edu-
cation and its fallouts and underscores the existing issues in the curriculum.
Finally, the chapter proposes a dynamic policy reform framework for social
studies education to respond to the emerging challenges in globalized socio-
political contexts.
Developing loyal citizens 29
Some salient features of Pakistan
Society
Pakistan appeared on the world map as an independent state on 14 August 1947.
It was the outcome of the struggle for a sovereign territory for the Muslims of the
subcontinent after the departure of the British colonial power. Its founding fathers
thought that Hindus and Muslims of India were two different nations with different
faiths and cultures who could not live side by side as a single polity. Today Pakistan
is the second-largest country with a Muslim majority population after Indonesia
and the fifth largest country in the world, with nearly 207.8 million people (Gov-
ernment of Pakistan, 2017b). The population growth is reported to be over 2 per
cent, which is higher than in many developing countries. It has a bearing on both
access and quality of education when there is a vast gap between the diverse needs
created by the fast-growing population and limited available resources.
Over the last two decades, Pakistan suffered from low economic growth
due to the deteriorating security situation in the country and in the neigh-
boring country – Afghanistan –which left the country with few resources to
invest in education. Pakistan’s public expenditure on education as a percentage
of GDP was estimated at 2.4 per cent in the fiscal year 2018–19, the lowest
in the region (Amin, 2019). According to United Nations’ Human Develop-
ment Report 2019, Pakistan ranks 152 in the list of 189 countries with 0.560
Human Development Index, 67.1 years of life expectancy at birth, 8.5 expected
years of schooling, 5.2 mean years of schooling, and USD 5,190 gross national
income (United Nations Development Programme, 2019). The same report
also revealed that Pakistan claims a workforce with 27.9 per cent of the skilled
labor while 38.3 per cent of its population is suffering from multidimensional
poverty. Compared to the developed countries, there exist gender disparities
(0.747) with a low level of inequality-adjusted (0.386) and a greater sense of
human insecurity (4.2 per 100,000). These statistics suggest that a majority of
the population lacks access to quality education and healthcare and suffers from
poverty coupled with unequal distribution of achievements in health, education
and income across the social groups and gender.
From an etymological perspective, Pakistan means the Land of the Pure. Islam-
abad, its current capital, refers to the land of Islam. In official books, its name
appears as the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Its constitution claims the supremacy
of the Quran (one of the revealed books) and Sunna (the teachings of Prophet
Muhammad PBUH) in conducting the everyday affairs of the state. Thus, reli-
gion plays a central role in shaping the day-to-day social behavior and conduct
of its citizens. Islam “being the bedrock of a collective life, feeds into a pluralistic
national ethos and, with a strong accent on traditional values, significantly trans-
lates itself into a powerful national characteristic” (Malik, 2006, p. 46).
Demographically, Pakistan is a multiethnic and multicultural society. Its popu-
lation is comprised of diverse ethnic groups with unique linguistic and cultural
30 Shahid Karim and Takbir Ali
traditions. The majority of the population (70%) lives in rural areas. Several dozen
different languages are spoken across the country, four of which are the regional
languages characterizing its four provinces that represent four major different cul-
tural groups with strong ethnic identities (Rahman, 2003). Both Urdu and English
are the official languages, with Urdu being the national language and the mother
tongue of 7.08 per cent of the population (Government of Pakistan, 2017b).
Education
There exist a multitude of education systems, both secular and religious, with oppos-
ing objectives and philosophies of education (Ali & Farah, 2007). There are three
types of schools functioning in the country, namely public, private and madrasa
schools targeting students from different strata of the society. Numerically the major-
ity of the young people attend public schools which mainly serve children from the
poor socioeconomic background. Children coming from the rich and upper class
of the society attend expensive private and international schools. The third stream
comprises religious education schools, commonly known as madrasa education,
often run by religious organizations from different schools of thought within Islam.
Most of these schools offer free religious education, and some also provide food and
shelter to students from the poor and religious family backgrounds.
Social studies curriculum

The social studies curriculum in Pakistan has evolved over a period of time, and
it has been a favorite and hot topic of debate, discussion and politics. Histori-
cally, curriculum development has been the mandate of the Federal Ministry of
Education (renamed after 2010 as MFE & PT – Ministry of Federal Education
and Professional Training). It works through its auxiliary department, known
as the National Curriculum Council (NCC), and in collaboration with the pro-
vincial curriculum bureaus. Together these entities develop, review and update
the curriculum and oversee its implementation. Through an amendment (18th
Constitutional Amendment) in the constitution, the concurrent list of some fed-
eral government ministries, including the Education Ministry was abolished; as
a result, greater legislative power and resources were devolved to the provinces.
Hence, after 2010 the development of education policy and delivery of educa-
tional services became a provincial responsibility. This change included curricu-
lum development and implementation.
Similar to many developed and developing countries, the social studies curricu-
lum is dealt with as a multidisciplinary field of inquiry in Pakistan. In primary
grades, the social studies curriculum predominantly deals with concepts of history,
geography and civic or value education. In different grades, it deals with a wide
range of topics organized according to the model of the spiral curriculum, where
the progression of content knowledge is organized according to grade or age level
of students. International research, practices and trends shape the process of cur-
riculum development. Indigenous research and local environment and needs are
hardly considered while designing a social studies curriculum. This is indicated
from the fact that in its approach, structure and content, the social studies cur-
riculum resembles the curriculum used in many other developed and developing
countries. This is due largely to the fact that curriculum planning in Pakistan is
also influenced by ‘educational lending and borrowing’, an emerging theory of
transfer of knowledge and best practices under the popular ideology of neolib-
eralism (Zaman, 2008). Hence, the social studies curriculum (mainly prescribed
standards, benchmark and student learning outcome) used in schools in Pakistan
is more compatible with any modern curriculum used in any part of the world but
less harmonious with the local realities. It may not necessarily reflect idiosyncratic
societal characteristics, local needs and socio-cultural nuances. Besides the issues of
curriculum development, the challenges associated with the ‘implementation’ of
the curriculum are more complex and daunting than the planned curriculum itself.
Nevertheless, despite the role of provinces in curriculum planning and imple-
mentation, the present-day federal government led by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
(the political party that first came into power in 2018) is pursuing the agenda of
a Single National Curriculum (SNC) and textbooks. It is striving hard to develop
consensus around the need of having SNC and textbooks to help address myriad
educational and social disparities and promote social cohesion and national iden-
tity that are believed to be at risk owing to multiple education systems, amount-
ing to ‘educational apartheid’, working in the country. SNC and textbooks for
various subjects and grades are to be developed in three phases (primary grades,
middle, secondary and higher secondary) and completed by 2023. The work on
SNC and textbooks for primary grades is in the advanced stage; draft SNC and
textbooks have been prepared for validation by the third party, which will be
piloted and rolled out by August 2021.
The SNC and textbooks, when available for primary grades, will be imple-
mented across schools run by public, private (low, middle and high-income elite
commercially-run schools and trust-based not-for-profit schools) and madrasa
(religious seminaries) system. The federal government appears to be highly com-
mitted to develop and ensure the implementation of SNC at any cost. Time
will tell if the government can overcome resistance and challenges in the way of
SNC and materialize the dream of reducing educational disparities and ensur-
ing equitable access to quality basic education for all children regardless of their
backgrounds and identities. Foreseeably, the tough resistance will come from the
madrasa and elite school systems. However, to reduce this resistance, the federal
government has been making all-out efforts to get them on board from the initial
stages of planning in order to get their buy-in of SNC.
Islamization of social studies education

The current status of social studies education in Pakistan has a lot to do with the
political ideology that shaped the historical trajectory of educational policies and
reforms since independence. As Siddiqui (2016) notes:
the overarching ideology of Islam remained present in the educational

policies of Pakistan . . . the vision of all the educational policies seems to
emerge from Islam, the official religion of the country. Without disturbing
the religious vision, policies in different times had different preferences and
positions.
(p. 34)
According to religious scholars and many political scientists, worldly life and
religious or spiritual life are inseparable in Islam. Thus, Islam, as a political ide-
ology rather than a belief system, has been central to the national curriculum
formulation during the process of nation-building and character education in
Pakistan.
Siddiqui (2016) underscores two major dimensions of policy formulation.
Accordingly, policymakers and curriculum developers consider both the internal
and external factors while devising an educational policy and school curriculum.
In the case of Pakistan, however, there has always been an imbalance between
national considerations and global demands for education in general and social
studies education in particular. As in any other nation-state with immense eth-
nic, linguistic, cultural and religious diversities, national integration was a major
educational task after independence. Islam, as the faith of the majority, played
a central role during the process of a single identity formation. As Durrani and
Dunne (2010) argue that “Pakistan is no exception in the use of curriculum
and/or religious discourse as a tool for promoting internal coherence and
building national identification in order to protect the citizens from some scary
‘other’” (p. 235). Thus, from early on, Islam has been used to develop a sense
of citizenship, and the overarching ideology of Islam informed all the educa-
tional policy and reform initiatives with a vision of developing loyal and patriotic
Muslim citizens.
Moreover, education in general and social studies education in particular has
been the victim of both national and regional politics resulting in various socio-
economic challenges for the nation. Consequently, citizenship education in Paki-
stan “has undergone a historical evolution from a more open, forward-looking
and civic notion of nationalism in the initial post-independence period, to a more
closed, inward-looking and alienating version of nationalism later on, especially
since the 1970s” (Saigol, 2014, p. 191). Although policy documents and reform
initiatives underscore the need for addressing the gaps in the delivery of edu-
cational services at various levels, little or no efforts have been made to address
these gaps. As a result, the education system in general and the public school
system in particular has failed to produce reflective, responsible, intelligent and
concerned citizens.
The extent to which different governments and rulers have used religion as
a political tool varied throughout the history of reform in education. Such dif-
ferences can be noticed even among the military dictators and the so-called
democratic leaders due to conflicting political ideologies such as theocracy and
liberal democracy. Both the public-elected governments as well as military dicta-
tors misused religion either for public support or for political legitimacy. None
of the governments has had a genuine interest in religious education for the
masses except political motives. Although Islam had been central to the policy
framework throughout the educational reform endeavors, the Education Policy
1979 during the military regime of General Zia-ul-Haq completely Islamized
the entire education system. He came into power after toppling the democratic
government of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and remained in power for over a decade.
The Cold War in Afghanistan supported by many Western democracies and the
need for freedom fighters during the Russian invasion based on religious nar-
ratives paved his way to power. During his rule, greater emphasis was placed
on Islam as the ideology of Pakistan. Islamiat and Pakistan studies were made
compulsory from Grade I through XIV, and extra emphasis was placed on the
Arabic language. Steps were taken to ensure the incorporation of Islamic content
in the curricula, textbooks and pedagogy across the levels of education. Unlike
earlier policies, the Islamization policy “claimed a shift to the indigenous models
of education” (Siddiqui, 2016, p. 12).
General Pervez Musharraf, yet another military dictator (1999–2007),
attempted to de-Islamize education and touted a new slogan of ‘enlightened
moderation’ (Musharraf, 2004). After 9/11 Pakistan became an ally to the
United States of America in the ‘war on terror’, and under tremendous interna-
tional pressure, he tried to revise public policies, including the education policy
of 1998. With financial support from the United States of America and other
donors, the Musharraf Government launched a comprehensive, multidimen-
sional Education Sector Reform Assistance (ESRA) program (2002–2007) and
came up with a new education policy. Under this program, the national curricu-
lum of 2002 was comprehensively revised, and a new standards-based curriculum
(Grades I–XI) was developed in 2006. Subsequent to the work done under the
ESRA program in 2009, the then democratically elected government launched a
new national education policy. The National Education Policy 2009 envisioned
education as follows:
Our education system must provide quality education to our children and
youth to enable them to realize their individual potential and contribute to
development of society and nation, creating a sense of Pakistani nationhood,
the concepts of tolerance, social justice, democracy, their regional and local
culture and history based on the basic ideology enunciated in the Constitu-
tion of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
(Government of Pakistan, 2009, p. 17)
Although this policy envisioned a society based on tolerance, social justice,

democracy and diversity, it could hardly avoid making references to Islam as
the ideology of Pakistan. Despite the attempt to de-Islamize education by Gen-
eral Musharraf, religious parties were successful in adding a separate chapter on
Islamic education in the policy document, making it as the ‘duty of the society
and the state’.
Unlike the previous policy, which was engineered during Musharraf’s rule
but implemented during the Pakistan People Party’s government, the National
Education Policy 2017 draft, formulated and implemented by the Pakistan Mus-
lim League Nawaz government, re-iterates the role of Islam as a political ideology.
The policy draft makes frequent references to all previous educational policies as
well as the Constitution of Pakistan in order to make Islam a cornerstone of the
national education policy framework. While highlighting the importance of edu-
cation in nation-building, the policy states that:
The only justification for our existence is our commitment to Islam to be

adopted in our practical life. Therefore, our Education Policy should focus
on Islamic Education and suggest how to translate the Islamic Ideology into
our beliefs, worships and actions in daily life.
(Government of Pakistan, 2017a, p. 20)
The policy aims to fulfil the constitutional requirements of Article 31, which
guarantees citizens’ way of life under the teaching of Islam prescribed in the Quran
and the Prophet’s teachings. It also underscores the need to prepare the citizen for
the changing times. For this purpose, however, the policy seeks to “educate and
train the future generation of Pakistan as a true practising Muslims to face the chal-
lenges of 21st Century with confidence, tolerance and courage” (Government of
Pakistan, 2017a, p. 24). The policy relies solely on the teaching of Islamiat and the
Holy Quran to become responsible citizens and respond to the emerging demands
of globalization.
Although the preparation of the citizens for the future merely through reli-
gious education is questionable, all the education policies, in general, aimed to
develop Muslim citizens by constructing a single identity through religion (Dur-
rani & Dunne, 2010). This type of citizenship education not only obscures other
forms of citizens’ identities but also differs from the concept of citizenship often
cherished in liberal democracies (Ahmad, 2008; Saigol, 2014). To address the
existing gaps and to respond to the needs of younger generations, the current
government will need to formulate an educational policy beyond a narrow con-
ceptualization of citizenship education that aims to develop citizens who are loyal
to an Islamic state. In the past, such a focus on religion in citizenship education
has resulted in discouraging social consequences in the country.
The fallouts from the educational reforms

Despite several educational reform initiatives since independence, the education
system in Pakistan is currently facing numerous challenges. While some identify
over-reliance on religion as the major cause of social problems, others blame the
lack of religious literacy which has been instrumental in fostering social unrest,
intolerance and extremism (Ahmar, 2011). It would be unrealistic, however, to
associate every issue with extremism. Indeed various factors related to poor gov-
ernance and weak political system as well as the widespread social injustices and
ignorance are also responsible, which provide a fertile field for religious and other
extremists to thrive.
Javaid (2010) traces the causes of extremism to the use of religion for politi-
cal and economic gains. Ahmar (2011, p. 47), however, argues that Pakistan has
never been an extremist country; instead, it has grown gradually over time due to
various factors. These include the use of religion for political purposes, preaching
of intolerance and hate from mosques and religious schools, social backward-
ness and frustration, illiteracy and ignorance, under-development and poverty,
absence of the rule of law, absence of reasoning and rational approach, unem-
ployment and frustration among the youth, lack of a viable democratic culture,
state’s failure to curb extremist and militant groups, the proliferation of drugs
and weapons and lack of tolerance and moderation.
These reasons are largely related to education in general and citizenship edu-
cation in particular. A critical turning point in the education history of Pakistan
was the educational reform agenda maliciously pursued by the military regime
of General Zia-ul-Haq. Various regional and international political forces such
as the Russian invasion of Afghanistan and the United States of America using
Pakistan as a proxy, the Wahabi ideological movement in Saudi Arabia and
the national politics motivated General Zia to embark on such an educational
agenda. He created an environment congruent to both national and international
politics that facilitated the penetration of radical thinking among the masses. His
claims of restructuring the society on an indigenous model through Islamiza-
tion promoted the fundamentalist view of Islam that left a long-lasting impact
on national, regional and global politics. His education policy based on Islam,
the ‘the ideology of Pakistan’ made civic or citizenship education and religious
education synonymous with each other (Ahmad, 2008; Roof, 2015). Moreover,
his policies promoted ‘Talibanization’ a mindset that has resulted in insecurity,
intolerance, sectarian violence, political rifts and economic instability. His Islam-
ization policy paved the way for extremism and fundamentalism in the country.
Consequently, Pakistan had to pay the cost and has been “fighting an internal
war of extremism, sectarianism, corruption, economic deterioration, poverty and
illiteracy” (Javaid, 2010, p. 59).
While critics underscore the downsides of emphasis on religion in state affairs,
some also highlight the potential role of religious literacy for peace. They propose
alternative religious narratives to counter the extremist ideologies that prevail in
society. Since extremists use religious arguments to justify their actions by distort-
ing the religious teachings and misinterpreting the religious text, the majority
of the population can be taught the real message of Islam to counter their mis-
interpretations. Accordingly, greater religious knowledge can help the younger
generations to evaluate the everyday challenges and make appropriate decisions
for their common well-being. For many, the real issue of radicalism and extrem-
ism is not Islam per se; instead, it is the success of extremists in using religion for
political purposes. As Sajjad (2015) notes:
A major factor that enables extremists to use religion to their advantage is

the State’s inability to promote the intellectual, liberal and compassionate
aspects of Islam. Due to a variety of political and historical factors, popular
discourse and public education in Pakistan largely ignores these dominant
themes of religion which if promoted through education, may serve as a key
to resolve the problem of extremism.
(p. 76)
Similarly, a recent study proposes religious literacy as a potential tool to address

misunderstanding and ignorance (Ashraf, 2018). Ashraf (2018) believes that reli-
gious literacy can play an essential role in developing students’ personalities in
Pakistan. Since different education systems adopt an exclusionary approach to
teaching Islam that supports their world view and reject the other, educating
young people about intra-religious diversity and world religions can help young
people respond to globalization intelligently. Ashraf (2018) fears that “the exclu-
sion of facts about other religions may give students a false impression about the
people who believe in other religions and may suggest that their beliefs are insig-
nificant or unimportant” (p. 11). Besides military actions to combat the militants
in the country, Sajjad (2015) proposed developing alternative narratives of Islam
to counter the extremists through education:
Education remains the key. For de-radicalization of the society the national
curriculum, in general, and the Social Science curriculum in particular, must
be redesigned to reduce rhetoric, develop critical thinking skills and promote
the religious values of tolerance, respect for diversity and compassion.
(p. 88)
Likewise, bringing about religious tolerance and moderation in society through

education can help Pakistan cope with extremism and radicalization (Ahmar,
2011; Javaid, 2010). Without addressing the issues inherent in the social studies
curriculum, however, it is hardly possible to nurture a peace-loving mindset in
children who will need to respond to the emerging problems of their times with
knowledge and mutual understanding. This will require policymakers to examine
both the gaps in social studies curriculum and the global social landscape criti-
cally and make collaborative efforts in developing a contextualized curriculum
of social studies education that is sensitive to both the local and global forces of
social development.
Issues with social studies curriculum

While the curriculum content of social studies relies heavily on Islam, it also lacks
an inclusive approach towards highlighting social issues that prevail in society. For
instance, in a comparative study of content analysis of English textbooks in four
Muslim majority countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan and Bangla-
desh, Islam and Asadullah (2018) found less representation of female characters
both in text and pictures. Compared to other countries, the underrepresenta-
tion of women in secondary school English textbooks was only 24.4 per cent
in Pakistan. Similar studies also suggested that there existed significant gender
disparities in the curriculum that may affect the quality of not only social studies
education but also the goal of universal education (Roof, 2015).
In an empirical study, Durrani (2013) found a high degree of resonance
between social studies curriculum objectives and students’ construction of ‘self’
and ‘others’. Since the curriculum heavily relies on Islam for national identity
formation and denies multiple identities based on ethnicity, religion and culture,
most of the students in her study identified themselves as Muslims and con-
structed negative attitudes towards non-Muslims and non-practicing Muslims.
Durrani (2013) argued:
Directing a singular Islamic identity in opposition to all other identities

undermines its unifying potential in an ethnically and culturally plural Paki-
stan, in which Islam is practised in different ways. . . . Thus, the over empha-
sis on Islam and the failure to validate the range of multiple and diverse
identities within Pakistan have serious implications for social cohesion, equi-
table social relations and peaceful co-existence between the various groups
in Pakistan.
(p. 16–17)
Similarly, Javaid (2010) underscores the negative consequences of social coer-

cion, fragmentation and polarization due to intolerance. This would require the
state to embark on re-visioning the national curriculum in general and the social
studies curriculum in particular for the sake of creating a social fabric that values
diversity and pluralism. As Javaid (2010) underscores:
Tolerance in society is required especially when it comes to the various reli-

gious, sectarian and ethnic groups prevailing in the society. A more tolerant
society will definitely bring about more cohesiveness and unity in Pakistani’s
fragmented society, which has on its part played a very crucial role in milita-
rization in society.
(p. 59–60)
Furthermore, yet another recent study by Muhammad, Masood, and Anis

(2019) has revealed that the social studies curriculum lacks the content to facili-
tate the development of a global identity among secondary and higher second-
ary school students in Pakistan. Accordingly, Pakistan studies teachers emphasize
students’ national identity construction than developing a global identity. While
some of the teachers, from both public and private schools, were least concerned
about the content and knowledge beyond the country, a small number of teachers
advocated for global identity development among the younger generations. For
them, a limited approach of citizenship education divides humanity, often result-
ing in the hostility that erodes world peace, and it may hardly lead to prosper-
ity in a multiethnic, multilingual, multicultural and religiously diverse society. It
appears that teachers are still preoccupied with the traditional role of social stud-
ies education in terms of preparing students for a single national identity at the
cost of their regional or ethnic identities. They are less concerned about making
students prepared for their social interactions beyond their national boundaries.
While children need to be aware of the diversity at the national level, it is also
vital to help them learn about diverse religious world views at a time of unprece-
dented intercultural encounters. Younger generations with limited knowledge of
world religions and cultures can hardly benefit from their everyday intercultural
encounter through media and technology. Thus social studies curriculum needs
to consider both the local and global realities so that the students will acquire
the knowledge, values and skills to respond to the emerging needs of their time.
Today an essential aspect of social studies education should be the development
of a citizenry that is equipped with the required knowledge, social values and
humanistic ideologies to guide their everyday behavior. To this end, the follow-
ing section proposes a national policy framework that seeks to integrate both the
national and global considerations and emphasizes the social competence of the
students along the cognitive, affective, behavioral and ethical dimensions of their
personality.
A framework for re-visioning social studies curriculum

Unlike the traditional function of education in general and social studies educa-
tion in particular, today the younger generations need to develop civic competen-
cies to cope with the challenges of both local and global life. They need to build
competencies for social functioning not only in their respective communities and
societies as national citizens but also require the skills and knowledge to inter-
act with people from different national, religious, cultural and linguistic back-
grounds as global citizens. Consequently, the traditional role of social studies in
the formation of national identities and patriotism needs to consider the urgency
of preparing young children for globalized economies. Since the existing curricu-
lum has been less effective in citizenship education, it needs to take into account
all the possible dimensions for the sake of developing informed, concerned and
responsible national as well as global citizens.
Scholars believe that the ultimate purpose of social studies education is helping
younger generations grow as informed and rational decision-making adults for
the common good (Levstik & Tyson, 2008). Since our contemporary social life
is not limited to national boundaries, social studies education should have both
local and global dimensions. By preparing children for both national and global
life, social studies education can fulfil its dual objectives of citizenship education.
In the face of unprecedented international interdependence, interconnectedness
and transnational intercultural social interactions, social studies education must
focus on both developing local/national and global citizens (Cantón & Garcia,
2018). As Portera (2011, p. 12) notes:
[Today] emigration is no longer a prerequisite for interaction between citi-

zens with different languages, behavior, valor and religion. In a scenario of
globalization and interdependence, any person’s life is directly or indirectly
influenced by contemporaneous events in the rest of the world.
Consequently, the phenomenon of globalization should extend the scope of

social studies education beyond the traditional focus on preparing students for
civic life at the national level. Today students need to learn about the social world
beyond national boundaries and need to acquire social competencies for global
interactions. An approach of intercultural education seems promising in prepar-
ing children for a global life.
Intercultural Education is based on the advantages of trans-cultural educa-

tion (education to common humanities, human rights, human ethics and
human needs) and Multicultural Education (education to acknowledge and
respect other people and cultures), but it adds the opportunity of interac-
tion: direct exchange of ideas, principles and behaviors, with comparison of
preconceptions.
(Portera, 2011, p. 20)
Besides an intercultural approach to education, the social studies curriculum

should also focus on the holistic development of the students’ personality. Social
psychologists argue that the everyday social behavior of a person is the result of
one’s affective and cognitive dimensions of the personality (Jhangiani, Tarry, &
Stangor, 2014). Accordingly, students’ attitudes, emotions and behaviors in their
everyday social life are interconnected (Sutton & Douglas, 2013). From this per-
spective, social studies education should prepare students for how they feel and
think about self and others and how they behave towards others. In other words,
it should focus on the three interrelated aspects of students’ personality, includ-
ing social cognition, social affect and social behavior. Social cognition focuses on
human thinking and its relationship with social behavior, whereas social affect
refers to the feeling people experience in their everyday lives that include their
mood and emotions, often resulting in social exchange (Jhangiani et al., 2014).
As people develop either positive or negative attitudes and feelings based on the
knowledge and information available to them that together inform their social
behavior, these three aspects of personality development should be the core com-
ponents of social studies education and curriculum.
In the case of social studies education in Pakistan, the curriculum places more
emphasis on the affective domain with little or no consideration to the acquisition
of the required knowledge and attitudes about self and others (cognitive domain)
that guides citizens’ everyday social functioning (behavioral domain). Ahmad
(2008) notes that the social studies education in Pakistan seeks to develop Mus-
lim citizens through creating love and respect for Islam, Islamic teachings, the
Islamic way of life and the ideology of Pakistan. It portrays good citizens as good
and practicing Muslims and constructs the image of the ‘other’ through antago-
nism (Durrani & Dunne, 2010). Similarly, Saigol (2014) describes citizenship in
Table 3.1 Proposed Components and Dimensions of Social Studies Education
Dimensions/Considerations Local/National Global/International

Considerations Considerations
Knowledge & Ethnic Diversity Interconnectedness

Cognition
Attitude Linguistic Diversity Interdependence

Social
Religious Diversity Migration

Cultural Diversity Interculturalism/
National Citizenship Multiculturalism
Global Citizenship
Patriotism Cosmopolitanism
Affection
Feelings towards Human Rights

Social
others Compassion
Empathy
Behavior
Interaction with Recognition of and respect for diversity; Equity,

Social
others Equality, Intercultural exchange and dialogue at the

national as well as global level
Pakistan as a personalized emotional relationship than a legal contract based on

rights and responsibilities.
Given Islam is understood and practiced differently in Pakistan, the narrow
focus on love for Islam and specific Islamic teachings rather than a complete code
of social life neither fulfils the affective domain holistically nor gives due impor-
tance to cognitive and behavioral domains. Social studies education will need to
educate the younger generations across the three domains of their personality
to prepare them for national and global life. Table 3.1 summarizes the curricu-
lum focus along the three personality dimensions as well as both the national
and global considerations. By providing children with factual knowledge about
diversity, world cultures and religions and helping them understand the benefits
of respect for humanity and compassion towards disadvantaged, marginalized
and less educated segments of the society, social studies education can help build
nations and communities that uphold the universal value of social justice, democ-
racy, pluralism, human rights and peaceful co-existence.
Conclusion
Historically, Islam, as a political ‘ideology’ has played a critical role in citizen-
ship education in Pakistan. The main goal of social studies education has been
the creation of loyal and practicing Muslims with specific attributes rather than
developing competent, informed and concerned citizens. Despite tremendous
ethnic, linguistic, cultural and religious diversity, the teaching of Islam and
Islamic values has been the cornerstone of national identity formation, integra-
tion and social cohesion. The role of religion in state affairs has deepened to the
extent that even powerful military rulers failed in leading the nation towards
an ‘enlightened moderation’ (Musharraf, 2004). Although the Islamization of
education by General Zia-ul-Haq was a political step, his policies resulted in
the deep penetration of religious thinking among the masses over the period of
time despite the de-Islamization efforts by the latter governments. Today, there
is a lack of interest among young people in studying social sciences (Ahmed &
Maryam, 2016), resulting in ignorance towards emerging social issues such
as extremism, intolerance, injustice and gender disparities coupled with the
lack of respect for diversity and pluralism. The causes of these social dilemmas
may include poor quality of educational reforms as well as the politicization of
education.
At a time of unprecedented international interconnectedness, interdependency
and transnational mobility coupled with intercultural encounters and exchange,
striking a balance between internal and external considerations in educational
policy initiatives is the right way forward for Pakistan. To respond to the emerg-
ing needs of globalization and to develop competent, concerned and reflective
citizens, social studies education in Pakistan needs to be re-visioned and restruc-
tured along the interrelated dimensions of citizens’ social life with a dynamic
approach to intercultural education. The intercultural approach to education not
only recognizes and celebrates diversity but also promotes intercultural exchange
and dialogue for the common good (Hajisoteriou & Angelides, 2016).
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4 Social studies education
in Bangladesh
Contextual influences, reforms
and development and curriculum
Miron Kumar Bhowmik, Goutam Roy
and Foujia Sultana
Introduction
Bangladesh emerged as an independent country in 1971 after nearly 200 years
of British colonialism followed by a quarter century of rule by Pakistan. Follow-
ing the assassination of the father of the nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman, and the majority of his family members in 1975, the Bangladesh era
saw military regimes for a decade and a half. Since then, democratic governments
have ruled the country. Up until now, little is known about how these major
historical and political events, as well as economic, social and religious contexts,
have shaped social studies education in Bangladesh. This chapter, therefore, will
focus on the development of social studies education in these contexts.
We used document analysis to pursue this objective. We reviewed and evaluated
a range of documents in order to explore social studies education in Bangladesh
(Bowen, 2009, p. 27). The documents included legal constitution, historical
education commission reports, previous and current education policy documents
and various reports from government and international organisations. We also
analysed social studies curricula and textbooks in both the general and madrasah
education systems.
The next section highlights contextual influences including history, politics,
society, religion, economy and education system under which social studies edu-
cation is provided. This is followed by the reforms and development of social
studies education in the last five decades of Bangladesh as an independent coun-
try. We then describe the current policies and practices of social studies education
in both general and madrasah education systems and related teacher education.
Contextual influences: history, politics, society, religion,

economy and education system
Located in the South Asia region, Bangladesh is surrounded by India, Myanmar
and the Bay of Bengal. It is commonly known as a part of the Indian subcon-
tinent. The region was colonised by the British for nearly 200 years. When the
British colonial rulers left the Indian subcontinent in 1947, they divided it into
Social studies education in Bangladesh 45
two countries – India and Pakistan – based on the Hindu religion majority and
Muslim religion majority, respectively. Pakistan consisted of two parts: East Paki-
stan (currently Bangladesh) and West Pakistan (currently Pakistan), separated by
a long 2015 km Indian territory in between.
Because of economic inequality, oppression and discrimination in all areas
(Chowdhury & Sarkar, 2018), people of East Pakistan started various protests
and movements from the onset of Pakistani rule. The first notable protest was the
language movement. Several people were martyred in this protest on 21 Febru-
ary 1952, while demanding for Bengali as one of the state languages. UNESCO
recognised the movement, and 21 February is currently observed as the Inter-
national Mother Language day worldwide. Because of continued oppression and
thus protests and movements, an armed liberation war erupted on 26 March
1971. After nine-month-long bloodshed, Bangladesh gained the victory on 16
December 1971 and emerged as an independent country.
The birth of Bangladesh was based on four fundamental principles including
secularism, nationalism, socialism and democracy, as reflected in the founding
constitution (Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, 1972). Follow-
ing the assassination of the father of the nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman, and the majority of his family members in 1975, the country was ruled
by military governments for about 15 years. Democracy was restored in the early
1990s. One significant change that happened during this period of political tur-
moil was the elimination of secularism from the constitution and the addition
of Islam as a state religion. Secularism, however, was restored again by a court
ruling in 2011. The current form of the constitution has both Islam as a state
religion and secularism as a fundamental principle. Indeed, the previously men-
tioned major historical and political events and changes in the constitution have
a profound impact on the way social studies education evolved in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. More
than 162.7 million people are living in a small area of 147,570 km2 (Ministry of
Planning, 2018). The majority of the population is ethnically Bengalese, while
a small percentage of the population belongs to Chakma, Santal, Marma, Garo,
etc. minority ethnic groups. Bengali is the most widely spoken language in the
country, while minority ethnic groups speak their heritage languages. About 90
percent of the Bangladeshi population are Muslims, followed by 8.5 percent Hin-
dus and the rest are Buddhists, Christians and others (Bangladesh Bureau of
Statistics, 2015).
From an economic perspective, Bangladesh is a developing country with an
annual GDP growth of 7 percent over the last few years. The country is mak-
ing notable progress in areas such as poverty alleviation, increasing life expec-
tancy, infrastructure development and enrolment in education (The World Bank,
2019). Because of high GDP growth, the country is considered as one of the
emerging economies in the world (Rooney, 2019). Although Bangladesh has
recently showed a leap of economic development, the country is still facing eco-
nomic inequality marked by the fact that 24.3 percent of the population are liv-
ing below the poverty line (Ministry of Planning, 2018). Currently, the country
46 Miron Kumar Bhowmik et al.
focuses on reducing all kinds of discrimination and inequalities by achieving sus-
tainable development goals (SDGs) by 2030 (Sustainable Development Goals
Knowledge Platform, n.d.; UNESCO, 2015).
In terms of education, primary education is free and compulsory by law for all
children in Bangladesh. Although the constitution mandates providing uniform
basic education to all children, there are several streams available in primary edu-
cation including a general education system provided by the government and
private schools, Islamic faith-based madrasah education, NGOs-run non-formal
primary schools and elite English-medium schools. The duration of primary edu-
cation is five years from Grade I to Grade V. Secondary education in Bangladesh
spans seven years including Junior Secondary from Grade VI to Grade VIII,
Secondary from Grade IX to Grade X and Higher Secondary from Grade XI to
Grade XII. Similar to primary, streaming continues at the secondary level except
for the NGOs-run non-formal schools. A separate technical and vocational edu-
cation and training (TVET) track is also available for the students from Grade IX
to Grade XII. Post-higher secondary education is mainly offered by public uni-
versities and associated colleges and private universities.
Bangladesh has had success in terms of increasing enrolment and closing gen-
der gaps in primary education (BANBEIS, 2018). The current literacy rate is
72.3 percent (Ministry of Planning, 2018) with the achievement of a 100 percent
enrolment rate in primary education. Elimination of gender difference in enrol-
ment in primary education is considered as an exemplary achievement for the
country (Ministry of Planning, 2017). Challenges, however, persist on several
fronts. First, not achieving higher enrolment of students in the secondary level is
still a big issue coupled with high dropout rates in both primary and secondary
levels. Second, the quality of learning is questionable (Richards & Islam, 2018).
Third, providing equitable opportunities for all children is yet to happen irre-
spective of their age, gender, readiness, dis/ability, ethnicity, geographical loca-
tion, socio-economic background and parental awareness (Banu, Roy, & Shafiq,
2018). Finally, all of these together are holding back the country from achiev-
ing United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) “inclusive and
equitable quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all” by 2030
(Bhowmik & Roy, 2020).
Against the backdrop of these contextual influences including historical, politi-
cal, economic and social changes as well as the religion, constitutional mandate
and education system, we now explore social studies education in Bangladesh
by detailing its reforms and development and the latest policy provisions and
practices.
Reforms and development in social studies education

In both British and Pakistan periods, several education commissions or commit-
tees were formed to help the respective governments to reform and develop the
education system. Following a similar tradition, over the last 50 years, a total of
six education commissions or committees were formed in the Bangladesh period
(Roy, 2015). Each commission or committee was tasked to produce reports and
recommendations that would be considered as the country’s education policy
subject to the approval of the Government of Bangladesh (GoB). Yet only two of
these were accepted as an education policy on account of political reasons (Min-
istry of Education [MoE], 2010; MoE, 2000). The first of these reports was pub-
lished in 1974, but it was not implemented due to the regime change following
the assassination of the father of the nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rah-
man. Political regime change was also the main reason for non-implementation
of the other reports. Even the approved reports were subject to modification by
the implementation committees of the GoB.
Although four commission reports, published in 1974, 1988, 1997, 2003,
were not formally accepted, the recommendations of these reports were consid-
ered by different government bodies. At times, in the absence of education policy
in Bangladesh, these reports acted as an invisible pillar in taking policy decisions.
In the following section, we analyse the previous and current education policies
as well as the other education commission/committee reports concerning the
reforms and development of social studies education.
The first Bangladesh Education Commission, chaired by Dr. Kudrat-E-Khuda,
was formed in 1972, and a report to the government was provided in 1974. Among
the 36 chapters of the report, there was no specific chapter for social studies or
social science education. Science education, agriculture education, law education,
however, were highlighted as an individual chapter (Bangladesh College-University
Teachers’ Association, 1998). Nevertheless, the components of social studies are
discussed in different sections of the report. For instance, the report mentioned
patriotism and being a good citizen as two primary goals and objectives of the state
education. Similarly, the report emphasised producing socially conscious people
through education. In both pre-primary and primary levels, no specific subject
related to social studies was recommended. In the secondary and higher second-
ary levels, the committee recommended optional subjects related to social studies
such as civics, social welfare or sociology. The committee also suggested developing
curriculum and textbooks at all levels in such a way that the goals and objectives
mentioned earlier would be reflected. It can be said that although the committee
did not specify social studies as a separate subject, they emphasised achieving the
goals and objectives related to social studies education through other subjects.
The Interim Education Policy, 1978, introduced “social studies” as a separate
subject. The policy suggested placing social studies-related topics and issues in a
specific textbook and named it Poribesh Porichiti (Introduction to Environment) at
the primary level (National Parliament, 1978). Similarly, the committee suggested
introducing social studies as a subject in secondary education too. Although the
committee, led by the then education minister, used the word “policy” in the title,
the report only comprised suggestions documented from several workshops. Due
to political unrest, the suggestions from the report were not implemented.
The next Bangladesh National Education Commission, chaired by Mofiz
Uddin Ahmed, provided their report in 1988. They recommended to include
social studies-related topics under the title Poribesh Porichiti from Grade I to
Grade V (MoE, 1988). In Poribesh Porichiti subject, the committee prescribed
including the topics of both social studies and general science. The committee
also proposed introducing social science as a compulsory subject in the junior
secondary level and as an optional subject in both secondary and higher second-
ary levels. Like the social science subject, they also recommended offering civics
in secondary and higher secondary levels but as an optional subject. From this
time, civics was offered as an optional subject for students in the humanities
stream at both secondary and higher secondary levels.
The National Committee on Education Policy 1997, chaired by Professor
M. Shamsul Huq, also suggested introducing social studies under the umbrella
Poribesh Porichiti from the primary level (MoE, 1997). The main difference from
the previous committee was that while the previous committee included both
social studies and general science-related topics, this committee divided this
subject into two parts. One is Poribesh Porichiti Samaj (Introduction to Envi-
ronment: Society), and the other is Poribesh Porichiti Biggan (Introduction to
Environment: Science). The committee also recommended extending primary
education from Grade V to Grade VIII gradually. When Grade VI to Grade VIII
would be considered as part of the primary level, they suggested introducing
social science as a separate subject for these grades. For secondary education,
which would include Grade IX and Grade X, the students of the science stream
would learn social science as a mandatory subject which mainly includes Ban-
gladesh studies. In the other two streams, the humanities and business studies,
students would not have access to social science subject. The students of the
humanities stream would take history and geography as compulsory subjects, and
economics and civics, one as a compulsory subject and the other as an optional
subject. The students of the business studies stream would take civics or econom-
ics as an optional subject. At the higher secondary level, comprising Grade XI
and XII, the students of the science stream would not study anything related
to social science. The business studies stream students would study civics as an
optional subject. The students of the humanities stream would learn social wel-
fare or social science as well as civics as mandatory subjects.
After receiving the 1997 report, the GoB formed another committee to review
the report. The committee proposed a National Education Policy 1999 in draft. The
GoB then discussed the proposed policy in the national parliament and finally passed
it as the National Education Policy 2000 (MoE, 2000). This was Bangladesh’s first
education policy. Although some changes were observed in the policy compared to
the 1997 report, social studies related recommendations remained the same.
In 2003, another commission was formed in which Professor Mohammad
Moniruzzaman Miah was the chairman. They submitted their report (MoE,
2004a) in the same year. This commission gave importance to the socialisation
process of the children, and therefore, they suggested including the component
of the socialisation process from pre-primary education. Instead of introducing
Poribesh Porichiti (Introduction to Environment), however, the committee sug-
gested incorporating Bangladesh studies as a compulsory part of social studies
from Grade III. On the other hand, the social science subject, a combination of
history, geography and sociology, was considered as one of the core subjects for
the junior secondary classes. No social studies subject was recommended at the
secondary level. Instead, the committee suggested introducing civics and other
related subjects as optional. No such recommendation was found for the higher
secondary level. After receiving the report, the then government formed the
National Education Commission 2003 Recommendation Implementation Cell
which considered all the recommendations mentioned previously (MoE, 2004b).
The most recent education committee was formed in 2009, chaired by Profes-
sor Kabir Chowdhury. They were tasked to review the commission reports of
1974, 1997 and the first Education Policy 2000 and to provide a draft education
policy (Roy, 2015). For this reason, the committee provided “strategy” instead of
“recommendation” in their report. The committee submitted their draft report
accordingly, and after review and discussion in the national parliament of Bangla-
desh, the final report was passed as the National Education Policy 2010. This is
the second and current education policy in Bangladesh.
In this policy, “Bangladesh studies” and “social environment” were considered as
two separate subjects for primary education (MoE, 2010). “Social environment”,
however, as a separate subject at primary level was not introduced, and “Bangladesh
and global studies” is the only subject currently providing social studies education at
this level. “Bangladesh studies” was also considered as the core subject for the sec-
ondary level. It is important to note that although the subject “Bangladesh studies”
was recommended in the previous education commission reports, this is the first time
that the GoB implemented the subject in both primary and secondary education.
In 2012, on behalf of the GoB, the National Curriculum Textbook Board (NCTB)
renamed the subject from “Bangladesh studies” to “Bangladesh and global studies”.
From the analysis of all education commission reports and education policies,
it is evident that the education commissions or committees highlighted several
subject areas, such as science education, business education, agriculture studies,
law studies, etc. by allocating a separate chapter for each. A separate chapter for
social studies education, however, is not found in any of these policy documents.
The absence of any social studies education chapter suggests the status of such
subjects in the minds of policymakers. Following the first Kudrat-E-Khuda com-
mission report in 1974, the subsequent reports followed the same organisational
style by not providing a separate chapter for social studies education. Instead,
social studies education-related objectives and recommendations for subjects at
different levels were mentioned in these reports providing the basis for future
development.
Social studies education: current policy, curriculum

and practices
Social studies education in the general education system

The latest education policy document (MoE, 2010) does not have any specific
chapter focusing on social studies education. The policy highlights that the main
aim of the education is to cultivate a range of human values:
The primary objectives of this policy are directed toward the cultivation
of human values. It seeks to prescribe ways through which citizens can be
groomed to become leaders in pro-people development programs and prog-
ress of the society. They will become rational and intellectually accomplished
human beings with ethical perceptions, who have respect for their own reli-
gion as well as for others’ faiths. Education will help them to grow up as
non-communal, patriotic and efficient persons free from superstitions. And
simultaneously, it is only education that can equip the nation to acquire the
qualities and skills that will strengthen Bangladesh to work with equal capac-
ity and pace of the global community.
(MoE, 2010, p. 8)
In order to achieve these, the policy document set out 30 specifc aims, objectives
and principles of education. It can be interpreted that many of these objectives
may be achieved, some partially and some fully, by social studies education. In the
following section, we will highlight the key features of those objectives as they
relate to social studies education.
One of the main objectives of education is to retain and promote national his-
tory, culture, Bengali language and identity as exemplified below:
to inspire the students with the spirit of our war of liberation and develop
patriotism, nationalism and qualities of good citizens (i.e., sense of justice,
non-communalism, dutifulness, awareness of human rights, cultivation of
free thinking and discipline, love for honest living, the tolerance of corporate
life, friendliness and perseverance); . . . to promote the continuity of national
history, tradition and culture through an intergenerational process; . . . to
ensure efficient and correct teaching of Bangla language.
(MoE, 2010, pp. 8–10)
The objectives in the education policy document also focus on upholding the
constitutional mandate of educational opportunities at all levels and make the
students aware about freedom, sovereignty and integrity of Bangladesh; provid-
ing equal opportunities to education for all regardless of location, ability and
class; eliminating discrimination irrespective of race, ethnicity, religion, socio-
economic status; increasing economic productivity; promoting tolerance for
differences in ideologies and opinions; developing moral character based on
religious teaching/learning and moral sciences; establishing creative, favourable
and joyful educational environment in primary and secondary levels; promoting
research culture in higher education; making aware of environment and climate
change and developing skills to fght against the challenges brought by climate
change and natural disasters; promoting the use of information and communi-
cation technology (ICT) at all levels of education; retaining heritage languages
and cultures of the indigenous and minority ethnic groups; promoting all-round
physical and mental development of students and making them aware of hygienic
lifestyle and the danger of drug abuse.
Indeed, social studies education is the main tool to instil national culture and
identity among the students. Social studies education subjects can also contribute
to all the other objectives mentioned earlier in one way or other but more promi-
nently to issues pertaining to sovereignty of the country, equal opportunities,
discrimination, tolerance and climate change.
While the earlier section provides a glimpse of objectives of Bangladesh educa-
tion and the place of social science education in it, we will now examine social
studies education curriculum and textbooks from primary through higher sec-
ondary level. All curricula and textbooks across the grades are openly available on
the NCTB (National Curriculum and Textbook Board) website (www.nctb.gov.
bd/site/page/e6551aa3-2cd8-4e23-89cc-8a49cca3dc69/-).
Primary education
The aim of the Bangladesh and global studies curriculum for primary level is to
provide concepts related to children’s normal lives including the history, tradition
and culture of Bangladesh; the history of the liberation war; human rights and
citizenship rights; society; geography; environment; climate change and natural
disaster. The curriculum (NCTB, 2012a, p. 217) intends to help students:
achieve the qualities for becoming good citizens; become curious and
respectful to world-culture; think independently and freely; achieve ethical
and societal virtues; differentiate between good and bad; properly utilize and
protect (personal, family, societal, state) properties; know about nature and
environment and their conservation; [know about] weather and climate
change, disaster management, the dignity of labor, ethnic minority groups,
and population and human resources; show supportive behaviors towards
both female and male children and people with special needs.
There is no separate subject for social studies education in Grade I and Grade II
because of the age and ability of learners. The contents of social studies education
are taught in an integrated way through other subjects (Bengali, English and math)
in these two lower primary grades. Social studies education is offered as a separate
compulsory subject for all students from Grade III to Grade V. As mentioned
previously, the course is titled as “Bangladesh and global studies”. Bangladesh and
global studies provide social studies education in an integrated manner by incorpo-
rating contents from social science discipline subjects such as history, civics, geog-
raphy, economics and sociology. Table 4.1 lists the contents taught from Grade I to
Grade V. Themes are similar across the grades, but concepts are gradually expanded
as the students move from lower to upper grades. Special emphasis is given to Ban-
gladesh context when topics and contents are discussed in the textbooks.
In terms of actual classroom practices, Bangladesh and global studies classes are
held almost every day during the academic terms. Most of the primary schools
have shortage of teachers, and also it is not mandatory for teachers to have spe-
cialised degree from social science discipline to teach the subject. Therefore, it
is common that teachers from different academic backgrounds teach this subject
at the primary level. Students get to know the contents and topics in general in
Table 4.1 Social Studies Education Contents (From Grade I to Grade V)
Grade Contents
Integrated in Bengali, English and Mathematics

Grade I Our environment, we are all equal, my family, keeping myself safe,
family and our tasks, let us keep the environment clean, small
and big families, national flag and anthem of Bangladesh, various
national days of Bangladesh (NCTB, 2012a, pp. 227–233)
Grade II Our environment, we are all equal, duties and responsibilities of
children and families, proper use and conservation of assets,
children’s tasks at home and school, ethical and social virtues,
environmental pollution, small and big families, our liberation
war, our Bangladesh (NCTB, 2012a, pp. 234–241)
Bangladesh and Global Studies (compulsory)
Grade III The natural and social environment, living together, our rights and
responsibilities, different occupations of society, human qualities,
improving our social environments, protecting our environment
against pollution, the continents and oceans, our Bangladesh, the
father of our nation, our history and culture, the population of
Bangladesh (NCTB, 2019a, p. 1)
Grade IV Our environment and society, cooperation in society, ethnic
groups of Bangladesh, the rights of citizens, values and
behaviour, tolerance, the dignity of work, social and national
assets, developing our locality, geography of Asia, geography of
Bangladesh, disaster management, population of Bangladesh, our
history, our liberation war, our culture (NCTB, 2019b, p. 1)
Grade V Our liberation war, British rule, historical monuments in
Bangladesh, our economy: agriculture and industry, population,
climate and disaster, human rights, gender equality, our duties
and responsibilities, democratic attitude, ethnic groups in
Bangladesh, Bangladesh in world politics (NCTB, 2019c, p. 1)
Grade III, while students start learning this subject gradually at a deeper level in
Grade IV and Grade V. Continuous assessments approach is followed for assess-
ing learners in Grade I and Grade II. From Grade III onwards, quarterly, half-
yearly and yearly examination systems are in place. At the end of Grade V, a public
examination called PECE (Primary Education Completion Examination) is held.
Junior secondary education

Bangladesh and global studies is offered as a compulsory subject for all students
from Grade VI to Grade VIII. Similar to the primary level, it is provided in
an integrated manner by incorporating contents from social science discipline
subjects such as history, civics, geography, economics and sociology. In addi-
tion, another social studies education subject is offered as an optional subject
titled “language and culture of minority ethnic groups”. Bangladesh and global
studies curriculum at this level focuses on “social life in the country, history and
culture of country and nationality, socio-economic, political situation, cultural
life, geographical environment, and relation of Bangladesh with international and
regional organization” (NCTB, 2012b, p. 26). There are around 2.5 million
people from different minority ethnic groups living in Bangladesh besides major-
ity Bengalese people (NCTB, 2012b, p. 224). The minority ethnic groups have
their own rich culture and heritage. Majority Bengalese people do not know much
about their lifestyle, economical condition, diversity of their languages, religious
beliefs, etc. (NCTB, 2012b, p. 224). To maintain the harmony between Ben-
galese and minority ethnic groups, knowing each other is crucial. Consequently,
the National Education Policy 2010 (MoE, 2010) highlighted the importance of
learning minority language and culture. To encourage this, the optional subject
“language and culture of minority ethnic groups” was included in the curricu-
lum. This indicates the importance of minorities learning their own language and
culture. Also, from Grade I to III at the primary level, along with Bengali, the
textbooks are written in Garo, Chakma, Marma, Tripura and Sadri minority eth-
nic languages. Minority ethnic cultures are given focus in these books. Table 4.2
lists the contents of both Bangladesh and global studies and language and culture
of minority ethnic groups.
As prescribed in the curriculum, the allocated numbers of class periods for Bangla-
desh and global studies are three in a week, 53 in a term and 106 annually (NCTB,
2012b, p. 8). The number of class periods for language and culture of minority eth-
nic groups are allocated as two, 35 and 70 respectively in a week, term and annually.
In general, the duration of the frst class period is 60 minutes, whereas the duration
of other class periods are 50 minutes each. Generally, subject specialists teach social
studies education subjects at this junior secondary level. However, due to lack of
teachers in some schools, some teachers from other disciplines may be involved
in teaching. The allocated examination marks for Bangladesh and global studies
and language and culture of minority ethnic groups are 100 each. As prescribed in
the curriculum, both formative and summative assessments are available in junior
secondary level (NCTB, 2012b, pp. 15–18). The formative assessment includes
classwork, homework and class tests for subject-based cognitive and psychomotor
domains and continuous assessment for affective domain. The summative assessment
includes terminal and public examinations. Class tests are held after completion of
every chapter in the form of written or practical test. Assessment of affective domain
focuses on testing the development of virtues and values among individual students
which include “discipline, patriotism, leadership, honesty, orderliness, cooperation,
active participation, tolerance, awareness and punctuality” (NCTB, 2012b, p. 17).
The previously mentioned formative assessment techniques are mainly prescribed
in the curriculum. The actual practices, however, may vary from school to school,
and it may be likely that many schools are not practising some of these prescribed
techniques. One terminal examination is held every six months, thus two terminal
examinations in a year. A public examination takes place at the end of Grade VIII
which is called the JSC (Junior School Certifcate).
54
Table 4.2 Social Studies Education Contents (From Grade VI to Grade VIII)
Miron Kumar Bhowmik et al.

Grade Contents
Bangladesh and Global Studies (compulsory) Language and Culture of Minority Ethnic
Groups (optional)
Grade VI History of Bangladesh, Bangladesh and world civilization, Bangladesh in Cultural profile of Bangladesh, minority ethnic
the global geographical environment, introduction to population of groups in Bangladesh, languages of minority
Bangladesh, society of Bangladesh, culture of Bangladesh, economy of ethnic groups, archaeological heritage of
Bangladesh, Bangladesh and her citizens, environment of Bangladesh, minority ethnic groups, social life of minority
rights of children in Bangladesh, children’s growing and its obstacles ethnic groups, festivals of minority ethnic
in Bangladesh, Bangladesh and regional cooperation, sustainable groups (NCTB, 2019g)
development goals (SDG) (NCTB, 2019d)
Grade VII Liberation movement of Bangladesh, culture and cultural diversity of Introduction to the culture of minority ethnic
Bangladesh, growth of a child in a family, economy of Bangladesh, groups, beliefs and values of minority ethnic
Bangladesh and citizen of Bangladesh, election system of Bangladesh, groups, political life of minority ethnic groups,
climate of Bangladesh, introduction to population of Bangladesh, minority ethnic groups in movements and
rights of senior citizen and women in Bangladesh, social problems struggles, indigenous knowledge of minority
in Bangladesh, some countries in Asia, Bangladesh and international ethnic groups, minority ethnic groups in the
cooperation, sustainable development goals (SDG) (NCTB, 2019e) conservation of biodiversity and environment
(NCTB, 2019h)
Grade VIII Colonial age and the liberation war of Bengal, the liberation war Languages and cultural diversity of minority
of Bangladesh, cultural change and development of Bangladesh, ethnic groups, introduction to physical
description of archaeological heritage of colonial age, socialization structure of minority ethnic groups, economic
and development, economy of Bangladesh, Bangladesh: state life of minority ethnic groups of Bangladesh,
and government system, disasters in Bangladesh, population and changing trends of minority ethnic groups,
development of Bangladesh, social problems of Bangladesh, minority problems of minority ethnic groups,
ethnic groups of Bangladesh, natural resources of Bangladesh, development of minority ethnic groups
Bangladesh and various regional and international associate (NCTB, 2012b, pp. 248–253)
organizations, sustainable development goals (SDG) (NCTB, 2019f)
Secondary education
Starting from Grade IX, there are three streams in secondary education in Ban-
gladesh: science, business studies and humanities. Students can opt for one of
these streams. For Grade IX and Grade X, Bangladesh and global studies is com-
pulsory for students in the science stream. Similar to primary and junior second-
ary levels, it is provided in an integrated manner by incorporating contents from
social science discipline subjects such as history, civics, geography, economics and
sociology. Language and culture of minority ethnic groups and geography and
environment are also offered as optional subjects for the students in the science
stream. Bangladesh and global studies, language and culture of minority ethnic
groups and geography and environment are offered as an optional subject for the
students in the business studies stream. The students in the humanities stream
study three compulsory social studies education subjects including the history of
Bangladesh and world civilization, geography and environment and economics
or civics and citizenship. Bangladesh and global studies, economics and civics and
citizenship are also offered as optional subject for the students in the humanities
stream.
As prescribed in the curriculum, the class periods of Bangladesh and global
studies, a compulsory subject for the science stream, are three times weekly, 48
times in a term and 96 times annually (NCTB, 2012b, p. 9). For the assessment
of the subject, 100 marks are allocated. Examination marks and class periods are
same as previously mentioned for the business studies stream for each of their
three optional social studies education subjects and for the humanities stream
for each of their compulsory and optional social studies education subjects. In
general, each class period is same as junior secondary level, first class period is 60
minutes and subsequent ones are 50 minutes. Generally, subject specialists teach
social studies education subjects at this secondary level. Similar to junior sec-
ondary, secondary level also has formative and summative assessments. A public
examination, called the SSC (Secondary School Certificate), is held at the end of
Grade X.
Higher secondary education

There are six streams available for Grade XI and Grade XII: humanities, science,
business studies, Islamic studies, home economics and music (NCTB, 2012c).
Social studies education is compulsory for students in humanities stream where
they have to study various social studies education subjects including history or
Islamic history and culture, civics and good governance or economics or logic,
sociology or social works or geography. Students are required to study three
compulsory subjects and one optional subject from the list. Students can choose
sociology or social work as a compulsory or optional subject. But students can-
not choose these two subjects at a time, one as a compulsory and another as an
optional subject. A similar arrangement applies to history or Islamic history and
culture subjects. Students can choose only one subject at a time. Students in the
music stream study one social studies education subject as compulsory. It has to
be economics or civics and good governance or history. Students in the Islamic
studies stream have to study Islamic history and culture as a compulsory subject.
Students in other streams including science, business studies, and home econom-
ics as well as music and Islamic studies streams can choose one social studies edu-
cation subject as optional.
As prescribed in the curriculum, every subject is allocated five class periods in
a week (NCTB, 2012c, p. 11). In general, each class period is 60 minutes. Each
social studies subject has two parts. For the assessment of the subject, 100 marks
are allocated for each part, totalling 200 marks for each subject. Only subject
specialists teach social studies subjects at this higher secondary level. A public
examination, called HSC (Higher Secondary Certificate), is held at the end of
Grade XII.
Social studies education in madrasah education system

Parallel to the general education system, Islamic faith-based madrasahs are also an
integral part of Bangladesh education system. State-regulated public and private
madrasahs, known as Aliya madrasahs, as well as independent private madrasahs,
known as Quomy madrasahs, provide education from primary to master’s lev-
els. The government has full control over curriculum and contents in the Aliya
madrasahs through Bangladesh Madrasah Education Board (BMEB), a gov-
ernment body under the Ministry of Education (MoE). In the case of Quomy
madrasahs, however, the government has little control over what subjects are
taught as these madrasahs are not registered with the government. Many general
subjects are taught in Aliya madrasahs alongside religious subjects, while religious
subjects are mainly taught in Quomy madrasahs with little or no general subjects.
Based on the decision of the National Education Policy 2010 (MoE, 2010)
and similar to general education system, the National Curriculum and Textbook
Board (NCTB) also developed Bangladesh and global studies for the madrasah
students from Grade III as a compulsory subject. Bangladesh Madrasah Edu-
cation Board (BMEB) introduced this subject to all the Ebtedayee madrasahs
(equivalent to primary level) since 2015. This subject includes culture, history,
politics, geography, society, social behaviour and understanding of natural envi-
ronment. The same subject was introduced to the Dakhil level (equivalent to
junior secondary and secondary levels) in the same year. However, for Alim level
(equivalent to higher secondary level), there is no compulsory subject related to
social studies education. Nevertheless, students can choose civics as an optional
subject.
Social studies in teacher education

Teaching social studies education is part of pre-service teacher preparation pro-
gramme at both primary and secondary levels. Certificate in Education and
Diploma in Education programmes offered by Primary Training Institutes
(PTIs), Bachelor of Education (one year) and Bachelor of Education (Honors)
programmes offered by Teachers’ Training Colleges, and Bachelor of Educa-
tion (Honors) programme offered by Education Departments or institutes at the
universities provide social studies-related teacher education programme in Ban-
gladesh. Most of the Bachelor of Education (honors) degree programmes have
a specialisation in social studies education where students are comprehensively
taught how to deal with the teaching of social studies education subjects. Certifi-
cate in Education, Diploma in Education and Bachelor of Education (one year)
programmes also have social studies subject-based training as part of the pro-
grammes. Additionally, different government education departments at national
and local levels organise school based and off-school in-service teacher train-
ings for social studies education subjects. Sometimes, in-service training is held
when some changes take place in school curriculum and sometimes as part of the
continuous professional development (CPD) of teachers. Sometimes, in-service
training is provided as part of big educational projects, funded and supported by
international donor groups, development partners and NGOs.
Conclusion
Major historical and political events have profoundly shaped social studies educa-
tion in Bangladesh. For example, there is emphasis seen on the liberation war of
Bangladesh at different levels of education. This is also related to the political phi-
losophy of the ruling party, Bangladesh Awami League, which led the liberation
war against Pakistan as far back as 1971. Their election manifesto emphasises pro-
moting and realising the spirit of the liberation war (Bangladesh Awami League,
2018). Another historical era, the British colonial period, is also well-covered.
Unsurprisingly, national culture and values are given due importance. Thus, it
is clear that social studies education is being used to instil national culture and
identity among the students. Also importantly, a social studies subject titled “lan-
guage and culture of minority ethnic groups” is offered as an optional subject
from the junior secondary level. This is indeed a new development in the current
curriculum, and its effect is yet to be seen among the students. Climate change
and natural disasters are also given importance due to the climate and disaster
vulnerability of the country. Other important topics include patriotism, duties
and responsibilities of good citizens, state and government system, human rights,
child rights, tolerance, gender equality, discrimination, regional and international
cooperation, etc.
The analysis of education commission reports and education policies reveal that
social studies education was not given as much importance as science education,
business education, agriculture studies, law studies, etc. Social studies education
evolved from “Introduction to Environment” to “Introduction to Environment:
Society” and then to “Bangladesh Studies” and currently to “Bangladesh and
global studies”. In all cases, social studies education has been provided in an inte-
grated manner by incorporating contents from social science discipline subjects
such as history, civics, geography, economics and sociology. Currently, Bangla-
desh and global studies is offered to all students as a compulsory subject from
Grade III to Grade VIII. In the upper levels from Grade IX to XII, social studies
education is mainly offered to students in the humanities stream as social science
discipline subjects (e.g., history, civics, geography, economics, sociology, social
work, etc.). These subjects are offered to students in other streams as optional
subject, with the exception of “Bangladesh and global studies” which is offered
as compulsory subject to students in the science stream in Grade IX–X.
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5 Social studies education in
Singapore
From cultural transmission to social
transformation
Ee Moi Kho
Introduction
Citizenship education is essential in every society, and most educators agree that
schools are well placed to do that (Parker, 2005; Stanley, 2010). Public schools
are often the main agencies through which formal socialization and the trans-
mission of national values, traditions and social norms take place (Apple, 2004;
Sim & Print, 2005; Ho, 2010). While many agree that citizenship education
is important, there is no consensus on what “citizenship” means or about the
goals and purposes of citizenship education (Ross, 2006; McCowan, 2009; Wes-
theimer & Kahne, 2004). The plural nature of communities in modern states,
compounded by globalization and its attendant issues, has resulted in a lack of
shared conceptions of citizenship even among members of the same society (Sim,
2008; Tan & Strathdee, 2010). McCowan (2009) posits that the “aims of citi-
zenship education – the development of a ‘good’ or ‘effective’ or ‘empowered’
citizen – depend on fundamental understandings of the nature of the polity, the
balance of liberty and equality and so forth” (p. 5). The multiplicity and diverse
natures of nation states in the world suggest that it is not possible or even advan-
tageous to agree on one definitive form of citizenship education.
Over the years, scholars and educators have proposed various purposes and
orientations to citizenship education through social studies. Barr, Barth, and
Shermis (1977) grouped the various approaches to social studies into three cat-
egories: citizenship or cultural transmission, social science and reflective inquiry.
Many other scholars have also contributed to the discussion on the goals and pur-
poses of social studies and citizenship education and proposed other traditions or
orientations towards social studies. Morrisett (1977), for example, described five
orientations of social studies: transmission of culture and history; social science
processes and subject matter; reflective or critical thinking and inquiry; study
of social and political controversies with the aim of promoting social activism
and personal development. Clark and Case (1997) proposed that orientations
towards social studies should be seen in terms of two intersecting continua: social
transmission and social transformation at the two ends of one continuum and
child-centredness and subject-centredness at two ends of a second continuum.
While there are many different conceptions of the orientations towards social
studies, most researchers agree that social studies is utilized for three primary
Social studies education in Singapore 61
purposes: namely, socialization into the norms of society; acquisition of disciplin-
ary concepts and processes and promotion of critical or reflective thinking (Ross,
2006). Stanley and Nelson (1994) suggest that the debate over the purposes of
social studies centres on the relative emphases accorded to citizenship/cultural
transmission as opposed to critical or reflective thinking. The emphasis on cultural
transmission is aimed at socializing children to the accepted norms and practices
of a society. The focus then is on the teaching of knowledge, behaviour, skills,
values and dispositions that are accepted by that society. On the other hand, an
emphasis on critical or reflective thinking seeks to promote social reform or trans-
formation, and the concomitant focus is on knowledge, behaviour, skills, values
and dispositions that question and critique accepted norms and standards of that
society. Similarly, Schugurensky and Myers (2003) suggested that citizenship
education practices may reside on a continuum between two orientations – con-
servative and progressive. In the conservative orientation, citizenship education
is used as a tool to preserve the socio-economic order and instil loyalty as well
as obedience to authority. The progressive orientation, on the other hand, advo-
cates citizenship education for societal transformation, nurture cosmopolitanism
and critical thinking and prepare citizens for civic and political engagement.
In Singapore, citizenship education is largely subject-centred with social stud-
ies as the principal means through which the People’s Action Party (PAP) and
government view of Singaporean society is reproduced (Sim & Print, 2009).
Social studies was first implemented in primary schools beginning in Primary
Four in 1984 and at the secondary level in 2001. The curriculum has clearly pre-
scribed citizenship education outcomes developed by the Singapore Ministry of
Education (MOE). Although the social studies curriculum has evolved over the
years, its goal has remained constant, that is, “to develop the knowledge, skills
and attitudes necessary to participate effectively in the society and environment
in which they live” (MOE, 1981). This chapter will show that for many years the
tradition of social studies was a conservative one aimed at cultural transmission
and preservation of the status quo. The goal was to develop the dutiful, obedient
and patriotic citizen. Participation in the public sphere was very much limited to
contributing to the common good and maintaining social harmony. Towards the
end of the 20th century, however, there was growing recognition of the need
to develop critical and reflective thinking in the citizens. This was in response
to global trends and changes in economic needs. As a result, citizenship educa-
tion in the social studies curriculum began to shift towards a more progressive
orientation.
Singapore’s historical context

Singapore is a tiny island located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula,
with little natural resources and surrounded by Muslim nations. A former British
colony, Singapore became an independent nation in 1965 when it separated from
Malaysia. Its beginnings as an independent nation has been described as inauspi-
cious (Clutterbuck, 1985). Demographically, Singapore had a largely immigrant
62 Ee Moi Kho
population that was multi-ethnic, multilingual and multi-religious and whose
loyalties lay with their countries of origin. There was no “imagined commu-
nity” (Anderson, 1983), no common identity binding the different communi-
ties to the new nation. In the early years of independence, the new nation faced
many seemingly insurmountable challenges. Political instability and social unrest
caused by a constant threat of clandestine communist activities and a multi-racial
population characterized by communalist tendencies were some of the issues
faced by the government. The 1964 racial riots that precipitated the separation
of Singapore from Malaysia were the “worst and most prolonged in Singapore’s
postwar history” (Clutterbuck, 1985, p. 321). Furthermore, there were doubts
about Singapore’s economic viability as an independent island state. Its difficul-
ties stemmed from the fact that it was a small island with no natural resources,
a rapidly increasing population and a high unemployment rate. There was no
agricultural sector to absorb the increasing numbers of jobseekers. These prob-
lems were compounded by a declining entrepot trade on which the Singapore
economy was heavily dependent (Chan, 1971; Turnbull, 2009). Chan (1971)
postulated that “survival” was the dominant theme in Singapore politics and the
PAP government used this theme to vindicate their domestic and international
policies and to unite the people by creating a “crisis mentality in order to exhort
the population to greater deeds, greater efforts and greater sacrifice” (p. 53).
Survival to the PAP government meant ensuring Singapore’s continued exis-
tence as an economically viable independent nation. There were two main thrusts
in their nation-building effort – building up the economy and achieving national
integration through developing a national identity. This was to ensure peace and
social stability which was deemed crucial for a market economy that depended
heavily on foreign investments. At the same time, attention was placed on estab-
lishing control over the education system. In the 1950s, there was no national
system of education or a common core curriculum offered by schools. Instead,
a potpourri of curricula was being offered by diverse vernacular schools. A seri-
ous concern over this lack of curricular uniformity was expressed by then Prime
Minister (PM) Lee Kuan Yew:
If in the four different languages of instruction, we teach our children four

different standards of right and wrong, four different ideal patterns of behav-
iour, then we will produce four different groups of people and there will be
no integrated coherent society.
(Lee, 1959, p. 3)
The school system was seen as the most important agency for inculcating national
values in the young so as to achieve national integration. In the frst nine years of
PAP rule, education was prioritized and almost one third of the national budget
was allocated to education (Turnbull, 2009). Control over the education system
was an imperative, and the PAP government immediately set about streamlin-
ing the curriculum and textbooks in the different vernacular and English lan-
guage schools. By the early 1960s, syllabuses with common content in the four
language media, namely, Malay, Chinese, Tamil and English, had been designed
and implemented (MOE, 1966). The aim was to develop a coherent common
curriculum that would produce citizens with a greater sense of unity and belong-
ing to the nation. Thus by the early 1970s, a nationalized school system was
established through the policies of integrated schools, common curricula, bilin-
gualism and meritocracy (Gopinathan, 1974). Since then, the education system
has been highly centralized and controlled through the MOE, and political lead-
ers have exerted a strong infuence over curriculum policy and its implementation
(Gopinathan, 2007).
Citizenship education in the early postcolonial years

From the start, the PAP had recognized the important role played by schools in
citizenship education. Its 1959 party manifesto, The Tasks Ahead, PAP’s 5-Year
Plan, 1959–1964, highlighted the important role of teachers in uniting the diverse
races and moulding the children into a “national pattern” (People’s Action Party,
1959, p. 5). The hegemonic discourse in this manifesto captured the essence of
the PAP vision of nation building. The words “mould” and “national pattern”
imply the deliberate shaping of (student) character according to a model that
was determined by the ruling elite. Furthermore, this “national pattern” was not
one that would develop organically over time. Rather, it was to be purposefully
assembled through the public education system (Weninger & Kho, 2014). This
underscores the critical role of schools functioning as ideological state appara-
tuses for the social reproduction of desirable national characteristics of a state-
conceptualized ideal citizen (Apple, 2004).
In the initial years of self-rule and subsequent independence, citizenship
education in Singapore schools took the form of ethics (1959–1966) and civ-
ics (1967–1972). A common curriculum for the different vernacular schools
was designed and implemented by the Ministry of Education (MOE). In that
period, the focus of citizenship education was on character and moral devel-
opment. Good citizens were individuals of high moral character, imbued with
values of honesty, kindness, patriotism and loyalty to the country (Ong, 1979).
In 1973, civics was replaced by education for living (EFL), an interdisciplinary
programme that integrated civics, history and geography with a twofold pur-
pose of social and moral education. A key objective was to imbue a love for the
country in the children and enable them to understand “their duties as loyal,
patriotic, responsible and law-abiding citizens” (Ong, 1979, p. 3). That was
the “national pattern” that children were being moulded into. There was little
emphasis on understanding democratic processes, the rights of a citizen as found
in the constitution of Singapore or even the skills and competencies required
of an effective citizen in a democratic polity. Instead, character formation and
inculcation of moral and social values were deemed essential. As Sim and Print
(2005) pointed out, “learning about and understanding democratic principles
and processes were all but ignored in favour of dutiful obedience to the state”
(Sim & Print, 2005, p. 62).
64 Ee Moi Kho
Evolution of social studies in Singapore schools
“Moulding” the responsible citizen in primary school: 1980s–1990s

In spite of all the dire predictions about Singapore’s inability to survive, by the
late 1970s and early 1980s, Singapore’s economy had grown rapidly. The govern-
ment’s economic plan of industrialization and attracting foreign investments was
successful as evidenced by the rise in Singapore’s Gross Domestic Product per
capita from S$2,798 in 1970 to S$10,394 in 1980 (Ministry of Trade and Indus-
try, 1992). The economy grew by about 10 percent a year from 1978 to 1982
and the overall economic growth was reflected in the rising standard of living. The
rapid industrialization, openness to foreign capital and increasing popularity of
English-medium education however resulted in increasing concern over what the
political leaders saw as the influence of the “decadent West”, leading to excessive
individualism and an erosion of moral values and cultural identity (Hill & Lian,
1995; Sim & Print, 2005). Goh Keng Swee, the first Deputy Prime Minister and
Minister for Education, pointed out that “[t]here are very good reasons why just
going along with the West will really get us into serious trouble . . . [and that]
without morality and a sense of public duty that does not put self always first,
Singapore could decline” (Lim, 1982). This perception of Western and Asian val-
ues as dichotomous and conflicting resulted in several initiatives in education. To
combat the influence of perceived decadent Western values, an increased empha-
sis was placed on bilingualism in the curriculum. Language was seen as the key
vehicle through which presumed Asian cultural values could be inculcated, hence
the emphasis on mother-tongue languages. There was also renewed focus on citi-
zenship education with the introduction of moral education subjects at primary
and secondary levels and social studies at primary level, beginning in Primary
Four. Religious knowledge subjects to reinforce the teaching of moral values were
also introduced at the upper secondary level.1 This experiment in religious educa-
tion was short-lived as criticisms about the appropriateness of religious education
being taught in secular schools as well as the heightened religious fervour of the
period led to the termination of these subjects by the end of the decade (Kho,
Ooi, & Chee, 2010; Tan, 2000).
Social studies thus became a key vehicle for citizenship education. For many
years, a cultural transmission approach to citizenship education was used. There
was strong emphasis on developing law-abiding, loyal and morally upright indi-
viduals by means of inculcating “certain values in the pupils through developing
knowledge, skills and attitudes as they explored History and Geography” (MOE,
1981, p. 3). The syllabus content comprised an integration of history and geog-
raphy with some basic economics and sociology. Topics included the history and
geography of Singapore as well as issues related to Singapore’s lack of resources
and the unique multicultural composition of its population (Fang, 2002). Themes
of national vulnerability and threats to its survival featured strongly in the cur-
riculum. The intent was to transmit a sense of shared crisis so as to develop that
sense of common identity, draw its populace together to unite and work for the
nation’s survival. Singapore was a relatively young nation, and there was a very
real and pressing need to develop a sense of national identity among its people.
The perceived need was for an obedient and disciplined populace who would
support its growing industrial economy. A survivalist mentality was inculcated in
the young, and at that time, the emphasis was not on developing critical thinkers
but on creating a population of followers.
This sense of shared crisis permeated the content of social studies curricula
throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In 1994, the primary social studies syllabus
was revised because Singapore’s rapid technological advancement and urban-
ization as well as people’s increasing interest and concern for the environment
necessitated changes in the curriculum “to focus on the environment, the people,
their heritage and needs and progress” (MOE, 1994, p. 5). In reality, the cur-
riculum continued to be centred on the history and geography of Singapore
and the limitations and constraints of Singapore’s size and lack of resources. As
an example, in the topic “Our Needs”, taken from the 1994 Primary Five syl-
labus, issues of Singapore’s needs in terms of water, fuel, food and housing were
highlighted (MOE, 1994). The topic emphasized the vulnerability of the nation
and the need for conservation of resources. The curricular emphasis on values
of preparedness, adaptability, conservation of scarce resources and even living
in harmony reflected the state’s ideological conception of the ideal citizen as a
law-abiding, responsible person whose responsibility was to maintain harmony,
conserve the environment and accept and adjust to change.
Preparing citizens for the 21st century: struggle

between traditional and progressive paradigms
of citizenship education
The end of the 20th century saw a renewed emphasis on fostering a national iden-
tity through citizenship education in school. A new initiative known as National
Education (NE) was launched in 1997. Its goals were to “develop national cohe-
sion, cultivate instincts for survival and instil confidence in our students regard-
ing Singapore’s future” (MOE, 2007, p. 1). The approach was to infuse NE
into the formal and informal curriculum where appropriate. This new initiative
was a response to the findings of two surveys carried out in 1996 which drew
attention to Singapore youths’ lack of knowledge and interest in issues related to
Singapore’s history and vulnerabilities. Government leaders were alarmed by this
and deemed it a challenge to the nation’s continued survival in the face of glo-
balization and rapid change (Sim & Print, 2005). There was a fear of a lack of a
national identity and rootedness to Singapore in the young. Political leaders once
again stressed the importance of young people knowing and understanding Sin-
gapore’s history, its vulnerabilities as a multiracial society and the constraints of
limited resources. Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Lee Hsien Loong argued that
knowledge of Singapore’s history, in particular, the period of hardship when Sin-
gapore was under Japanese rule as well as the road to independence, was essential
for the development of a national consciousness (Lee, 1997). National Education
was the means by which the “cultural DNA which makes us Singaporeans” was to
66 Ee Moi Kho
be hardwired into young Singaporeans (Lee, 1997, p. 1), and it was the responsi-
bility of educators to “mould” the next generation. Interestingly the discourse of
DPM Lee in 1997 was strikingly similar to that of his father, PM Lee Kuan Yew
in 1959. After almost 40 years of nation building, the approach to citizenship
education was still one of cultural transmission and moulding the next generation
into a desired pattern.
National Education (NE) was a nationwide, cross-curricular citizenship edu-
cation programme. The aims of NE were encapsulated and publicized in six
messages:
• Singapore is our homeland; this is where we belong.

We want to keep our heritage and our way of life.
• We must preserve racial and religious harmony.
Though many races, religions, languages and cultures, we pursue one destiny.
• We must uphold meritocracy and incorruptibility.
This means opportunity for all, according to their ability and effort.
• No one owes Singapore a living.
We must find our own way to survive and prosper.
• We must ourselves defend Singapore.
No one else is responsible for our security and well-being.
• We have confidence in our future.
United, determined and well-prepared, we shall build a bright future for
ourselves.
(MOE, 2007, p. 7)
Distinct learning outcomes were delineated for the three academic levels in
the national school system: Love Singapore (primary level), Know Singapore
(secondary level) and Lead Singapore (pre-university level). These learning out-
comes formed the basis around which citizenship education programmes were
developed for the different academic levels. Within the formal curriculum, the
primary social studies syllabus was revised and taught from Primary One instead
of from Primary Four. At the upper secondary level, social studies was imple-
mented in 2001 as one half of a new subject known as combined humanities.
By making the subject compulsory and included in the high-stakes General Cer-
tificate of Education “O” level examinations, the MOE signalled the impor-
tance placed on it. The implementation of social studies can be seen as a serious
attempt to address the problem of young Singaporeans’ lack of knowledge and
interest in Singapore’s recent history and issues that were deemed key to its
survival.
Some degree of a more progressive approach to citizenship education can be
seen in the aims of the new upper secondary social studies curriculum. Among
the aims were: instilling in students “a sense of national identity as well as global
awareness” and equipping them with “skills of independent enquiry and critical
thinking” (MOE, 2001, p. 1). The new assessment mode was aligned to these aims
as it required students to construct explanations and interpret or evaluate sources of
information. Such critical literacy skills are necessary for developing a more think-
ing citizenry. These were moves in the right direction and were clearly a response to
the demands of globalization and a new economic paradigm in Singapore.
Curriculum content, however, was still conservative, focusing on development
of a traditional national citizenship rather than a global one, in spite of the stated
objectives of instilling global awareness. The subject matter of the 2001 and
the subsequent revised 2006 social studies focused on knowledge of national
issues related to the historical, economic and social development of Singapore
and regional and international issues that may impact the nation (MOE, 2001).
Because the content was organized around the six NE messages, many students
expressed disinterest and “cynicism at what they felt was ‘propaganda’” (MOE,
2007, p. 4). This is unsurprising since the messages were presented as slogans or
jingles and evoked ideas of indoctrination and hype. Such cynicism was worsened
by the perception of a continued stress on a sense of shared crisis through the
study of issues and challenges faced by Singapore and other countries. Topics
such as civil unrest in Northern Ireland and Sri Lanka appeared to be warnings
about the potential dangers and pitfalls in plural societies so that students would
become more conscious of Singapore’s limitations and vulnerabilities.
It should be noted that NE was launched in the same year as the “Think-
ing Schools, Learning Nation” (TSLN) initiative. TSLN aimed at equipping
the young with critical and creative thinking skills needed in a knowledge-based
economy. Baildon and Sim (2010) have pointed out the dialectical tension
between NE and TSLN. On the one hand, TSLN seeks to prepare the young
for a knowledge-based economy in a globalized world through developing their
critical and creative thinking. On the other hand, NE tends towards parochialism
in emphasizing convergent thinking and development of a local nationalism. This
also underscores Kennedy’s (2012) assertion that while nations may recognize
the powerful influences of globalization, there is a pushback or resistance against
such influences as very often national values and national loyalties are seen to be
more crucial for citizens.
At the primary level, the approach differed from that of secondary social studies.
The goal of NE at the primary level was to engage students’ affective domain – to
love Singapore. Unlike secondary social studies which aimed at developing stu-
dents’ knowledge, the infusion of NE into primary social studies focused on incul-
cating “correct values and attitudes” and the development of a sense of belonging
and rootedness to the nation. Social harmony and appreciation for ethnic diversity
in Singapore and the need for creative solutions to Singapore’s resource con-
straints were also emphasized (MOE, 1997). Although the 1997 TSLN vision of
producing critical and creative thinkers was also reflected in the aims of the revised
68 Ee Moi Kho
syllabuses of 1999 and 2005, the changes in the content and objectives were
rather more cosmetic than real. Many of the learning outcomes specified in the
syllabus for individual grade levels centred on the affective domain, and although
thinking skills were highlighted, they tended to be couched in general terms such
as “brainstorm creative solutions to problems” (MOE, 2005, p. 11) and “consider
advantages and disadvantages of a solution to a problem” (MOE, 2005, p. 13).
The curricular focus was still on knowledge of Singapore’s history, geography and
economic activities, with stress on understanding and learning “lessons from social
issues, challenges and constraints facing Singapore” (MOE, 1999, p. 2). In the
struggle between convergent and critical thinking, the former seemed to be more
imperative, and developing a sense of parochial national identity triumphed over
the need for thinking citizens.
New directions in citizenship education: developing

the informed, concerned and participative citizen
By the turn of the century, a change in the approach and goals of citizenship
education was discernible. This change can be attributed to two important devel-
opments in the MOE. Firstly, in 1997, the MOE had developed a set of desired
outcomes of education which were later broadened into a framework of 21st
century competencies and outcomes, comprising a suite of desired core values
and competencies that were deemed essential to prepare the young for new chal-
lenges in the future (MOE, 2020a). According to this framework, the envisioned
product of the education system is a confident person, self-directed learner, active
contributor and concerned citizen. Three sets of core competencies were high-
lighted as essential for a globalized world. These were civic literacy, global aware-
ness and cross-cultural skills; critical and inventive thinking and communication,
collaboration and information skills. Secondly, NE was reviewed in 2007 and
a revised “Head, Heart, Hands” framework for NE was proposed as a more
integrated approach to developing the outcomes of “Love, Know and Lead”
Singapore (MOE, 2007). This framework would encapsulate the outcomes of
loving, appreciating and belonging (Heart), knowing, thinking and understand-
ing (Head) and contributing, creating and leading (Hands).
The NE review spawned a major review of social studies and other humanities
curricula across the academic levels. There was a serious attempt to streamline and
align curricula content in the social studies, history and geography subjects across
primary, secondary and junior college levels. Social studies curricula for primary
and secondary levels were revised and closely aligned to the new NE framework
and the 21st century competencies. Emphasis is now placed on developing the
child into a confident person, a self-directed learner, an active contributor and a
concerned citizen. There is a clear statement of the purpose of social studies as
being to help “students to become citizens contributing towards a democratic
society” (MOE, 2016, p. 14). This articulation of a democratic citizenship is a
significant change in the goal of citizenship education. The envisioned democratic
citizen is an informed, concerned and participative person, and the syllabuses
clearly detail the qualities of each of these three citizenship attributes (MOE,
2011, 2016). There is obvious acknowledgement of the challenges of globaliza-
tion and the need for citizens to develop the skills and dispositions demanded of
an increasingly interconnected world. Greater emphasis is placed on and there is
more detailed elucidation of critical-thinking, perspective-taking, problem-solving
and decision-making skills in the syllabuses. Inquiry is the recommended teach-
ing approach and touted as crucial preparation for 21st century living as well as
enabling quality decision-making in citizens. The new approach “necessitates that
the classroom is transformed into an interactive learning community where there
are well-facilitated discussions showcasing multiple perspectives that accurately
illustrate the complexity of various issues” (MOE, 2016, p. 14).
Although the aims are progressive and show a distinct change in the envisioned
citizen from law-abiding, morally upright citizens to “informed, concerned and
participative citizens, competent in decision-making with an impassioned spirit
to contribute responsibly to the society and world they live in” (SEAB, 2016,
p. 2; MOE, 2020b, p. 5), the curriculum content of the most recent syllabuses
continue to be traditional with emphasis on the vulnerability of Singapore, con-
straints due to the lack of natural resources, the need for social cohesion and the
responsibility of everyone to contribute to the survival of the nation state. This
is especially evident at the primary level, where the focus continues to be on
learning about Singapore’s diverse communities; Singapore’s history, limitations
and challenges and the contributions of its pioneers and political leaders with the
objective of developing appreciation for Singapore, for the harmony that exists
amidst diversity and the contributions of the leaders of independent Singapore.
The content at secondary level allows for more inquiry and exploration with
the selection of three important issues: exploring citizenship and governance;
living in a diverse society and being part of a globalized world (SEAB, 2016).
Unfortunately, the focus questions of these issues need to be better framed for
open inquiry and more fruitful discussions. For example, the inquiry focus of
living in a diverse society is “Is harmony achievable?” and for being part of a
globalized world is “Is it necessarily good?” (SEAB, 2016, p. 3). Such questions
are convergent, leading to predetermined answers and do not invite open and
genuine inquiry. It would be difficult to achieve the stated aims of the syllabus if
students were to explore the issues using such inquiry questions. Furthermore,
emphasis is placed on the responsibilities and obligations of a citizen in “working
for the good of society”, “promoting and maintaining harmony in a diverse soci-
ety” and appreciating the “complex decision-making process behind responses
towards the impacts of globalisation” (SEAB, 2016, p. 3).
Hence while the goals are praiseworthy, the content continues to be rather tra-
ditional. The recent social studies syllabuses seem to be old wine in new wineskins.
There is recognition of a need to use a more progressive and liberal approach
to citizenship education and educate the young to become more democratic,
empowered and global citizens. It is obvious, however, that curriculum designers
continue to struggle with creating a framework with content that would recon-
cile the tensions between a traditional curriculum aimed at preserving national
70 Ee Moi Kho
interests and developing a localized national identity and a progressive one to
meet the challenges of a new global world.
Conclusion
Citizenship education is an enterprise carried out to a larger or lesser extent by all
nations. The need to develop in citizens a national identity and a sense of belong-
ing exists in every country. Singapore is no different. In the early 1960s, the chal-
lenge of nation building and creating a shared identity was even greater as it was
a fledgling nation, comprising a largely immigrant and multicultural populace.
Many who were here at that time did not regard this place as their homeland. The
government therefore approached citizenship education in terms of moulding
the citizens into a “national pattern”. For many years, that “national pattern” as
seen in the various social studies curricula appears to be that of an obedient, law-
abiding, contributing citizen who is aware of the vulnerabilities and constraints of
Singapore and will therefore not cause any problems by questioning, criticizing
or upsetting the status quo. The approach of social studies was one of cultural
transmission with emphasis on the knowledge, skills, behaviours and values per-
ceived as necessary by the Singapore government.
The first semblance of change appeared towards the end of the 20th century,
when the new social studies syllabus showed recognition of the need to prepare
its citizens for the challenges of globalization in the 21st century. Among the
skills highlighted in the 1997 TSLN vision as requisite for the new millennium
was that of critical and creative thinking. The changes in the content and objec-
tives of the social studies syllabuses to educate citizens to become critical and
creative thinkers, however, were rather more cosmetic than real. It was only after
the 2007 review of National Education that a slight shift away from a didactic
cultural transmission approach to a more liberal democratic approach, emphasiz-
ing critical thinking in citizenship education was discernible. Among the recom-
mendations by the NE review committee, one that stands out is that of providing
opportunities for students to explore and discuss different perspectives before
arriving at their own informed conclusions regarding issues concerning Singa-
pore (MOE, 2007). This was obviously a response to charges of propaganda and
a recognition of the need for a more thinking citizen as envisioned in the TSLN
initiative. A caveat in the NE recommendation, however, was that a common set
of fundamental values should be the foundation upon which such discussions
were made. A common set of fundamental values is useful for ensuring social
identity, but if they became “sacred cows”, these may not be helpful in raising
thoughtful and informed criticisms of policies and issues. Having such a caveat
may work against genuine and open inquiry and discussion which will be essential
for social transformation.
The clear descriptions of the informed, concerned and participative citizen
found in the more recent social studies curriculum documents signal a distinct
shift away from the conception of a conforming citizen to that of a thoughtful
social reformer. The focus of the curriculum content at the different grade levels
may still be wanting in really achieving the ideals as set out in the general aims,
but it is still a positive beginning. The challenges of globalization, the speed at
which technology is changing and the demands of a new economy cannot be
ignored. Future curriculum designers will have to be more deliberate in ensur-
ing that the goals of developing reflective and thinking citizens are distinctly
reflected in the content, skills and attitudes of the syllabus at every grade level. A
new conceptualization of what is perceived as prerequisite knowledge and values
for developing a sense of belonging is needed. The focus on developing a sense
of shared crisis by harping on Singapore’s limited resources, vulnerabilities as
a culturally diverse society, the emphasis on learning about the cultures of the
dominant races (Chinese, Malay, Indian and others) and the self-adulation of
how far Singapore has come despite the challenges need to be reviewed. Some
of these old “sacred cows” may have to be discarded and greater focus placed on
allowing the development of critical thinking skills through inquiry and examin-
ing issues through multiple lenses. It may take some time for this to happen as
this requires changes in beliefs and mindsets. It will also take time for educators
to be comfortable with using an inquiry or discovery approach. They will need
to develop skills in facilitating discussions of controversial issues, engaging pupils
in more reflective thinking about the “sacred cows” and accepted norms and
practices in Singapore as well as equipping pupils with skills to take social action.
There is still some way to go to achieve the goal of educating democratic citizens
for social transformation, but this is essential for Singapore’s continued survival
and development.
Note
1 Students were given the option to take one of six religious knowledge subjects.
These were Hindu studies, Islamic religious knowledge, Bible knowledge, Sikh
studies, Buddhist studies and Confucian ethics. Although Confucian ethics is not a
religion, it was offered as an alternative to any student who did not wish to study
any of the other five religious knowledge subject options.
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6 Social studies curriculum in
Thailand
A contested terrain
Thithimadee Arphattananon
Introduction
In May 2014, a military coup d’état, which proclaimed it was putting an end to
the political unrest and restoring order in the country, was staged in Thailand. In
2015, the Fine Arts Department in the Ministry of Culture published a history
book in which the junta leader and his military government were lauded as the
promoters of “true democracy” in Thailand (Prachathai, 2018). In April 2018,
a dispute erupted between pro-democracy groups and textbook authorities; the
former argued that the content about the junta leader in the book was not a
fact but propaganda and asked for the removal and destruction of the textbook
(Kongrut, 2018). Disputes over narratives in history textbooks such as this have
recurred several times since social studies became a school subject in Thailand.
In 2011, the history textbook which described a series of prolonged protests
between pro-democracy red shirts and royalist yellow shirts in Thailand as part
of the development of Thailand’s democracy was published by the Education
Department of Bangkok Archdiocese. The red-shirt protestors accused the text-
book producers of a one-sided depiction of their actions as anti-democratic while
omitting those of the yellow-shirt protesters (Raksaseri, 2011). As a result, the
controversial content was removed from the textbook. Another major textbook
dispute was the omission of content in social studies textbooks about the mas-
sacre of student activists in 1976. Regarding this incident as a milestone in Thai-
land’s democratic movement, activists and the progressives have been asking for
the inclusion of the incident in social studies textbooks (Khaosod, 2013).
Compared to other school subjects, social studies is arguably more often the
target of heated debate. Social studies, which is taught in primary and secondary
schools, encompasses a broad knowledge base which draws on a wide range of
disciplines such as history, geography, economics, political science and sociology.
Thus, unlike well-defined subjects with fixed boundaries such as mathematics
and science, social studies, with its eclectic disciplinary base, invites wider inter-
pretation, debate and argument regarding its purposes, definition and content
(Stanley, 2001). Moreover, because social studies plays an important role in shap-
ing students’ behaviour, sending moral messages and passing on national culture
and values, the subject is open to multiple interpretation, making it a target of
Social studies curriculum in Thailand 75
political attack, manipulation and fragmentation. Many times, social studies is
used by the state apparatus to indoctrinate students with national ideology, val-
ues and belief systems. Although this happens with other subject areas such as
language arts or even mathematics, the social studies curriculum is far more often
used to legitimate state power (Batra, 2010; Horwitz, 2010). This makes the
social studies curriculum a contested terrain, where different versions of history
are pitched, different political ideologies are contested and different values are
prioritized. As knowledge is not neutral but selected by those who are in power,
we observe in the social studies curriculum a version of history that legitimates
certain groups’ power to rule or the indoctrination of traits and values that sup-
port dominant groups’ privileged status.
Scholars suggest that in the 21st century, the role of social studies is to teach
children to participate actively in a democratic society and to become agents of
change for a more equal world (Barton, 2016; Parker, 2008; Ross, 2017). Democ-
racy, in this sense, is not merely a form of political governance as is taught in most
social studies classes. Rather, it means a democratic way of living or engaging with
other people and society. Beane and Apple (1995) define a democratic society
as one that is premised on the open flow of information and ideas, the belief in
individual and collective ability to resolve problems, the concern for the common
interest and common good and the respect of the dignity and rights of minori-
ties. School should be an organization that promotes these principles through its
curriculum, pedagogy and all other activities. Barton (2016) suggests three ways
that social studies can contribute to democratic participation. Firstly, social studies
should teach students to make democratic judgments based on logic and sound
reasoning, not force. Secondly, as the world becomes more and more diverse,
social studies should teach students to understand the various values, cultures and
perspectives of others in order to make sound judgments and decisions. Thirdly,
decision-making in democratic societies should be made based on common inter-
ests, not the interests of particular groups. Parker (2008) argues that social studies
should contribute towards developing in students both the knowledge and skills
to participate as a democratic citizen because democratic action without a good
understanding of democratic principles can lead to autocracy.
In order to teach students to participate actively in a democratic society, social
studies curricula should be crafted based on the common interests of people in
society, not on the needs of dominant or privileged groups who only seek to
maintain their power. Parker (2008) states that democratic citizens need both to
know democratic things and to do democratic things. However, in reality, in many
places, both the content and the pedagogy of social studies is used as a tool to
reproduce the existing social order that grossly favours dominant groups. Social
studies functions as part of a larger school institution which is “fundamentally
authoritarian and hierarchical” (Ross, 2017, p. XX).
In this chapter, the development of the social studies curriculum in Thailand
is traced from the coup in 1932 that changed political governance in the coun-
try from absolute monarchy to constitutional monarchy until the current time.
Five periods have been identified: 1) The post-coup period following changes of
76 Thithimadee Arphattananon
the governance system (1932–1957); 2) The “Thai-style democracy” era (1958–
1976); 3) The pseudo-democracy regime and the 1984 (B.E. 2521) curricu-
lum; 4) Social studies curriculum after the economic crisis (2001–2008); and 5)
Social studies curriculum after the military coup (2014–present). Social studies
curriculum in each period is situated within the socio-political contexts of Thai-
land at that time and shows how the agendas of political leaders are reflected on
the social studies curriculum.
Social studies curriculum after the change of political

governance (1932–1957)
The year 1932 was a turning point in Thailand’s political scene as it marked the
beginning of “democracy”. In June 1932, Khana Ratsadon, or directly trans-
lated as the People’s Party which comprised former UK and European educated
intellectuals and military officers, staged a coup d’état to change the system of
political governance in Thailand (Siam at that time) from that of an absolute
monarchy to a constitutional monarchy. Following the democratic system in the
West where they had been educated, the group’s aim was to create a new gov-
ernance system in which “people” became the focus of development. The 1932
constitution stipulated that the election of the members of parliament would be
deferred for ten years after the constitution took full effect until over half of the
population had completed primary education. This was premised on the belief
that only educated people could make a sound and informed political decision
and participate wisely in a democratic system. Thus, the provision of universal
education to people in the country was listed as one of the six reform agendas of
the People’s Party (Baker & Phongpaichit, 2005).
During the absolute monarchy period, the aim of education, especially social
studies education, was to unite citizens under the newly drawn borders of the
country. The social studies curriculum emphasized that students understand the
centralized administration system adopted at the end of the 19th century and
revere the king as the leader of that system. National unity was the prevalent theme
in social studies until the beginning of the 20th century. Temples and monks were
used as a mechanism for teaching moral values to the people. After the system
of political governance was changed, however, the aim of social studies curricu-
lum shifted, and the main objective became to teach students to understand the
meaning of “democracy” and “constitution” as well as the roles and duties of all
stakeholders. This was one of the most challenging and daunting tasks as after 40
years, the former absolute monarchy system had taken root in the mindset of the
people (Wangmee, 2000). When the new system was introduced, some thought
that “constitution” was a person’s name. Others mistakenly thought that, from
then on, they were “free” and had the right to do anything they wanted. Still oth-
ers misunderstood that the new government had the same royal status as the king
and duly addressed the new government using royal language (Wangmee, 2000).
Besides popular media such as newspaper and radio, the government used edu-
cation to familiarize people with the constitutional monarchy system. On 8 July
1932, ten days after the new government was formed, “the education committee”,
comprised of four members, was set up to draft the “National Education Plan” and
oversee all “urgent matters” concerning education, one of which was to supervise
the writing of the new social studies textbook (Wangmee, 2000). As a result, the
new social studies textbook, Baeb Sorn Arn Naatii Ratsadorn Lem 1 (The Read-
ing of Civic Duty Book 1), was completed within three months after the order
had been given. This textbook was initially used for students who enrolled in 2nd
grade and later reprinted several times and used with students enrolling in 5th, 7th
and 9th grades. The new textbook explained that under the constitutional mon-
archy, “the constitution” was the ultimate law that defined the rights of people,
as well as the structure, role and relations between the three governing entities,
namely the executive, the legislative and the judiciary (Pungkanon, 2009). During
this period, the “constitution” was added to the three pillars of the country – “the
king”, “religion” and “the nation” (Pungkanon, 2009).
The textbook further suggests that “under the constitutional monarchy, the
king remained the head of the nation whose authority had to be under the law”.
There “shall be a house of representatives, whose members, together with the
king, oversaw the matters of the country” (Palabutr, 1932, p. 48). It is notable
that the social studies textbook published during the constitutional monarchy
did not emphasize that the king was a divine figure or a meritorious person who
had the right to rule as the textbooks published under the absolute monarchy
had done (Wangmee, 2000; Pungkanon, 2009). On the contrary, the textbook
hinted at the weakness of a governance system in which one person possessed
absolute power, explaining that “it was a mistake-prone system as all the decisions
were made by only one or a few persons” (Palabutr, 1932, p. 47). Thus, under
the constitutional system, decisions would be based on consensus (Pungkanon,
2009). It emphasized that the cooperative effort of everyone in the country, not
just one or a few persons, contributed to the national stability (Palabutr, 1932).
One of the important items of content that was added to the 1937 social studies
curriculum, the first one after changing the system of governance, was the unit
about heroes and heroines who had protected the country from invaders. It is
notable that heroes and heroines described in the curriculum during this period
were not limited to those from royal families as in the former curriculum but
from ordinary backgrounds as well (Pungkanon, 2009).
The spirit of the political revolution, which had put “the people” at the centre of
the reform, began to dwindle. In 1938, Field Marshal Phibunsongkhram became
prime minister and initiated cultural and ethno-nationalist projects. Twelve “Rat-
thaniyom” or cultural mandates that governed the behaviour of citizens were
issued. In 1938, the name of the country was changed from Siam to Thailand to
emphasize that it was the land of “Tai” people. Along with the change of name,
other national symbols, namely the national flag and the national anthem, were
also changed to arouse a sense of patriotism and to reflect the ethnocentric and
nationalist policies of the government (Arphattananon, 2020).
The aims of education policies reflected this ultra-nationalistic ideology. That
is, schools were to educate students to love the “country” or the “nation-state”,
not an individual ruler like in the previous period. In social studies, the content
about heroes and heroines who had sacrificed their lives for the sovereignty of
the nation was emphasized. Similar to the curricula used in Japan and Germany,
schools were commanded to take students to visit important historical sites as an
extra curricula activity so that students appreciated how sovereignty of the Thai
nation was defended. Thai flags were to be adorned in all classrooms along with
images of the Buddha. History class was allocated one more hour of teaching
time as it was perceived as the subject that could effectively teach patriotism to
students. Fencing was added to the physical education curriculum. To show their
patriotism, students were taught to buy only national products. Phibunsongkh-
ram perceived himself to be a strong leader similar to Hitler (Baker & Phong-
paichit, 2005). His portrait was distributed to schools throughout the country
(Wangmee, 2000). One of the social studies textbooks described Thailand as
geographically superior to other countries; people in the country did not have
to face natural disasters like those in Japan, and the weather was not too cold
compared to the weather in Western countries. During this period (1938–1944),
“democracy” was less emphasized. The constitution, on the other hand, was ele-
vated to be one of the national symbols.
After the end of World War II, by using Thailand as an anti-communist base,
the United States wielded increasing power and influence on Thailand. As part of
the campaign against communism, many “development” projects were initiated
and supported. The power of the military was strengthened, and the free-world
ideology was spread (Baker & Phongpaichit, 2005).
The philosophy of education at that time reflected the “progressivism” of
the United States. The American system of dividing students into developmen-
tal stages was adopted, and the instruction methods prioritized these develop-
mental stages instead of rote learning. International organizations, such as the
UNESCO, influenced the education practices by sending experts to help with the
development of education, provided grants and professional training for educa-
tors in Thailand. Individual areas of study were incorporated into a single subject,
making it the first time that civil education, moral education, geography and
history were subsumed under the umbrella of the “social studies” subject (Pong-
somboon, 1989).
Thai-style democracy (1958–1976)

In 1958, Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat staged a coup, overthrowing Phibunsong-
khram and making himself prime minister. Unlike former prime ministers and
members of the People’s Party who had introduced the constitutional monarchy
system into Thailand, Sarit had never studied abroad. This made him perceive
“democracy” as a foreign system which did not fit with the circumstances of
Thailand, resulting in exploitation of the system followed by political turmoil.
He used this as justification to revert to the system of absolutism which granted
him ultimate ruling power (Baker & Phongpaichit, 2005). During his adminis-
tration, Sarit annulled the 1932 constitution, dissolved political parties, revoked
labour union rights and banned all public gathering for political purposes. The
election of representatives at all levels was replaced by nomination (Pungkanon,
2009), and journalists who criticized the government were arrested or jailed. He
restored the notion of divine and benevolent kingship along with Buddhism as
the pillars of Thai identity (Connors, 2005). As one tactic to suppress opposition,
Buddhist monks were sent to the countryside, especially the northeast, to preach
that people should avoid communism (Baker & Phongpaichit, 2005). As a strat-
egy to combat communism, the United States provided continuous financial and
technical support for numerous development projects.
The social studies curriculum resonated with this political ideology. The con-
tent in social studies textbooks prioritized social order, paternalism, the unlimited
power of the prime minister and the divine status of the king. On the other hand,
the democratic governance system was described as having its roots in Western
countries such as the United Kingdom and France around 300 years ago. The
system, as described in the textbook, did not fit with the changing circumstances
and with Thai culture. The content of the social studies textbook produced dur-
ing 1972 criticized the overlapping duties of the Senate and House of Represen-
tatives as the ineffectiveness of democracy. It was pointed out in the textbook
that the prime minister should have ultimate power in decision-making, especially
during times of political unrest (Pongsomboon, 1989). The message in the social
studies textbook during this period reflected government policy, which priori-
tized social discipline and order over freedom and the democratic participation
of the people. Individual leaders with moral qualities and decisiveness were indis-
pensable to governing the country, not civic participation. From 1958 to 1973,
social studies textbooks mentioned only the nation, religion, and the king as the
three symbols of Thailand, dropping “the constitution” which had been men-
tioned as one of the symbols in previous textbooks (Pungkanon, 2009). Instead
of the checks and balances crucial to a democratic system, Buddhist teachings and
righteous kingship were restored as the mechanism that would govern leaders’
ethical behaviour (Sattayanurak, 2006).
The 1960 (B.E. 2503) General Education Curriculum, which was formulated
after Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat became prime minister, was influenced by pro-
gressivist educational theory from the United States especially in primary edu-
cation. Aiming for the holistic development of children, subject matters were
merged into a unified curriculum, among which social studies was assigned to
be the core. Social studies were seen as including those matters that could culti-
vate patriotism in children through the teaching of history and an emphasis on
national identity and national symbols (Mascharoen, 1990).
By the end of the 1960s, students had begun to protest and demonstrate against
American imperialism and the corrupted and repressive government. On 14 Octo-
ber 1973, the demonstration escalated and resulted in the mass killing of students.
As a consequence, the military leaders were finally ousted. In the following years,
peasants and workers joined forces with students to demonstrate in support of
social justice and the restoration of a constitutional democracy (Baker & Phong-
paichit, 2005). A series of protests was organized to demand political reform and
fair treatment for both workers and farmers. The movement turned into a battle
of ideologies: right wing versus left wing. The brutal Thammasat University mas-
sacre on 6 October 1976 put a painful end to the leftist movement and instigated
the collapse of the repressive military regime (Connors, 2005). Remarkably, the
democratic participation of students, workers and peasants and the massacre of
students in the 1970s remains completely absent in social studies textbooks.
The pseudo-democracy regime and the 1984

(B.E. 2521) curriculum
From the early 1980s, political liberalization was the order of the day. From
1979, the elected parliament was restored, and new players such as business-
men entered Thailand’s political scene. Although the military retained power
and filled the majority of ministerial positions, the proportion of businessmen
as members of parliament gradually increased (Baker & Phongpaichit, 2005).
Apart from two military coups – one unsuccessful and one successful – the two
decades of 1980s and 1990s were the periods during which parliamentary poli-
tics progressed and prime ministers were civilians. The House of Representatives
became more powerful after it was stipulated that the president of the National
Assembly had to come from the House of Representatives, not the Senate. In
1995, a constitution drafting committee was formed, and for the first time, pub-
lic hearings were included as part of the constitution drafting process. The 1997
Constitution is said to be a very progressive one with the inclusion of citizens’
rights and the decentralization of political power to local government. Globaliza-
tion opened the way for foreign firms and investment from foreign countries into
Thailand. As a result, during 1980s and 1990s, the GDP of the country increased
fivefold compared to previous decades (Baker & Phongpaichit, 2005).
The role of King Rama IX in rural development and in polity was strength-
ened. Royal projects aimed at eradicating poverty in rural parts of the country
were initiated, and royal news, featuring the king’s activities in these projects, was
aired daily on national television and radio. The king’s influence in politics was
clear when his intervention put an end to a bloody standoff between the people
and the military government in May 1992. The king’s birthday speeches became
politically significant as they gave direction to the development of the country
and subtly hinted at political matters. The National Identity Office was estab-
lished to re-emphasize the triad of “nation, religion and monarchy” as symbols of
national identity. The National Identity Office worked towards the re-affirmation
of the relationship between the monarch and democracy by emphasizing that
democratic governance system in Thailand was “democracy with the king as head
of the state” (Connors, 2005, p. 531). Political liberalization during this period
opened a space for the re-interpretation of Thai-ness to include the cultures of
those on the periphery and local cultures. Progressive thinkers, public intellectu-
als and civil society organizations were able to participate in activities concerning
human rights, the environment and the cultural rights of socially marginalized
groups (Connors, 2005).
Content in the social studies textbook approved during this period echoed the
political ideology of the country. The textbook emphasized that the kings had
strongly supported democracy and worked to facilitate the smooth transition
towards the new governance system. In 1932 when the People’s Party staged a
revolution to change the system of governance from absolute monarchy to con-
stitutional monarchy, the king had already planned to bestow a constitution on
his people (Pungkanon, 2009). The textbook stated that the imposition of a con-
stitutional monarchy by the People’s Party before the Thais were ready attributed
to the cessation of progress towards democracy in Thailand.
Social studies curriculum after the economic crisis

(2001–2008)
In 1997, an economic crisis dubbed the “Tom Yum Kung Crisis”, triggered by
the floating of the Thai baht and the collapse of the financial sectors hit Thai-
land hard. As a lesson learned from the crisis, King Rama IX reminded people
of his sufficiency economy philosophy: self-reliance and sufficiency rather than
excessive production and consumption. The King’s sufficiency principles were
practised by organizations in several sectors, especially schools. Along with this
philosophy came a renewed interest in Thai culture, Thai identity and the “Thai-
way-of-life” (Baker & Phongpaichit, 2005, p. 257) to counterbalance the forces
of globalization that were believed to be the cause of the economic collapse.
Local wisdom and local cultures were emphasized as resources that Thais should
respect and exploit.
In 2001, Thaksin Shinawatra, a successful business tycoon became prime min-
ister. Thaksin and his political party “Thai Rak Thai” – translated as Thai loves
Thai – was supported by business conglomerates, activists from civil society orga-
nizations and public intellectuals. He was seen as the one who could help rescue
the ailing economy.
In order to tide itself over the economic crisis, the Thai government had to
rely on financial loans from the international organizations such as the World
Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). One condition for these loan
packages was that Thailand reform its lumbering bureaucracy by decentralizing
decision-making powers to the local authorities.
In education, although the ideas to reform the education system in Thailand
had been proposed by educators and technocrats, the economic crisis of 1997
gave impetus to overhaul of the education system (Fry, 2002). Reforms in educa-
tion affected every aspect: educational administration, pedagogy, curriculum and
educational finance. In 1999, the National Education Act, which provided a legal
framework for the reforms, was promulgated. In line with recommendations from
the World Bank and the IMF, the education reforms aimed to streamline the edu-
cation system by devolving decision-making powers in academic affairs, personnel
and budgeting from the Ministry of Education to local schools and communities.
The reforms were based on the principle of “unity in policy and diversity in prac-
tices”, which was believed to respond to the needs and circumstances of people in
the local community better than the centralized system (Arphattananon, 2005).
A local curriculum and child-centred instruction methods were introduced as
part of the reforms. The 2001(B.E. 2544) curriculum was designed so that the
Ministry of Education determined the basic core curriculum with learning key
competencies and learning standards for each grade level, and schools were to
formulate “the school curriculum” with input from local community such as
local culture and local wisdom. The school board, whose members comprised
stakeholders in the community, was to help schools decide on the content of the
local curriculum. People who embodied local wisdom such as priests, community
development leaders and community intellectuals were invited to teach and share
their wisdom in schools. Since the formulation of the local curriculum was based
on a democratic process of participation among people at the school and commu-
nity levels, it was hoped that the process could lead to a renewed interpretation
of the knowledge from the centre. In reality, however, the curriculum formulated
by local schools was static in its portrayal of local culture, being mostly in the
form of local cuisine, occupations and crafts rather than discussing the struggles
of people in the community against hegemonic powers (Jatuporn, 2019). The
local curriculum, thus, functioned to support rather than challenge knowledge
from the centre.
Social studies curriculum after the military coup:

the return of nationalism
In 2006, Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted by a military coup on grounds of corrup-
tion. Later, in 2008, while in exile, he was found guilty as charged and sentenced
to a two-year jail term. A series of political clashes ensued among a polarized
populace: red shirts supporting Thaksin and yellow shirts opposing him. In May
2014, General Prayuth Chan-Ocha, staged a coup and immediately formed the
National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to put an end to the political
turmoil that had crippled Thailand’s socio-political and economic progress for
almost ten years. Soon after, in July 2014, General Prayuth issued 12 core Thai
values as the code of conduct that Thai people should follow in order to build a
strong nation (National News Bureau of Thailand, n.d.). The 12 core values were
designed to strengthen Thailand’s three overarching pillars: “nation, religion and
the king”. A “good” Thai citizen, according to those core values, was one who
adhered to the Buddhist teachings by being moral, generous and faithful, was
always restrained in their greed and ashamed of sinful acts. The core values further
emphasized that Thai people should follow the teachings of King Rama IX, espe-
cially his sufficiency economy philosophy and sacrifice themselves for the benefit
of the country and preserve Thai culture and Thai values such as gratitude to their
parents and the elderly. The 12 core values maintained the status quo through an
emphasis on obedience to authority, seniority and the elderly rather than challeng-
ing them.
The 12 core values were integrated into the 5-year plan of the Ministry of
Education (2017–2021) and were immediately passed down to schools. Children
had to recite the 12 core values every day, either in class or during the morning
assembly (Na Mahachai, 2014). Posters and placards depicting the 12 core values
were produced and distributed to schools (Figure 6.1). Popular film directors,
singers and songwriters were commissioned to produce short films and songs
Figure 6.1 Display of the 12 core values in the classroom
to promote the 12 core values to the general public (National News Bureau of
Thailand, n.d.).
The Ministry of Education organized a series of professional development sessions
to train 20,000 teachers to integrate the 12 core values into classroom teaching.
Figure 6.1 (Continued)
In accordance with the issuance of the core national values, the NCPO sug-
gested that the Ministry of Education revise its social studies curriculum so that
students could learn more about their civic duty and better appreciate Thailand’s
historical roots. In history class, it was proposed that students learn more about
the heroes and heroines who dedicated their lives to protect the sovereignty of
the country. Students should also be taken to visit historical sites so that they
would appreciate the sacrifices made by the national heroes and heroines. This,
hopefully, would make students become more patriotic in fighting against cor-
rupt politicians (Thongnoi, July 2014). The Ministry of Education put greater
emphasis on social studies education by allocating 40 class hours per academic
year for each grade level.
The issuance of the 12 core values by General Prayuth is reminiscent of the
period when Field Marshal Phibunsongkhram imposed 12 cultural mandates
to govern the behaviour of Thai people. His restoration and re-affirmation of
the three national identities – the nation, religion and the king – and his use of
history and the social studies curriculum to build nationalism also resembles the
strategies used by Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat in the 1960s (Thongnoi, 2014).
In June 2015, General Prayuth ordered the Ministry of Culture in cooperate
with the Public Relations Department to produce print media that represented
the greatness of Thai culture and the intelligence and wisdom of the Thai kings
and their benevolence towards the Thai people. In October 2015, the Ministry
of Culture published 10,000 volumes of the book, Thai History, and distrib-
uted them to schools and public libraries throughout the country. The book
provoked protests among pro-democracy groups who considered the content
as a glorification of General Prayuth himself as junta leader and promoter of
democracy in Thailand. The Ministry of Culture later had to stop the promo-
tion and distribution of the book. General Prayuth Chan-Ocha went on to win
the 2019 election and controversially became the official Prime Minister of
Thailand.
Students’ democratic movement

In July 2020, just after the government had lifted the state of emergency to
prevent the spread of the coronavirus, students’ demonstrations against the dic-
tatorial regime broke out across the country. Student activists exploited social
media such as twitter and Facebook, which they were so adroit at using, to bring
together student groups and organize demonstrations (Maneechote & Satru-
sayang, 2020). Adorned with symbolic white ribbons and raising three-finger
salutes from the movie Hunger Games, student protesters confronted school
authorities by refusing to sing the national anthem or paying tribute to the
national symbols. Reports of students being punished by school authorities as a
result of such “defiant” acts surfaced in the news and media (Ashworth, 2020).
In September 2020, students held rallies at the Ministry of Education where
they debated with the Minister for Education regarding the oppressiveness of
the education system and demanded education reform. Seeing that the previous
election in 2019 as undemocratic and favourable for General Prayuth and his
political party to win, student activists demanded a new election and a redrafting
of the Constitution.
Conclusion
Social studies scholars emphasize that in the 21st century, social studies should
teach students not only academic skills and social skills but also the right atti-
tudes to function as democratic citizens (Barton, 2016). In the 21st century,
students should learn to know democracy and to practise democracy (Parker,
2008). Upon reviewing the evolution of the social studies curriculum in Thailand
from 1932 to the present, however, it is evident that the social studies curricu-
lum in Thailand has been used by state apparatuses to inculcate in the young the
political agenda of those who were and are in power (von Feigenblatt, Sutthi-
chujit, Shuib, Keling, & Ajis, 2010). In historiographical narration, the depiction
of those from neighbouring countries, especially Myanmar (formerly Burma) as
perpetual enemies of Thailand and the Thai heroes and heroines who fought
against these “enemies”, has been repeatedly used as a means to arouse national-
ism (Chutintaranond, 1992). This has also created a sense of ethnocentrism and
parochialism among Thai people, who often believe that they are superior to
those from the neighbouring countries (Kaewmala, 2013). Scholars suggest that
social studies education in Thailand should empower students to be critical citi-
zens who can think independently and participate actively in a democratic society,
inside and outside their immediate society. Ironically, social studies education
in Thailand has achieved that aim by doing exactly the opposite; by repeatedly
teaching only a one-sided and narrow version of history and imposing oppressive
discipline, schools have now pushed students to mobilize themselves to fight for
their own rights.
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7 Social studies as citizenship
transmission in Indonesian
schools
Dasim Budimansyah and Theodorus Pangalila
The historical-epistemological pillars of social studies

The development of social studies ideology cannot be separated from the role
of the United States as a country with a significant academic reputation. The
first epistemological milestone for social studies is in the form of a definition put
forward by Edward Bruce Wesley “Social Studies are simplified social sciences
for pedagogical purposes” (Barr, Bath, & Shermis, 1977, pp. 1–2). This defini-
tion was subsequently standardized as reported by Barr et al. (1977): “the Social
Studies comprised of those aspects of history, economics, political science, sociol-
ogy, anthropology, psychology, geography, and philosophy which in practice are
selected for instructional purposes in schools and colleges” (p. 2).
Based on these definitions, social studies reflects aspects of history, economics,
political science, sociology, anthropology, psychology, and philosophy selected
to learn in schools and colleges. The initial definition of social studies suggests:
(1) social studies are disciplines derived from social sciences or “an offspring of
the social sciences” (Welton & Mallan, 1988, p. 14); (2) these disciplines were
developed for learning purposes, at both schools and colleges; (3) aspects of each
social science discipline need to be selected according to the learning objectives.
Although there has been an initial definition, the subsequent development of
social studies was wracked by uncertainty, especially in the period 1940–1970. As
Edgar Bruce Wesley reported, social studies have long suffered from conflicting
definitions, overlapping functions, and philosophical confusion. The situation is
considered to have caused uncertainty, disconnection, unity, and lack of progress.
During this period, social studies went through a challenging period (Barr et al.,
1977, p. iv).
In the period 1940–1950, social studies came under attack from almost all
directions, which revolved around the question of whether social studies should
instill values and attitudes toward the younger generation. This issue arose as one
of the effects of a prolonged Civil War, which gave rise to demands for schools to
teach the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to participate in a democratic
society. The demand led to the emergence of efforts to emphasize the impor-
tance of teaching history, in the form of historical facts, American institutional
government, and detailed analysis of the American constitution. At that time, the
90 Dasim Budimansyah and Theodorus Pangalila
learning process strongly emphasized the learning of separate social science sub-
jects, factual information memorization, and uncritical transmission of selected
cultural values (Barr et al., 1977, p. 35).
The second epistemological milestone for social studies took place in the 1960s
when an academic movement emerged, which saw a social studies revolution
sponsored by historians and social scientists. The two scientific groups were cap-
tivated by social studies, partly due to the federal government at the time provid-
ing enormous funds for curriculum development. The academic movement is
known as the “the new social studies”. However, until the 1970s, the idea of “the
new social studies” had not become a full reality.
The issues that have continued to affect social studies related to indoctrination,
conflicting learning objectives, and disputes regarding learning content (Barr
et al., 1977, p. 46).
As seen as a whole in the period 1940–1960, the most striking was the occur-
rence of a tug-of-war between two visions of “social studies”, namely between
groups seeking to integrate various social science disciplines for “citizenship edu-
cation” and other groups separating various social science disciplines which tends
to weaken the concept of an integrated “social studies”. The conflict between
the two camps was arguably caused by some factors. The first factor was oppos-
ing studies competitively designed to influence school curricula, especially those
relating to students’ understanding and attitudes. The influence of public opin-
ion as a result of World War II, Cold War, and Korean War was another factor.
Public criticism caused by the inability to realize the idea of developing critical
thinking skills in the practice of education in schools, as proposed/championed
by John, also played an important role. There was a breakthrough from Maurice
P. Hunt and Lawrence E. Metcalf in 1955, when they introduced a new way of
integrating social science knowledge and skills into “citizenship education”. It
was stated that social studies programs in schools should be organized not in the
form of learning separate social sciences but oriented to issues in society, such as
sex, patriotism, race, and others which were usually full of prejudice, ignorance,
myths, and controversies that can be the subject of rational reflection. In this
way, social studies began to be directed at efforts to teach students to be able to
make decisions to solve public problems (Hunt & Metcalf, 1955). This innova-
tion was reinforced by the idea of Shirley H. Engle who in 1960 wrote the article
“Decision Making: The Heart of Social Science Instruction” which fundamen-
tally and firmly reflected John Dewey’s ideas about critical thinking education
(Engle, 2003, pp. 7–10).
Another powerful pressure for change appeared in 1957, calling for efforts to
reform social studies. Two factors were triggering this effort, namely the Soviet
Union’s success in launching “Sputnik” (the first artificial satellite in the world)
in 1957 which made the United States panic and feel it was falling behind the
Soviet Union. In addition, the publication of the research of two Purdue Uni-
versity lecturers, namely H.H. Remmers and D.H. Randles, also known as the
Purdue Opinion Poll Research with a sample of school-age children concluded:
Social studies as citizenship transmission 91
(1) only about 35 percent of young people believe that newspapers need to be
allowed to publish whatever they want; (2) 34 percent believe the government
needs to forbid some people from speaking; (3) 26 percent believe the police
need to be allowed to search someone’s house without collater; (4) 25 percent
felt some groups need not be allowed to hold meetings. The results of the study
were assessed as one of the failures of “content-centered” social studies with the
dominance of the “expository” approach, which at the same time hinted at the
need to change social studies learning into learning oriented to “the integrated,
reflective inquiry and problem solving-centered” (Barr et al., 1977, pp. 41–42).
In the 1970s, social studies found new milestones by proposing new defini-
tions and identifying social studies in three traditions. The new definition of
social studies was as follows:
Social Studies is an integration of social sciences and humanities for instruc-

tion in citizenship education. We emphasize “integration,” for social studies
is the only field which deliberately attempts to draw upon, in an integrated
fashion, the data of social sciences and the insights of humanities. We empha-
size citizenship, for social studies, despite the differences in orientation, out-
look, purpose, and methods of teachers are almost universally perceived as
preparation for citizenship in a democracy.
(Barr et al., 1978, p. 18)
This defnition implied several things: (1) social studies is a system; (2) the main
mission of social studies is citizenship education in a democratic society; (3) the
main sources of social studies content are social sciences and humanities; (4) to
prepare democratic citizens to be open to the possibility of differences in orienta-
tion and learning strategies. If seen broadly, it implies that social studies can be
developed based on one tradition or a combination of two or more traditions.
Each of these traditions is briefy explained in Table 7.1.
The defnition of social studies and the identifcation of social studies into the
three pedagogical traditions mentioned earlier can be considered as the third
historical-epistemological milestone of social studies in the 1970s.
In the 1980s, the development of social studies was marked by the birth of two
academic documents issued by the National Council for Social Studies (NCSS),
namely the Report of the National Council for Social Studies Task Force on
Scope and Sequence, entitled In Search of a Scope and Sequence for Social Stud-
ies (NCSS, 1983) and A Report of the Curriculum Task Force of the National
Commission on Social Studies in School, entitled Charting a Course: Social
Studies for the 21st Century (NCSS, 1989). Both of these documents can be
seen as the fourth and fifth historical-epistemological milestones of social studies.
The status, objectives, content, and learning of social studies are briefly illustrated
in Table 7.2.
In 1992, the board of directors of NCSS adopted a new vision of social stud-
ies that could be called the sixth historical-epistemological milestone of social
92
Table 7.1 Three Traditions of Social Studies
Traditions Purpose Method Content
Social Studies as Citizenship is best promoted by Transmission: Transmission Content is selected by an

Citizenship Transmission inculcating the right values of concepts and values by authority, interpreted by the
as a framework for making such techniques as textbook, teacher, and has the function
decisions. recitation, lecture, question of illustrating values, beliefs,
and answer sessions, and and attitudes.
structured problem-solving
exercise
Social Studies as Social Citizenship is best promoted Discovery: Each of the social Proper content is the structure,
Sciences by decision-making based sciences has its method of concepts, problems, and
on mastery of social science gathering and verifying processes of both separate
concepts, processes, and knowledge. Students should and integrated social science
problems. discover and apply the disciplines.
method that is appropriate to
each social science.
Social Studies as Reflective Citizenship is best promoted Reflective inquiry: Decision- Analysis of individual citizen’s
Inquiry through a process of inquiry making is structured and values yields needs and
in which knowledge is derived disciplined through a interests, which, in turn,
from what citizens need to reflective inquiry process that form the basis for student
know to make decisions and aims at identifying problems self-selection of problems.
solve problems. and responding to conflict Therefore, it constitutes the
using testing insights. content for reflection.
Source: Based on: (Barr et al., 1977, p. 67; Kilinc, 2014, p. 415).
Table 7.2 Status, Goals, Content, and Learning of Social Studies
Academic Document Social Studies
Status Objective Content Method
Report of the Social studies is an They were developing students Excavated and selected Using ways that arouse
National Council essential subject at to become citizens who have from history and personal awareness,
for Social Studies all levels of school sufficient knowledge, values, social sciences, as society, cultural
Task Force on education. attitudes, and skills to participate well as in many ways experiences, and

Scope and Sequence in democratic life. from humanities personal experiences
and science of students
A Report of the Social studies is a subject (1) Civic responsibility and active The content not to be Using interactive
Curriculum that emphasizes the participation; (2) Perspective on treated as things to learning process
Task Force of role of citizens in their life experiences; (3) A critical memorize such as reading,
the National democracy, providing understanding of the history, writing, observing,
Commission on consistent and geography, economic, political, debating, role
Social Studies in cumulative learning social, institutions, traditions, and play, or simulation,
School from Kindergarten to values of United States; (4) An working with
Grade 12 understanding of other peoples statistical data
and the unity and diversity; (5) and using critical
Critical attitudes and analytical thinking skills
perspectives approach
Source: Based on NCSS (1983, 1989).
studies. The statement was later published in 1994 as the official NCSS docu-
ment, Expectations of Excellence: Curriculum Standard for Social Studies. In the
document, social studies was understood as:
the integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic
competence. Within the school program, social studies provided coordi-
nated, systematic study drawing on such disciplines as anthropology, arche-
ology, economics, geography, history, law, philosophy, political science,
psychology, religion, and sociology, as well as appropriate content from
the humanities, mathematics, and natural sciences. The primary purpose of
social studies is to help young people develop the ability to make informed
and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse,
democratic society in an independent world.
(NCSS, 1994, p. 3)
NCSS curriculum standards offer a set of principles whereby content can be

selected and organized to build a social studies curriculum that is feasible, valid,
and can be maintained from Kindergarten to Grade 12. The standard was frst
published in1994 and has been widely and successfully used as a framework for
teachers, schools, districts, states, and other countries as a tool for curriculum
alignment and development. Along with many changes in the world and educa-
tion since the original curriculum standard was published in 2010, revisions were
made in the National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies: A Framework
for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment. This revised standard refected a desire
to continue and build on the expectations set in the earlier standard for useful
social studies in classes from Kindergarten to Grade 12. This updated standard
maintains the main emphasis of the original document and supports students to
become active participants in the learning process. The revised standard offers
a sharper focus than the original standard on “(1) objectives; (2) questions for
exploration; (3) knowledge: what students need to understand; (4) process: what
students can do; (5) products: how learners show understanding” (NCSS, 2010,
pp. 3–5).
The development of social studies as a field of study was built on an ontology
of integrated knowledge that epistemologically has traveled a very long journey
of thought driven by the NCSS. There is a continuum of social studies’ stretching
from Edgar Bruce Wesley in 1935 to the latest social studies ideas from NCSS
(2010). The ideology of social studies has influenced the field in other countries,
including thoughts on social sciences/social science education in Indonesia.
Development of social science education thoughts

in Indonesia
The term social science/social science education first appeared in a national semi-
nar on civic education in 1972 in Tawang Mangu, Central Java. In the national
seminar report, three terms emerge and are used interchangeably, namely social
knowledge, social studies, and social science education. These were interpreted
as a study of selected social problems and developed using an interdisciplinary
approach aiming to make social problems understandable by students (Winata-
putra, 1978, p. 42). This understanding of social science education (SSE) agreed
at the Tawang Mangu national seminar is considered to be the first milestone in
the development of thinking about social science education (SSE) in Indonesia.
The concept of SSE first used in schools started in 1972–1973 as part of the
curriculum of the Pilot School Development Project of the Teacher Training and
Education Institute of Bandung (PPSP IKIP Bandung)/Pioneer School Devel-
opment Project Curriculum of the Bandung Institute of Teacher Training and
Education. This happened, perhaps coincidentally, some experts who became
thinkers in the Tawang Mangu national seminar, namely Achmad Sanusi, Noe-
man Somantri, Achmad Kosasih Djahiri, and Dedih Suwardi were lecturers at
IKIP Bandung (now the University Education of Indonesia – Universitas Pen-
didikan Indonesia). These pioneers became members of the PPSP Curriculum
Development Project. In the eight-year PPSP elementary school curriculum, the
term “national citizenship education/social studies” is used. The use of the term
social studies seems to be influenced by the thoughts of Achmad Sanusi, who in
1972 published a manuscript entitled whose content was colored by the ideas of
Leonard S. Kenworthy (1970) t in his book, Guide to Social Studies Teaching.
In the four-year PPSP middle school curriculum, three terms are used: (1) social
studies, as a core subject for all students and as a flagship for groups of social
subjects consisting of geography, history, and economics as major subjects in
the social department; (2) national citizenship education, as a core subject for all
majors, and (3) civics and law, as major subjects in the department of social affairs
(PPSP IKIP Bandung, 1973a, 1973b).
The PPSP IKIP Bandung curriculum can be seen as a second milestone in the
development of SSE ideology in Indonesia, namely the academic agreement on
the entry of SSE into the school curriculum. At this stage, the concept of SSE was
realized in three forms: (1) SSE integrated with the name of national citizenship
education/social studies; (2) separate SSE, where the term SSE is only used as an
umbrella concept for subjects in geography, history, and economics; (3) national
citizenship education as a special form of SSE, which is the a concept of the US
social studies tradition relating to the tradition of citizenship transmission (Barr
et al., 1977).
The SSE concept was subsequently adopted in the 1975 curriculum, which
in many cases adopted the innovations conducted by the PPSP IKIP Bandung
Curriculum. In the 1975 curriculum, SSE presents four profiles: (1) Pancasila
moral education replaces the national citizenship education as a special form of
SSE emboding the tradition of citizenship transmission; (2) integrated SSE for
elementary schools; (3) confined SSE for junior high schools where SSE is an
umbrella concept covering the subjects of geography, history and cooperative
economics; (4) a separate SSE covering the subjects of history, geography, and
economics for high school (SMA) or history and geography for teacher educa-
tion schools (SPG) (Dep. P dan K [Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan/
Table 7.3 Purpose of Social Subjects at Senior High School Level
96
Name of Subject Objective Tradition

National and General Instill an understanding of the development of society from the past to Citizenship transmission
History the present, foster a sense of nationality and love for the motherland
and a sense of pride as Indonesian citizens, and broaden the horizons of
community relations between nations in the world
Economics Provide knowledge of simple concepts, theories, and apply them to solve the Social studies taught as social
economic problems people face critically and objectively science
Sociology Provides the ability to critically understand various problems that arise in Social studies taught as social
daily life along with changes in society and culture, instill awareness of the science
need for community provisions, and be able to state themselves in various
socio-cultural situations according to their state, role, number, and social
values in society
Geography Provides the ability and rational attitude that is responsible for dealing with Social studies taught as social
natural phenomena and life on earth and the problems that arise due to science
interaction between humans and their environment
Economics Provides stock to students familiar with several simple economic concepts Social studies taught as social
(Social Program) and theories to explain facts, events, and economic problems encountered science
State Administration Improves the ability for students to understand the administration of the Social studies taught as social
state according to the state institutional system, the judicial system, the science
government system, the Republic of Indonesia, and other countries
Cultural History Implants understanding of the interconnectedness of the cultural Social studies taught as social
development of society in the past, present, and future for students to science
be aware of and appreciate the results and cultural values of the past and
present
Anthropology Provides knowledge about the process of cultural occurrence, its use and Social studies taught as social
manifestation in daily life; instill awareness of the need to respect the science
cultural values of a nation, especially the nation itself; and ultimately
it is also intended to instill awareness about the role of culture in the
development of society and the impact of cultural change on people’s lives
Source: Ministry of Education and Culture/MOEC (1993, pp. 29–33).
Ministry of Education and Culture/MOEC], 1975, 1975a, 1975b, 1975c,
1976). Such SSE concepts were maintained in the 1984 curriculum.
In 1994, the curriculum subject of Pancasila moral education changed its name
to “Pancasila Education and Citizenship (PPKn)/Pancasila and Civic Educa-
tion (PCE)”. Conceptually, these subjects are still in the field of SSE, specifi-
cally embracing the tradition of citizenship transmission with the main content
of Pancasila values (Panca (Sanskrit) means five, Sila (Sanskrit) means principle.
Pancasila means the five guiding principles of our nation’s life (of Indonesia) that
are organized using a spiral of concept development approach (Taba, 1967) and
an expanding environment approach by Paul R. Hanna (Stallones, 2002), with a
starting point at each of the precepts of Pancasila.
In the 1994 curriculum, PPKn became a special social subject to be followed by
all elementary school, junior high school, and senior high school students. There
were three forms of SSE subjects: (1) integrated SSE in elementary schools Grade
3 through Grade 6; (2) confined SSE in junior high schools to include material
on geography, history, and cooperative economics; (3) a separate SSE in high
school similar to the social studies tradition taught as social science (Barr et al.,
1977), consisting of subjects in national history and general history, economics,
geography in Grades 1 and 2; sociology in Grade 2, cultural history in Grade 3;
language program; economics, sociology, state administration, and anthropology
in Grade 3. Social programs have varied objectives. Based on its purpose, each
social subject has varied objectives, but its essence leads to two traditions of social
studies, which are briefly illustrated in Table 7.3.
From 1994 to 2013, there were different curriculum changes, but PPKn
remained a compulsory social subject followed by all elementary, junior high,
and senior high school students. The SSE subjects are still in three forms: (1) inte-
grated SSE in elementary schools; (2) confined SSE in junior high schools;
(3) separate SSE in high school. Thus, the development of SSE ideology embod-
ied in the school curriculum of Indonesia until the 2000s is underpinned by two
concepts: firstly, SSE taught in the tradition of citizenship transmission in the
form of PPKn subjects; secondly, SSE taught in the tradition of social studies
taught as a social science in the form of integrated SSE in primary schools, SSE is
confined in junior high school shovels, and SSE is separate in senior high schools.
Pancasila and civic education: SSE in the tradition

of citizenship transmission in Indonesia
Pancasila is Indonesia’s state philosophy and as such needs to be implemented
and enforced by all Indonesian citizens. Pancasila is a guide for the community,
nation, and state life in the context of global dynamics (Tjalla, 2019, p. 6). Based
on this ideology, in the 1994 curriculum, PPKn/PCE subjects were integrated.
In the previous period, the terms were used interchangeably, for example in the
PPSP IKIP Bandung Curriculum (1972–1973), the term “national citizenship
education/social studies” was used. In the 1975 and 1984 curriculum, the term
“Pancasila moral education”. PCE was SSE taught in the tradition of citizenship
transmission in Indonesian schools. These subjects are mandatory for all elemen-
tary, junior high, and senior high school students.
According to the 1994 curriculum, PCE was defined as,
subjects used as a vehicle to develop and preserve noble and moral values
that are rooted in the culture of the Indonesian people. These noble and
moral values are expected to be realized in the form of daily student behav-
ior, both as individuals and as members of society and creatures created by
God Almighty.
(Depdikbud/MOEC, 1993)
From this understanding, it can be seen that PCE belonged to the social stud-
ies tradition of citizenship transmission with values and morals derived from
Indonesian culture as its content. Moreover, examining closely the purpose of
PCE, which is to instill attitudes and behaviors in daily life and provide the abil-
ity to attend further education, a concept of articulation (Tyler, 1979) emerges.
Articulation, in this context, means that materials taught at lower levels are pro-
gressively developed in higher levels.
When Indonesia adopted the 2006 curriculum, the term PCE changed to civic
education (CE). This did not last long, however, since the term CE was reverted
to PCE when the 2013 curriculum came into effect. The 2013 curriculum placed
several emphases: (1) placing PCE as an integral part of a group of subjects hav-
ing a mission of strengthening nationality; (2) organizing competency standards,
basic competencies, and indicators to strengthen the values and morals of Pan-
casila, the values and the 1945 Constitution/Indonesia Constitution, the values
and spirit of unity in diversity, and the insights and commitments of the Unitary
State of the Republic of Indonesia. Besides, the 2013 curriculum strengthens
student development in the dimensions of “(1) civic knowledge, (2) civic dis-
position, (3) civic skill, (4) civic confidence, (5) civic commitment, and (6) civic
competence” (Kemdikbud, 2013, 2018).
The PCE subjects are based on three missions: (1) the mission of conserva-
tion education, namely developing and preserving the noble values of Pancasila;
(2) the mission of social and moral development, which is to develop and foster
students who are aware of their rights and obligations, obey applicable regula-
tions, and be virtuous; (3) the mission of socio-civic development, which is to
foster students to understand and be aware of the relationships between fam-
ily members, school, and community and in the life of the nation and state.
From these three missions, it is clear PCE reflects the tradition of “citizenship
transmission” which reflects a perennialist philosophy of education emphasiz-
ing education’s role to preserve “accepted and tested values” and philosophy of
education “essentialism” which emphasizes the development of “essential values”
(Brameld, 1965).
In the praxis of learning, however, the mission of PCE was to provide values
and moral education (Puskur, 1998), requiring a more teacher-centered learn-
ing process using the process of “inculcation” (CICED, 1999). Such conditions
indicate that PCE is conceptually not coherent, in the sense of not achieving
the continuity and wholeness between the conception of the objectives with the
instrumentation and pedagogical praxis. One reason is due to the dominance of
the principles of “psychology faculty”, which emphasizes the process of memo-
rizing exercises to help mature the mind. This contrasts with the concept and
principle of “field psychology”, which emphasizes the process of insight. Field
psychology gives birth to a more meaningful learning process such as the process
of problem-solving and “inquiry” (Winataputra, 2001).
Based on this analysis and the development of PCE in Indonesia to date, it
can be seen that there are fundamental paradigmatic weaknesses at both the con-
ceptual and the practical level. The most prominent are weaknesses in the con-
ceptualization of PCE, excessive emphasis on the behavioristic moral education
process, inconsistency in elaborating dimensions of national education goals into
the PCE curriculum, and isolation of the learning process of Pancasila moral val-
ues in the context of scientific and socio-cultural disciplines (Winataputra, 2001;
Suryadi & Budimansyah, 2017).
The conditions of social and political life in Indonesia during the New Order
(1966–1998) influenced the practice of PCE. This meant it was less reflective of
democratic civil ideals due to state agents conducting excessive political indoc-
trination. After the fall of the authoritarian regime, when indoctrination was no
longer allowed, there was a great hope that national life would become more
democratic. In the “reform” era (post-1998), the new citizenship discourse put
recognition of the rights of citizens as a central issue in a democratic pluralist soci-
ety. In this context, the struggle and acquisition of civil rights, human rights, and
social and political justice were believed to be more easily achieved (Kalidjernih,
2001). After two decades, however, it seems this hope has not been achieved
except as related to freedom of expression, where the opportunities available
are far more extensive compared to opportunities in the previous authoritarian
regime (Kalidjernih, 2008). On the other hand, in the era of “democratic transi-
tion”, the Indonesian people were confronted with various phenomena of public
life that were genuinely concerning.
The turbulent situation after the reform can be explained sociologically because
it has links with social structures and cultural systems that were built in the past.
Trying to read the post-1998 reform situation, some fundamental sociological
symptoms are the source of various shocks in Indonesian society nowadays. First,
it is a sad fact after the fall of the “autocratic” power structure of the New Order
regime, it turned out that it was not that democracy was gained. Rather, it was an
oligarchy where power was concentrated in a small group of elites. At the same
time, the majority of the people (demos) remained far from sources of power
(authority, money, law, information, education, etc.). Although the oligarchy
was hatched and raised by Suharto’s New Order, it changed dramatically as the
Suharto regime fell (Winters, 2013), and their control became stronger (Robin-
son & Hadiz, 2004).
It seems all symbols considered effective in mobilizing the people are used by
these small groups to force their will in the post-reform era. All this happened
whether realized or not by the elites who were indeed suffering from “political
myopia” (i.e., only oriented toward the election, not long-term goals). Thus, all
the moral directions of the nation are practically controlled by small groups that
tend to be partisan and primordial. Politics operates in the sense of the Machia-
vellian, for the accumulation of individual power resources such as wealth, posi-
tion, and status is achieved through clever strategic decisions, including decisions
made since planning political and economic alliances or embracing and winning
votes in elections (Liddle, 2013). The results of decentralization in some areas
have disappointed; corruption and money politics remain rampant, reforms in the
regions are taking place, district governments remain infertile, and many other
diseases abound.
These pathologies were born due to the fundamental interests of “predator”
groups at the local level, which were not paralyzed at the collapse of the New
Order (Hadiz, 2010). On the contrary, regime change in Jakarta created new
pressures for local elites to utilize as much power as delegated to them to protect
their own economic and political interests (Robinson & Hadiz, 2013).
As a result, decentralization did not produce the results promised by most of
its supporters; some of which even revealed several empirical cases that could be
explained by oligarchic-based theoretical analysis (Aspinal & Mietzner, 2010).
Second, the source of various shocks in post-reform Indonesian society is the
result of the emergence of socio-cultural animosity. These symptoms appear and
become increasingly post-collapse after the New Order regime. When the New
Order regime was successfully overthrown, the pattern of conflict in Indonesia
increased. It occurred not only between fanatics of the New Order and sup-
porters of the Reformation, but expanded into conflicts between clans, religious
believers, social classes, and so on. Its nature was not vertical, between the upper
classes and lower classes, but more often horizontal, between the ordinary peo-
ple, for the conflicts that occur are not corrective conflicts but destructive (not
functional but dysfunctional), as if Indonesia as a nation is destroying itself (self-
destroying nation).
Another feature of the conflict that occurred in Indonesia is not only those
that are open (manifest conflict) but even more dangerous is the hidden conflict
(latent conflict) between various groups. Socio-cultural animosity is a socio-cul-
tural hatred derived from differences in cultural characteristics and differences in
a fate given by history, for there is an element of desire for revenge. This hidden
conflict is latent because there are hate socialization mechanisms that take place
in almost all socialization institutions in society (ranging from families, schools,
villages, places of worship, media organizations, political organizations, etc.)
(Budimansyah, 2011).
As seen at the process integration of the Indonesian nation, the problem lies
in the lack of developing natural and participatory value agreements (norma-
tive integration) and relying more on the power approach (coercive integration).
Based on this reality, the ideals of reform to build a new Indonesian society should
be conducted by building on the results of an overhaul of the overall order of
life in the past. The core of these ideals is that a democratic civil society has
an adaptive Indonesian character in the global era (Budimansyah, 2016, 2018).
Therefore, PCE pedagogical instrumentation and praxis should produce mean-
ingful, integrated, value-based, challenging, and activating learning processes
(Budimansyah, Suharto, & Nurulpaik, 2019).
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8 The development of social
studies education in Myanmar
Thaw Zin Oo
Introduction
It has been pointed out that “before military rule was imposed in 1962, Myan-
mar’s education system was among the best in Asia” (Kende-Robb, 2017). It is
now outdated and in a weak state (Haydena & Martin, 2013). For the Myan-
mar education system to be the best again in Asia and in the world, the current
government is changing the school system including curriculum, improving
teacher education, school infrastructure and so many things concerning the
country’s education. These education changes started in 2011.
According to the Oxford Business Group (2019), the Ministry of Education
has identified five segments in the reform: Early Childhood Care and Devel-
opment (ECCD), Basic Education, Alternative Education, Technical and Voca-
tional Education Training and Higher Education. This chapter will focus only on
social studies education as part of the reform to Basic Education. The first part
of the chapter will explain the Myanmar education system briefly and the devel-
opment of social studies education. The second part will highlight reforms in
general with a focus on social studies education under two civilian governments
involving first the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and then
the Nation League for Democracy (NLD). The first two parts of the chapter will
be developed based on secondary data from government websites, literature and
academic articles. The final part of this chapter will be more a prediction about
Myanmar social studies education with the help of scholars from the field of social
studies.
Background to Myanmar
The Republic of the Union of Myanmar has a long history that can be traced
back at least until 200 BC. By the 11th century, an empire had been established
by King Anawrahta to be replaced by the second empire of King Bayinnaung in
the 16th century. Colonial encroachment from the British commenced in 1824,
and by 1885 they had supplanted the last king and 60 years of colonial rule
began. It was interrupted between 1942–1945 by the Japanese invasion, but the
British returned in 1945. What was then Burma was given independence from
British colonial rule in 1948.
Social studies education in Myanmar 105
According to the Ministry of Hotel and Tourism (2020), the modern Republic
of the Union of Myanmar is part of Southeast Asia, and it is a member of Associa-
tion of Southeast Asian Nations. It shares borders with China, India, Bangladesh,
Laos and Thailand and is also bordered by the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal.
Within Myanmar there are seven regions – Yangon, Mandalay, Magway, Sagaing,
Bago, Ayeyarwaddy and Tanintharyi – as well as seven states – Kachin, Kayah,
Kayin, Chin, Mon, Rakhine and Shan. There is also the Naypyidaw Union Terri-
tory, in which Myanmar’s capital city, Naypyidaw, is located. Within these broader
administrative areas, there are districts, townships and wards/village tracts.
According to the national census of 2014, the total population of Myanmar is
51,419,420. The government identifies eight major national ethnic races, recog-
nizing 135 indigenous ethnic groups including Kachin, Kayah, Kayin, Chin, Mon,
Rakhine and Shan. Half of the population is made up of the Burmese people (from
where the English term “Burmese” comes (Department of Population, 2014).
According to the United Nation Development Program (2019), the Human
Development Index for Myanmar is 0.584 and the literacy rate is 89.52 percent
(United Nations Development Program, 2019).
Development of social studies education in Myanmar

Social studies education has been a part of Myanmar’s education system since
British colonial time. Before British colonization, there was only monastic educa-
tion. Monks from monasteries in different areas taught basic writing of Myanmar
languages and Buddhist literature. From the beginning of British rule, Myan-
mar education system shifted from monastic education to classroom education.
Scholars (Salem-Gervais & Metro, 2012) pointed out that the British govern-
ment introduced history and geography subjects at school level in the 19th cen-
tury. In 1945, just prior to independence, Thein (2000, p. 5) explained that the
British government formed the Department of Education in order to implement
the Simla Scheme of Education Rehabilitation. They financed the project out of
their military budget. As the first step in the Simla Scheme, they opened 2,060
primary schools and 42 post-primary schools. In 1947, the Education Recon-
struction Committee, which was responsible for reviewing the education system,
reported the current education situation and the proposal for its reconstruction
with the aim of creating a homogeneous education system. In the report, they
suggested that the whole education system of Burma should be state provided
and state controlled. The report also emphasized re-designing the curriculum
and the committee considered geography and history as two of the basic subjects
for both primary and post-primary (Thein 2000, p. 6).
Before independence, religious instruction was regarded as a social stud-
ies subject, and the Education Rehabilitation Committee integrated religious
instruction, especially about Buddhism, into social studies. After independence,
however, there was no consideration given to including religious instruction in
schools. That happened because of the re-oriented curriculum in accordance
with the new educational aims and policy which was set by the government of
106 Thaw Zin Oo
the Union of Burma led by U Nu who was the first prime minister of the then
Burma. The new educational policy pointed out there were no charges for stu-
dents in public schools, from the primary to university level. The school structure
was KG 5–3–3. While there was no more religious instruction as part of social
studies education at public schools, the government did allow Buddhist monks
and other religious teachers to give instruction about religion at their respective
areas, especially in monasteries and churches.
In 1964, the military government enacted the Basic Education Law replacing
it in 1973 and amending it in 1983 and 1998 when the government under-
took basic education reforms. Curriculum reform extended to the academic year
2015–2016. The military government set up an educational long-term plan in
2001 designed to last for 30 years. Soe, Aye, Nan, & Nan (2017, p. 7) indicated
that it was called the 30-Year Long Term Basic Education Plan (2001/02 to
2030/31). The plan consisted of ten programs for basic education and 36 pro-
grams for higher education, implemented in six phases each of five years duration.
Obscure role of social studies in Myanmar’s education

There was a serious military coup in Burma in 1962, and General Ne Win became
the head of the country, ruling from 1962 to 1988. He formed the Revolution-
ary Council along with the military junta and then he proclaimed its political
program entitled “The Burmese way to Socialism”. He also made many changes
to education sectors. He nationalized all schools and did not allowed Buddhist
monastic schools and Christian missionary schools to run nationwide. His new
education structure was 5–4–2 including Kindergarten, and it guided parents to
send their children at Age 5 to start the learning journey for their children. As a
socialist leader, he re-designed the education system based on the socialist moral
values. He believed that it could help to get opportunity equally for the people in
country and he strongly emphasized science subject learning and teaching in edu-
cation to increase productivity of the country. As a result of conducting a closed
economy by the government, there was neither foreign trade nor investment in
Burma. To fulfill the needs of the country, especially for doctors and engineers,
the military government created more jobs for medical work and engineering
so that medical and engineering jobs became very popular in Myanmar society.
This meant that an estimated 70 percent of high school students chose the sci-
ence stream which combines subjects including Burmese, English, mathematics,
physics, chemistry and biology because they could go to medical and engineering
institutes after high school learning. Those who were interested in arts subjects
could choose one from two different combinations which consisted of Burmese,
English, mathematics, economics, history and geography or Burmese, English,
optional Burmese, additional English, history and geography. The result of this
segregation was a downgrading of social studies subjects such as history, geog-
raphy, sociology and psychology in education. The rule of the oppressive junta
lasted about 50 years (1962–2011), which means the role of social studies educa-
tion in Myanmar was obscured for almost 50 years.
USDP background
Aung (2020) outlined the role of the military government that was referred to as
the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). It was led by General Than
Shwe for almost 20 years (1992–2011). In 2008, SPDC began debating bills
to amend the military-drafted 2008 constitution. It included a proposal from
the military-allied Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) that could
significantly redraw the constitutional balance of power between the military and
the parliamentary-elected president (Gelbort, 2020).
The Union Solidarity and Development Party became the official political
party on 8 June 2010, registering in the Union Election Commission. Its lead-
ership was made up mostly of former military officers. Myanmar held a general
election on 7 November 2010 in which the USDP won 882 seats out of 1154
(Irrawaddy, 2020a). Other political parties and international organizations were
concerned about the fairness of the election. The National League for Democ-
racy (NLD) even boycotted the election. Former General Thein Sein was elected
by the parliament as the president becoming the 8th President of the Republic of
the Union of Myanmar.
USDP’s education reform

From 2011, the civilian government led by Thein Sein initiated multiple reforms
including an education sector review. The government tried to upgrade many
sectors of the country to the standard of a democratic country. They gave top
priority to reforming the education system, starting with the purpose for devel-
oping human resources. In order to find a solution to the challenges and gaps in
the current education system, the government in collaboration with development
partners undertook a Comprehensive Education Sector Review (CESR). This
project was financed by international organizations (Asian Development Bank,
2013). In late 2013, the government formed an Education Promotion Imple-
mentation Committee (EPIC) to draft policies for implementation of education
reform. The CESR focused on developing recommendations for reform of the
education system and impact of EPIC. A new education law developed an over-
arching framework for education reform. Two strategic plans were drawn up
(2014–2016) and (2016–2021) for implementation of education reform. In May
2015, the government launched the Basic Education Curriculum Framework.
The first step in government reforms was to increase the budget for education.
A new education law was published, and government school fees were removed.
In the five-year term of the USDP, free education was provided for students in
primary and middle schools. As part of the education reform, the government
enacted the National Education Law in 2014 and amended it in 2015 (Govern-
ment of the Union of the Republic of Myanmar, 2016). In order to reduce drop-
out rates and to increase transition rates from primary to secondary school, the
USDP government planned to restructure school system from 11 years (5–4–2)
to correspond with 12 years of schooling as the international norm. This objec-
tive, however, was not implemented in the term of office (Soe et al., 2017).
108 Thaw Zin Oo
Status and significance of social studies education
Social studies subjects are taught at all school levels: from primary to high school.
These subjects are compulsory in both primary and middle school curriculum.
Geography and history are common subjects of social studies education in the
basic education curriculum. In the old education system, Kindergarten had been
regarded as Grade 1 from1988. The basic education system comprised five years
for primary, four years for middle/lower secondary and two years for higher/
upper secondary (Education System in Myanmar, n.d.).
In primary education, social studies (referred to locally as “Lumuhyay” was
developed with history and geography content, while geography, history and
economics were taught separately in middle schools. Economics became an elec-
tive social studies subject for high school students. Those who passed their Grade
8 examination, which is the last grade for middle school students, had to choose
one out of seven subjects grouping to continue studying at the high schools. The
seven subject groups are:
1 Myanmar, English, mathematics, physics, chemistry, economics

2 Myanmar, English, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology
3 Myanmar, English, mathematics, geography, history, optional Myanmar
4 Myanmar, English, mathematics, geography, economics, optional Myanmar
5 Myanmar, English, mathematics, history, economics, optional Myanmar
6 Myanmar, English, mathematics, history, physics, chemistry
7 Myanmar, English, mathematics, physics, chemistry, optional Myanmar
Thein (2000, p. 15) indicated that Myanmar, English and mathematics sub-
jects are core in every group and other subjects are elective. The first two groups
were popular among students, and most students prefer to study the first one
because it is easy to get distinction in economics subject which is written in
Burmese language compared to the second one with biology subject, written in
English language. Social studies subjects like history, geography and economics
were included in five groups out of seven, but they were not core subjects.
Curriculum reform for social studies education

During the term of the USDP, there were very few changes in the curriculum of
basic education. Yet the government sought to improve basic education curricu-
lum with the help of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Starting
in 2014, changes were suggested for the primary school curriculum under Create
Project (JICA, 2020). This involved (JICA, 2017):
Approximately 40 Japanese education experts with vast experience in Japan

and overseas provided multifaceted technical support in various areas such as
subject content, effective teaching and learning, methods, textbooks editing
and design, teacher training and assessment in order to move the education
system forward and to create the next generation of Myanmar citizens.
Assessment strategies for social studies
Than (2017) pointed out the differences between the old and the new assess-
ment systems. Under the old curriculum, schools held chapter-end exams called
monthly exam and final exam according to the schedule of the individual schools.
These tests were held three times in June, July and August for Grades 2–10. For
Grades 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 9 the tests were 25 marks per subject, and for Grades 4, 8
and 10, for the August test, they were 50 marks. It was a complicated system and
caused a great of confusion. The new system, in which social studies is included
for both primary and middle schools, is a “no-failure system” so the pressure
of constant assessment has been removed. One student commented, “I like the
present examination system that was changed from a confusing one”. There are
still examinations, four times a year, with a simplified grading system that is easier
to understand and is linked to the new curriculum.
Teacher education and policy for social studies teaching

There are many ways to become a basic education teacher. There are two Univer-
sities of Education under the Department for Higher Education offering a Bach-
elor of Education (BEd) course. The four-year BEd course has been extended
to five years from the 2012–2013 academic year. The two subjects grouping –
science, arts and social studies or physics, chemistry and economics – are popu-
lar among BEd trained teachers. In addition, students have to study Myanmar,
English, mathematics, teaching pedagogy and education theory, and psychol-
ogy. After five years of study, graduates are qualified to teach students in mid-
dle and high schools. They can teach any subject out of one combination they
study in university. There are also 25 education colleges in Myanmar, and those
who graduate from education colleges are qualified to teach in primary schools
(UNESCO, 2016).
Social studies education under the National League

for Democracy (NLD)
NLD background
“The National League for Democracy was born out of the political tumult
of 1988, when a massive pro-democracy uprising rocked the nation and top-
pled the government of General Ne Win” (The Irrawaddy, 2020b). Aung San
Suu Kyi, daughter of Myanmar national hero, Gen Aung San, is the leader of
the NLD party. In NLD party history, the 1990 election was the first one in
which they won 392 out of 485 seats. Despite this popular victory, the NLD
could not organize a new government because of the power of the then mili-
tary regime. The military government kept party leader, Aung San Suu Kyi,
under house arrest for 20 years (1990–2010). Her party boycotted the 2010
general election, resulting in a decisive victory for the military-backed Union
110 Thaw Zin Oo
Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). The NLD party decided to join
the 2012 by-election and won 43 out of 45 seats. The second general election
was held nationwide in November 2015 under Myanmar’s current constitu-
tion (adopted in 2008). In the 2015 election, NLD won 136 of 224 seats in
the upper House of Nationalities (Amyotha Hluttaw) and 225 of 440 seats in
the lower House of Representatives (Pyithu Hluttaw). Both of these results
were a major victory, with the party forming a majority by itself in the parlia-
ment (Partners in Asia, 2020).
NLD’s education reform

The NLD’s 2015 election manifesto was that “Education begins on the day of
birth and continues through life. Therefore, the NLD will strive to establish
opportunities for lifelong learning and the obtaining of a beneficial and valuable
education” (National League for Democracy, 2015), and this has become the
manifesto of the NLD government. Since the start of its term, the NLD govern-
ment has been making big changes in education with the purpose of enabling the
Myanmar education system to reach international standards. The government
was faced with an incomplete education reform process that has been described
earlier under the government of the Union Solidarity and Development Party led
by Thein Sein (Lall, 2016).
The NLD government set out to finish and implement educational projects
initiated bythe previous government. The NLD launched the National Educa-
tion Strategic Plan (2016–2020) in 2017. They had also developed Myanmar
National Curriculum Framework as a first step of significant reform of educa-
tion following changes of syllabi and textbooks. Redesigning teacher’s guides,
teaching methods and assessment approaches, which will fix with new education
system, were the next step of education reform. They have undertaken middle
school curriculum reform with the help of the Asian Development Bank (ADB)
and are reforming the high school curriculum with the help of the European
Union (EU). The NLD government introduced KG–12 system in 2016–2017,
and new Kindergarten program started for children of Age 5 in June 2016. A
primary Grade 1 started in June 2017 for children of Age 6. Those Grade 1 stu-
dents and students from below Grade 9 are included in the new education system
from the 2020–2021 academic year. Students from the new education system will
study five years of primary school, four years of middle school and three years of
high school. This makes the length of basic education equivalent to international
standards (Maung, 2018).
Status and significance of social studies education

At primary level, social studies are core subjects. Geography and history take the
role as social studies subjects in middle and high schools. Social studies subjects
of Grade 10 and 11 from high school focus on country and region while broad-
ening to a global world focus in Grade 12 as shown in Table 8.1:
Table 8.1 Social Studies Across the Curriculum
Primary education Middle school education High school education

(from Grade 1 to (from Grade 6 to (from Grade 10 to Grade 12)
Grade 5) Grade 9)
1 Social Studies 1 Geography 1 Geography

2 History 2 History, Myanmar and World
3 People, Places and Environment
4 Global Development
5 Economics
6 Global Economy
Source: Myanmar National Curriculum Framework (5th version, n.d.), p. 7, 11, 14, 15.
Table 8.2 Main Aspects of Myanmar’s Teacher Education Provision
Universities of Education (UoE) Provide a five-year BEd; qualifying

teachers to teach in high school
University of Development of National Provide free teacher training to ethnic
Races (UDNR) minorities
Education Colleges (ECs) Are affiliated to a UoE, providing a
four-year BEd; qualifying teachers to
teach in primary and middle school
Source: Based on UNESCO (2016, pp. 12–13).
Teacher education and policy for social studies teaching

According to the education curriculum review of Ministry of Education, there
are multiple ways to train to become a teacher, but the expectation is that all
teachers will have a degree after completing a minimum of a four-year degree
course. Degree-level teacher education courses are delivered at both university
and college level. Since the 2019–2020 academic year, the Ministry of Educa-
tion upgraded the two-year training courses run by the education colleges to
four years. To apply for the education college, candidates need a minimum score
of 400 out of 600 in their matriculation exam; candidates for university need a
higher score of 450 out of 600. At four-year education colleges, student teach-
ers are divided into two groups: primary and middle school, according to their
Year 1 assessment marks. Primary school teachers train as generalist teaching staff
with a focus on teaching early literacy and numeracy. Middle school teachers are
trained as subject area specialists to teach three core subjects (Myanmar, English,
mathematics) and one elective subject; social studies (history and geography),
art, morality and civics are the four elective subjects (UNESCO, 2016).
Assessment strategy for social studies education

There is no specific assessment strategy for social studies subjects such as geog-
raphy, history and economics. All subjects taught at basic education schools are
112 Thaw Zin Oo
assessed. A new assessment strategy was developed by the NLD government. They
are (1) Classroom-level assessment, (2) School-level assessment, (3) Assessment at
the completion of each basic education level, (4) National-level assessment which
cover primary, middle and high schools as shown in Table 8.3:
Table 8.3 Levels of Assessment in Myanmar’s Education System
Classroom-level Formative assessment is applied by using written exams, giving

assessment homework, or observing activities at the end of each lesson.
School-level First and second term tests and year-end exam are conducted for
assessment each grade. Depending on the results of these tests as well as
the classroom-level assessment, students will be promoted to
the following grade.
Assessment Assessment for primary and middle school levels are conducted
at the yearly by using a written exam at local level and central level
completion for high school education. The exam at the completion of
of each basic primary is conducted at district or township levels, conducting
education middle school education at regional or state levels. These
level exams are held to assess how students achieved the objectives
of their respective school levels.
Students who passed these exams are awarded primary, middle
and high school education completion certificate and allowed
to step to next level of study.
If a student from primary and middle schools fails in the exam,
they have to re-sit for the exam in the same academic year.
In the final year of high school, if the students fail a subject or
more, they may re-sit that subject in the next supplementary
examination cycle.
National-level At the end of Grade 3, Grade 7 and Grade 11, students’
assessment achievement over the main learning areas is assessed regularly
every year or every other year as the national-level assessment
in order to identify the sample status of students’ achievement.
Source: Based on Myanmar National Curriculum Framework (5th version, n.d.), p. 18, 19.
Scholars’ predictions on social studies education

for the next decade
Mya Than, social studies lecturer

Most of the students study science subject combination more than art sub-
ject combination because of the influences of their parents and friends. Social
studies subjects have been known as art subjects in Myanmar for many years.
Most people from Myanmar society think that studying science subjects is more
decent than studying arts subjects. Thus, most of the parents encourage their
children to specialize in one science subject when they read at university. It’s
normal in Myanmar. However, I think that the new four-year education degree
college system can reduce the study of science subject. In the new system, stu-
dents have to study all of the subjects in Years 1 and 2, and they must choose
their specialization for Years 3 and 4 based on the academic achievement of
Years 1 and 2. Those who perform well in academics in Years 1 and 2 can
choose one of science and art subject combination. Those who do not perform
well in same years can only choose art subjects combination. But they all will be
paid the same salary by the government. So, I think students will prefer learning
arts because of the same salary. As a result of surplus learning of science sub-
ject, there is shortage of social studies teachers at basic education level. So, the
government has to draw a new, good policy to improve learning social studies
in the next decade.
Dr. Aung Kyaw, Professor, Geography

Since the beginning of Myanmar education, social studies subjects like history
and geography have been taught. Generally, these subjects are not popular in
lower GDP countries like Myanmar. From 2014 to 2018, I did not see more than
400 social studies exam papers of matriculation students from Yangon region.
But, in 2019, the answer papers increased up to 15,000. Based on this number,
we can see the progress of social studies at the basic education level in Myanmar.
Jobs for a large percentage of graduates from universities are not determined by
their qualifications. They cannot follow their hobby and passion because of their
living standard. If the income of people increases, I think they will be encouraged
to study subjects like life science and social studies more than science subjects.
Whether social studies learning will increase or not in the next decade will be
directly connected to the GDP of our country.
Dr. Khin Maung, Professor, History

I am one of the members of basic education history curriculum development
team. Every year, university teachers are assigned to assess exam papers of matric-
ulation students. So, I am familiar with basic education history curriculum and
the nature of study social studies. Students from suburban areas and rural areas
study more social studies subjects which are written in Burmese. In urban areas
like Yangon and Mandalay, students choose to study science subjects because
they are good enough at English and mathematics. But social studies subjects
are compulsory at basic education level, so students have the chance to study
these subjects then. So, they will have more knowledge about social studies than
students from the old education system. I am not sure they will continue to study
these subjects at the higher education level.
Dr. Khin Khin, Professor, Economics

The importance of social studies education has been influenced by the politi-
cal climate in Myanmar. As a developing country, Myanmar needs to invest in
human resource development, and economics is one of the subjects from the
social studies groups that can help. The government has to encourage people to
114 Thaw Zin Oo
study economics. Now, there are only three economics universities in Myanmar,
and the government must consider creating more space for teaching economics.
On the other hand, there are many unqualified teachers teaching social studies,
so the government also has to try to train student teachers to give effective social
studies teaching education to improve social studies learning in Myanmar society
in the next decade.
Conclusion
To conclude, social studies education in Myanmar can be categorized into two
periods before and after the 21st century. In the first half of the 20th century, when
Myanmar was still a British colony, social studies education was used to inculcate
a sense of loyalty to the British via geography and history teaching. It was named
“slave education” by Burmese nationalists. In the early second half of 21st century,
Myanmar had gained its independence and Myanmar authorities allowed religious
instruction with history and geography teaching as social studies education. Before
1962, the role of social studies education was seen to be an important subject
because of its potential to shape the minds of people to be good and can drive
people to be good citizens. Unfortunately, after the 1962 military dictatorship, the
government’s interest in social studies education declined, and the military govern-
ment highlighted socialism and promoted science teaching and learning to achieve
their political goal. For about 60 years, science subjects were highlighted in Myan-
mar education and in the labor market and were very popular in Myanmar society.
This happened because of the values of the political leader, General Ne Win.
Following 2011, Myanmar’s military regime was transformed, moving toward
democracy with a civilian government. A priority of this transformation was edu-
cation reform. As part of the reform process, social studies education has not
been given priority. Yet as an ethnically diverse country often characterized by
conflict, it is essential to give priority to social studies teaching in schools. If the
government can develop suitable social studies curriculum to meet the country’s
unique needs, this could result in many benefits that are needed to resolve sig-
nificant social conflict. While this chapter has covered social studies education
from basic education, further research should focus on social studies education in
Myanmar higher education.
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Section 3
Social studies education in
classrooms
9 Marginalised students
and their contexts
A case from India
Mousumi Mukherjee and Sahil Jain
Introduction
As discussed in Chapter 2, drawing on progressive practices of learner-centric
and critical constructivist pedagogy, the National Curriculum Framework (2005)
outlined broad curricular priorities in a fast-changing world driven by rapid eco-
nomic globalisation. However, at the beginning of the book, while discussing the
social context of education in India, the authors highlight that:
The education system does not function in isolation from the society of
which it is a part. Hierarchies of caste, economic status and gender relations,
cultural diversity as well as the uneven economic development that character-
ise Indian society also deeply influence access to education and participation
of children in school. This is reflected in the sharp disparities between dif-
ferent social and economic groups, which are seen in school enrolment and
completion rates. Thus, girls belonging to SC and ST communities among
the rural and urban poor and the disadvantaged sections of religious and
other ethnic minorities are educationally most vulnerable. In urban loca-
tions and many villages, the school system itself is stratified and provides
children with strikingly different educational experiences. Unequal gender
relations not only perpetuate domination but also create anxieties and stunt
the freedom of both boys and girls to develop their human capacities to their
fullest. It is in the interest of all to liberate human beings from the existing
inequalities of gender.
(NCERT, 2005, p. 9)
Hence, promoting equality through education has been a major curriculum pri-
ority. The contents in the NCERT upper-primary social science textbooks, there-
fore, reveal this curricular priority to instil the values of equality and respect for
all as citizens of a democratic nation-state, irrespective of caste, class, gender and
religious differences. Yet, 70 years after the constitutional law sought to usher in
a more equal, just and democratic society and despite the national curriculum
priorities, the vestiges of the rigid social divisions still persist within the Indian
society. Schools, like all other social institutions, are very much part of the society
120 Mousumi Mukherjee and Sahil Jain
where they operate. Even schools with a vision for creating a more equal and
democratic society operate in the existing unequal context.
The case
This chapter draws on ethnographic field observations and interactions with
students and teachers in a number of residential schools run by a non-gov-
ernmental civil society organisation, Saathi,1 that serves underserved students
from marginalised communities. This organisation is also well-known within the
Indian context for implementing innovative social science teaching programme,
scientific enquiry-based learning and primary education programmes in the
government-run schools. The research was exploratory in nature and did not
begin with any research question framed by the researchers. The goal was to
observe and understand the “work processes” and the “social relations” facili-
tating Saathi’s work (Smith, 2005). The research involved community-based
participatory methodology (Hall & Tandon, 2017). One of the researchers
embedded himself as a volunteer worker in the organisation to learn about their
science education programme and then work with other staff members of the
organisation across the schools. The researcher first learnt about the theoretical
rationale behind the science education programme. Further, in order to better
understand the theoretical underpinnings, the researcher visited the field-sites,
i.e. the residential schools, to understand the different aspects of the project and
to interact with the teachers, students and the other staff involved in the func-
tioning of the school.
The field visit was six weeks long, which was to be completed in three different
visits and was exploratory in nature. During these visits, the researcher covered
more than 16 different residential schools and visited a few of the schools repeat-
edly to develop a deeper understanding of these schools and the various stake-
holders involved. The researcher, along with the organisation’s training staff,
also stayed overnight in three different schools so that they could interact and
develop stronger connections with students, teachers, and other staff. The longer
overnight stays in these residential schools were arranged by the organisation
to develop rapport with the school community, so that feelings of shyness and
strangeness would disappear, and they would be able to connect more and, so
that they could open up more frankly.
Based on empirical data from the field, this chapter argues that, despite the
much-acclaimed, innovative social science teaching methods, the social practices
of the larger society, where the schools are embedded, is reflected in peer-group
formations, classroom participation and interactions in these schools. Therefore,
this chapter concludes that a lot of work still needs to be done in India in order
to establish a more equal and democratic society. Just as the Constitution of India
had released an equalising legal force to usher in change 70 years ago, the work of
these civil society organisation-run schools is also very important to bring more
change within the indigenous Indian society in the future.
Marginalised students and their contexts 121
The organisational context
The civil society organisation, Saathi (Hindi word, meaning a partner) is a not-
for-profit voluntary organisation working in the field of education. The organ-
isation believes that the education system needs innovations that respond to the
needs of children and that redefine the role of teachers. For the last three decades
and more, the organisation has been striving to translate this dream into a lived
reality for all children. In collaboration with its various educational programmes,
development and dissemination of educational material has also been a significant
focus for the organisation. The ultimate focus is towards a shift in emphasis from
rote learning of scientific facts and techniques to helping children to understand
the structure of scientific enquiry through experimentation and discovery.
The organisation encourages science learning through the concepts of “learn-
ing through exploration”, “learning by activity” and “learning from the envi-
ronment” in contrast to the predominant textbook-based “learning by rote”.
It aims to bring research and observation to the core stage of learning science
at the upper primary level of education. The need of the day is to bring science
into the lives of today’s children and youth in such a way that it encourages a
spirit of curiosity and open exploration. Hence, the organisation introduces to
the students the science that touches their lives and helps bring about positive
changes in their lived environment. It nurtures the child-like inquisitiveness and
curiosity, develops interests and capabilities in open-ended enquiry, explorations,
experimentation, observation and reasoning. A low-cost, easy-to-handle teaching
kit has been developed for this purpose, with many of its items available locally to
promote more experiments in every class.
The organisation is also working on the development of material and content
development in various indigenous languages such as Hindi, English, Marathi,
Gujarati, Bangla, Urdu and other regional languages. The overriding concern
is to keep the reading material close to the life and environment of the readers
and also produce it at a price they can afford. The organisation with the help
of the state government has been putting a lot of emphasis and effort towards
including tribal children into mainstream Indian society. In most of the residen-
tial schools, children usually have troubled backgrounds or come from financially
weaker backgrounds. The organisation runs its own residential schools and also
works with the residential schools run by the state government for tribal children.
The school environment

The background and the surrounding play a crucial role in the upbringing of the
children. In India, tribal communities have been marginalised, underprivileged
and exploited in different ways. Tribal populations have traditionally inhabited
more remote and inaccessible areas of the country, which remain a critical chal-
lenge to ensure sustainable growth for these groups today. The majority of tribal
groups have been plagued by various economic, social, cultural and geographical
disadvantages. Tribal groups tend to have one of the lowest rates of enrolment
and retention in the country. In most cases, they are also unable to reap the fruits
of modernisation and technological development. Only education can make it
possible for them to throw off centuries of oppression. With the power of knowl-
edge, they will empower themselves and develop confidence and courage to over-
come the barriers of their everyday lives. Several organisations have been working
towards overcoming this barrier with the help of the government.
Theoretically and philosophically, governmental and non-governmental organ-
isations, such as Saathi, are trying to eliminate the social differences, but the
age-old social structure cannot be uprooted with a few years of incredible work.
For example, the classrooms visited during fieldwork were poorly ventilated, and
a large number of schools used their classrooms as living spaces. All the schools
(along with the different types of management) had toilets, but cleanliness was a
matter of concern. Most of the local body schools also did not have clean bath-
rooms. Drinking water was available in all the schools, but the quality was a real
concern. These schools had several other issues such as lack of living space for
teachers in schools, so many of them were not living in the residential schools.
Health issues and security concerns for teachers were also observed because of
lack of proper infrastructure.
School infrastructure also plays a crucial role in students’ education. In a major-
ity of the schools, students belonging to primary classes had to sit on the floor
without the basic infrastructure such as the chairs or desks. Students in the senior
classes, however, had a proper blackboard, desk and chairs. Since the students in
the higher classes, i.e. Classes 10 and 12, had to take exams, better arrangements
were made for them. Due to such arrangements, the students felt that for primary
classes studies were not so important. But in schools where the primary classes
had better infrastructure, the students were observed to be better motivated.
They felt a sense of dignity and were much more dedicated to classroom activities
and the spaces in the classroom felt more student/child friendly.
There are numerous factors that influence a child’s upbringing. Just before
starting school, children’s education starts with the vocabulary used to commu-
nicate at home; the behaviour and the environment all contribute towards it. The
majority of children in residential schools belong to marginalised families and
are mostly first-generation learners. For them, these residential schools provide
value-based education in a stress-free environment that enables students to iden-
tify and develop their inner talents to the fullest extent possible. Even before the
children come to the residential schools, however, they already have learnt norms
and behaviour outside the school environment.
Though Saathi trains all the teaching and non-teaching staff to follow the values
of equality and respect, even the teaching and non-teaching staff members bring
with them social norms and behaviour pattern from outside the school. As stated
earlier, this research and the field visits were exploratory in nature. However, dur-
ing the field visits, the researcher could obviously observe how the social norms
of the larger society were actually playing out even inside the schools run by the
organisation that is seeking to promote the values of equality and respect through
education. Based on the analysis of field observations, the following section of
this chapter has been broadly grouped under three sections – peer-group forma-
tion, classroom participation and general social interactions inside the schools.
Peer-group formation
Peer-group formation is a process of growth in which an individual has a sense of
self. One of the main factors that influence the formation of a person’s identity
is his or her friends. As these organisations are working with the students who
are staying in residential school, this kind of growth takes place for the majority
of them within the context of this residential space. The influence on the child
can have a positive as well as negative impact. Within the larger Indian context, a
very curious and intelligent girl who is a bookworm and always asks lot of ques-
tions is a total misfit. The public social norm for a girl/woman in India is to be
“chup” (silent), even among the most educated communities of people in India
(Narayan, 2018). Hence, if any girl breaks these social norms, it is really hard
for her to be accepted and to become part of a peer-group. Boys feel threatened
by such a girl, and other girls also do not want to befriend her as she cannot get
engaged in socially acceptable, stereotypical “girl-talk!”
This was very evident in the case of Rashmi (name changed), studying in
Class 7 of one of the government English-medium residential schools where
Saathi has been working to promote their science education programme. The
majority of the classmates do not want to be her friend as they feel she is always
with her books and talks only during class, asking lots of questions. Rashmi loves
reading books and gets emotionally disturbed and frustrated if she does not know
anything. She sits in the front row and is very responsive in the class. She is the
only one in her family to go to school. She is very curious and also has a good
memory. During field visits, it was observed that she kept raising her doubts with
the Saathi team or the faculty members of the school. During the class discussion,
unlike the other students, if she did not understand any concept or any topic,
she kept asking the teachers until she clearly understood how a concept linked
to another and so on – concepts such as how an airplane flies and some animals
are able to see in the dark. There was one instance when the teacher even told
her to be patient and come later with her doubts. But her curiosity to learn was
clearly visible.
In one of the classes, the teacher raised a question to find the surface area of
the rectangle. While some of the students discussed among themselves, Rashmi
on her own applied the formula – length into breath – and got the right answer.
She lacked an understanding of the concept of surface area but used the right
formula. When the field researcher and the Saathi team introduced the idea of
the unit used to measure, she wanted to find out the unit of various other things,
such as litre, kilometre, centimetre and so on. Her sense of curiosity was phe-
nomenal. Most of her classmates called her a “bookworm”, but that did not
stop her. She would keep asking questions constantly. One day she asked, “Just
like humans, who have various types of blood groups, is this also the case with
animals?” Her questions were never-ending. Because she was not accepted within
any peer group in the school, she would be either studying from her books or asking
questions of the teachers and Saathi support staff members. She is an indepen-
dent thinker and does not get influenced by other classmates’ choices but does
what she feels is good for her.
Just as Rashmi’s lack of peer-group involvement is very much rooted in the
gender norms of the larger social context, the peer-group formations among
students within that context is also rooted in the problem connected to the
larger social context. It is a well-known fact, that teacher absenteeism is a major
problem within the larger Indian schooling context and a number of scholars
have studied this problem and sought to find a solution (Kremer, Chaudhury,
Rogers, Muralidharan, & Hammer, 2005, Duflo, Rema, & Stephen, 2012,
Muralidharan¸ Das, Holla, & Mohpal, 2017). The studies suggest that the issue
of teacher absenteeism can be tackled through external mechanisms such as pro-
viding additional incentive or placing cameras in classrooms. However, these are
external mechanical solutions to a major social problem of the lack of account-
ability in social institutions serving the underserved in India.
During the fieldwork for this research, student-led peer-group pressure
appeared to be a very effective community-driven solution and a major force
to deal with this problem of teacher absenteeism. Ankit and Devika (names
changed), two students from Class 7 studying in a residential school, gathered
the entire class together and forced their teachers to take the classes regularly.
Since the school was located in the extreme interior of the tribal community
land, hardly any government official came to check whether classes took place or
not. The teachers rarely took classes and took things for granted. Both Ankit and
Devika had individually requested their teachers earlier to take class. They were
either scolded by the teachers or asked to go away. Eventually, they mobilised
the entire class and made their teacher accountable and take regular classes. This
change also mobilised students in other classes. Finally, classes became regular in
the entire school. Of course, the Saathi team was involved in supporting Ankit
and Devika to mobilise other students in the community to make the teachers
accountable. The teacher also enjoys teaching in class now as the majority of the
students are really interested, and this also makes the teacher work harder to
prepare each lesson plan. This unexpected transformation in the school driven
by grassroots student-led movement is a good example to demonstrate that local
community-based participatory approaches are really effective in finding more
stable and sustainable solutions to chronic problems, such as teacher absentee-
ism, rather than any other external or technological solution.
Classroom participation
It has been already reported in the earlier section while narrating the case of
Rashmi, in most of the schools visited, gender obviously appeared to be a major
issue. Boys and girls were seated separately in different rows. In all classes, two
rows were for boys and two for girls. They were hardly seated together in any
class. Even when we tried to mix them and formed mixed groups consisting of
boys and girls, they did not work together. Despite the Saathi team working hard
to establish communication between boys and girls, they hardly interacted with
each other, except in one exceptional case.
During one of the visits to the residential school, the class was unevenly dis-
tributed; the total strength of the class was 45, out of which only two were
girls. During the class, both these girls were leading the class discussion. The
boys, who were in the majority, hardly spoke. Afterwards, when we spoke to the
two girls, we realised that they were both very committed and sincere. The girls
shared with the researchers that the teachers and the whole group are helping
them to learn. This could be because of the gender sensitising work of Saathi in
the schools and the exceptional leadership of the teachers who were successful in
creating an inclusive learning environment and culture in that school (Abdullah,
Abu Baker, & Mahboob, 2012, Anderson, Hamilton, & Hattie, 2004, MacNeil,
Prater, & Busch, 2009; Voelkl, 1995, Wren, 1999)
Usually, during most of the school visits, it was found the majority of the
boys participated in most of the discussions; the girls who were in minority were
overpowered. The case of these two girls, however, was unique. As reported
earlier, in most cases the girls would take a backseat and be silent. Wherever they
are outspoken, thinking independently and asking questions, like Rashmi, they
found it hard to fit into any peer group for breaking the prevalent gender stereo-
type. Apart from gender-based segregation and discrimination, caste-based social
segregation was also quite obvious.
Whenever the researcher introduced himself in the classroom, the students,
most of the time, asked him not only his name but also his last/family name. In
India, people belonging to specific ethnic groups recognise people’s caste from
their last/family name. The questions regarding family name were posed not
only by senior students but, also by students from middle and primary schools.
They would ask the researcher if he belonged to a higher caste or a low caste,
since his last name was not very familiar to the students in the region of the field-
work where the schools were located. This demonstrates the fact that students
are introduced to the concept of caste from a very early age, even before they
come to the school, and they learn the practices of caste-based discrimination
from early childhood. This is ironic, especially since the schools were particularly
established to serve the students from underserved communities that have been
facing discrimination for centuries and being deprived of good education because
of caste and class-based discrimination.
The findings strikingly corroborate with what the authors of the National Cur-
riculum Framework (2005) highlighted in their introduction to the social context
of education in India, as quoted in the introduction to this chapter. Fieldwork
for this research study demonstrated that despite the national curricular focus
since 2005 and work of civil society organisations, such as Saathi, hierarchies of
caste, class, gender and languages still prevail in schools, which are part of the
larger society. Alongside gender and caste-based discriminations, the other most
obvious discrimination that was observed during the fieldwork was linguistic
discrimination. Children grow up by observing things happening around them
and learn to express their feelings and thoughts in the words learnt from their
parents, particularly the language of the mother, who nurtures the child during
early childhood development phase. It is like the process of a seed germinating
into a sapling and then becoming a plant. When that child comes to a classroom,
if he/she is unable to comprehend properly what the teacher is saying and can-
not participate in class discussion due to a language barrier, all the pedagogical
effort goes for waste. Cognition, comprehension and expression in the language
that the child knows well is critical to the learning of concepts and higher-order
thinking. Here the researcher observed many challenges for a number of students
during the visits to the residential schools.
There was a clearly visible language hierarchy in these schools. Students belong-
ing to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes among the rural and urban poor and
the disadvantaged sections of religious and other ethnic minorities are education-
ally most vulnerable and speak in very different languages at home as they come
from diverse ethnic/linguistic backgrounds. In all the school visits, hardly any
class had students who were comfortable with a particular language, leading to a
major problem for teachers and students. The teacher considered English as the
most important language and then Hindi. All the local regional languages that
the students and their parents spoke at home were assigned little significance. The
teachers urged the students to concentrate on the two most important languages
because they claimed it would offer a greater economic opportunity for their
career in the future. This created difficulties for the students from learning what
they were taught in class as they had to brace for a new language. Due to this
language barrier, both the teachers and students appeared to be losing interest in
teaching and learning the concepts. The focus shifted towards training students
for rote memorising the concepts as best as possible in a non-familiar language.
Margaret Mead wrote in 1953 “learning to read and write can be experienced
within the security of the known, and the hurdle of a new medium need not be
surmounted” (p. 278). This empirical observation about the problem of class-
room participation related to the language of expression corresponds with a
recent study by Bhattacharya (2013) and even what Rabindranath Tagore high-
lighted as the main problem of the Indian education system over a century ago
(Dasgupta, 2009, p. 158-159):
So far as my own experiences of teaching goes, a considerable proportion of

pupils are naturally deficient in the power of learning languages. Such may
find it barely possible to matriculate with an insufficient understanding of the
English language, while in the higher stages disaster is inevitable. There are,
moreover, other reasons why English cannot be mastered by a large majority
of Indian boys. First of all, to accommodate this language in their minds,
whose ingrained habit has been to think in an Eastern tongue, is as much a
far as fitting an English sword into the scabbard of a scimitar. Then again,
very few boys have the means of getting anything like a proper grounding in
English at the hands of a competent teacher- the sons of the poor certainly
have not.
(excerpt from Tagore, 1919 reprint 2003)
Bhattacharya (2009) also argued that Tagore was a major critic of the practice
of “rote memorizing” and he considered education in English language as a
major problem encouraging “rote memorizing”. He was, however, in favour of
Western scientifc education. Hence, he argued for early education in the mother
tongue and learning of multiple languages, including English, as he did in his
home-school.
Social interactions in school

All the social challenges related to gender, caste and language observed in the
classroom participation were also observed in social interactions outside the class-
room in the residential school campuses. The residential schools play a crucial
role, particularly in the lives of children from disadvantaged scheduled caste and
scheduled tribe backgrounds. The students come to the hostel from a very young
age, when they are just 6 years old. They leave their homes and stay in these resi-
dential schools away from their family. These students from marginally weaker
sections of society are in the hostel most of the time. Therefore, the teacher and
their friends play a major part in their upbringing.
During the fieldwork, it was observed that the teachers practised gender-based
segregation and the behaviour pattern of the teachers influenced the students.
The students learnt by observing the behaviour of their teachers in the residential
settings. Even among themselves, the male and female teachers did not com-
municate much with each other. There was clearly visible social divide between
them. Even during the assemblies, the boys and girls stood in different queues.
Even if a queue of boys or girls would end halfway, students belonging to the
other gender would form a new line. In the name of maintaining discipline, the
social norm that was established and promoted even within the co-educational
school premises was actual social distancing and segregation between boys and
girls.
Gender-based segregation was also observed with regards to the way the teach-
ers and administrative authorities in the school viewed what kind of work is suit-
able for boys and what kind of work is suitable for girls outside the class. The
male students were always asked to do physical hand-on activities, while the girls
were assumed to be fit for housekeeping and studying from books. This sort
of gender distinction was visible in all places. In the playground, even if some
girls wanted to play volleyball, for example, they were asked to play seven stones
(a game which was mostly played by girls) in all hostels. In these ways, the boys
and girls were being socialised in very different ways even within a co-educational
learning environment. Individual student aptitudes and interests were suppressed
in order to conform to the gendered social norms of the larger society.
Community engagement
The residential schools were established by the civil society organisation, Saathi,
with the long-term objective of providing education for underserved (scheduled
caste and scheduled tribe) children in India. The goal was to create a classroom
learning environment where students can freely ask questions and express them-
selves. The goal was to encourage students and teachers to think beyond the
textbook. The fieldwork for this study shows that the existing social practices in
society are still pervasive inside these school premises. We must understand, how-
ever, that change takes time. Change has begun, and it will further unfold when
individuals take a stand and do their duty, just as the teacher in the classroom
with the two girls, who encouraged the girls to take the lead in class discussion
and also encouraged the boys in the classroom to support them to take the lead.
The study also reveals that community participation is crucial. Community
participation actually helps to implement government and institutional policies
that directly benefit local communities and drive social change. For any policy or
plan to be effective, it depends on the support of the community. This was evi-
dent in the way the students exerted peer pressure to make teachers accountable
in one of the schools to stop being absent from their duty and the way in which
one of the schools was running only due to the continuous effort of the com-
munity and village panchayat.
This school had only three rented classrooms for students where they could
study. The school exclusively catered to the students from Classes 5 to 7. The
school had a strength of only 103 students. As per the guidelines/rules of
the “ashram”2 schools run by Saathi, the schools were supposed to have more
than 100 students to be able to function. The people in the community, i.e.,
the villagers, made sure that the strength of the student did not go below 100
students. So, whenever the number fell to less than 100, the villagers would
try to find students and encourage them to join the school, so that the school
could meet the criteria of minimum number of students to continue to operate.
The community strongly believed in the power of education. The panchayat
and the other adults believed that through education their children can uplift
the whole community. The case of this school clearly demonstrated the impor-
tance of serious community engagement to run schools for the underserved
communities.
Conclusion
The case study of the residential schools run by Saathi and the organisation’s
work in the government schools demonstrates the complex social context of
education in India. It is a context where centuries-old caste, class, gender, and
ethnic/linguistic divides pervade. However, it is also a context where exceptional
civil society organisations, teachers and individuals can steer change by mobilising
their community to make absentee teachers accountable, to give voice and agency
to the marginalised girls and to also take community ownership to sustain the
operation of a school. This power of the civil society organisations, teachers and
communities needs to be further harnessed to address the persistent issues related
to gender, caste and linguistic barriers plaguing the schools in India. Only then
student learning can be enhanced, and the marginalised students will become
truly empowered.
Notes
1 Name changed for anonymity following research ethics protocol
2 Built in the model of Tagore’s concept of “ashram” schools, reviving the tradition
of ancient Indian residential schools to primarily uplift and empower the margin-
alised, not just the Brahmin and upper castes of Indian society
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10 Teaching and learning in social
studies classrooms in Pakistan
Takbir Ali and Shahid Karim
Teaching and learning of social studies

Social studies is taught in public and private schools across the country from
Grades 1–12 as a multidisciplinary compulsory subject. In Grades 1–3, it is taught
as part of “General Knowledge” (combined with general science, Islamic stud-
ies and ethics/value education for Muslims and non-Muslims respectively). In
Grades 4–5, the subject is taught with its generic title i.e. social studies. In Grades
6–8, social studies course is split into geography and history. From Grades 9–12,
it is taught as “Pakistan Studies”. In these classes, two other subjects – “history”
and “civics” – are taught as elective courses only to the humanities group.
Worldwide social studies curriculum is dealt with as a multidisciplinary field of
study; Pakistan is no exception. The social studies curriculum has been designed
to help children explore and learn information, knowledge, attitudes, skills, and
values associated with different social science disciplines such as history, geogra-
phy, sociology, basic general science, anthropology, archaeology and economics.
As mentioned earlier, social studies is taught as a compulsory curriculum sub-
ject at all grade levels (Grades 1–12) in government and private schools across
the country. At the primary and middle school level, in each grade’s teaching
timetable, 35–40 minutes are allocated for teaching and learning of social studies.
In secondary and higher secondary level, 40–45 minutes of teaching time is allo-
cated in the timetable for social studies (Pakistan studies) for three days in a week.
The social studies curriculum recommends teaching strategies including effec-
tive lecture, discussion, cooperative learning and inquiry/investigation, but in
the majority of public schools, teachers are neither aware of these strategies nor
have skills in the use of child-centred, interactive pedagogies in the classroom
(Government of Pakistan, 2006, 2012).
By and large, teaching and learning of social studies in schools in general and
in public schools in particular remains traditional. This traditional approach to
teaching and learning may be characterized as being teacher-centred, where
teaching is carried out with a limited purpose of transmission of bookish knowl-
edge through teacher’s lecture and memorization of information by students
(Malik, 2012). As pointed out by Anjum (2009), “in a Pakistani setting instruc-
tion in public schools is restricted to ‘chalk and talk’ strategy by the teachers and
132 Takbir Ali and Shahid Karim
the textbook is usually rote learnt and reproduced verbatim by the students in the
examinations” (p. 112).
In elementary grades, students need to memorize information about concepts
directly from their textbooks. This process is in light of the questions provided
at the end of a chapter as exercises so that they are able to answer questions
asked in the mid-year examination. In secondary and higher secondary grades,
however, teachers also help students in preparing notes focused on selected top-
ics which they think are important from the examination point of view. At the
same time, there would be exceptional cases in public schools, where teachers use
innovative, student-centred pedagogies such as cooperative learning, discussion,
group work, and project work, controversy, and so on.
Teaching and learning of social studies in middle income and high-income
elite schools and trust-based English-medium private schools would look some-
what different from public system schools where teachers engage students in
such activities as project work, teacher-guided inquiry, discussion on open-ended
questions and out-of-school activities (e.g. community service). These activi-
ties are seen to be helpful in promoting critical thinking among students and
enabling them to gain a deeper level of understanding into concepts, as well as in
inculcating positive attitudes and values in students (Ali, 2014).
Students’ active participation in the learning process results in deeper learning
of subject matter knowledge. Deeper level learning not only reduces the pres-
sure on students to memorize bookish information for the sake of reproducing it
in the examination but also expands their intellectual horizon (Ali, 2017). This
enables them to construct their own meaning of concepts and the social issues
they experience in their daily lives.
Moreover, assessment practices in social studies classrooms in private schools
are more systematic, frequent and diverse compared to those used in public
schools. In private schools (mostly in middle and high-income elite schools),
teachers do use formative, ongoing assessment along with summative assessment.
Government school social studies teachers predominantly use summative assess-
ment, where students’ learning is assessed in one-off end-term exams with the
purpose to decide about students’ promotion to next grades. A study by Malik
(2012) explored if social studies teachers teaching at the secondary level use the
teaching methods suggested in the curriculum. The findings of her study suggest
that social studies teachers consider memorization of taught concepts as the main
objective of the teaching of Pakistan studies. She wrote:
Lecture strategy was found the main strategy for the teaching of Pakistan
studies at the secondary level. Inquiry or project strategies are usually not
used for the teaching of Pakistan Studies, teachers generally do not plan a
lesson, they do not use maps or other aids for the teaching of content about
location, etc.
(p. 6738)
The systematic formative assessment practice is almost non-existent in public

school social studies classrooms. In exceptional instances, some self-motivated,
Teaching and learning of social studies 133
improvement-oriented teachers sporadically use techniques of formative assess-
ment. Social studies teachers in public schools do not use formative assessment
because policy does not oblige schools and teachers to use formative assessment in
an institutionalized manner (Ali, 2017). Formative assessment is a laborious,
time-intensive activity, without a high level of self- and institutional account-
ability and motivation, government teachers usually do not commit themselves
to such practices. It is because of these differences in the level of teachers’ efforts
and approach to teaching and learning in social studies classrooms, students
of high-income private schools usually outperform their government counter-
parts in standardized examinations conducted at Grades 5, 8, and 9–12 both
in terms of quantitative (passing percentage) and qualitative (scores/grades)
results (Awan & Zia, 2015). It may be pointed out here that during the last two
decades, as a result of government-friendly policies towards “privatization” of
education coupled with the public’s disenchantment with public schools, there
has been a mushroom growth of low-income private schools both in urban and
rural areas. The quality of education imparted by the majority of low-income,
mediocre private schools is the same or marginally better than the quality offered
by the government schools.
The quality of teaching and learning in social studies classrooms is the result of
a complex interplay of multiple variables. Some of the key input level variables,
which are critical in influencing the quality of student learning outcomes, include
quality of teachers, quality of curricular material such as textbooks, student assess-
ment and instructional resources. These are briefly discussed next.
Teacher quality
There is no second opinion about the paramount importance of the role of a
teacher in the teaching and learning process. Quality of student learning hinges
upon the quality of teaching, which in turn is dependent on the quality of the
teacher. Teacher quality is usually judged in terms of teachers’ knowledge (com-
mand over disciplinary knowledge); attitude, which is made up of beliefs, world
view, value system (commitment to responsibilities); agency (ability to act as a
change agent); motivation and skills, inclusive of communication, pedagogical
and technical skills (e.g. ICT skills, management skills). Research in Pakistan and
elsewhere in the world has also identified the personal and professional attributes
of effective or good quality teacher which broadly resonate with the qualities
and competencies highlighted previously (Ali, 2017; Nodding, 2001; Save the
Children-UK, 2001).
A close scrutiny of research evidence and anecdotal experience about and
critical reflection on the overall status of social studies teaching and learning in
Pakistan suggest relatively a poor quality teaching force responsible for delivery
of social studies education in the country (Anjum, 2009; Dean, 2005; Malik,
2012). A majority of social studies teachers in general and teachers working in
the public sector in particular do not fulfil minimum requirements for delivery of
quality social studies education at elementary, secondary and higher secondary
levels. This applies particularly to those teaching social studies in primary grades
since they are poorly educated, trained and supported. They are not only defi-
cient in content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge but also exhibit
poor self-image and operate on a low level of motivation (Academy of Educa-
tional Planning and Management, UNESCO and UNICEF, 2015; Awan & Zia,
2015; Government of Sindh, 2014; Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 2016;
Government of Pakistan, 2009).
To improve the quality of the teaching force, the Higher Education Com-
mission of Pakistan, with the help of USAID, introduced a brand new two-year
pre-service teacher education programme known as Associate Degree in Edu-
cation (ADE) and also a four-year BEd (Hons) Elementary programme. Both
programmes have been developed based on new trends and global best prac-
tices in teacher education. The curricula of these programmes draw on cutting-
edge knowledge and research in Pakistan and elsewhere in the world. These
programmes were well-received as good innovations in teacher education in the
initial period when they were launched. But gradually, they started facing dif-
ficulties with implementation. A wide range of factors such as a lack of quality
human, structural (physical facilities and ICT resources) and financial resources
(flow of funds to support student stipend programme); incompatibility between
the curriculum and assessment practices regulated by public sector universities
and examination boards and a lack of supervision and monitoring mechanism
constrained effective implementation of ADE programme (Ali, 2018).
In addition, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan engaged
social studies experts from all over the country to develop detailed syllabi and
course guides for the four-year BEd (Hons) Elementary and the two-year Associ-
ate Degree in Education (ADE). The Course Guide for Teaching Social Studies
aimed at helping prospective teachers to:
acquire the knowledge and understanding of the key concepts and ideas
from the social science disciplines. It also develops skills such as information
gathering; interpreting, thinking, and analysing skills; and communication,
problem-solving and decision-making skills. In addition to these skills, cer-
tain values such as equality, social justice, fairness, and respect for self and
diverse opinions are also supported.
(Government of Pakistan, 2012, p. 17)
Relevance and quality of curriculum and curricula material

The social studies curriculum, in use since 2008, is considered to be a useful
document. Drawing on international best practices, it is organized into reason-
ably formulated, age-appropriate standards, benchmarks and student learning
outcomes (SLOs). For the first time, some new themes such as human rights,
diversity, technology, gender equity and equality, environmental education, value
education, etc. were included in the curriculum. Nevertheless, as pointed out
earlier, there is a lot of room for further improvement in the curriculum standards
and associated benchmarks and SLOs. Due to the multidisciplinary nature of the
subject, the existing curriculum needs to be revised in order to make it more
inclusive and balanced in its content and bias-free in its approach to presentation
and interpretation of social, political and historical issues and concepts. The cur-
riculum predominantly focuses on the academic or knowledge domain; there is
a need to balance the curriculum with inclusion of carefully selected content on
psychosocial and affective domains.
Textbooks
Social studies textbooks prescribed for various grades are considered by teachers
as the primary sources of knowledge, ideas and information students need to
acquire. The textbooks used by public and private schools are based on the 2006
National Curriculum, which, compared to previous editions, are of better quality
in terms of content alignment with curriculum standards, coverage of content
(based on SLOs), organization and sequencing of topics, graphic presentation,
etc. The textbooks also include instruction for teachers and provide hints for
instructional choices. Nevertheless, the textbooks used in different grades need
to go a long way to where they become not only a source of reliable knowl-
edge and information but also include material to help promote critical thinking
among students. Textbooks hardly contain materials (e.g. unbiased information,
exercises and activities) that invite or encourage students to think critically and
analyse situations. The information or knowledge they contain should reflect a
high degree of objectivity in that the evidence on historical facts and perspec-
tives or viewpoints about and analysis around various historical events and social
issues need to be balanced and made free of prejudice of policymakers, textbook
writers and other powerful interest groups. There has been severe criticism of
social studies textbooks, particularly those printed and used before 2008. The
critics particularly blame the military government (1977–1988) for politicizing
social studies textbooks. Yielding to certain expediencies, the government tried
to “Islamize” or “radicalize” the social studies curriculum in an effort to produce
patriotic “mujahedeen” (freedom fighters) to fight against Russian aggression
in Afghanistan (Zaidi, 2011). Allegedly, the development of social studies cur-
riculum and textbook was controlled by religiously oriented political parties with
whom the then military government formed an alliance. The purpose was to cope
with the internal pressure exerted by pro-democratic forces as well as to garner
political and other support for the proxy war in Afghanistan. As Anjum (2009)
pointed out:
By patronizing the political parties with deep seated faith based agendas,
the military regime made a concerted effort to interfere with Social Studies
curriculum to the extent of distorting history, and adding such elements as
fascination of war, dislike for non-Muslims, disregard for female issues, and
rejection of progressive thinking.
(p. 106)
Hashmi (2014) conducted a multidimensional content analysis on Grades

9–10 social studies textbooks published by the Sindh Textbook Board, using a
tool comprising four broader dimensions: the relationship between content and
material of the textbook; instructions and the properties of the materials; the
role of the teacher and the role of the students and publishing details of the text-
book. The study reported quite a few similarities between the national curricu-
lum objectives and the selected content in the textbooks. But, by and large, the
content selected in the textbooks generally appears to be meaningless for class-
room teaching. There are errors in the statistical data and the information given
in the textbooks. The textbooks do not include good illustrations and figures to
help arouse students’ interest in the material. The author further observes that
content presented in the textbooks is of poor quality; the syllabi is extensive but
very little information has been provided to explain concepts. Moreover, there
is no teacher guide available to assist the teachers in pedagogy, no information is
given or described anywhere in the content on teaching methodology, assessment
criteria. She concluded her observation with these words:
Overall the quality of the content of the textbook is below average and also
fails to gauge the attention of the teachers as well as the students . . . most of
the content is not aligned with the objectives. There is a vast gap in the broad
objectives set and the content selected to achieve those targets. The matter
of the textbook is limited to knowledge level only. Activities in the chapters
are also quite negligible. The students are unable to figure out the purpose
of their studies through shared content.
(p. 71)
Similarly, Zaidi (2011) looked at the evolution of the social studies curricula
in Pakistan, more from a political and ontological point of view. He argued that
in Pakistan education in general and social studies curricula in particular was
aimed at dissemination of specific ideologies. Historiography has been used as a
dividing force and as a tool to shape the world views of generations. Likewise,
summarizing the findings from the content analysis of social studies textbooks
undertaken by different authors, Anjum (2009) noted that much of the mate-
rial presented in the textbooks is counter-productive to efforts aimed at national
integration. The content by itself makes it difficult for the teachers to develop
critical and analytical thinking skills in students. Above all, “the books on social
studies systematically misrepresent events that have happened throughout the
Pakistan’s history, including those which are within living memory of many peo-
ple” (p. 108), Anjum argues.
Student assessment
Assessment is yet another important variable directly linked with the quality
of student learning. There is a vast body of literature on assessment methods,
including summative and formative assessment practices and their role in stu-
dent learning. The literature distinguishes between assessment of learning and
assessment for learning (e.g. Clarke, 2011; Harlen & James, 2006). Summative
assessment is mainly concerned with the assessment of learning while formative
assessment aims at assessment for learning. In Pakistan, certain assessment strate-
gies have been recommended in the social studies curriculum, including use of
constructed response (MCQs), selected response (ERQs, essay-type questions),
teacher observation and self-assessment (formative assessment). As stated earlier,
however, assessment in schools, particularly in public schools, is predominantly
summative. Formative assessment practices, with varying degrees and ways, are
used in middle and high-income, elite private schools. Social studies teachers
in mainstream public schools are far away from the use of formative assessment
techniques in their classroom. The present-day federal government, while push-
ing for development and execution of a uniform national curriculum, is also try-
ing to reform the student assessment system in conformity with the goals and the
standards of the proposed single national curriculum.
Public and private schools have internal assessment systems for primary (1–5)
and middle (6 & 7) grades. In the public sector, for Grades 5 and 8, stan-
dardized examinations are conducted mid-year and end-of-year by ancillary
departments (Examination and Assessment Commission, Directorate of Cur-
riculum, Assessment and Research), working under Provincial Educational and
Literacy Departments. Government examination boards conduct examinations
for Grades 9–12, both for public schools and private school students. A private
examination board was established for the first time by the Aga Khan University,
Karachi, Pakistan in 2002. It provides international-quality examination service
comparable with the Cambridge International Examination System managed by
the British Council. The Aga Khan University-Examination Board (AKU-EB)
conducts examination from Grades 9–12 mainly for private schools. Recently,
another private University (Ziauddin University, Karachi, Pakistan) has estab-
lished an examination board.
The high stakes examinations conducted by the public sector boards (each
major city in each province has an examination board) for secondary and higher
secondary students have been subject to severe criticism. These terminal exami-
nations held for secondary and higher secondary (Grades 9–12) require students
to sit for three-hours long examinations. Students are required to write their
responses, mainly focused on the reproduction of facts and information from the
textbooks they have memorized. On the scale of Bloom Taxonomy, the majority
of multiple choice questions (MCQs) and extended response questions (ERQs)
asked in these high stake examinations is pitched at knowledge level competency.
The questionnaires hardly include items requiring demonstration of creative and
critical thinking – asking students to analyze a problem (social issue) and propose
a solution. There is no provision for assessment of attitude and skill level compe-
tencies in these examinations. There is an urgent need not only to improve the
quality of assessment tools but also the entire examination system needs a “big-
time” overhauling. The examination system controlled by government examina-
tion boards is rife with numerous flaws, and there is an urgent need to rectify
these problems by bringing radical reform in the examination system, both at
primary and secondary level (Rind & Malik, 2019).
Instructional resources
Instructional resources, including audio-visual aids, library resources and tech-
nology-based resources, play an important role in effective teaching and learning
in social studies classrooms. Being an interdisciplinary subject, the teaching of
social studies needs to integrate learning about concepts from across subjects
of natural and social sciences and humanities. Therefore, to make teaching and
learning interactive, activity-based and child-centred in social studies classrooms,
teachers need a variety of instructional resources. Most of the public schools,
the majority in rural areas, have neither instructional resources nor teachers
working in these school have the awareness about the importance of the use
of instructional resources in teaching social studies. Even if teachers get some
basic resources such as maps, globes, atlas, cultural artefacts, newspapers and
charts, they do not make the best use of them (Ali, 2017). The infrequent use
of teaching aids in social studies classrooms appears to be a phenomenon deeply
entrenched in school culture.
Given the integrated nature of the subject, social studies teachers need to draw
upon a large variety of teaching and learning material usually categorized into
print materials (e.g. textbooks, newspapers, magazines, brochures, maps, pic-
tures, atlas); non-print and technology-based resources (computer, CDs, inter-
net, databases, encyclopaedias, films, videotapes, YouTube videos, slides, audio
tape, real objects, television, etc.); resource materials available in the local envi-
ronment (people, biodiversity, transport system); community resources (com-
munity, libraries, museums, historical places, archaeological heritage sites, etc.).
Teacher education and professional development programmes need to take cog-
nizance of the need for enhancing teachers’ awareness about and their skills in
development, collection and use of a variety of resources and instructional mate-
rials in their classrooms.
Challenges to improving quality of social studies education

There are numerous challenges to improving the quality of social studies edu-
cation in Pakistan. These may be classified into macro- and micro-challenges.
The macro-level challenges are rooted in policies related to curriculum, student
assessment, teacher recruitment, educational governance, provision of structural
and material resources, policy implementation, and parental and community
involvement and so on. The micro-level challenges emanate from daily routines
and situations faced by teachers and students on a regular basis, such as lack of
structural and material resources, multi-grade and multi-age teaching and learn-
ing situations (1–2 teachers teaching all primary grades in schools having 1–2
classrooms) prevalent in 60 per cent of public schools in the country.
Teacher quality is inherently connected with teacher recruitment, development
and accountability. The entire system of teacher recruitment, teacher education
and development and accountability system is replete with flaws, loopholes and
deficiencies (Ali, 2017).
In a nutshell, the public school system is engulfed by a plethora of problems.
Many of these problems, particularly the challenges associated with the “quality”
of educational inputs and provisions, appear to be rooted in the “big problem”,
which is “low status” given to “primary education” in the country. Primary edu-
cation, being the foundation of the entire education system, needs best efforts
in terms of investment and governance. Primary education in the public system
in Pakistan remains to be the most underserved and disadvantaged sector which
severely lacks quality human resource (academically and professionally qualified,
personally motivated and committed headteachers and teachers) as well as physi-
cal resources and facilities. The situation is further exacerbated by poor school
supervision and monitoring system. This underscores the need for policy advo-
cacy to raise awareness towards the importance of primary education system in the
country. The quality of primary education imparted by English-medium private
schools in general and high-income elite schools in particular is far better com-
pared to public sector schools. The better quality primary education imparted by
the private sector schools (both non-profit and commercial-based) is attributable
to the quality of inputs including quality of teachers, school governance (better
management and accountability), provision of structural and material resources
and improved assessment practices.
All the above factors lead to a situation where there is a disconnect between the
education imparted to students through the teaching of social studies in schools
and application of this education by students in their real life. Social studies edu-
cation, which is a combination of knowledge, attitudes and skills, needs to be
closely and deeply connected with students’ practical life and the needs of the
society. The social studies curriculum and the way it is implemented by teach-
ers in their classroom is geared more towards the transmission of disciplinary
knowledge rather than on inculcation of values and attitudes and development
of social skills and civic capabilities among students. There may not be a simple
prescription to achieving such high outcomes for social studies education in Paki-
stan. Improving social studies education will require concerted and sustained
efforts at various levels. In a broader sense, this may include policy reform (e.g.
making education in general and primary education in particular the top priority
of the political government/leadership), governance reform, curricular reform
(curriculum planning and implementation) and reform in teacher education and
professional development system.
Summary and recommendations

Social studies curriculum in Pakistan is multidisciplinary in that it integrates con-
tent from subjects associated with humanities and social sciences. As perceived
elsewhere, social studies education in Pakistan is mainly concerned with citizen-
ship education, aiming at preparing the younger generation for their active and
productive participation in the life of the community. In order to be able to meet
these expectations, students not only need to acquire certain set of skills, social
capabilities and attitudes but they are also expected to demonstrate the critical
ability to reflect on their own beliefs and values objectively. This vision of social
studies education, emphasized in the national curriculum and policy documents,
necessitates making student learning outcomes as well as teaching and learning
activities and assessment practices responsive to the need of preparing informed
and productive citizenship.
Socio-cultural, ethnic, religious and geographic diversities make Pakistan an
exemplary pluralistic society and a rich context for the delivery of social studies
education. These diversities need to be appreciated and celebrated if the coun-
try aims to transform various communities, ethnic, political and socio-economic
groups into a vibrant, optimistic, inclusive and forward-looking cohesive civil
society. Social studies education can be used not only as the conduit for the trans-
mission of social knowledge, values, norms and attitudes to the younger genera-
tions but it should also serve as a means to create a peaceful pluralistic society,
which is a prerequisite for achieving sustainable social cohesion and formation of
national identity (Zaman, 2008).
The quality of teaching and learning of social studies across grades does not
conform to the vision and objectives of social studies education described in the
curriculum and other policy documents. The quality of teaching and learning
and relevant arrangements in public and private schools differ. The quality of
teaching and learning of social studies in public schools is severely constrained
by several challenges, ranging from teacher quality to student assessment policy
and practice. In recent times, the social studies curriculum and textbooks have
been improved a great deal; nevertheless, the Pakistani experience suggests that
no matter how good the curriculum is, if there are no good teachers to imple-
ment the curriculum, the net outcome is zero. Based on these observations, few
recommendations are made towards enhancing the status of social studies educa-
tion in Pakistan in general and improving teaching and learning in the subject in
particular.
Most of the macro-level problems pertain to the gaps between curriculum
development and its implementation. Inter alia, these problems include alloca-
tion of little or no resources, a lack of compatibility between assessment practices
and curriculum and poor teacher quality and teacher training (Jabbar, 2016).
Though the curriculum seeks to develop “students’ analytical and critical capa-
bilities and broaden their vision” (Government of Pakistan, 2006), this continues
to remain a lofty rhetoric. Little or no arrangement is made is public schools to
achieve this goal.
In an increasingly complex and globalized world, there is a need for a change-
oriented, progressive social studies education, which can be ensured through
improving the quality of inputs at all levels, including curriculum, textbooks,
teachers, pedagogy and assessment. Change-driven progressive approach to social
studies education in Pakistan, inter alia, needs to focus on the development of
deeper awareness about civic rights and responsibilities as well as human rights in
local and global contexts. The concept of human rights in the world has evolved
over centuries. There has been significant progress in the understanding of the
nature, base and breadth of human rights worldwide; therefore being part of the
interconnected global world and aspiring for a democratic system of government,
Pakistan needs to revisit its constitutional framework and public policies dealing
with the subject of human rights. Understanding of broad-based human rights
today essentially includes the right to live a peaceful life; access to education and
health services; equal opportunities for business and development; gender equity
and equality; participation in the democratic process and removal of other socio-
economic disparities based on cast, ethnicity, creed and other social identities.
These concepts of human rights have been stressed in international declarations,
including the Charter of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations. The
Social Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the international community also
reflect a high degree of emphasis on these rights. Education is the best pathway
to achieving all these ideals.
History, social awareness, cultural heritage and social norms and values con-
stitute the core part of social studies education. It does not matter what history,
cultural heritage and social values and norms are taught, but it matters a lot why
and how these concepts are taught to the younger generation. An enlightened
and progressive approach to teaching history and culture to children considers
them dynamic and ever-evolving concepts rather than treating these a basket of
absolute truths. The progressive philosophy of social studies education supports
the view that human affairs, activities, behaviour, thinking, struggle, develop-
ment, and challenges need to be understood in their historical perspectives and
within the circumstances that existed in the past (Ahmad, 2020). It is inappropri-
ate to insist on fitting the meanings from past human experiences to the current
situation; this is what is happening in social studies classrooms in majority of
schools in the country. The social system and structure are the product of their
time. These things may lose their importance and relevance to the contemporary
world, therefore, repeating those things or attempting to bring them back would
not be beneficial. Instead, we can use the past human experiences to learn lessons
such as why have there been human living and activities in a particular period of
time, why people were successful and why not in their endeavours to make their
world peaceful, prosperous and beautiful (Ahmad, 2020). Social studies educa-
tion in Pakistan needs to be inspired by this progressive philosophy. Curriculum,
curricular material (e.g. textbooks, teacher guide, etc.) and teacher education
need to be aligned with the progressive philosophy of social studies education.
This will help a great deal in the smooth social integration of youth into the
society in order to respond to the massive challenges caused by diverse needs of
the burgeoning youth population in the country (Ashraf, Ali, & Husain, 2013).
As a backdrop to these, the governments (federals and provincial) need to
genuinely recognize the fact that owing to its vital role in the development of
active, informed and enlightened future citizens, social studies education needs
to be reformed radically. According to Zaidi (2011, p. 43), “social studies cur-
ricula in Pakistan need to undergo an urgent transformative process of making
them more objective so that they can stimulate intellect as well as counter radi-
calisation tendencies”.
Reforming social studies education would inevitably require seeking a radical
shift in the philosophy underlying social studies education at all levels. The long-
standing trend of the state using social studies education in Pakistan as a tool to
dogmatize students with distorted historical facts and contested ideological inter-
pretation to produce “patriotic” or “subservient” citizens needs to be revisited.
Instead, social studies education should aim at developing students’ “agency” in
thinking critically and rationally so that they are able to analyse social and politi-
cal issues and phenomena from multiple perspectives, to reach an understanding
and make informed decisions for themselves as well as for the society in which
they live. This approach to social studies education will have implications for the
renewal of social studies curriculum and the variety of factors involved in the
implementation of the curriculum.
Pakistan has a multitude of cultures and a wide range of topographical diversi-
ties (Anjum, 2009). The policymakers and those who implement the policies at
different levels need to genuinely recognize this fact and make deliberate efforts
to assimilate pluralistic outlook and socio-cultural diversities into the curriculum
that is actually implemented in the classroom. A critical look at the content,
organization and the ideological approach to the curriculum standards suggests
that the curriculum is comprehensive as far as coverage of disciplinary themes is
concerned. Nevertheless, there is a need to make the social studies curriculum for
different grades ideologically more balanced, thematically more inclusive, socially
more progressive and emancipatory in terms of approaches to dealing with social
issues, contemporary challenges faced at local, national and international levels.
In view of the growing importance of the kind of competencies required by
students to live a balanced and successful life in the contemporary challenging,
complex, competitive and globalized world, there is a need for the social studies
curriculum to place more and clearer emphasis on the standards associated with
these types of topics.
Various inputs into social studies education, ranging from teacher quality to
the provision of resources, need to be improved. Teachers in every analysis in
education stand out to be the most powerful and direct influence on student
learning outcomes. The federal government, as well as the provincial govern-
ments, should work to improve “the quality of social studies teachers” com-
prehensively by simultaneously enhancing the status of primary school teachers,
making and implementing merit-based teacher recruitment policy, improving the
quality of pre-service teacher education and in-service training and enforcing
teacher accountability system.
Last but not least, primary education is the foundation of the education sys-
tem. Without strengthening the foundation, the quality of school education or
social studies education for that matter cannot be improved. The government of
Pakistan and the provincial governments need to invest in primary education and
improve the overall status of primary education in the country. Without improv-
ing the status of primary education in the country, quality improvement and
development in education in general and in social studies education in particular
will remain a utopian dream.
In the face of all odds and challenges discussed in the chapter, reforming or
transforming social studies education in the manner described earlier would
be a highly complex and uphill task. It may not be achieved through shallow
promises, quick fixes or short-term strategies. It will need long-term strategies by
educational providers (public and private systems) and systematic and sustained
efforts on the part of all stakeholders involved in the delivery of education. These
efforts, by the education providers and individuals, however, need to be driven
by a cohesive vision that idealizes the processes (inputs) and outcomes of social
studies education.
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11 Civic and citizenship education
in Bangladesh
Miron Kumar Bhowmik, Goutam Roy
and Foujia Sultana
Introduction
Citizens’ understanding of their rights and responsibilities, their active engage-
ment with societies’ principles and institutions and their ability to make criti-
cal judgement are important features of a well-functioning jurisdiction (Schulz
et al., 2018). Many job sectors also consider civic competencies such as possess-
ing knowledge about the changes in the society, intercultural skills, ethical judge-
ment, social responsibility, humanitarian values, as well as the civic engagement
as essential skills (OECD, 2015). Therefore, over the last few decades, civic and
citizenship education has become an important area of study for school students
all over the world with an aim to make them “good” and responsible citizens.
Civic and citizenship education seeks to equip students with the knowledge,
skills, attitudes and dispositions so that they can meaningfully engage as citizens
in the society (Schulz et al., 2018). The design and delivery of civic and citizen-
ship education is context specific and affected by the contextual factors such
as historical tradition, geographical position, socio-political structure, economic
system and global trends (Kerr, 1999). Internationally, some countries provide
civic and citizenship education as a separate school subject, while others integrate
it in the social studies education school subject or infuse it in the entire curricu-
lum and subjects, following a cross-curricular approach.
Bangladesh has a long tradition of providing social studies education for its
school students as we explored in Chapter 4. This chapter discusses civic and citi-
zenship education in Bangladesh with particular focus on its inclusion and cover-
age in education policy, curriculum and textbooks from primary through higher
secondary levels and actual classroom practices. The IEA International Civic
and Citizenship Study (ICCS) 2016 assessment framework (Schulz et al., 2016)
informed our investigation. Employing a qualitative research approach based
on document analysis and interviews with teachers, we sought to identify what
prominence is given to civic and citizenship education and if any mismatch exists
between the intended and implemented curriculum. We first analyzed national
education policy, curriculum and textbooks related to civic and citizenship edu-
cation to comprehend their intention, focus and scope. Second, interviews with
four teachers were carried out to understand actual classroom practices.
In the next sections, we will first discuss the ICCS 2016 assessment framework
that will be followed by a description of methodology and methods adopted in
this study. We will then discuss how civic and citizenship education is reflected
in the education policy, curriculum and textbooks at various education levels.
The findings from the interviews with the teachers will be presented afterwards.
The concluding section will discuss the implications of the findings at the levels
of curriculum policy, classroom practices and teacher education.
Civic and citizenship education: a theoretical framework

The scope of civic and citizenship education is broad and depends on the coun-
try context. The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational
Achievement (IEA) provided an assessment framework as well as definitions
of some key concepts related to civic and citizenship education (Schulz et al.,
2016). They considered both the cognitive domain and affective-behavioural
domain. The cognitive domain focused on knowing information or content with
understanding and applying these to a new situation. On the other hand, the
affective-behavioural domain emphasized the attitude of the students and their
engagement in societies.
To define the components of civic and citizenship education, the structure
of the ICCS 2016 assessment framework contains four domains including civic
society and system, civic principles, civic participation and civic identities. These
domains are divided into 12 sub-domains. Figure 11.1 illustrates the four
domains and 12 sub-domains.
The domain civic society and systems refers to “formal and informal mechanisms
and organizations that underpin both the civic contracts that citizens have with
their societies and the functioning of the societies themselves” (Schulz et al.,
2016, p. 15). It has three sub-domains including citizens, state institutions and
civil institutions. The sub-domain citizens covers the roles, rights, responsibilities
and engagement of both individuals and groups of citizens within their respec-
tive civic society. The sub-domain state institutions deals with the organizations
responsible for the process and enactment of civic governance and legislation.
CD 1: Civic society CD 2: Civic CD 3: Civic CD 4: Civic

and systems principles participation identities
• Citizens Equity Decision-making Civic self-image

State institutions Freedom Influencing Civic
Civil institutions The sense of Community connectedness
community participation
Rule of law
Figure 11.1 Four domains and 12 sub-domains of civic and citizenship education
Source: International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) 2016 (Schulz et al., 2016,
pp. 15–22).
Civic and citizenship education 147
Legislatures/parliaments, governments, judiciaries, law enforcement bodies,
electoral commissions, etc. are some examples of the state institutions. The sub-
domain civil institutions focuses on the organizations that mediate the contact
between citizens and the state institutions. Political parties, trade unions, schools,
religious institutions, NGOs, cultural organizations, etc. are some examples of
the civil institutions.
The second domain civic principles refers to “the shared ethical foundations
of civic societies” (Schulz et al., 2016, p. 18). It has four sub-domains including
equity, freedom, the sense of community and rule of law. The sub-domain equity
focuses on people’s equality in the society and people have the right to be treated
fairly and in a just manner. The sub-domain freedom seeks to ensure varieties
of freedom (i.e., freedom of belief, freedom of speech, freedom from fear and
freedom from want) as stipulated in the United Nations Universal Declaration
of Human Rights (United Nations, 1948). The sub-domain sense of community
upholds people’s sense of belonging to the societies. The sub-domain rule of law
focuses on the people’s and institutions’ recognition of and accountability to laws
that are promulgated to protect human rights and are aligned with international
standards and norms.
Civic participation, the third domain, refers to “the manifestations of indi-
viduals’ actions in their communities” (Schulz et al., 2016, p. 20). It has three
sub-domains including decision-making, influencing and community participa-
tion. The sub-domain decision-making is the active participation or engagement
of people in implementation of policy or practices. To affect policies, practices
and attitudes, the sub-domain influencing deals with the actions such as engag-
ing in public debate, advocacy, policy development, corruption recognizing, etc.
The sub-domain community participation covers volunteering, participation in
organization and information acquisition for the benefit of the community.
The fourth and last domain civic identities refers to an “individual’s civic roles
and perceptions of these roles” (Schulz et al., 2016, p. 21). It has two sub-
domains including civic self-image and civic connectedness. The sub-domain civic
self-image focuses on an individual’s understanding, attitude and management of
civic and citizenship values and roles. The sub-domain civic connectedness deals
with an individual’s connectivity with civic communities and an individual’s dif-
ferent civic roles.
To understand the scope and coverage of civic and citizenship education in
the education policy, curriculum and textbooks of Bangladesh, we adopted the
framework described earlier. The framework also helped us understand how a
sample of teachers conceptualized civic and citizenship education in Bangladesh
and their actual classroom practices.
Methodology and methods

We adopted qualitative research methodology (Denzin & Lincoln, 2000), and
the research was carried out in two phases. In the first phase, we conducted
documents analysis (Bowen, 2009, p. 27) to review and evaluate literature on the
contents of civic and citizenship education. After selecting the ICCS 2016 assess-
ment framework (Schulz et al., 2016), the latest education policy, curriculum and
textbooks related to civic and citizenship education at primary, junior secondary,
secondary and higher secondary levels were reviewed and analyzed. The cur-
riculum and textbooks are Bangladesh and global studies (Grade III–Grade X),
civics and citizenship (Grade IX–Grade X), and civics and good governance (Grade
XI–Grade XII). In the second phase of data collection, we interviewed (Fontana
& Frey, 1994) four teachers who were engaged in teaching civic and citizenship
education related subjects for at least five years. Of them two were male and two
were female. The teachers were purposively selected from urban schools. More
details about the participants are provided later in the “Civic and citizenship edu-
cation: reflection from interviews with teachers” section.
We used a semi-structured questionnaire to understand how the teachers con-
ceptualize civic and citizenship education and their actual classroom practices.
Informed by Schulz et al. (2016), a total of nine questions was developed for
the interview. Some follow-up questions were also asked based on participants’
responses. Due to the lockdown situation for the COVID-19 pandemic, the sec-
ond author, with the help of a research assistant, conducted the interviews over
telephone in July–August 2020, and the interviews were recorded. The objec-
tives of the interview were explained to the participants, and they were assured
about the confidentiality and anonymity of the data. The interviews were carried
out only after receiving participants’ consents. To ensure smooth communication
and sharing ideas clearly, all the interviews were conducted in Bengali and then
transcribed and translated into English. The average length of each interview was
45 minutes. After gathering all the interviews, the responses were analyzed the-
matically. The mixing of inductive and deductive approaches, meaning a hybrid
approach of thematic analysis, was followed for data analysis which allowed using
of both the pre-defined themes and new themes from the data (Fereday & Muir-
Cochrane, 2006).
Civic and citizenship education in education policy,

curriculum and textbooks
National Education Policy 2010 (MoE, 2010), curriculum (NCTB, 2012a,
2012b, 2012c) and textbooks (NCTB, 2019a, 2019b, 2019c, 2019d, 2019e,
2019f, 2019g, 2019h) from primary through higher secondary education lev-
els were analyzed to understand the scope and coverage of civic and citizenship
education following Schulz et al. (2016). We first discuss how civic and citizen-
ship education is reflected in the general aims and objectives of the education
policy, followed by specific contents at different education levels including pri-
mary, junior secondary, secondary and higher secondary levels. As mentioned
previously, the ICCS 2016 assessment framework has four domains and 12 sub-
domains. We present the contents of civic and citizenship education according to
domains and sub-domains for each education level in tabular format.
Education policy
The National Education Policy 2010 aims to cultivate human values among citi-
zens so as to prepare them as leaders for pro-people development programmes
and the progress of the society (MoE, 2010). There are 30 general aims and
objectives of education mentioned in the document, of which many are related
to civic and citizenship education (p. 8–9). Broadly, education seeks to develop
knowledge, attitudes, skills and dispositions among the students in the areas
related to constitutional guarantee of education for all; moral, human, cultural,
scientific and social values; freedom, sovereignty and integrity of Bangladesh;
liberation war values; patriotism, nationalism and good citizenship qualities;
national history, tradition and culture; human rights; equality; tolerance; discrim-
ination; etc. This is reflected in the curriculum and textbooks related to civic and
citizenship education at various education levels.
Primary education
Civic and citizenship education is provided through a subject called “Bangla-
desh and global studies” which is compulsory for all students from Grade III to
Grade V (NCTB, 2012a, 2019a, 2019b, 2019c). Bangladesh and global stud-
ies provides social studies education in an integrated manner by incorporating
contents from social science discipline subjects such as history, civics, geography,
economics and sociology. Table 11.1 illustrates that the contents of civic and
citizenship education in the Bangladesh and global studies subject at the primary
level can be categorized under the first two domains including civic society and
systems and civic principles as defined by Schulz et al. (2016). The contents are
covered by two sub-domains of each of the first and second domains. None of
the contents at the primary level is classified under civic participation and civic
identities domains.
Table 11.1 Civic and Citizenship Education Contents in Primary Curriculum and
Textbooks in Bangladesh
Domains Sub-domains Contents
Civic society Citizens The rights of citizens; our duties and

and systems responsibilities
State National flag and anthem of Bangladesh;
institutions various national days of Bangladesh;
our Bangladesh
Civic principles Equity Democratic attitude
The sense of Our history and culture; British rule; our
community liberation war; the father of our nation;
historical monuments in Bangladesh;
developing our locality; Bangladesh in
world politics
Contents such as “the rights of citizen and our duties and responsibilities”
can be classified under citizens sub-domain as these highlight the roles, rights
and responsibilities of Bangladeshi citizens. “National flag and anthem of Ban-
gladesh and various national days of Bangladesh” can be categorized under the
state institutions sub-domain as these illustrate the state’s affairs. “Democratic
attitude” can be classified under the sub-domain equity as it focuses on people’s
equality in political attitude. “Our history and culture; British rule; our libera-
tion war; the father of our nation; historical monuments in Bangladesh” can be
categorized under the sub-domain the sense of community which highlights the
shared history of Bangladeshi citizens that may help develop the sense of belong-
ing to the society.
Junior secondary education

Similar to primary, civic and citizenship education at the junior secondary level
is provided through the Bangladesh and global studies subject, which is com-
pulsory for all students from Grade VI to Grade VIII (NCTB, 2012b, 2019d,
2019e, 2019f). Bangladesh and global studies provides social studies education
in an integrated manner by incorporating contents from social science discipline
subjects such as history, civics, geography, economics and sociology. Table 11.2
illustrates that the contents of civic and citizenship education in the Bangladesh
and global studies subject at the junior secondary level can be categorized under
the first two domains including civic society and systems and civic principles fol-
lowing Schulz et al. (2016). The contents are covered by two sub-domains of the
first domain and one sub-domain of the second domain. None of the contents at
the junior secondary level is classified under civic participation and civic identities
domains.
Contents such as “Bangladesh and her citizens; rights of children in Bangla-
desh; rights of senior citizens and women in Bangladesh” can be classified under
the citizens sub-domain as these highlight the description of Bangladeshi citizens
Table 11.2 Civic and Citizenship Education Contents in Junior Secondary Curriculum
and Textbooks in Bangladesh
Civic society Citizens Bangladesh and her citizens; rights of children in

and systems Bangladesh; rights of senior citizens and women
in Bangladesh
State Election system of Bangladesh; Bangladesh:
institutions state and government system; Bangladesh and
regional cooperation; some countries in Asia;
Bangladesh and international cooperation;
sustainable development goals
Civic principles The sense of Bangladesh and world civilization; history of
community Bangladesh; liberation movement of Bangladesh
and their roles, rights and responsibilities with specific focus on children, senior
citizens and women. “Election system of Bangladesh; Bangladesh: state and gov-
ernment system; Bangladesh and regional cooperation; some countries in Asia;
Bangladesh and international cooperation; sustainable development goals” can
be categorized under the state institutions sub-domain as these illustrate the
state’s affairs and its relationship with the regional, international and suprana-
tional organizations. “Bangladesh and world civilization; history of Bangladesh;
liberation movement of Bangladesh” can be classified under the sub-domain the
sense of community as these highlight the shared history of Bangladeshi citizens
that may help develop their connectedness with the society.
Secondary education
Civic and citizenship education at the secondary level is provided through the
“Bangladesh and global studies” subject which is compulsory for the science
stream students from Grade IX to Grade X (NCTB, 2012b, 2019g). Students in
the business studies stream also have the option to study Bangladesh and global
studies as an optional subject. Similar to primary and junior secondary levels,
Bangladesh and global studies provides social studies education in an integrated
manner by incorporating contents from social science discipline subjects such
as history, civics, geography, economics and sociology. Additionally, students in
the humanities stream study civics and citizenship subject as a compulsory or
optional subject (NCTB, 2019h). Table 11.3 illustrates that the contents of civic
and citizenship education in the Bangladesh and global studies and civics and
citizenship subjects at the secondary level can be categorized under four domains
including civic society and systems, civic principles, civic participation and civic
identities Schulz et al. (2016). The contents are covered by all three sub-domains
of the first domain, all four sub-domains of the second domain and one sub-
domain for each of the third and fourth domains.
Contents such as “Civics and citizenship; citizen and citizenship” can be clas-
sified under the citizen sub-domain as these highlight the conception of civ-
ics, citizenship and the roles, rights and responsibilities of citizens. “Bangladesh
and international organizations; state and system of government; constitution;
government system of Bangladesh; local government system in Bangladesh; the
organs of Bangladesh; government and the administrative systems; the democ-
racy of Bangladesh and the election; the United Nations and Bangladesh; sustain-
able development goals (SDGs)” can be categorized under the state institutions
sub-domain as these illustrate the state departments responsible for civic gover-
nance and the state’s relationship with the international and supranational orga-
nizations. “Political parties and election in democracy” can be classified under
the civil institutions sub-domain as it highlights the role of political parties in
mediating the relationship between citizens and state institutions. “Law, liberty
and equality” can be classified under three sub-domains equity, freedom and rule
of law as it illustrates the equality of citizens and freedom are safeguarded by
law. “The independence of Bangladesh; the political movement in East Bengal
Table 11.3 Civic and Citizenship Education Contents in Secondary Curriculum and
Textbooks in Bangladesh
Civic society Citizens Civics and citizenship; citizen and citizenship

and systems State Bangladesh and international organizations;
institutions state and system of government; constitution;
government system of Bangladesh; local
government system in Bangladesh; the
organs of Bangladesh; government and the
administrative systems; the democracy of
Bangladesh and the election;
the United Nations and Bangladesh; sustainable
development goals (SDGs)
Civil Political parties and election in democracy
institutions
Civic principles Equity Law, liberty and equality
Freedom Law, liberty and equality
The sense of The independence of Bangladesh, the political
community movement in East Bengal and the rise of
nationalism
Rule of law The state, citizenship and law; law, liberty and
equality
Civic Influencing Problems of citizens and what should we do
participation
Civic identities Civic Civic consciousness in the emergence of
self-image Bangladesh
and the rise of nationalism” can be classified under the sub-domain the sense of
community as these highlight the shared history of Bangladesh that may help
develop its citizens’ sense of belonging to the country. “The state, citizenship
and law” can be classified under the sub-domain rule of law as it illustrates how
Bangladesh and its citizenries are governed by the laws. “Problems of citizens
and what should we do” can be categorized under the sub-domain influencing
as it highlights how citizens’ participations in certain civic issues may influence
changes. “Civic consciousness in the emergence of Bangladesh” can be classified
under the sub-domain civic self-image as it illustrates citizens’ understanding and
attitude of citizenship values and roles.
Higher secondary education

Civic and citizenship education at the higher secondary level is mainly provided
through civics and good governance subject for the humanities stream students
from Grade XI to Grade XII (NCTB, 2012c). Students can choose this sub-
ject as a compulsory or optional subject. Students in the music stream may also
choose civics and good governance as a compulsory or optional subject. Students
in the science, business studies, Islamic studies and home economics streams
do not have an option of studying civics and good governance subject. Table
11.4 illustrates the contents of civic and citizenship education in the civics and
good governance subject at the higher secondary level can be categorized under
four domains including civic society and systems, civic principles, civic participa-
tion and civic identities following Schulz et al. (2016). The contents are covered
by all three sub-domains of the first domain, all four sub-domains of the second
domain and one sub-domain of each of the third and fourth domains.
Contents such as “citizen’s rights and responsibilities and human rights” can
be classified under the citizen sub-domain as these highlight citizens’ roles, rights
and responsibilities in light of human rights. “Civics and introduction to good
governance; good governance; e-governance and good governance; government
structure and bodies of government; public service and bureaucracy; constitu-
tion of Bangladesh; Bangladesh and administrative structure; local government;
constitutional organisations; electoral system of Bangladesh; foreign policies
of Bangladesh” can be categorized under the state institutions sub-domain as
these illustrate government structure, constitutional bodies and other govern-
ment departments responsible for governmental functions and the ways good
governance can be ensured. It also highlights the government’s foreign poli-
cies. “Political parties, leadership and good governance” can be classified under
Table 11.4 Civic and Citizenship Education Contents in Higher Secondary Curricu-
lum and Textbooks in Bangladesh
Civic society Citizens Citizens’ rights and responsibilities and

and systems human rights
State civics and introduction of good governance;
institutions good governance; e-governance and good
governance; government structure and
bodies of government; public service and
bureaucracy; constitution of Bangladesh;
Bangladesh and administrative structure;
local government; constitutional
organisations; electoral system of
Bangladesh; foreign policies of Bangladesh
Civil institutions Political parties, leadership and good
governance
Civic principles Equity Values, laws, freedom and equity
Freedom Values, laws, freedom and equity
The sense of Patriotism and nationality; growth of
community representative government in British India
and division of India; from Pakistan to
Bangladesh (1947–1971); memorable
political figures (up to 1971)
Rule of law Values, laws, freedom and equity
Civic Influencing Citizens’ problems and what we have to do;
participation public opinion and culture of politics
Civic identities Civic self-image Values, laws, freedom and equity
the civil institutions sub-domain as it highlights the role of political parties and
leadership for ensuring good governance. “Values, laws, freedom and equity”
can be categorized under four sub-domains equity, freedom, rule of law and civic
self-image as it illustrates how values, equality of citizens, freedom and laws are
important and interlinked to uphold good governance. “Patriotism and national-
ity; growth of representative government in British India and division of India;
from Pakistan to Bangladesh (1947–1971); memorable political figures (up to
1971)” can be classified under the sub-domain the sense of community as these
highlight Bangladeshi citizens’ shared history and values that may help develop
their connectedness with the country and patriotism. “Citizens’ problems and
what we have to do; public opinion and culture of politics” can be categorized
under the sub-domain influencing as these highlight citizens’ participations in
various civic and social issues and how that can foster change.
Civic and citizenship education: reflection from

interviews with teachers
All the teachers interviewed had at least five years of experience in teaching either
Bangladesh and global studies or civics and citizenship or civics and good gov-
ernance subject. Of them one was teaching in primary levels, while others were
teaching in junior secondary, secondary and higher secondary levels. Two of them
have a social science academic background, while the rest have degrees in psy-
chology and science. Along with teaching Bangladesh and global studies or civics
and citizenship or civics and good governance, they were also teaching other
subjects including English, agriculture, Bengali, sociology, etc. in their respective
schools. The age-range of the participant teachers was from 35 to 55 years, and
the total years of teaching experience ranged from 18 to 35 years. We present the
interview findings in the following four themes. Four teachers are anonymized
as A, B, C and D.
Teachers’ knowledge and views

We wanted to know how the teachers perceive the idea of civic and citizenship
education and how it is aligned with their teaching practice. All of them consid-
ered the concept of civics and citizenship as a part of responsibilities towards the
state. According to them, every citizen of a state has some responsibilities. Good
citizens should be aware of their roles, duties and responsibilities, and they should
know the rules and regulations of the state they live in to be a good citizen. On
the other hand, the citizens also have some rights that they could expect from
their family, society and state. By providing the previously mentioned definition
and description about citizenship, the teachers stressed that civic and citizenship
education must include these topics so that the students could gradually become
good citizens. One teacher at a junior secondary school said:
A citizen should have four main characteristics such as 1) to be loyal to

the state, 2) to be a permanent resident of the state, 3) to fulfil duties and
responsibilities towards the state, 4) to get social and political rights from
the state.
(Teacher B)
The teachers particularly mentioned that the contents of civic and citizenship
education should comprise two types of topics. The frst one is related to the
duties “to the state”, and the second one deals with the benefts “from the state”.
The frst topic includes several components such as 1) to understand the respon-
sibilities of a citizen, 2) to know the laws, rules and regulations, 3) to practise
the hidden and indirect customs of their respective family and society, 4) to per-
form the specifc duties assigned to them by the states. For the second topic, the
participants mentioned that good citizens have the right to receive some specifc
benefts “from the state” that should also be a part of civic and citizenship educa-
tion. One teacher commented:
Living permanently in a state, getting state benefits, performing duties

towards the state including people’s responsibilities, duties, facilities and
benefits, social rights of the individual, and the political rights of the indi-
vidual, are the main components of civic and citizenship education.
(Teacher D)
We also wanted to know whether the contents they mentioned are available
in the textbooks or practised in the classrooms. They replied that there are
many things in the textbooks. They doubted whether students could remember
everything as the contents are not well-organized in the books, and there are
too many facts and numbers to memorize. They suggested organizing the text-
books according to the country’s history, development and culture so that the
students can memorize without diffculty. The teachers emphasized practising
these contents at both school and family levels with the help of extra-curricular
activities.
Civic and citizenship education in classrooms

We asked the teachers to identify which domains and sub-domains of civic and
citizenship education are taught and/or practised in the classrooms. Before ask-
ing this question, we explained to them all the domains and sub-domains in
Schulz et al. (2016) and replied to their queries related to the framework. Their
answers are shown in Table 11.5.
Table 11.5 illustrates that, according to the teacher interviews, the first two
domains are taught at the primary level although one participant teacher con-
firmed that the sub-domains of the civic principles domain are only partially
taught. All the sub-domains of the civic society and systems are taught in junior
secondary classes; however, only one sub-domain from the civic principles
domain is taught at this level. On the other hand, one sub-domain from the
first domain and three from the second domain are taught in the secondary
classrooms. A different scenario is found in the higher secondary level. Among
Table 11.5 Civic and Citizenship Education in Classroom Teaching
Domains and sub-domains Primary Junior secondary Secondary Higher secondary
Civic society and systems

Citizens  

 
 

State institutions 
 
 

Civil institutions 

Civic principles
Equity 
 
 

Freedom 
 
 

The sense of community 

Rule of law 
 
 
 

Civic participation
Decision-making 

Influencing
Community participation 

Civic identities
Civic self-image 

Civic connectedness 

the 12 sub-domains, this level covers nine sub-domains and represents all four
domains including civic society and systems, civic principles, civic participation
and civic identities.
Among all four domains, the first domain civic society and systems is taught at
all levels. All the sub-domains of this domain are found in the junior secondary
level, while only one is found at the secondary level. For the second domain civic
principles, all the sub-domains are taught at the primary level, while only one is
taught at the junior secondary level. The sense of community sub-domain is not
touched in junior secondary, secondary and higher secondary classrooms. The
third domain civic participation is not found in the primary, junior secondary and
secondary levels, and its sub-domain influencing is not found at any level. The
fourth domain, civic identities, is only found in the higher secondary classrooms,
and other levels do not cover it.
How is civic and citizenship education taught?

According to the teachers, along with Bangladesh and global studies, civics and
citizenship and civics and good governance subjects, some topics of civic and
citizenship education are also discussed in other subjects such as geography, soci-
ology, social work, etc. All students learn the topics of civic and citizenship edu-
cation from Grade III to Grade VIII, and majority of the students continue up
to Grade X, and only a limited number of students continue up to Grade XII. In
primary education, the teachers pointed out that students learn some topics at a
basic level, such as British rule, women’s rights, tribal lifestyles, the basic concept
of citizenship, children’s rights, how to deal with autistic children, the United
Nations and SAARC, etc. In the secondary level, ranging from junior to higher
secondary, the students learn from the classrooms about the history of Bangla-
desh, Bangladesh and world civilization, the society of Bangladesh, citizens of
Bangladesh, the concept of citizenship, rights of a citizen, characteristics of a
citizen, child rights of Bangladesh, child development and obstacles in Bangla-
desh, sustainable development goals, etc. The teachers also mentioned that not
all of these topics are given equal importance in the textbooks. Nevertheless, the
students could get a basic idea about the topics of civic and citizenship education
from the classroom discussions.
When asked whether the students were attracted to learn these topics, all the
teachers voiced that making students interested in a subject or a topic mainly
depends on the teaching style. They claimed that their students learned these
topics with enthusiasm as they tried to teach these topics “in exciting ways”. A
teacher mentioned:
Not everyone will be interested in all aspects of Bangladesh and Global Stud-
ies or Civics and Citizenship or Civics and Good Governance subjects; as
usual, some will study economics, some will study geography in their own
interest. But if the contents of civic and citizenship education are also taught
with the help of tables, charts or any other fancy way, then the students will
be interested. I observe that my students show their interests in learning civ-
ics and citizenship issues as I try to teach them attractively.
(Teacher C)
Real-life practice
Teachers felt that, without real-life practice, civic and citizenship education might
not be useful for the students. We asked whether there was any scope to prac-
tise the topics of civic and citizenship education in real life. Among four teach-
ers, three of them said that there were some scope of practise, either directly or
indirectly, at family, school and society levels. The other teacher opined that the
scope of practice was minimal as the contents were mostly theoretical. However,
all the teachers stressed that theoretical knowledge alone is not enough for being
a good citizen, and students must practise these in real-life situations though the
scope is particularly limited for some topics. On the other hand, a teacher from
a primary school provided a different answer. According to her, if the students
are not engaged in any anti-social activities, this can also be considered as real-life
practice. As students are taught how to follow the rules, therefore, if no anti-
social activities happen, it is a proof of maintaining the rules. A teacher from the
junior secondary section provided another example:
After coming to school, they are concerned about obeying the rules of the
school, obeying the teachers, obeying the class captain. Again, the leader is
also selected through the class captain election, just like the national election.
One of the same peers is a captain, and everyone obeys him/her.
(Teacher B)
Another teacher highlighted that students are always practising although many
such practices go unnoticed. He commented:
As I have seen my children walking in front of the class, if they see an unnec-
essary fan or light turned on in a class, they turn it off. I think they are doing
it out of a sense of civic responsibility. There are many more such incidents.
The way children participate in national days is also a sign of their civic
responsibility.
(Teacher D)
The teachers also mentioned that students learn and practise various topics of civ-
ics and citizenship by participating in co-curricular activities. As schools celebrate
various national days, therefore, by being involved in different kinds of activities
in those days, students learn many aspects of national days. On the other hand,
from various competitions such as class captain election, debate or scout activi-
ties, the students learn democratic skills. Both learning and practices go hand in
hand in this way.
Implications and conclusion

Civic and citizenship education is prominent in Bangladesh school education as
highlighted in the analysis of education policy, curriculum and textbooks. It is
provided as a compulsory subject to all students from Grade III to Grade VIII
through a subject called “Bangladesh and global studies” which is an integrated
social studies education subject that incorporates contents from social science dis-
cipline subjects such as history, civics, geography, economics and sociology. For
Grades IX–X, Bangladesh and global studies subject is compulsory for the science
stream students and optional for the business studies stream students. Another
subject called “civics and citizenship” is available as a compulsory or optional
subject for the humanities stream students. This indicates that while the science
and humanities stream students are very likely to study civic and citizenship
education at secondary level, it is possible that the business studies stream stu-
dents can complete the secondary education level without studying the civic and
citizenship education. Thus, an important implication is, curriculum needs to
be reformed to address this issue so that every student has an opportunity to
study civic and citizenship education up to Grade X. In Grades XI–XII, civics and
good governance subject is available mainly for the humanities stream students.
Students in the music streams also have an option to study civics and good gov-
ernance subject whereas students in the science, business studies, Islamic studies
and home economics streams do not have such an option.
Both the analysis of curriculum and textbooks and teachers’ interview data
reveal that civic and citizenship education contents can be classified under all four
domains and 12 sub-domains of the ICCS 2016 assessment framework (Schulz
et al., 2016). Education level-wise, the contents at the primary and junior sec-
ondary levels can be categorized under civic society and systems and civic principles
domains. No contents related to civic participation and civic identities domains
are found in these two levels. Moreover, civic participation domain related con-
tents are not found at secondary level as per teachers’ interviews, while analysis
of curriculum and textbooks demonstrates that some contents can be classified
under this domain. Furthermore, civic identities domain related contents are not
found at secondary level as per teachers’ interviews, while the analysis of curricu-
lum and textbooks shows that some contents can be classified under this domain.
This indicates that there is a mismatch between the intended and implemented
curriculum. Given the importance of civic participation and civic identities
domains in the civic and citizenship education framework, support for teachers is
needed to develop their skills in teaching the related contents in classrooms. The
pre-service and in-service teacher education should take this into account and
reform the relevant curriculum and textbooks.
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12 Discussion and inquiry
in Singapore social studies
Min Fui Chee and Jasmine Sim
Introduction
The curricular aims of social studies education in Singapore are to educate for
the informed, concerned and participative citizen (CPDD, 2016). It envisions
citizens who are analytical, reflective, able to understand diverse perspectives,
engaged in societal issues and willing to take action and bring about change.
These aims represent an important shift towards active citizenship, a significant
development compared to the past. A key feature of the present curriculum is
its emphasis on grounding social studies in an inquiry approach. Another less
explicit feature of the curriculum is the importance placed on discussion where
students come together in a shared inquiry, to exchange views, to weigh evidence
from multiple sources and to arrive at well-reasoned conclusions. This chapter
will examine how discussion can contribute to the goals of social studies educa-
tion and how it is intertwined with inquiry. It will also describe the challenges
and limitations of classroom discussions. As social distancing, remote learning
and online interactions become the norm with the COVID-19 pandemic, the
chapter includes an analysis of discussion and technology.
The development of social studies as a school

subject in Singapore
Social studies has been a staple of the primary curriculum since the early 1980s.
At the primary level, the subject mainly introduces children to the history, the
people and the significant places in Singapore and the region. Students learn
about the needs and the constraints of the country and the importance of build-
ing a common identity and social cohesion. In recent years, the history of world
civilizations has been added to the content. Social studies was only introduced as
a compulsory examinable subject at the upper secondary level in 2001. The new
subject at the secondary level represented a significant move away from focusing
on the conception of a citizen as a morally upright person to the development of
a thinking citizen (Sim & Adler, 2004).
Since its inception in 2001, the subject has been built around issues and higher-
order thinking skills that are emphasized and assessed in the formal examination
162 Min Fui Chee and Jasmine Sim
(Sim, 2001). The focus on issues has within it a strong potential for the use of
classroom discussion as the main pedagogy. Within the past 20 years, the social
studies syllabus has been revised several times. In the latest iteration, a framework
for an inquiry process has been conceptualized, and this is described in some
detail in the syllabus documents (see CPDD, 2016). This inquiry process is intro-
duced at both the primary and secondary levels and comprises several stages –
arousing interest, crafting questions, collecting data, reasoning about the data,
making conclusions and reflecting on the entire process. This reconceptualized
curriculum emphasizes critical and reflective thinking. Meanwhile, the curricular
aims include explicit attention to understanding multiple perspectives, evalua-
tion of information and analysis and negotiation of complex situations (CPDD,
2016) – skills which the pedagogy of discussion is well-positioned to develop.
Multiple understandings of discussion

It is common to hear discussion being used by practitioners to mean any kind of
classroom talk. In day-to-day discourse, we will find teachers using discussion to
encompass many kinds of exchanges between teacher and students with regards
to the content of the lesson. Wilen (2004) noted that what teachers commonly
referred to as “discussion” is, in reality, recitation where students display their
knowledge of subject matter. While both forms of classroom talk can be used to
good effect depending on purpose, discussion is preferable and more appropri-
ate in developing higher-order reasoning, decision-making and problem-solving
for democratic citizenship (Parker & Hess 2001; Wilen, 2004; Wilen & White,
1991).
Larson (1997, pp. 128–129) found six different conceptions of discussion
amongst teachers in his work.
1 Recitation – a typical interaction of teacher initiation, student response and

teacher evaluation.
2 Teacher-directed conversation – teachers control the conversation, direct-
ing questions to help students understand a topic, concept or different
perspectives.
3 An open-ended conversation – teacher selects a topic and introduces it, and
students and teacher share what they know. The teacher is a participant in
the conversation but does not direct it.
4 A series of challenging questions – teacher poses questions to challenge and
develop students’ thinking skills but does not evaluate student responses.
Questions are not designed to lead students to specific conclusions.
5 Guided transfer of knowledge to life beyond the classroom – teacher guides
students to generalize, see connections and apply knowledge learnt in the
classroom to their own lives outside school.
6 Practise at verbal interaction – discussion is considered a skill that students
need to learn and practise.
Discussion and inquiry in social studies 163
Amongst scholars too, there is a variety of defnitions. Wilen and White (1991)
described discussion as a “structured conversation” (p. 492) where participants
work cooperatively to exchange, analyze, and understand different views about
an academic topic or issue. They explore ideas and engage in critical thinking and
problem solving. Wilen (2004) also referred to discussion as an “instructional
conversation” where there is higher-order questioning and exchanges between
teachers and students and among students “for the purpose of applying knowl-
edge and stimulating critical thinking to enhance understanding about an issue,
problem or other content” (p. 35). Parker and Hess (2001) defned discussion
as a “text-based shared inquiry of the listening-and-talking kind” (p. 275) where
there is a document, idea or issue, shared purpose and a common inquiry focus.
Participants in a discussion deepen and widen the scope of their own understand-
ing by considering the viewpoints, experiences and interpretations of other dis-
cussants. The outcome of this shared inquiry is shared understanding (Parker &
Hess, 2001). Walsh and Sattes (2015) described discussion as “a process through
which individual students give voice to their thoughts in a disciplined manner as
they interact with others to make meaning and advance individual and collective
understanding of the issue in question” (p. 33).
The various definitions emphasize giving voice to views, collaborative inquiry,
exchange, deepening understanding and making meaning together. Discussions
are substantive, meaningful conversations where participants go beyond report-
ing experiences and stating facts. It includes higher-order thinking like analyzing
issues from multiple perspectives and synthesis of arguments and may not have
clear, definitive conclusions (Larson & Keiper, 2002). Discussion is classroom
talk that moves “thinking forward” (Alexander, 2006, p. 52). The different defi-
nitions show the intertwining relationship between discussion and inquiry. Given
that discussion is integral to social studies, it is important to establish a common
understanding of the types of exchanges that constitute good discussions so that
teachers have a basis to understand and improve their own practice.
Discussion: civic competencies and conceptual understanding

One of the many important roles of a citizen is a willingness and ability to
interact with others on matters of common concern. Discussion is the chief
medium for this interaction.
(Larson, 1997, p. 115)
Discussion is highly valued for its potential in the development of civic compe-
tencies, and the skills of discussion are increasingly considered to be essential for
living in diverse, multicultural societies. Democracy involves talking through dif-
ferences and solving problems together. To be living democratic lives is to engage
with diverse others as equals in a civil and caring way. In this view, discussion is an
inherent part of living and functioning in a democratic society.
Civically engaged and participative citizens are important for the well-being
of communities. One of the ways in which citizens can be engaged in the com-
munity is to take part in dialogues to solve problems or to better understand
the perspectives of different groups and individuals. Discussion of issues with
attention to multiple perspectives play an important role in developing civic con-
sciousness and attitudes for later civic participation (Hahn, 2001; Lenzi et al.,
2014; McCoy & Scully, 2002; Torney-Purta, 2002). Perspective taking, critical
thinking and ability to discuss issues with peers have been identified as important
civic competencies (Van Camp & Baugh, 2016).
Classroom discussion has particular value as the school is, in Parker’s (2010)
view, “a public, civic place” (p. 2822). Schools provide a “diverse congregation”
(Parker, 2010, p. 2822) as it presents all kinds of differences – race, class, gender
and religion. In school, students encounter “people they might not know or
like, whose behaviour and beliefs they may not warm to, with whom they may
be unequally related” (Parker, 2010, p. 2817). This “diverse congregation” pro-
vides the ideal setting and opportunities for students to both talk and listen to
one another and, in the process, build community (Parker & Hess, 2001).
Parker’s ideas and ideals provide a strong conceptual foundation for using dis-
cussion in the classroom for civic purposes. We are reminded that discussion is
not just talk; it is also about listening. “Equitable and trustworthy conjoint living
is not only a matter of being heard but also of hearing others” (Parker, 2010,
p. 2827). He suggested that three key stances of a listener in a discussion are
important – reciprocity, humility and caution (Parker, 2010, p. 2829). According
to Parker, reciprocity refers to listening with the understanding that the speaker
knows best his or her own position and circumstances. The listener needs to
take on the perspective of the other. Humility refers to listening with the under-
standing that there is more that the listener must learn and understand from the
speaker. Caution refers to careful engagement, where a listener does not deny or
dismiss the validity of the speaker’s perspective and takes care not to express every
thought that comes to mind.
Besides discussion for the development of civic competencies, discussion to
deepen conceptual understanding in the component social studies disciplines is
also another reason why discussion is valuable. In the inquiry approach to social
studies in Singapore, discussions play a key role in getting students to clarify
their understandings and to construct knowledge. Cognitive and sociocognitive
theorists argue that talk is a “powerful tool for thinking” (Croninger et al., 2018,
p. 25). The kind of oral and social interaction that high-quality discussion affords
provide opportunities for students to elaborate and restructure their cognitive
representations of concepts and achieve high-level comprehension and complex
reasoning (Croninger et al., 2018).
Different purposes call for different types of discussion activities in the class-
room. Hess (2002, 2009) in her work on controversial issues discussion described
teachers using different discussion models in their socials studies classes. One is
the Town Hall Meeting Model where students enter a discussion taking on roles
to reflect the range of positions and perspectives in an issue. This model helps
students deepen their understanding of diverse views on an issue. The other is the
Public Issues Model where issues selected are those that embody tension between
different values. The model utilizes three categories of questions – definitional,
factual and value oriented to guide the discussion.
Parker & Hess (2001) distinguished between seminars, deliberations and con-
versations. Seminars seek to expose, develop and explore meanings and hence
facilitate deeper understandings of texts and ideas. Hence, seminars are well-
positioned to achieve the goal of developing conceptual understanding. Delib-
erations, meanwhile, seek to draw participants together to solve problems and
make decisions (Parker, 2006, 2010). Conversation is open-ended discussion
about the common goals of a community or society. Unlike deliberation, pre-
determined alternatives do not guide conversations although participants engage
in “shaping common ends” (Parker & Hess, 2001, p. 282). A single discussion
may also comprise all three “discussion types” (p. 284). These distinctions and
models help teachers to make decisions and structure lessons, depending on the
purposes they wish to achieve, their subject matter and the focus questions.
Parker and Hess (2001) identified the Structured Academic Controversy –
better known as SAC – as an exemplar of deliberation. The SAC is a cooperative
learning structure developed by Johnson and Johnson (1992), where two pairs of
students take on opposing positions on a controversial issue or problem. The first
pair argues for one position while the second pair argues for the opposite view.
The pairs then switch positions. In the final stage, the pairs drop their positions
and engage in deliberation as a group in order to reach a consensus.
The SAC is reported to be popular amongst teachers of humanities and social
studies in Singapore schools and is used to scaffold and focus classroom discus-
sion in different subjects (Lim & Cheah, 2017). Educators’ experiences in con-
ceptualizing and conducting SAC have been published (Ang, 2014; Lim, 2004;
Lim, 2014; Lim & Cheah, 2017;1 Nathan & Lee, 2004). While student ability
to engage in this activity was reported, analysis about the extent and the quality
of the discussions that took place was not the focus. An examination of the les-
son descriptions found that the advocacy element in SAC tend to overshadow
the consensus-building element. In a reflection on the SAC lesson conducted,
Ang (2014) commented that when it came to the final stage of the SAC where
students had to agree on a joint position, students “came to a quick consensus”
(p. 39) because there was a lack of time. The practice of SAC in these instances
may, unintentionally, emphasize more debating rather than deliberating skills and
dispositions.
While the SAC appears to be accepted practice, it is not so clear if less struc-
tured and sustained whole-class discussions in social studies is the norm. A study
of eighteen general paper2 teachers from seven schools, found that teacher talk
did not encourage high-quality discussion amongst pre-university students (Teo,
2016). Instead, teacher talk was more directed towards helping students learn
factual knowledge and “stifled participation and cognitive engagement” (Teo,
2016, p. 47). While these findings are not generalizable to social studies, it alerts
the social studies community to the importance of attending seriously to teacher
talk as one of the ways in which to help us move towards authentic discussions to
facilitate genuine knowledge construction.
Challenges, constraints and issues
Discussion of controversial issues

The benefits of discussing controversial issues for democratic citizenship has been
well-argued, and a significant body of work exists in the area. In the context of
Singapore, studies on teachers’ conceptions of citizenship and their understand-
ing of controversial issues should serve as important understandings in thinking
about the pedagogy of discussion. In the Sim, Chua, and Krishnasamy (2017)
study, teachers with different conceptions of citizenship engaged differently with
controversial issues. Teachers who were categorized as character-driven citizens
kept to their perception of safe and prescribed positions and did not put their
own views at the forefront. Teachers who were described as social-participatory
citizens saw controversial issues as sensitive issues and were careful about student
feelings when discussing these issues. The final group of critically reflexive teach-
ers were ready to discuss local and international issues and provided a wide range
of views. These views, however, did not necessarily include their own. In this
respect, teachers were careful to speak with a “teacher’s voice” (p. 99) making a
clear distinction between the personal and the professional.
The Ho, Alviar-Martin, and Leviste (2014) study is informative for the Singa-
pore context and allows educators to think about the perception of issues and the
impact of these perceptions on the content of discussions/choice of topics for
discussion. In the study, issues were categorized as controversial-appropriate and
controversial-taboo. Race and politics were considered controversial-appropriate.
While these issues were controversial, it was still acceptable to discuss them in the
classroom within certain established boundaries. Meanwhile sexual orientation
was considered controversial-taboo. Controversial-taboo issues were issues that
would not be discussed in class at all as there was no explicit indication of what
was acceptable public discourse.
Emotions and discussion

Another challenge when it comes to discussion of issues is the possibility of evok-
ing a range of emotions which the teacher may then find difficult to manage.
Students voice their views when they feel strongly about what is being discussed
(Do & Schallert, 2004). In Sim et al.’s (2017) study, teachers were found to have
prioritized their students’ feelings, taking care to avoid victimizing or shaming in
presenting and discussing issues. The literature on issues discussion has put emo-
tions very much in the background (Reidel & Salinas, 2011). One of the reasons
for the lack of attention on emotions is the conceptualization of emotion itself
and the complexities and challenges of studying emotions in education (Do &
Schallert, 2004; Zembylas, 2007). A conception of social studies as discipline-
based and the pursuit of rational and critical thinking also push emotions to the
background. Emotions, however, are inevitable in the discussion of issues and
future studies, and preparation of teachers need to incorporate an examination of
the role and influence of emotions in discussions.
Assessment: accountability vs authenticity

Assessing students’ discussion is a key issue of contention amongst teaches. One
issue is whether discussion should be formally assessed. In a study by Hess (2002),
a teacher decided against formally grading student participation in order not to
compromise the authenticity of the discussion. While rubrics can be developed
for quality discussions, it is challenging for a teacher to both facilitate and assess
at the same time. It is also debatable if rubrics can adequately capture the myriad
ways in which students participate in discussions (Hess, 2002). Both face-to-face
and online discussions present particular challenges and difficulties for assess-
ment. In the Singapore context, authenticity may be compromised not so much
by any need to formally grade a classroom discussion but by the need to prepare
students for a standardized examination.
Preparing teachers for discussion

Discussion is highly demanding for teachers due to the complexity involved in
managing student ideas, student participation and, in cases of controversial or
difficult issues, possible evocation of student emotions (Hess, 2002). Teachers
need to attend to “what is being said” and “how it is being said and by whom
simultaneously” (Wei & Murphy, 2018, p. 38). They also need to make decisions
about when and how to intervene and influence the flow of student talk. This
requires what Wei and Murphy (2018) described as “effortful cognitive energy
and capacity” (p. 42). Preparation for discussion of issues, both on the part of
teachers and students, is also time-consuming. It is common to find teachers
reporting a lack of faith in their ability to facilitate discussion (Hess, 2002). On
top of these, many teachers likely did not experience rich discussions themselves
when they were in school (Parker & Hess, 2001; Walsh & Sattes, 2015). It is
perhaps unsurprising then to find teachers engaging mainly in eliciting students’
opinions which are then left “undiscussed”.
In Singapore, there is active preparation for the pedagogy of discussion in
both pre-service and in-service teacher education, where it is acknowledged that
teachers do not just need support in learning to facilitate discussions, they also
need support in understanding the complexities of issues or the subject matter
of discussion. It is confidence in subject matter that will facilitate the loosen-
ing of teacher control over classroom talk. While there are many opportunities
for teachers to read about and attend in-service training on discussion, the real
learning and test is in actually facilitating discussions in class and being able to
reflect and learn from this. In this respect, Teo (2016) recommended that teach-
ers reflect on their discussion practices using recordings of their lessons. This will
enable a better analysis of their classroom talk and facilitation moves.
Going forward: discussion and technology

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted education all over the world. Schools
and teacher education institutes must now place more emphasis on helping and
preparing teachers to teach online. While online discussion forums are not new,
the main focus of scholarly attention has been on face-to-face discussions when it
comes to social studies. Meanwhile, young people are increasingly highly engaged
with social media. As such, online discussions have to be considered in any study
or analysis of using discussion in social studies. While students may be digital
natives, skillful at text messaging and use of social media, this does not necessar-
ily translate to skills for using technology for academic purposes (Journell, 2008;
Larson, 2005; Tally, 2007). In this chapter, a distinction is made between discus-
sion in an “online” forum where teachers play a role in moderating either syn-
chronous or asynchronous discussions and other avenues in which young people
participate in discussions digitally outside school. Studies on asynchronous online
discussion forums (Blankenship, 2016; Journell, 2008; Larson, 2005; Larson &
Keiper, 2002) analyzed the similarities and differences between the online dis-
cussion format and face-to-face discussion in terms of the teacher’s role, student
participation and the quality of discussion.
This section first highlights a fundamental difference between these two dis-
cussion formats. In face-to-face discussion, what is required of students is speak-
ing and listening. In an online forum, students engage in reading and writing
(Larson, 2005). These processes make different demands of students. Reading
and writing as part of a discussion differ significantly from regular reading and
writing assignments and present particular challenges to both teachers and stu-
dents. One of the challenges is in interpreting and conveying emotion. The other
is the inability to see non-verbal expression which is very much a part of commu-
nication (Journell, 2008). Non-verbal expression allows a teacher to read beyond
the words used in order to facilitate a richer discussion. The monitoring and
facilitation processes also differ significantly for the teacher. Teachers may find
it challenging to monitor and direct or redirect online discussions, unlike the
situation in a classroom, as students may not read teachers’ posts commenting or
asking for clarification (Larson, 2005). On the other hand, in the online environ-
ment, it is possible for teachers to comment on each and every post and provide
detailed feedback. It is not possible to comment on each and every contribution
in class as it disrupts the natural flow of a discussion and discourages student-to-
student exchanges (Larson, 2005; Larson & Keiper, 2002).
Where students are concerned, online discussion forums take longer. It is
tiring for students to read a large number of posts in online discussions, and
hence they may do so only selectively. On the other hand, students who are more
comfortable with writing would participate more in online forums compared to
face-to-face class discussions (Journell, 2008; Larson, 2005; Larson & Keiper,
2002). Larson (2005) reported that students who did not participate in face-
to-face discussions participated in online discussion forums. Students reported
being “less afraid” and they could take time to understand classmates’ comments
and rework their comments before posting them. This allowed shy students to
participate. The ability to state word limits means that teachers can force a certain
level of participation (Journell, 2008). Weak writers, however, will find it hard to
contribute when discussions become more complex, and it is harder for teachers
to support or encourage these students in an online environment.
The online forum does not offer the same kind of social environment as a
physical classroom. In a study on asynchronous discussion for history, the teacher
in the study did not think that a social environment existed in online discussion
forums (Journell, 2008). Another issue is discussion on video conferencing plat-
forms such as Zoom, which are unlike online discussion forums. While teachers
are able to see participants, they may not be able to see the body language and feel
the emotions and tensions that sometimes are part of the discussion. How teach-
ers mediate and facilitate a discussion conducted through video conferencing
platforms is worth further study. How discussions in online environments impact
the development of civic competencies also needs to be further understood.
Young people also engage in online discussion spaces in their own time. Social
studies educators need to address this trend and help their students develop the
skills to engage in fruitful ways. A lack of civility and offensive exchanges can
dominate online spaces that are not well moderated or not moderated at all.
Students need to be encouraged to participate in forums where there are diverse
views so that they do not end up in “echo chambers”, resulting in a narrowing
of perspectives or solidification of a single position (Kahne, Hodgin, & Eidman-
Aadahl, 2016, p. 10).
Another way in which technology plays a key role is in supporting classroom
discussion. Baildon, Lin, and Chia (2016) described how a teacher used the
online bulletin board, Padlet, to elicit and record student thinking on an inquiry
question in a social studies class. These Padlet postings were reorganized by the
teacher, and students were invited to comment on selected postings. The use of
Padlet expanded student participation in the class discussion and allowed them to
respond to one another’s ideas. The development of apps that allow teachers to
record, analyze participation and give individual feedback provides teachers with
additional tools to help them encourage, facilitate and assess discussion in the
classroom (See Wiggins, 2020).3
Conclusion
The focus of social studies education in Singapore has evolved since its incep-
tion in the early 1980s at the primary level. Presently, the goal is to educate for
an active citizenry capable of critical thinking through inquiry and discussion.
Discussion, done well, has the potential to achieve important academic and civic
goals. It allows students opportunities to talk about issues of common concern
with diverse fellow citizens and, through this, contribute to democratic citizen-
ship development. When discussions centre on public issues, it can also provide
some form of limited civic engagement in the classroom.
The successful implementation of discussion, however, depends on many
factors. Studies have shown that extensive preparation needs to be in place for
discussion to succeed in achieving its instructional purpose. This extensive prepa-
ration includes the cultivation of a range of skills and dispositions in both teachers
and students. Face-to-face discussion poses many challenges for teachers and stu-
dents. Teachers need strategies to encourage participation and balance decisions
about the extent of intervention. Questions of assessment can have an important
impact on the authenticity and conduct of discussion in the classroom. In partic-
ular, the discussion of controversial issues, which is widely valued for citizenship
education, is fraught with difficult questions and dilemmas for teachers. Teachers
need to develop the necessary pedagogical judgment and a blend of skills and
sensitivity when it comes to controversial issues.
Meanwhile, the landscape of discussion is increasingly changed and shaped
by the availability of technology. The popularity of social media and the need to
teach online with the ongoing pandemic have also created an urgency to examine
the similarities and differences between face-to-face and online discussions. Stu-
dents need to learn to engage in online discussions in fruitful ways as the online
environment, more often than not, may not have the necessary facilitation and
moderation that classroom face-to face-discussions possess. Besides, there is a dis-
tinction between online discussion forums done as part of schoolwork and other
discussion forums that young people engage in out of school. This needs to be
acknowledged and understood so that teachers can help students to negotiate the
world of social media discussions. The purpose is to better prepare teachers and
students to meet the challenges that the internet brings to the way people “talk”
to each other in shared inquiry and in the consequent development of civic com-
petencies and engagement in a world of technology-mediated communication.
Notes
1 K. Lim (2004) and Lim and Cheah (2017) described SAC lessons for social studies
conducted through mobile devices. These were not face-to-face SAC lessons.
2 General paper is a subject offered at the pre-university level where students explore
a variety of issues. The aims of the subject include a broadening of students’ global
outlook and the development of skills to evaluate arguments and opinions. There
are broad similarities to social studies in its focus on issues and critical thinking
(CPDD, 2011; SEAB, 2020).
3 Wiggins (2020) reported the use of an iPad app, Equity Maps, and a web-based
app, Parlay Ideas, in her paper on assessing discussion.
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13 ‘Noble character’ as a focus
in Moral Education in Malaysia
Noor Zulina S De Asildo and Maizura Yasin
Introduction
The population of Malaysia consists of a plural society with a variety of racial,
ethnic, beliefs and religious backgrounds. Based on the statistics released by the
Department of Statistics Malaysia (2020), the population of Malaysia according
to the main ethnic groups is shown in Table 13.1.
Apart from the estimates in Table 13.1 that show the diversity of the ethnic
groups in Malaysia, the diversity of the Malaysian society also encompasses dif-
ferent indigenous and ethnic groups in the community, especially in Sabah and
Sarawak. The source from the Malaysian Government Official Portal (MyGov)
states the indigenous groups in Peninsular Malaysia are the ‘Orang Asli’ who
are divided into three major ethnic community groups: the Negrito, Senoi and
Proto-Malay. In addition, Sabah has 32 ethnic community groups, where the
majority are the Kadazandusun. Rungus, Bajau, Bajau Laut, Murut, Lundayeh,
Orang Sungai and Iranun are some of the ethnic groups in the community who
are found in Sabah. Meanwhile, Sarawak has 27 ethnic community groups, where
the Ibans are the majority in addition to the Bidayuh, Melanau and Orang Ulu.
These ethnic community groups in Sabah and Sarawak have their own variety of
dialects and cultures as well as a variety of traditional beliefs strongly adhered to
in determining the manners and behaviour of their community.
Besides having various ethnic community groups, Malaysian society also
has various religions and beliefs. Islam is the official religion of the Federation
because the majority of the Malaysian population are Muslims – 61.32 percent of
the total 28,334,135 population of Malaysia in 2010 based on the census, includ-
ing foreigners. Besides, another 12.84 percent of the population are Buddhists,
followed by Christians at 6.24 percent, Hindus at 1.27 percent, Confucianism,
Taoism and traditional Chinese religion at 1.26 percent, non-religion 0.71 per-
cent and the remaining 1.36 percent of the population are those whose religion
is unknown (Demography of Population, 2020). The diversity of religions and
beliefs of the Malaysian society also brings an understanding of their adhered
beliefs in determining the behaviour accepted as moral and ethical. In addition,
the diversity of these ethnic and religious groups can also affect the implementa-
tion of subjects based on social studies, particularly Islamic Education and Moral
Education. These subjects are core and compulsory, offered separately to Muslim
Noble character focused in Moral Education 175
Table 13.1 Current Population Estimates, Malaysia, 2020
Year Percentage of citizen populations by ethnic groups, Malaysia, 2020
Bumiputera Chinese Indians Others
2019 69.3% 22.8% 6.9% 1.0%

2020 69.6% 22.6% 6.8% 1.0%
Source: Department of Statistics Malaysia (2020).
and non-Muslim students with have the same goal: to produce people of noble
character (Balakrishnan, 2017; Salleh & Abd Khahar, 2016).
The main content of these two subjects is also different even though they
are taught simultaneously in schools. The content of Islamic Education subject
is based on spiritual values leading to the shaping of the noble character as in
Islamic laws (Omar, 2015). Meanwhile, the Moral Education subject is more
focused on the discussion of issues, problems and moral conflicts or dilemma to
enable students to develop their abilities in decision-making and problem-solving
while adhering to universal values in the context of Malaysian society (Ministry
of Education Malaysia, 2018). To ensure that a core and compulsory subject can
be learned by all non-Muslim students of different religions and beliefs, Moral
Education focuses on the teaching of noble values that are considered universal in
the context of Malaysian plural society. Thus, Moral Education in Malaysia does
not aim to inculcate any religious values or beliefs among non-Muslim students.
The implementation and history of Moral

Education in Malaysia
The education system in Malaysia before, during and after the colonization was
based on society’s respective religions (Balakrishnan, 2010). The pre-indepen-
dence education system (1400–1786) focused on religious education, especially
the Islamic religion, implemented in the ‘pondok’ schools, ‘suraus’, mosques
and ‘madrasahs’. During British colonialization from 1786 to 1956, several ver-
nacular schools such as the Malay, Chinese and Tamil schools and English-based
Christian missionary schools emerged. Moral learning, however, only began to
be included in the curriculum in the early 20th century. At that time, only Chi-
nese vernacular schools had such a curriculum, while other schools were continu-
ing their education system as usual. Besides, the Islamic Education curriculum
was given more emphasis in consideration that Islam is the official religion of
Malaysia. From the introduction of the Razak Report (1956) to the Education
Act (1961), Moral Education subject was yet to be introduced (Ahmad, 1998).
Moral Education subject was only introduced in Malaysia when the students’
disciplinary and moral problems became more prevalent (Abd. Rashid, 1993).
Therefore, the implementation of Moral Education was to shape a morally noble
character (Zulkifli, Abdul Razak, & Mahmood, 2018) to reduce social problems.
176 Noor Zulina S De Asildo and Maizura Yasin
In 1976, the Moral Education Committee in the Ministry of Education led
by the Head of the Board of Federal School Inspectors was tasked to study the
learning syllabus of Moral Education. The appropriateness of Moral Education in
the context of Malaysian plural society which consists of various races, religions,
customs, living norms and cultural systems was taken into account (Gan, 2011).
Finally, a draft of the Moral Education syllabus, consisting of the universal values,
was issued in 1978 based on the National Principles. This programme provided
opportunities for non-Muslim students to learn moral and ethical education
beginning in 1983 as a core subject in school (Abd. Rashid, 1993; Balakrishnan,
2010).
At the beginning of its implementation, the primary school Moral Education
curriculum consisted of 12 moral values, while for the secondary schools it con-
sisted of 16 moral values. The same values were taught at every level of school-
ing, but the scope and content of the lessons were developed according to the
students’ maturity level. The Moral Education syllabus at the secondary school
level had also been changed to be more globalized and appropriate in line with
the current technological developments. Thus, the new Moral Education syllabus
which was introduced in the Integrated Secondary School Curriculum (ISSC)
had seven learning areas with 36 values, and a combination of character educa-
tion approaches, value explanations and cognitive development was implemented
(Balakrishnan, 2010). The values included in the ISSC Moral Education syllabus
are still based on the principles of universal values that are in line with the norms
of Malaysia’s pluralistic society.
Moral Education was also made a compulsory core subject for non-Muslim
students, and the subject was assessed in the Malaysia Certificate of Education
(MCE) (Tan, Mahadir Naidu, Jamil, & Jamil@Osman, 2018). Throughout the
implementation of Moral Education in Malaysia, this subject underwent a series
of changes in the curriculum content and assessment. Starting with testing the
students’ comprehension of the Moral Education syllabus in written examina-
tions, Moral Education is then broken down into two parts, whereby writing
charity work reports was included in addition to written tests at the MCE level
(Balakrishnan, 2017). Despite changes in curriculum content and assessment, it
still has the same goal which is to shape a noble character (NC) person (Ministry
of Education Malaysia, 2000b, 2018). The implementation of Moral Education,
however, was found to be less successful in achieving its goal of shaping ‘noble
character’ as desired (Balakrishnan, 2010; Limbasan, Ling, & Pang, 2018).
Therefore, in line with the changing times and the introduction of Malaysia
Education Blueprint 2013–2015, the Moral Education curriculum content was
changed. The Moral Education ISSC focused more on the inculcation of moral
values to be practised in daily life, whereas the new Moral Education Secondary
School Standard Curriculum (SSSC) focused more on various goals to meet the
demands of technological changes.
Generally, Moral Education SSSC emphasized Higher-Order Thinking Skill
(HOTS) as one of the focuses in the teaching and learning process of Moral
Education (Zulkifli et al., 2018) but still maintains the goal of shaping noble
character through the comprehensive development of three moral domains, viz.
moral reasoning, moral emotions and moral behaviour (Ministry of Education
Malaysia, 2015). Emphasis on the development of these three moral domains is
important to develop students’ ability in decision-making and problem-solving
in a real-life situation. Moreover, the SSSC syllabus has 18 universal values incul-
cated implicitly through discussions of various situations involving conflicts or
moral dilemmas, moral issues and moral problems instead of direct inculcation
of universal values as in ISSC. Besides, the teaching sessions of Moral Educa-
tion have also been changed by the inclusion of 32 hours of outdoor learning to
encourage charitable work activities outside the classroom (Ministry of Educa-
tion Malaysia, 2016a, 2016b, 2018). The changes made in this new curriculum
are expected to overcome the weaknesses that existed in the previous syllabus that
focused on the teaching of noble values.
The concept of the ‘noble character person’

in Malaysian Moral Education
The concept of ‘noble character person’ is a goal to be achieved in two subjects
based on social studies as explained in the previous introduction section, viz. the
Islamic Education and Moral Education subjects. The emphasis on the shaping
of the noble character in these two subjects is because it focuses on the efforts in
shaping the individual character. The word ‘noble’ (or ‘akhlak’ in Malay) comes
from the Arabic word which is defined as character or behaviour, habit, beliefs,
adherence or religion. Specifically, ‘akhlak’ can be defined as the inner energy
present in behaviours, traits or actions that can be seen and manifested easily
without the need for reasoning and narration. ‘Akhlak’ does not require reason-
ing and narration because behaviours or traits that comply with the Islamic laws
and common sense logic will automatically be categorized as a noble character
(Abdul Rahman, Abdullah, Hamdan, & Ahmad, 2020; Suhid, 1999). Further-
more, the concept of ‘akhlak’ is also related to character (Akmal Karim, Long &
Badaruddin, 2021), emphasizing the comparison between good and bad deeds
(Ishak, 1995), related to moral values and noble values (Abdul Rahman et al.,
2020; Ismail, 2015; Othman, Suhid, & Roslan, 2015) as well as the relationship
between man and God and fellow human beings (Aminatun Habibah, 2019;
Omar, 2015; Othman et al., 2015). Islam defines ‘akhlak’ as absolute but uni-
versal because human beings need to adhere to the doctrine set by God (Abd
Hamid, Balwi, Othman, & Kasim, 2004). Thus, noble character individuals in
Islam are determined by adherence to the absolute guidelines on right and wrong
or good and bad deeds as stated in the Al-Qur’an.
The implementation of Moral Education in Malaysia is mandatory for non-
Muslim students. As described in the introduction, the non-Muslim community
in Malaysia are of various religions and beliefs such as Christianity, Buddhism and
Hinduism. These three religions are practised by the majority of non-Muslims
in Malaysia. Therefore, the concept of noble character should not be under-
stood in the context of only one religion or belief. The implementation of Moral
Education as a form of character education requires an understanding of moral
concepts because noble character is also translated as a moral person in the Moral
Education syllabus (Ministry of Education Malaysia, 2000a, 2016c, 2018). The
word ‘moral’ comes from the Latin word which means customs and manners that
represent noble behaviour or manners (Md Aroff, 1999; S De Asildo, 2015).
Besides, moral is also understood as good, right and accepted behaviour, in line
with religious requirements, societal norms as well as rules and laws (Ministry
of Education Malaysia, 2016c; Mohd Yusoff, 2017). A moral person is depicted
as one who has the autonomy to abide by the societal rules and norms that are
considered good and appropriate by holding to the moral principles of justice and
autonomous caring (Chang, 2013; Miles & Upenieks, 2018). In this context, a
moral person should realize the importance of not complying with the societal
rules and norms blindly, guided by values that are accepted as good. Thus, a
moral person should stick to principles and moral values to enable them to make
an appropriate moral judgment when faced with conflict or moral dilemmas
in life.
The concept of noble character in Malaysian Moral Education involves shap-
ing a comprehensive moral development of three moral domains, viz. the moral
reasoning, moral emotion and moral behaviour. Comprehensive moral develop-
ment was introduced by Thomas Lickona (1991) to be used in the context of
character education (Garrigan, Adlam, & Langdon, 2018; Nucci, 2006). The
comprehensive development of these three moral domains can produce a moral
society (Chowdhury, 2016; Davidson, Lickona, & Khmelkov, 2008; Md Aroff,
2014; Ryan & Lickona, 1992). The development of these three moral domains
also allows individuals to make moral judgments based on moral principles and
universal values in life (Ministry of Education Malaysia, 2015). Moreover, Chow-
dhury (2016) explains that these three moral domains are components of moral
psychology and their development does not occur separately but in interrelated
ways (Kara, 2019; Touré-Tillery & Light, 2018).
Moral emotions, for instance, feelings of empathy, sympathy, compassion
(Carlo, Vicenta, Samper, Tur, & Armenta, 2010; Cowie & Carr, 2017; Dar-
nell & Kristjánsson, 2019; Malti, Gasser, & Gutzwiller-Helfenfinger, 2010; Ross,
2017) and guiltiness over matters involving the choice between right and wrong
actions (Bocian, Baryla, Kulesza, Schnall, & Wojciszke, 2018) are part of moral
emotional development (Nucci, 2006) and mediators of moral behaviour (Dar-
nell & Kristjánsson, 2019; Limbasan et al., 2018). Similarly, aspects of moral
reasoning are also associated with the production of moral or prosocial behaviour
(Gibbs, Basinger, Grime, & Snarey, 2007; Li, Hao, & Shi, 2018; Sathish Rao,
2018; Vera-Estay, Dooley, & Beauchamp, 2015). Ultimately, these three moral
domains are interconnected with each other and need to be given important
emphasis, which is the backbone of achieving the goals of shaping noble charac-
ter through Moral Education in Malaysia. A comprehensive development of the
three moral domains is important to produce students who can make moral judg-
ments (Sathish Rao, 2018), described as the ability to solve problems and make
rational and responsible decisions based on the three moral principles, namely
altruism, autonomy and justice as well as adhering to the universal values of the
Malaysian society (Ministry of Education Malaysia, 2015).
During the implementation of ISSC, noble character was named as the Com-
prehensive Human Model (CHM), which also focuses on comprehensive moral
development as in SSSC as well as the element of conscience. The element of con-
science is nurtured and stimulated by holistic moral development and depicted in
the sense of feeling happy doing the right thing and feeling guilty doing some-
thing wrong or immoral (Ministry of Education Malaysia, 2000a). Besides, the
learning of basic moral concepts related to the meaning of noble character was
introduced in the new Moral Education SSSC (Ministry of Education Malaysia,
2015, 2016b, 2017b, 2018). Therefore, teachers and students will have a better
understanding of noble character that comprises certain moral concepts such as
the moral domain, moral principles and universal values.
Teachers’ challenges in shaping the ‘noble character person’

The changes made in Moral Education curriculum content which still maintains
the same goal of shaping noble character among students shows the need for
Moral Education teachers to have a good understanding of basic moral concepts.
Besides, teachers as moral educators also need to master the characteristics of
moral human beings in order to shape noble character among students effec-
tively (Md Aroff, 2018). The introduction of Moral Education in the Malaysian
context poses various challenges to the implementation process, especially for the
teachers. While the focus is on the teaching of noble values in the ISSC syllabus,
the challenges that teachers have to face is the adherence of the different values
according to the values of different groups in Malaysia’s plural society. Therefore,
the changes made in the new SSSC Moral Education syllabus should suit the
current developments and requirements as well as be flexible to the context of
students’ individual differences (Mohanasundaram, 2018).
As described in the introduction, Islam is the official religion of Malaysia but
followers of other religions are free to practise their religious teachings and beliefs.
This situation forms the basis of the construction of the syllabus and textbooks of
Moral Education mostly involving Muslims. Besides, 50 percent of Moral Educa-
tion teachers are also Muslims, and they teach based on their understanding of
Islamic Education even though they have been trained to teach Moral Education
(Balakrishnan, 2017). This situation leads to indoctrination among Moral Edu-
cation teachers because they do not have good fundamental knowledge about
the introduction of the subject itself. Although there are other religious subjects
introduced, such as Bible knowledge, that can be taken by Christian students in
particular, it can’t be offered as a core subject due to the students’ diverse reli-
gious background. Such religious subjects require well-trained and appropriate
teachers.
In addition, the complexity of Malaysian society with its diverse races and eth-
nic groups means there are multiple beliefs and values. This can lead to differ-
ences in the acceptance of moral values among students (Sathish Rao, 2018;
Shahkat Ali, 2009). Furthermore, differences in value adherence by community
groups (Schwartz, 2007; Walker, Roberts, & Kristjánsson, 2015) also cause dif-
ficulties in determining which values should be taught to meet the needs of dif-
ferent community groups (Garrigan et al., 2018). Therefore, teachers are advised
to take into account the diversity of students in implementing teaching activities
in the classroom. The determination of the teaching sessions of Moral Education,
however, can create constraints for teachers in taking into account such diversity
when students’ achievements are based on memorization of noble values (Zulkifli
et al., 2018). The tendency of teachers to implement the memorization of these
values is close to indoctrination in the Moral Education classroom.
The noble values taught during the early implementation of Moral Education
do not change, but the scope and content of the lessons are developed accord-
ing to the level of maturity of students (Balakrishnan, 2010; Chang, 2013). This
situation demands the creativity of teachers to teach the same noble values to stu-
dents even though they are at different school levels. Teachers who are unable to
be creative in teaching the same noble values will cause students to become bored
and at the same time reduce the effectiveness of Moral Education in achieving
the goal of shaping noble character. Accordingly, various teaching strategies and
methods have been proposed to help teachers diversify their teaching methods
appropriate to the diversity of students and at the same time reducing indoctrina-
tion (Balakrishnan & Thambu, 2017; Walker et al., 2015; Zulkifli et al., 2018).
The variety of strategies and teaching methods proposed can also avoid teacher-
centred teaching which reduces the creativity and ability of students to develop
holistically in the three moral domains. Therefore, teachers need to provide space
and opportunities for students to be actively involved in teaching and learning
activities in the classroom.
One of the teaching and learning methods that can be used to encourage stu-
dents’ active participation in the teaching and learning process is through group
discussion (Zulkifli et al., 2018). Although previous studies were aware that
active student participation is important in discussing moral dilemmas that can
develop student moral judgment in real situations (Balakrishnan, 2009), Sporre
(2018) states that discussion tasks require students to suggest alternative ethi-
cal actions which are difficult to assess through testing. Therefore, Moral Edu-
cation teachers need to ensure they are creative in implementing the teaching
and learning in the classroom, based on the curriculum syllabus and set times.
Furthermore, teachers must also take into account students’ diversity and avoid
indoctrination and teacher-centred approaches as well as ensure the strategies
and methods used in assessments is helpful for the shaping of noble character.
This situation illustrates that Moral Education teachers face various challenges
in ensuring noble character shaping through the teaching and learning processes
used in Moral Education.
Another challenge faced by teachers in the teaching and learning of Moral
Education is in determining the content that needs to be taught over a set time
while also focusing on the goals of shaping noble character. At the secondary
school level, for instance, the total teaching sessions for the Islamic Education
subject is four hours a week while Moral Education is only taught three sessions
a week. Besides, one of the changes made is in the increase in extra-curricular
learning outside the classroom (LSOC). LSOC is compulsory in Moral Educa-
tion to replace charitable work which was previously required only for the upper
secondary level (Malaysian Examination Board, 2008). LSOC is also used as an
alternative for teachers to carry out assessments that are said to be able to deter-
mine the shaping of noble character through behaviours shown in real situations
when performing community service activities outside the classroom (Ministry of
Education Malaysia, 2016b, 2018).
Community service activities outside the classroom also enable direct involve-
ment in community projects that are capable of developing real-life problem-solving
abilities(Berkowitz, 2011). The challenge for teachers in the implementation of
LSOC, however, is the financial constraints to plan the most suitable commu-
nity service activities for assessment purposes (Lawrence, 2019) that can impact
the effort of shaping noble character. This challenge exists among Moral Educa-
tion teachers since the testing, measurement, assessment and evaluation aspects
are often discussed in the context of achieving the curriculum goals of a sub-
ject based on topics taught by the teachers (Abdullah, Mohamed Noh, Mansor,
Mohamed Hashim, & Wong, 2015; Klug, Schultes, & Spiel, 2018; Lee, Yu,
Hsieh, Li, & Chao, 2018). Ironically, the shaping of noble character not only lies
in the achievement based on the topics taught but also on students’ overall moral
development that is the basis of shaping the noble character.
Ultimately, even after the curriculum change was made from ISSC to SSSC,
its effectiveness in shaping the noble character has not yet been fully described.
This is due to the new implementation of SSSC that requires a reasonable imple-
mentation period to assess its effectiveness. Moral Education teachers have been
faced with various challenges since the beginning of the implementation, starting
with the teaching of the noble values that need to take into account the students’
diverse social background, religions and beliefs into the teaching and learning
strategies and methods outside and inside the classroom. Thus, the role of the
stakeholders in the field of Moral Education in Malaysia is important to ensure
that the existing Moral Education teachers are equipped with the basic knowl-
edge and skills in the field related to morality and be open to the various social,
religious and belief backgrounds that exist among Moral Education students.
Summary and implications of shaping noble character

in Moral Education
The introduction of the Moral Education subject in Malaysia was an important
goal in seeking to shape noble character in students. Noble character is a mani-
festation of moral behaviours and actions due to comprehensive moral develop-
ment in moral reasoning, moral emotions and moral behaviour domains. The
shaping of noble character also helps to produce students who can make rational
decisions and solve problems in daily life through the ability to make moral judg-
ments. Therefore, the content of the Moral Education curriculum was created
based on noble values and basic moral principles adhered by Malaysia’s pluralistic
society. The focus of shaping noble character as the main goal of Moral Educa-
tion is in line with the goals of the Malaysian National Philosophy of Education
(NPE) which is the basis of the Malaysian education system and policy. NPE
states that the shaping of noble character is one of the goals that must be achieved
through education. One of them is through the Moral Education subject that is a
form of character-shaping education (Bambang, Mohd Tahir, & Abdul Rahman,
2012; Zulkifli et al., 2018) to produce students who are balanced and harmoni-
ous physically, spiritually, emotionally and intellectually (Ministry of Education
Malaysia, 2017a).
Stakeholders, especially in the field of Moral Education such as teachers, cur-
riculum developers and school administrators, need to play their respective roles
in ensuring Moral Education can achieve its goal in shaping noble character.
Based on several of the teachers’ challenges discussed earlier, all parties should
strive to implement the best approaches and support the strategies and methods
of teaching Moral Education. On the part of curriculum developers, for example,
they not only need to ensure the curriculum content is appropriate in the context
of the diversity of the plural society in Malaysia but also ensure that the proposed
strategies and methods are realistic and easily implemented by the teachers in
schools.
Besides, the school administrators should also provide support to programmes
planned by the Moral Education teachers (Suppiah, Sinnasamy, & Suffian, 2017)
especially for the success of LSOC activities. Chang (2010), for instance, suggests
the importance of involving students actively in the learning of Moral Education,
which is relevant to their daily life, enabling them to practise it more effectively.
Therefore, the introduction of LSOC in the new syllabus of Moral Education
SSSC should be beneficial in shaping noble character among students. School
administrators need to provide financial support to teachers in ensuring the suc-
cess of any outdoor activities that can benefit the students. Furthermore, outdoor
activities such as charity work and visits to homes for the elderly or cleaning the
beach areas will bring students closer to their real lives, and they will feel happier
doing such activities (S De Asildo, 2015). Hence, the role of the administrators,
especially in providing financial support for these outside activities, is important
so that the implementation of LSOC can help achieve the goals of Moral Educa-
tion in the shaping of noble character.
Finally, Moral Education teachers themselves should also strive to improve
their knowledge and skills not only from the pedagogical aspect but also in terms
of the fundamental understanding that forms Moral Education in a Malaysian
plural society. A fundamental understanding of the basis on the introduction of
Moral Education subject in Malaysia is important to enabling teachers in imple-
menting teaching and learning sessions towards achieving the goals of shaping
the noble character. If Moral Education teachers still consider teaching Moral
Education is the same as teaching other examination subjects, then an indoctrina-
tion approach in teaching will persist despite various efforts made on the content
of the Moral Education curriculum syllabus. The opportunity to attend briefings,
courses, workshops or seminars in the form of professional development of Moral
Education teachers should be used optimally. As briefings, courses, workshops or
seminars are rarely held (Suppiah et al., 2017), Moral Education teachers, espe-
cially the head of Moral Education committee in schools, should take proactive
steps to plan and conduct internal training programmes, especially for the new
non-optional Moral Education teachers. In this way, Moral Education teachers
do not have to rely too much on training conducted at the department, district or
state levels to improve their knowledge and skills in the field of Moral Education.
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14 Adaptive model of social studies
learning and classroom culture
in Indonesian schools
The psycho-pedagogic framework of social studies

The psycho-pedagogic framework of social studies is best reflected in the objec-
tives formulated by the National Council for Social Studies (NCSS): “to help
young people make decisions based on information and reasons for the public
interest as culturally diverse and democratic citizens in an interdependent world”.
In more detail, social studies aim at “fostering civic competence including the
knowledge, intellectual processes, and democratic character that students need to
become active citizens and engage in public life” (NCSS, 2010, p. 1).
By making citizenship competencies a central goal, the intention is to empha-
size the importance of educating students who are committed to democratic
ideas and values. It is important to realize that citizenship competence depends
on a commitment to democratic values and requires citizens to have the ability
to: (1) use their knowledge of the community, nation, and the world; (2) apply-
ing the inquiry process, and (3) using the skills of collecting and analyzing data,
collaborating, making decisions, and solving problems. Young people who are
knowledgeable, skilled, and committed to democracy are needed to maintain and
improve democratic ways of life, and participate as members of the global com-
munity (NCSS, 2010, p. 2).
In line with the views of the NCSS, Indonesia’s Curriculum 2013 formu-
lated the main objective of social sciences (IPS)/social science education (SSE)
subjects “to foster students into citizens who can make democratic and ratio-
nal decisions which are acceptable to all groups who are in the community”
(MOEC, 2013, p. 107). In more detail, the objectives of social studies subjects
are: (a) Getting to know the concepts relating to people’s lives and their environ-
ment; (b) Having the basic ability to think logically, critically, curiosity, inquiry,
problem solving, and skills in social life; (c) Having commitment and awareness
of social and human values; and (d) Having the ability to communicate, cooper-
ate and compete in a pluralistic society at the local, national, and global levels
(MOEC, 2014).
In addition to understanding the nature of social studies according to both
the NCSS and the 2013 Curriculum (MOEC, 2014), these subjects also have a
very complex pedagogical framework. Teachers should teach students to master
Adaptive model of social studies learning 189
thinking skills, such as describing, defining, classifying, generalizing, predicting,
comparing, contrasting, and giving birth to new ideas. Furthermore, social stud-
ies should also teach academic skills, such as reading, studying, writing, speaking,
listening, interpreting, outlining, making graphics, and taking notes. Other abili-
ties that social studies students need to learn are research skills, such as formu-
lating problems, proposing hypotheses, collecting data, analyzing data, testing
hypotheses, and drawing conclusions. Finally, social studies should teach social
skills, such as communicating, collaborating, contributing, understanding non-
verbal signs, responding to problems, providing reinforcement to the strengths of
others, empathizing, and showing effective leadership (Budimansyah, Suharto, &
Nurulpaik, 2019b).
Responding to the “big idea” to implement a social studies psycho-pedagog-
ical framework, the 2013 Curriculum launched a new approach to bring change
in social studies into integrated, reflective, and problem-oriented learning. This
refers to scientific approach. This approach adapts scientific steps in science
and the learning process in combination with a scientific process. The learn-
ing process consists of five main learning experiences, namely observing, asking
questions, gathering information, processing information, and communicating
(MOEC, 2014, p. 10). A more detailed explanation of the scientific approach is
shown in Table 14.1.
The social studies psycho-pedagogical framework, as outlined earlier, needs a
more operational form for the purpose of influencing classroom culture in Indo-
nesia. For this purpose, in the following section, a methodological operational
framework for social studies will be presented which includes a synopsis of the
model, developed value competencies, and syntactical models.
Table 14.1 Learning Process Based on a Scientific Approach
Basic learning Learning activity Competency learning activities

experience developed
Observing • reading • train sincerity

• listening • practice accuracy
• seeing • improve the ability to find
• seeing without the aid of a information
tool
• seeing with the help of a tool
Asking • asking questions to find out • develop curiosity
some information • develop creativity
• asking questions to get • develop critical thinking
additional information skills
Collecting • increasing knowledge from • develop learning habits
information resource persons (individuals • develop lifelong learning
or groups) skills
• increasing knowledge from
print and electronic media
(Continued)
(Continued)
Basic learning Learning activity Competency learning activities

experience developed
Processing • processing qualitative data • develop an honest attitude
information • processing quantitative data • practice accuracy
• train discipline
• get used to obeying the rules
• train the ability to work hard
• practice the ability to apply
procedures
• practice the ability to think
inductively and deductively
in making conclusions
Communicating • conveying the results of • develop an honest attitude
observations • practice accuracy
• conveying conclusions based • develop tolerance
on the results of the analysis • develop the ability to think
verbally systematically
• conveying conclusions based • practice the ability to
on the results of the analysis express opinions briefly
in writing and clearly
• conveying conclusions based • practice good and correct
on the results of the analysis language skills
using information and
communication technology
Source: Ministry of Education and Culture/MOEC (2014, p. 10; Suryadi, Rosjidi, & Budiman-
syah, 2017, p, 266).
A methodological operational framework for social studies

The operational methodological framework for social studies refers to the sci-
entific approach that uses a pedagogical model of problem-solving and projects
(Dewey, 1933), inquiry-oriented citizenship transmission (Barr, Barth, & Sher-
mis, 1978), and social involvement (Newmann, Bertocci, & Landness, 1977).
The model, known as Project Citizen, is facilitative, empirical, and simulative.
First, learning activities students are invited to identify problems that occur in
their environment to practice their sensitivity to the problems that occur. Next,
students discuss in small groups to choose the issues they consider important
and related to the topic they are studying. After some problems have been col-
lected, the class conducts a consultation to determine one problem for the class
study material. The selected problem becomes a class assignment to solve using
scientific methods. Data and information to deal with the problem were col-
lected by the research team from various sources. The results are presented in
a class portfolio, which consists of a viewing and documentation section. The
portfolio is presented in a hearing forum before a jury. At the end of the teacher’s
learning with students, they reflect on their learning experiences (Budimansyah,
Suharto, & Nurulpaik, 2019a).
The steps of the Project Citizen model in generic social studies learning are
presented in Table 14.2.
The original model as a source of adaptation

The original model that was used as a source of adaptation to make social stud-
ies an integrated, reflective, and problem-oriented learning process was the “We
the People . . . Project Citizen” Program. This program was designed to develop
students’ interests and abilities to participate logically and responsibly in local
and national government. The development of the “We the People . . . Project
Citizen” Program began in 1995–1996, involving 460 teachers in 45 states in
the United States that included 1,000 classes with 28,000 students (Vontz, Met-
calf, & Patrick, 2000).
This learning package, because of its generic and universal nature, has been
adopted in various countries outside the United States, such as Bosnia Herze-
govina, Brazil, Croatia, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Hungary, Israel,
Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Northern Ireland and the Republic of
Ireland, Poland, Romania, Russia, and Slovakia. These countries adopts a model
developed by the Center for Civic Education (CCE) by translated into their
respective national languages with an adaptation of some of its contents accord-
ing to the context of each country. As reported by each member of the country
delegation in the Summer International Seminar on Civic Education Program in
Palermo, Italy, 17–22 June 1999, the package turned out to be applicable and
received wide acceptance from the schools and governments of each country,
and each of these countries has now entered a stage of wider dissemination. This
phenomenon can be understood because indeed the generic nature of “We the
People . . . Project Citizen” makes it easy and flexible to implement.
In Indonesia, the “We the People . . . Project Citizen” model has been adapted
and tested by the Center for Indonesian Civic Education (CICED) in collabo-
ration with the Regional Office of the Ministry of Education and Culture of
West Java province and the Curriculum Center of the Ministry of Education and
Culture. The trial was conducted at six public junior high schools in Bandung,
Lembang, and Sumedang, West Java province, which lasted for one quarter from
August to November 2000. The implementation of the National Directorate
General of Primary and Secondary Education through the education project was
then initiated as Citizenship and Characteristics in 70 junior high schools and 30
high schools in 15 provinces in 2001–2002.
Furthermore, through a collaboration program between the Ministry of Edu-
cation and Culture with the Center for Civic Education Indonesia (CCEI), it was
tested on 250 junior high schools in 12 provinces in 2002. Over the next four
years (2003–2006), pioneering activities reached 64 districts/cities with cover-
age of 512 SD/elementary school, 512 SMP/junior high school, and 512 SMA/
senior high school. Thus, in six years, (2001–2006) pilot studies have reached
1,786 schools (elementary, junior high, and senior high school) (Winataputra &
Budimansyah, 2012). Since the 2013 Curriculum of the Indonesian University of
Table 14.2 Steps in Learning Social Studies Using the Project Citizen Model
192
Main Learning Activities Learning Steps Learning Activities
Introduction Opening lessons and technical explanation • Teachers offer greetings and invite students to pray together.

of learning projects • Submission of introductory learning project material to provide an initial
overview of what students will learn
• Explanation of the differences between public policies and community
solutions
Core activity Step 1: Students identify public policy The class is facilitated to be able to identify various public policy problems
problems in their community that exist in the local community through observation, interviews, and
documentation studies conducted in groups.
Step 2: Students select a problem for class Classes are facilitated to study various problems that have been identified
study and then choose the one problem that is most feasible to solve.
Step 3: Students gather information on Classes are facilitated to gather information from various sources of
the problem information that are relevant and available to solve problems, such as
libraries, mass media, experts, government officials, non-governmental
organizations, community leaders, and ordinary members of the public.
Step 4: Student develops a class portfolio, The class develops a portfolio of group work results in the context of
which includes: problem-solving and presents it as a whole in the form of an exhibition
• A problem explanation panel that can be seen together, which illustrates the interrelations
• Alternative policies between problems, alternative policies, support for alternative policies,
• A public policy and action plans for implementing policies.
• An action plan
Step 5: Students present their portfolio to In this step, the entire portfolio that has been developed is then presented
decision-makers and interested parties. and exhibited to policymakers and interested parties.
Step 6: Students reflect on their In the final step, students return to class to reflect or settle and reflect on the
experience learning outcomes achieved through all project activities.
Closing Closing the lesson • Teachers and students together conclude the core of the learning process
that has taken place.
• Teachers provide reinforcement and appreciation for student performance.
• Teachers can provide enrichment.
• Teachers and students greet each other closing remarks.
Source: CCE, 2007, p. 20; Budimansyah, 2009, p. 69; Green, Medina-Jerez, & Bryant, 2016, p. 122.
Education has continued to develop the Project Citizen model within the frame-
work of strengthening character education in schools through the support of
applied research funding from the Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher
Education. In the four years (2015–2019) it has been implemented in six prov-
inces (West Java, Lampung, Riau Islands, East Kalimantan, North Sulawesi, and
Maluku), Project Citizen has been practiced in 240 SD, 168 SMP, and 120 SMA
(Budimansyah et al., 2019b).
The effectiveness of this program has been reported (Tolo, 1988):
1 In its most ideal form, social studies (including civic education) seeks to
involve students in their community activities by teaching the skills needed
to participate effectively.
2 In a constitutional democratic system, the participation of these citizens is
very important.
3 Effective social studies (including civic education) that teach citizens how to
participate and contribute to changes in society are critical to the continued
commitment of citizen participation.
4 Adolescence is a crucial moment in developing the roles and responsibilities
of citizens. It is at this age that students discover their identity and role in the
surrounding community and society in the overall sense.
5 Some effort has been made to develop citizenship at this age.
This program is also proven to have an impact not only on students who become
more sensitive and responsive to public policy issues but also the results of stu-
dent learning projects are adopted by the local government as part of public
policy in their area. As reported in the International Project Citizen showcase
in Washington DC in 2007, of the 31 participating countries, there were eight
fnalists whose project results were adopted into public policy in their respective
countries (see Table 14.3).
The results of the project of high school students from the city of Brčko, Bosnia
and Herzegovina, for example, encouraged the mayor to issue an inclusive school
policy, namely students with special needs to learn in mainstream schools. The
results of a student project from Colombia that proposed to the local government
to establish a city constitution was adopted by the mayor to ensure safe and peace-
ful social relations. Students from the Indian city of Delhi managed to convince the
local government to restore several mistreated monuments. Projects undertaken by
high school students from Kota Gede Yogyakarta inspired the Indonesian govern-
ment to reduce taxes on home-based small businesses to only 0.5 percent.
Middle school students from Jordan successfully pressured Al Karak’s city edu-
cation office to improve its oversight function to eliminate violence in schools.
The most spectacular is the result of the project of Russian students who were
worried about the rise of gambling by teenagers (teen gambling) in the city of
Samara due to the construction of a casino in the city.
As a result of the project by the high school students President Vladimir Putin
responded by closing the casino in Samara. The same thing happened with the
results of the project of students from the small town of Ross Bethio, Senegal,
Table 14.3 International Project Citizen Showcase Delegation and Respective Project
Goals
Number Delegation Participant Project Goal
City Country
1. Brčko Bosnia and Middle school Integrate special needs

Herzegovina students kids in schools
2. Alejandria Colombia Middle school Establish a town
students constitution
3. Delhi India Middle school Restoration of
students monuments
4. Yogyakarta Indonesia Middle school Repeal taxation of
students silversmiths
5. Al Karak Jordan Middle school Eliminate school
students violence
6. Samara Russia Middle school Eliminate teen
students gambling
7. Ross Bethio Senegal Middle school Safe drinking water
students
8. Vancouver, United States Middle school Healthy food in
Washington students schools
Source: CCE, 2016.
who reported that the area was experiencing a clean water crisis. In the follow-
ing year, the local government built a water purification vehicle for community
needs. Finally, high school students from the city of Vancouver, Washington, in
the United States, found a lot of food in school canteens were in the form of junk
food and if consumed in excess can cause obesity. The results of the students’
project in the city of Vancouver came to the attention of the school board who
urged schools to serve healthy food in the school canteen (Budimansyah, 2010).
Project Citizen’s basic profile for social studies learning

Project Citizen is a generic model that can be completed with relevant content
in each country. As a model, the topic of public policy is generic, which applies
to any country. The mission of this model is to educate young citizens to be able
to analyze various dimensions of public policy, then in their capacity as young
citizens try to provide input on public policy in their environment. The expected
outcome of this learning process is the quality of intelligent, creative, participa-
tory, prospective, and responsible citizens (Winataputra & Budimansyah, 2012).
The focus of attention of Project Citizen is the development of civic knowl-
edge, civic dispositions, civic skills, civic confidence, civic commitment, and civic
competence will lead to the development of well-informed, reasoned, and respon-
sible decision-making (Winataputra & Budimansyah, 2012) (see Figure 14.1).
Full learning outcomes using Project Citizen are recorded in the portfolio,
which is a systematically compiled visual display, that illustrates the thinking process
that is supported by all relevant data, which fully depicts the integrated learning
Well-informed, reasoned, and

responsible decision-making
Civic
Knowledge
Civic Civic Confidence

Competence
Civic Skills Civic

Disposition
Civic Commitment
Figure 14.1 Project citizen develops the ability to make insightful, reasoned, and
responsible decisions
Source: Winataputra & Budimansyah, 2012, p. 34.
experienced by students in the classroom as a unit. The portfolio is divided into

two parts, namely “display portfolio” and “documentation portfolio”.
The display portfolio (see Figure 14.2) is in the form of a quadruple panel that
sequentially presents (1) A summary of the issues examined; (2) Various alterna
tive policies to solve the problem; (3) Proposed policies to solve problems; and
(4) A developed action plan. Documentation portfolios are packaged in Folder or
similarly compiled systematically following the order of display portfolios.
Portfolios display and documentation are then presented in a “public hear
ing” simulation presents local officials related to the problem of the portfolio.
The hearing can be held in each class or a “Showcase” together in an event, for
example at report card distribution (see Figure 14.3).
After the hearing, the teacher facilitates the “reflection” activity which aims
to individually and jointly ponder and settle the impact of the long journey of
the learning process for the personal development of students as citizens. Invite
them to answer the question “What have I learned most and best?” What should
I do as a citizen then? Likewise, questions for teachers, for example: “What have
I contributed to the development of Indonesian characters in students as young
citizens?” (Winataputra & Budimansyah, 2012, p?).
Figure 14.2 Examples of display portfolios and documentation

Source: Budimansyah, Suharto, Nurulpaik, Hood, & Said, 2018, p. 42.
Figure 14.3 Showcasing class portfolios

Source: Budimansyah et al., 2018, p. 50.
Steps for learning in Project Citizen
Step 1: identify the problem

After the teacher opens the lesson followed by an explanation of the differences
between public policy and community solutions, the first step of Project Citizen
can begin (CCE, 2010b, 2010a; Budimansyah, Suharto, Nurulpaik, Hood, &
Said, 2018; Budimansyah et al., 2019a). First of all, teachers can present several
examples of public policy problems that exist in the community in a list. Then,
there is a class discussion to share information about the problems found in the
community. To do this activity, all class members should:
1 Read and discuss the problems that exist in society which can be seen in the
list of sample problems.
2 Create groups of two to three students. Each group will discuss just one
problem that is different from each other. Then each group must answer the
questions provided in the Problem Identification and Analysis Form (Appen-
dix 1).
3 Discuss the answers of each group with all class members.
4 Save the results of the answers to be used in developing the class portfolio
later.
The next step, they give homework to students so they can understand the prob-
lem more deeply, assignments in addition to learning more problems that exist in
the community. Homework is in the form of three tasks which will be explained
next. Students can also learn what public policies have been made to deal with
these problems. Use the format provided to record all information collected.
Keep all information that has been obtained as material documentation. That
information documentation will be useful as material for making class portfolios.
The homework assignments include:
(a) Interview task. Each student selects one problem that they have learned
as included in the list of problem examples. They can also choose other
problems outside the list of problem examples. Students are assigned to dis-
cuss their chosen problems with their families, friends, neighbors, or anyone
who is able to discuss. Record what they already know about the problem
and how they feel in dealing with the problem. Use the Interview Form
(Appendix 2).
(b) Tasks using printed media. Students are given the task of reading a newspaper
or other printed media that discusses the problem being studied. Look for
information about the policies made by the government in dealing with the
problem. Bring the articles they found to school. Distribute the contents to
the teacher and other students. Use the Printed Source Form (Appendix 3).
(c) Tasks of using radio/TV/internet. Students are also asked to watch TV,
listen to the radio, or browse the internet to get information about the
problem they are studying, as well as what policies are made to deal with it.
Bring the information they get to school and share it with the teacher and
classmates. Use the Radio/Television Observation Form (Appendix 4).
The purpose of this stage is to share information that is already known by stu-
dents, by their peers, and by others related to problems in society. Therefore, the
class will get enough information that can be used to choose the right problem,
from several existing problems, as a class study object.
Step 2: select problems for class study material

The class should discuss all the information that has been obtained regarding the
list of problems found in the community. If students already have enough infor-
mation, use it to choose the problem that you want to be used as a class study
object. The purpose of this stage is for the class to choose one problem as a class
study object. Therefore, the class has one problem which is a common choice to
be used as a class study object. Decisions can be taken through class deliberations.
If the deliberation method fails to reach an agreement, the decision can be taken
by a majority vote (CCE, 2010b, 2010a; Budimansyah et al., 2019a).
Step 3: gather data and information

If you have determined the problem that will be used as a class study object, then
students must be able to decide places or sources of information to obtain data
and information. In that search, later they will find that one source of informa-
tion may be better than another. The aim of this stage is for the class to obtain
accurate and comprehensive data and information to understand the problems
that are being studied by the class (CCE, 2010b, 2010a; Budimansyah et al.,
2019a).
Step 4: develop a class portfolio

To enter this stage, the research team must have completed its research. In this
stage, start developing class portfolios. Classes will be divided into four groups.
Each group will be responsible for developing a part of the class portfolio. Con-
tents included in the portfolio should include documentation that has been col-
lected during the research phase. This documentation must include contents
or works of art written originally by students. The purpose of this stage is that
students can arrange class portfolios, both the portfolios section of the shows
and the documentation section based on data and information obtained from
research activities (CCE, 2010b, 2010a; Budimansyah et al., 2019a).
Portfolio group tasks

The following are the tasks that must be carried out by each portfolio group.
Each group should choose the contents collected by the research team, especially
contents that greatly assist the research team in completing their tasks (CCE,
2010b, 2010a; Budimansyah et al., 2019a).
(a) Portfolio group one: Explain the problem. This group is responsible for
explaining the choice of problems that have been studied. This group should
also explain several things which include the reasons why the chosen prob-
lem is important, why certain governing bodies or certain levels of govern-
ment should deal with the problem.
(b) Portfolio group two: Assess suggested alternative policies for solving prob-
lems. This group is responsible for explaining existing policies and/or
explaining alternative policies made to solve problems.
(c) Portfolio group three: Develop class public policy. This group is responsible
for developing and explaining appropriately a particular policy that is agreed
upon and supported by the whole class to solve the problem.
(d) Portfolio group four: Develop an action plan. This group is responsible for
developing an action plan that shows how citizens can influence the govern-
ment to accept policies supported by the class.
Step 5: present the portfolio (showcase)

If the class portfolio is complete, students can present their work before an audi-
ence. The showcase can be held before two to three judges representing the
school and community. With this activity, students will be equipped with learning
experiences on how to present ideas and thoughts to others, and how to convince
them of the steps the students have chosen.
The four basic objectives of portfolio presentation activities include the
following.
1 Provide information to the audience about the importance of the problem

identified for the community.
2 Explain and provide an assessment of alternative policies to the audience,
with the aim that they can understand the benefits and disadvantages of each
of the alternative policies.
3 Discuss with the audience that the policy choice that has been chosen is the
“best” policy to deal with the problem. Students should be able to “make
a rational argument” to support their thinking. This discussion also aims
to convince the audience that according to class thought and support, the
policy chosen has not conflicted with the constitution.
4 Demonstrate how the class can gain support from the community, legislative
and executive bodies, and other government/private institutions over class
choice policies.
Each of these goals represents the four groups that are responsible for each part
of the presentation and each part of the class portfolio documentation. During
the presentation, each group will be responsible for achieving the right goals
(CCE, 2010b, 2010a; Budimansyah et al., 2019a).
Step 6: reflect on the learning experience
Reflecting on the learning experience of everything is always a good thing. Reflec-
tion of this learning experience is one way to learn, to avoid making a mistake,
and to improve the abilities that students already have.
To enter the reflection stage of learning experience, students must have com-
pleted a class portfolio. As an additional section, students can include this reflec-
tion section in the documentation portfolio. This reflection section should briefly
describe the following (Winataputra & Budimansyah, 2012):
• What has a student and his classmate learned? How to do?

• What will students use if they later develop another portfolio? Does Students
have to choose to use the same method or choose another way?
Refection on this experience should be the result of cooperation between class-

mates as well as collaboration between them that has been done while making a
class portfolio. Besides, students must also refect on their learning experiences,
both as a person and as a class member. Teachers and volunteers who have helped
students develop portfolios will also help refect on students’ experiences while
carrying out this portfolio activity. It would be better if the refection part of this
learning experience was made after the portfolio presentation in front of class-
mates or teachers, juries, government offcials, and other community members
(CCE, 2010b, 2010a; Budimansyah et al., 2019a).
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ATTACHMENTS
Appendix 1: Format of problem identification and problem

analysis
PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION AND ANALYSIS FORM

Names of group members : .................................
Date: .................................
Problem .................................
(1) Is the problem mentioned before as an issue considered important by

the group itself as well as the community? Why?
(2) Which level of government agency is responsible for dealing with the
problem?
(3) What kind of policy, if not yet existing, should be taken by the govern-
ment in dealing with the problem?
If indeed the policy dealing with the problem has been made, please
answer the following questions:
(a) What are the advantages and disadvantages of the policy?
(b) Is there any possibility that the policy can be modified? How
should it be done?
(c) Does the policy need to be changed? Why?
(4) To get more information about this problem, what other sources can
be used? What steps can each group member take?
(5) Are there other problems in the community that are considered
important to be used as a class study object? What problem is it?
Source: CCE, 1996, p. 12.

Appendix 2: Format of interview
INTERVIEW FORM
Interviewer’s name : ......................................
Problem : ......................................
Subject name : ......................................
(1) (For example, community leaders, parents of students, government,

entrepreneur, lecturers, etc.). Note: If the subject does not want to
be written down their name, respect them. Interviewer needs to write
down their job.
(2) Explain the problem being studied to the person being interviewed.
Then ask the following questions. Record the answers given.
(a) Do you consider this is an important issue? Why?
(b) Do you think this problem is also important to other community
members? Why?
(c) What kind of polices need to be made in dealing with this problem?
(3) If indeed the policy dealing with the problem has been made, ask the
following questions:
(a) What are the benefits of the policy?
(b) What are the disadvantages of the policy?
(c) Is there any possibility that the policy can be modified? How
should it be done?
(d) Does the policy need to be changed? Why?
(e) Are there differences of opinion in the community regarding the
policy that has been made? What are those opinions?
(f) Where can I get more information to understand this problem?

Appendix 3: Format of information sources of printed media
PRINTED SOURCE FORM

Name of observer : .....................................
Date : .....................................
Problem : .....................................
Name/Date of issue : .....................................
Article/News Topic : .....................................
(1) What steps are taken (written in the article/news) in dealing with the
problem under investigation?
(2) What are the main steps written in the article/news?
(3) According to the article/news from the existing policy, which policy
should be used dealing with the problem?
(4) If indeed the policy dealing with the problem has been made, please
ask the following questions:
(a) What are the advantages of the policy?
should it be done?

Appendix 4: Format of radio/television/internet observation
RADIO/TELEVISION OBSERVATION FORM

Observer’s name : ........................................
Radio/TV name : ........................................
Internet site : ........................................
Date : ........................................
Time : ........................................
Problem : ........................................
(1) Write the name of the source of information. (Information can be

obtained from television or radio news programs, recordings of vari-
ous events, documentation, talk shows, interactive dialogues, internet
sites, or other programs related to the problem being investigated.)
(2) According to the source of information, is the problem under investi-
gation considered as an important issue? Why?
(3) According to the source of the information, what kind of polices
should be used in dealing with the problem?
If indeed the policy dealing with the problem has been made, please
answer the following questions based on the information obtained.
(a) What are the advantages of the policy?
should it be done?
(e) Are there differences of opinion in the community regarding the
policy that has been made? What are those opinions?

15 Teaching history in Myanmar
Nation building or national
reconciliation?
Thaw Zin Oo
Myanmar’s civil war background

On 4 January 1948, Burma become an independent country under the terms of
the Burma Independence Act 1947. The “Union of Burma” was the new name
for the nation. The British colonial government had divided and ruled both the
Burmese majority and minority ethnic groups. In order to gain independence, in
February 1947, General Aung San sought to build a strong relationship between
the Burmese majority and other minority ethnic groups by holding a confer-
ence in Panglong, Southern Shan State. At the Panglong Conference, Aung
San and ethnic representatives of the Chin, Shan and Kachin frontier areas had
unanimously agreed to the formation of a unified Burma with autonomy to be
granted to the country’s ethnic minority areas, thus de facto paving the way for
an independent federal state including the right to secede after ten years of inde-
pendence. Unfortunately, General Aung San was assassinated by a paramilitary
group in July 1947, and the Panglong agreement was not honored by the post-
independence government (Bigagli, 2019, p. 4).
From 1949, the year after Myanmar gained independence from the British, to
1989 the country’s numerous ethnics groups rose up in armed resistance because
of the dissatisfaction with the post-independence government and to fight for
greater autonomy. At least 53 ethnic armies and parties formed out of Karen,
Kachin, Pa-Oh, Shan, Mon, Karenni (Kayah), Akha, Kokang, Palaung, Wa, Mon-
gla, Lahu, Arakan (Rakhine), Chin, Kayan and Naga ethnic groups who claimed
their rights were not fully delivered by the majority Burma government. There
were also communist rebel groups led by members of the majority Burma during
the same 40-year period. There was negotiation between various ethnic armed
groups (EAGs) and the central government to end the civil war in 1958, 1963,
1980, 1989 and 1990s (Nyein, 2019).
From 2011, the semi-civilian government of U Thein Sein initiated the Nation-
wide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) to achieve a negotiated settlement between the
government of Myanmar and non-state ethnic armed groups (EAGs) to pave
the way for peace building and national reconciliation. After the 2015 election,
the government of Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of General Aung San, also has
paid much attention to achieve national reconciliation by holding the 21st Cen-
tury Panglong Conference. According to the Myanmar Peace Monitor (2016),
Teaching history in Myanmar 207
the official count of the EAGs is 21, but the government only recognized 15 alto-
gether and of these, eight EAGs signed the NCA on 15 October 2015 in Naypy-
idaw capital of Myanmar. It is against this background that current approaches to
teaching history in Myanmar needs to be considered.
In addition, it is helpful to understand that after an uprising in 1989 the mili-
tary took control of the country and the military junta changed the name of the
country from Burma to Myanmar. The junta felt that the name “Burma” only
represented the Burmese people, the dominant ethnic group in the country and
therefore appeared to exclude other ethnic groups.
State education and ethnic education

There are different types of schools that provide formal education in Myanmar.
Public schools, private schools and monastic schools are the main institutions
following the government curriculum. Public and private schools are under the
Ministry of Education and monastic schools are “co-governed by the Ministry
of Religious Affairs and Culture and the Ministry of Education” (Pun, 2018).
In state education, the medium of language is Burmese and all of the textbooks
are developed in Burmese, expect for science. Students can study at three levels,
primary, middle and high schools, in basic education. After that, they can enter
higher education in Myanmar or abroad.
Due to civil war and lack of government support for education, some ethnic
parties/armed organizations created their own education departments and pro-
vided education to thousands of students in their controlled areas every year.
They saw government restrictions on the teaching of ethnic languages in govern-
ment and nongovernment schools as a threat to their ethnic identities. It was one
of the reasons for taking up arms against the government (Pon Nya Mon, 2014,
p. 2). Ethnic armed groups like the Karen National Union (KNU) and the New
Mon State Party (NMSP), both of which agreed to a ceasefire with the govern-
ment in 1995, and the Kachin Independence Organization, which has not signed
the NCA, had thousands of members with their own education department for
their ethnic school children.
According to Marie Lall and Ashley South (2016, p. 10), KNU performed an
education service for the Karen community by founding the Karen Education
Department (KED) many years ago. They acquired needed funds for education
service from their local community and international organizations. Their educa-
tion system was based on the needs of local people and different from the govern-
ment education system. The ethnic schools did not follow the government school
curriculum and developed their own which mainly focused on teaching Karen his-
tory, literature and culture. They also used Karen language as a medium of instruc-
tion. The Myanmar government did not recognize these schools and did not allow
graduates from KNU schools to enter government universities and jobs. There are
also civil society private schools following the government curriculum in the areas
controlled by the KNU. In the academic year 2017–2018, in order to promote
the Karen language, the KNU provided Myanmar Kyat 80 million for the 473
208 Thaw Zin Oo
village-appointed teachers (about USD130 each), including Karen literature teach-
ers who do not receive government support (Karen News, 2017).
There are also supplementary schools in almost every EAG-controlled area that
focus on ethnic language, culture and religion. These schools mostly open in the
evening after the government classes are over and during the summer holidays.
In 1972, the New Mon State Party created a Central Education Department,
which opened Mon “national schools” for children who did not get access to
schools, especially those in rural and remote areas and Mon language teaching
schools in areas controlled by the New Mon State Party and also in some areas
outside. They formed the Mon National Education Committee (MNEC) under
the Central Education Department to conduct curriculum development, deliver-
ing capacity building training for school staff and teachers. The New Mon State
Party signed a ceasefire with the central government in 1995, and after that the
number of Mon national schools and consequently teachers and students has
steadily increased. These schools, recognized by the central government, give
formal education following government curriculum, but the language of instruc-
tion in these is Mon language. Graduates of the MNEC’s Mon national schools
speak fluent Mon but can also sit for government matriculation exams in the
Burmese language. This type of school is called the Ethnic Armed Group (gov-
ernment curriculum) schools in which the curriculum is supplemented by eth-
nic nationality-oriented materials, and students from these schools are not given
government teacher support, but they can transfer to the state education system
(South & Lall, 2016).
The Kachin Independence Army has thousands of soldiers. Its headquarter
is in Laiza, southern Kachin state, bordering China, and there are thousands of
internal displaced persons (IDPs) in the city. The Kachin Independence Army
provides people from IDPs camp hospital and school service. They give both
basic education and higher education. There are not enough teachers, and vol-
unteer teachers have been used to maintain education services for the displaced.
Although Jinghpaw is the main language of instruction, Kachin Independence
Organization (KIO) use the same curriculum as Myanmar government schools –
with the addition of Jinghpaw language subject and the textbooks are in Bur-
mese. Students from these schools take the KIO Education Department’s exam,
but graduates from these schools are not recognized to enter Myanmar state edu-
cation system. KIO Education Department tried to cooperate with Myanmar’s
Ministry of Education to support students from schools in KIO areas to transfer
to Myanmar government schools. Myanmar government schools in Myitkyina
also offered a classroom of separate instruction to help student from KIO areas
integrate. Since KIO broke the 17-year-old ceasefire in 2011, the Myanmar gov-
ernment no longer recognizes the exams of the KIO Education Department
(Myanmar Times, 2013).
History teaching in Myanmar – unity first, diversity missing

Salem-Gervais and Metro (2012) have linked the teaching of history to deliber-
ate nation-building processes in Myanmar. They defined nation building as “the
process of constructing or structuring a national identity using the power of the
state” (p. 27). A central part of this process has been to stress the unity of the
nation. As Walton (2015) has pointed out, this has been a feature of successive
regimes from the colonial period through to “the movements for democracy” as
well as religious and ethnic (resistance) (p. 1). This focus on unity is not unique
to Myanmar. Indonesia’s national motto is “unity in diversity”, reflecting the
multiple religious and ethnic groups in the country. In the United States, the
Latin motto, e pluribus unum, first appeared on US coins in the eighteenth cen-
tury and was a reflection that a number of different states came together to form
the “one” United States of America. Nation building is thus a common process
and a dominant theme as countries seek to build allegiance and commitment;
Myanmar has been no exception.
There are many ways to build unity, including the use of the school curricu-
lum and history teaching in particular. Yet Myanmar from the earliest times pre-
sented a particular challenge. It has always been characterized by ethnic diversity,
and this has been evident throughout history. Yet as Salem-Gervais (2018) has
pointed out,
Famously, under previous military regimes, the successive historiography of

three great kings (usually Anawrahta, Bayinnaung and Alaungphaya) pre-
sented them as the “unifiers” of what would become Burma/Myanmar, and
have featured prominently in the textbooks (and elsewhere), with their suc-
cessive empires presented as early forms of today’s Union.
This suggests that diversity loses out when unity becomes the focus, meaning that
it is unity at all costs. Given the move towards democracy in Myanmar following
the election of the National League of Democracy government in 2015, should
any change be expected as far as history teaching is concerned? Salem-Gervais
(2018) is not convinced:
The great kings and heroes, whom the children used to be introduced to
only in Grade 4, are now introduced in the (new) Grade 1, in a much more
attractive, children’s storybook style. . . . However, the core narrative con-
veyed by these textbooks remains very similar: great soldier-kings using their
swords, brains and goodwill to unify the ethnic nationalities/national races
(tain’yintha) within their empires.
It does not seem from this observation that change is on the way, despite a
greater commitment to democracy as well as to education reform in general (see
Chapter 9 for details). Yet the complexity of Myanmar’s situation needs to be
appreciated. Lopes Cardozo et al. (2015) explained that:
a central issue in the current landscape of Myanmar is the ongoing process

of peace negotiations between the government and multiple ethnic armed
groups (EAGs) which are as yet unresolved after six decades of fighting.
Education is not an explicit component of the National Ceasefire Agreement
210 Thaw Zin Oo
(NCA), but is seen as an important aspect of the peace dialogue, as it is rec-
ognized that education has and continues to be a key grievance for many of
the armed groups, other elements of civil society and minority groups.
(p. 4)
There are two issues here that are important. First, the Myanmar education sys-
tem is out of date and its policy does not refect the inclusion of its diverse ethnic
groups. For many years, the state has been highly centralized, and it has used the
Burmese language as the medium of instruction in schools. Most of the contexts
provided in the basic school history curriculum have been about Burmese people
rather than people from other ethnic groups. For ethnic groups, therefore, there
has been no chance to integrate their history, cultures and identities in basic
education.
Ethnic group conflict has characterized recent history in Myanmar to the
extent that some ethnic groups have been involved in armed conflict (e.g. the
Wa, Kachin, and Karen groups) and some have set up their own education sys-
tems in response to feeling excluded from being part of the nation. Second,
diversity in this context has taken on a very real and potent form in Myanmar to
the extent of open warfare between central authorities and some ethnic groups.
The history curriculum, therefore, has been a reflection of ethnic exclusion and
has contributed to ethnic conflict, becoming a barrier to building any kind of
national reconciliation in Myanmar. Understanding the extent of ethnic minority
diversity in Myanmar is therefore important.
Myanmar is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world. In 1964,
the government announced a new policy aimed at both supporting and high-
lighting the importance of the country’s ethnic minorities. The new approach,
drawing on previous constitutional provisions, identified 135 ethnic groups that
were classified as “national races”. Yet memberships of these 135 groups have
always been contested both for those included as well those excluded, for exam-
ple, of the “135 officially designated categories, none . . . is named Rohingya
or Bengali (Cheesman, 2017, p. 462). Scholars have also pointed out, even by
2014 as new laws were being promulgated as part of reform efforts, there was
still confusion about who was included in this group. Perhaps more importantly,
as noted by Cheesman (2017), the purpose of this designation was not so much
to highlight Myanmar’s diversity but to stress its unity. They were referred to as
“national” races because they were seen to belong to the nation, or more spe-
cifically the political construct of the “Union of Myanmar”. The designation of
national races, therefore, was a political device highlighting the unity narrative of
both Myanmar’s development as well as its future.
Yet there is little doubt that diversity characterizes the so called “national
races”. The major national races are often identified as the Kachin, Kayah
(Karenni), Kayin, Chin, Mon, Burmese (Burma), Rakhine and Shan. They all
have their own language, tradition and culture. Kachin, for example, comprises
12 different ethnic groups, Kayah is made up of nine different ethnic groups.
Kayin includes 11 different ethnics groups, Chin involves 53 different ethnic
groups, Burma has nine dialects, Shan have 33 sub-ethnic groups, while counting
one and seven ethnic groups in Mon and Rakhine respectively (see, for example
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_groups_in_Myanmar). It is this
real diversity that needs to be reflected in the school curriculum and particularly
the history curriculum if national reconciliation is to become part of the new
democratic Myanmar.
This focus on national reconciliation can be seen to be at odds with the nation-
building process referred to earlier. Reconciliation requires that Myanmar’s his-
tory curriculum should include perspectives from diverse ethnic groups. This is
a significant challenge given the current 1986 history curriculum was designed
from the point of view of Burma citizens rather than from the inclusive perspec-
tive of all ethnic groups living in Myanmar.
Literature review
Around the world, many political leaders have often used state education systems
as a tool for nation building, using school curriculum to shape citizens’ national
identity to be consistent with their long-term political goals (Chai, 2015). As
research also shows (Apple, 1992, p. 182), controlling the curriculum and text-
book is key “to create what a society has recognized as legitimate and truthful”.
In particular, history textbooks and their contexts are critical in shaping what
students learn as they are commonly presented as authoritative information and
used as the main teaching material in classrooms. The way that history is pre-
sented can be one of the most contentious aspects of the curriculum in conflict
affected contexts. History is a subject with the potential for reconciliation as well
as being a subject that can drive conflict and sectarian attitudes (Naylor, 2015).
Depending on how it is taught, it can communicate conciliatory values or pro-
mote sectarian attitudes. It plays an important role in the formation of individual
and community identity (Lopes Cardozo et al., 2015). In the case of history cur-
ricula, these consequences often include the formation of students’ ethnic and
national identities (Wertsch, 2004).
There is a direct correlation between conflict and how people feel about what
language and curriculum their children are taught. In Myanmar, armed conflict
has made some ethnic parents and communities less inclined to accept govern-
ment schools and Burmese language education. Conflict is often an incentive
to create separate (or parallel) systems. Metro (2013, p. 10) pointed out that
Burmese stakeholders regard revising history curricula as a diffcult task for all of
these reasons. Some believe it is better to avoid discussions of history and stick
with the status quo, but others feel that reforms are a key step in reconciliation.
The challenge for those who seek reform is not only to produce reconciliatory
curricula but also to facilitate an inclusive process of revision in which disagree-
ments about history do not erupt into rancor. In the research conducted for this
book, several organizations that had taken on this challenge.
In the socialist era (1962–1988), General Ne Win announced his education
policy in line with the “Burmese Way to Socialism” by proclaiming the need to
212 Thaw Zin Oo
bring a system “based on socialist moral values”. He nationalized the schools
and universities and established the Burmese language as the official language
of the country under the national language policy. All publications were in the
Burmese language, from newspapers to school textbooks. Scholars have pointed
out that the government “often used language policy to serve an instrumental
purpose, such as building a national identity” (Lall & South, 2016, p. 3). Sig-
nificantly, history curriculum has been controversial, and many ethnic groups
perceived the government’s history curriculum as Burmese people centric,
while those produced by ethnonationalist groups are accused of demonizing
Burmese. While many Burmese educators acknowledge that extremist history
curricula can worsen ethnic confict and agree that reconciliatory approaches
should be pursued, interethnic collaboration has not yet yielded materials
appropriate for the ethnically mixed classrooms common in migrant and refu-
gee schools (Metro, 2013, p. 8). The existing Myanmar national curriculum is
a source of discrimination and emphasizes a need for new, inclusive curriculum
that respects and represents diverse perspectives and narratives and that is con-
textualized to local communities both linguistically and culturally. The lack of
inclusive ethnic histories and languages in the current national curriculum is
viewed as an obstacle to national reconciliation (Thabyay Education Founda-
tion, 2017, p. 14).
Reviewing high school history curriculum

The history curriculum in Myanmar has not been modified since 1986 (Zaw,
2017). Significant revisions to textbooks and curriculum have only occurred
twice since the independence of Myanmar, with the revisions taking place in
1986 and 1998. Myanmar has been in the process of reforming its education
system since 2013 (for details see Chapter 9). The history curriculum has been
reformed from primary to high school. The academic year of 2020–2021 will
be the last year of the old education system and the government will add two
grades; Grade 11 and Grade 12 for basic education students from the beginning
of 2021–2022 academic year. At the moment, it is not possible to access history
textbook of those two grades. Therefore a history textbook used in Grade 10 of
the new education system has been reviewed. History and geography contents
are together in the Grade 10 social studies textbook.
The textbook contains two sections dealing with history: the first is about
national history and the second world history. In the Myanmar national history
section, the contents cover the culture and heritage of the Bagan dynasty and
Mandalay’s culture and heritage. Attention is given to the national heritage of the
Burmese people. Bagan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is part of the Manda-
lay region and both Bagan and Mandalay are recognized as historical cities. The
textbook highlights the Buddhist temples, pagodas and monasteries constructed
in Bagan and Mandalay. There is no mention of the kings of the Bagan dynasty,
except King Mindon Min and his son, Thibaw Min, who was the last king of
the Konbaung dynasty. Their actions in promoting Buddhism and constructing
Buddhist buildings are key points of the textbook. There is nothing concerning
ethnic people in the textbook. These are the history contents:
Chapter 1 Bagan Cultural Heritage

1.1 Background history of Bagan
1.2 Buddhist temples, pagodas and monasteries in Bagan
1.3 Buddhist Images
Chapter 2 Mandalay Cultural Heritage
2.1 Background history of Mandalay
2.2 Mandalay Yadanabon Capital and Mya Nan San Kyaw Golden
Palace
2.3 Buddhist Architecture in Mandalay
2.4 Lapidary Pitakas
Chapter 3. Indian Culture
3.1 Background of Buddhist Culture
3.2 Buddhist temples, pagodas and monasteries
3.3 Buddhist Images
Chapter 4. Southeast Asia Culture
4.1 Borobudur
4.2 Angkor Wat
4.3 Ayuthia
4.4 Hue
Teachers’ perspectives of the history curriculum

This section reports the results of interviews with a sample of teachers and research-
ers. Participants were asked a range of questions and these are shown in Table 15.1.
Table 15.1 Questions Used in Interviews With History Teachers and Researchers
1. What is your ethnic race?

2. What is your highest level of education?
3. How many years of teaching experience do you have?
4. What are the differences between the new history curriculum and old ones?
5. Why do you teach history?
6. Do you know that the history curriculum also impacts national reconciliation?
7. Do you think that it will be good for national reconciliation if the history of the
eight major diverse ethnic people is equally included in the history curriculum?
8. What are the consequences of local curriculum teaching in ethnic areas for
national reconciliation?
9. How can mother-tongue based education affect national reconciliation?
10. What can you do for national reconciliation as a history teacher?
214 Thaw Zin Oo
Table 15.2 Characteristics of the Teacher Interview Sample
Ethnic composition Burma Rakhine Chin Kaya Muslim

%
65 20 5 5 5
Level of education Diploma BA BSc BEd
%
5 53 16 26
Years of experience >30 20–30 < 10

5 13 2
The teacher sample

Twenty history teachers from five government schools in the Hlaing Thar Yar
Township, Yangon, were interviewed. Four middle and high school history teach-
ers were interviewed from each school. Further details of the interview samples
are shown in Table 15.2.
Almost 70 percent of the teachers interviewed graduated around 1985, and
they started their teaching journey around 1990s, after the pro-democracy
uprising of August 1988. As shown in Table 15.2, the majority of teachers had
between 20–30 years of teaching experience and were degree holders. The inclu-
sion of different ethnic groups (see Table 15.2) provided the opportunity to get
different perspectives.
Differences between new and old history curriculum:

teachers’ perspectives
Currently, the Myanmar government is changing its national school curriculum
for basic education while at the same time converting the education system from
a 5–4–2 configuration to a full K–12 system. As a part of this project, teachers
are being given training for the new education system and its curriculum teach-
ing, largely during the school summer holidays. A number of interviewees had
been exposed to the new history curriculum, and they explained the difference
between the new history curriculum and old ones. The following were common
responses:
There are not many curriculum changes for curriculum, but the content in
the new history textbook is less than in the old one. Yet the teaching method
is absolutely changed from a teacher-centered approach to a child-centered
approach.
In the new history textbook, there are only a few sentences about a con-
tent, so we have to find some sources from some books and online to get
full knowledge about a content and to discuss with students in a classroom.
(Ma Lwin)
The new history curriculum is designed to teach students with the help of
teaching aids. It is very good for the teaching process, but we don’t have
enough time to teach like this because of the limitation of the teaching hour
(45 mins for a session).
(Hla Phyu)
The contents from the new Grade 10 history curriculum are all about cul-
ture, tradition and heritage of Myanmar and the world. It is different from
the old one that focuses on Myanmar’s political revolution. So I think the
government would like students to know more about culture, tradition and
heritage of our country and the world.
(Hnin Wai)
History teaching and national reconciliation

Given that many of the interviewed teachers had taught between 20 and 30 years,
many of them had taught in the regions inhabited by ethnic people. Their experi-
ences reveal that they were aware of the attitudes of ethnic groups and individu-
als to the Myanmar history curriculum and its impact on national reconciliation.
Teachers who had not taught at ethnic regions did not notice the consequence
of Myanmar history curriculum on national reconciliation. Although all of the
interviewees were history teachers, only some of them held the Bachelor of Art
(History) degree. They explained why they chose to teach history.
I graduated with a specialization in chemistry, but I like history teaching.

Most of the Myanmar students are not interested in politics, and I want them
to have knowledge about Myanmar and world affairs like me. I was sure
that only history subject is the best to teach, share and exchange knowledge
concerning Myanmar and World affairs with students. I was sure that history
is the best subject to teach and share that knowledge with students. That’s
why, I chose to teach history.
(Eaindray)
I like reading and I have been interested in history since I was young. When
I was young, I always read Buddhist stories to my grandfather every evening.
That was a force to study history for me. So, when I graduated from high
school, I decided to study history at university. I teach history because I
want the students to know and learn from the past and not to make the same
mistakes.
(Kyaw Min)
Themes: what the teachers say

In this section, teachers show their perspective on history curriculum, local cur-
riculum teaching and mother-tongue based education that indirectly affects
national reconciliation.
216 Thaw Zin Oo
Integrating the viewpoint of ethnic groups into history curriculum
Some of the teachers said that there is little content about ethnic people in the
current history curriculum and it covers Kachin, Kayah, Kayin, Chin, Mon,
Burma (Burmese), Rakhine and Shan which are regarded as eight major ethnic
groups by the government.
The content from the current history curriculum is all about the fundamen-
tal history of Myanmar, and I don’t want to make any changes to it. If ethnic
people, if they want to know their respective history more deeply, they can
learn from many sources.
(Than Swe)
If we understand Myanmar political history, the role of Burmese people was
so big. That’s why, although we want to integrate history of other ethnic
people equally, it is impossible.
(Yi Lwin)
Some of the ethnic groups have extremely patriotic mindset than other groups.
So, there will be no positive effect on national reconciliation if the viewpoint of
eight major ethnic groups is integrated into school history curriculum.
(Phyu Sin)
I know that the ethnic groups want to integrate their respective histories
such as the heroes from their groups into the school history curriculum. For
the government, some of their heroes are rebels. So, integrating the point of
view of their history will not be very good for national reconciliation.
(Kyaw Min)
Consequence of local curriculum teaching

The Myanmar government allows a local curriculum during school hours in eth-
nic areas. Some interviewees gave their perspective about local curriculum teach-
ing and its consequences. Almost all welcomed local curriculum teaching, and
they expect it to have a positive impact on national reconciliation.
To be honest, allowing local curriculum teaching in school hour is the rec-

ognition of existence of ethnic people by the government. Teaching hours
for local curriculum is not much, and I want to suggest teaching it in school
summer holidays. It would help ethnic students to learn effectively about
their races.
(Kyaw Min)
Mother-tongue based education

Mother-tongue based education is allowed in some places in Mon state by the
government, and these schools are called “Mon Schools” and are managed by
the New Mon State Party that has signed the NCA. Other ethnic groups also
expected to have a chance to open schools which can give mother-tongue based
education in their respective areas. Interviewees gave their outlook on mother-
tongue based education.
It is so good for national reconciliation. Nevertheless, as a developing coun-

try, our country cannot afford it because it can cost a great deal of money.
(Eaindray)
I want to encourage the implementation of mother-tongue based educa-
tion for all ethnic groups. I think it is very suitable for ethnic students, and
it would help the ethnic student to have full understanding and satisfaction
from teaching.
(Hla Phyu)
Now, Burmese language is the official language of Myanmar. If mother-
tongue based education will be applied nationwide, the role of official lan-
guage can be affected negatively in those areas. I don’t like it.
(Kyaw Min)
The role of teachers in national reconciliation process

In diverse countries such as Myanmar, teachers have an important role to play in
the national reconciliation process. Interviewees expressed their views on national
reconciliation.
As a history teacher, I always teach my students to be unite each other and

to respect belief of other people.
(Khin Sapal)
I always said that “I am teacher, not a Burma (Burmese) in classroom”. As a
teacher, we should use appropriate words which are suitable for all students.
We should not discriminate on grounds of age, sex or race of students.
(Kyaw Min)
As a teacher, I always teach my students “to pay respect to elders, to show
kindness to youngsters and to sympathize with peers”. These words can help
to build peace among people.
(Than Swe)
Conclusion
The road toward national reconciliation is a process and must be one based on
mutual understanding, recognition and tolerance through education as a tool of
integration. To achieve national reconciliation, developing an inclusive school
curriculum is one of the best ways for Myanmar, especially since it has the world’s
longest civil war. Most of the school curriculum is developed from the point
218 Thaw Zin Oo
of view of Burmese people and other ethnic groups feel excluded. This is why
representatives of ethnic groups, such as the EAGs, are establishing schools for
their ethnic school children to promote their history, culture and language.
Recognizing ethnic schools and developing mother-tongue based education in
ethnic areas, as is happening on a small scale, will make an impact on national
reconciliation.
When the government develops the school curriculum, ethnic scholars should
be invited. There is no denying that Myanmar is a strong Buddhist country, but
there is more to it than Buddhist-Burmese people. Almost all of the ethnic people
are Christian or Muslim, and the government should integrate their belief, his-
tory and culture into the school curriculum. Further research could be carried
out to review all high school history curriculum and gain input from ethnic stu-
dents and by going to ethnic national schools.
The government should find a way to integrate the viewpoints of ethnic people
into the new history curriculum and set a special plan to teach local curricu-
lum within school hours. If not, the tension between the Myanmar government
and ethnic armed groups (EAGs) will remain and national reconciliation will
not be achieved. The Myanmar government has to reform its education system
not only to improve the quality but also promote ethnic identity, harmony and
reconciliation.
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Section 4
Lessons from Asian contexts
for social studies education
16 Interrogating the nature
of Asian social studies
Kerry J Kennedy
Throughout this book it has been shown that social studies subjects are an inte-
gral part of the school curriculum across many South and South Asian countries.
Some chapters have shown the direct influence of social studies as understood
in the United States (e.g. Indonesia) and others show how aspirations for what
is taken to be progressive social studies education have been ignored (e.g. Paki-
stan). In yet other countries, social studies has been adapted to meet local needs,
even to the naming of the subject (e.g. Bangladesh). More recently, Singapore
has reversed direction from its traditional focus on the academic social studies
subjects to a more integrated social studies curriculum. Thus, there is no “Asian”
social studies in the sense that there is a single dominating philosophy or theoreti-
cal framework that characterises what happens in classrooms across the region.
Classroom social studies education across the region is influenced more by local
contexts, national requirements and curriculum demands in what are essentially
post-colonial societies.
Yet as Barr, Barth, and Shermis (1977) showed with respect to the United
States, the form that social studies takes is very often determined by philosophi-
cal or theoretical influences. They identified social studies as “citizenship trans-
mission”, as “social science” and as “reflective inquiry” (p. 67), representing
the most important traditions influencing the field. This diversity of conceptions
should not be surprising. Fallace (2009) showed that the report on the origins
of social studies in secondary schools produced in 1916 by the Committee on
Social Studies represented “a compromise on numerous issues, disciplines and
epistemologies” (p. 619). While there is evidence of progressive influences on
the work of this committee, there are equally influences from social efficiency and
social control perspectives as well. These are included together with continuing
support from advocates of the academic disciplines. The issue now is to under-
stand how social studies education in Asian contexts might be better understood.
Such education in these contexts should be seen not so much as an offshoot of
the early twentieth century North American experience but rather as a product
of local contexts, priorities and interests. Exploring this issue will involve a con-
sideration of the following:
• Post-colonial contexts and social studies education

• Limited or contested democracy as a background
224 Kerry J Kennedy
• Links to moral education
• Beyond the formal curriculum
• Comparisons with East Asia
Post-colonial contexts
Of the eight countries covered in this book, seven of them emerged from colonial
domination sometime in the post-World War II period – the exception is Thai-
land. This means that education policy in the majority of cases was developed in a
post-colonial context. Even Thailand after 1932 was moving away from an abso-
lute to a constitutional monarchy, thus providing the foundation for the develop-
ment of curriculum within a democratic framework. Post-colonialism requires
change as highlighted by Shizha and Kariwo (2011):
The problematic of politics of knowledge in the global contemporary and

multicultural societies is how to define and legitimise knowledge especially
in curriculum reform. Reforming inherited educational systems that func-
tioned to maintain the colonial order of dependency and elitism has been an
essential part of this task.
(p. 73)
To what extent, then, did the countries of South and South East Asia take advan-
tage of their new contexts to bring change to the social studies curriculum?
On balance, what is reported here has certainly been a change in orientation of
social studies education supporting the new nation states rather than the former
colonial powers. Thus, a key characteristic of social studies across the region is
a kind of nationalism that signals both the independence of each country and
the need to support new post-independence entities. This might be considered
change at a macro level, and it is by no means unexpected in a post-colonial
context. Of course, such change should also be reflected throughout the cur-
riculum in terms of the kind of content needed to help students understand
and interrogate the world in which they now lived. Yet the means of delivering
the curriculum remained much the same. There remains a strong commitment
to the academic subjects of history, geography and economics, especially in the
secondary school, but also in many primary school systems, even though at that
level across countries there is often more integration than at the secondary level.
Very often, as in Myanmar, when the term “social studies” is used, it really means
“social studies subjects” that include the basic social science disciplines rather
than any integrated form of the subject.
The post-colonial environment, therefore, has meant a nationalist and nation-
building perspective on social studies education in South and South East Asian
countries, a focus on traditional academic subjects although at times with a focus
on inquiry-oriented pedagogy. This latter can be seen, for example, with the
most recent developments in Singapore, although in other countries the criticism
is often that attempts at more progressive pedagogies have not been successful.
Interrogating Asian social studies 225
The Indonesian chapter, for example, shows a deliberate attempt to adopt a very
specific set of pedagogies based on a US project. This is seen as one way to
influence the national development of more innovative social studies. It was not,
however, a national strategy but the influence of a group of academic social stud-
ies educators.
Mahabeer (2020) explained that “traditional school curriculums teach knowl-
edge, values, and beliefs that support colonisation, and to decolonise the cur-
riculum is to critically interrogate this knowledge and its relation to power to
restore indigenous knowledge and dignity to the indigenous people” (p. 98).
It would be too much to claim, based on the information in the chapters here,
that a thorough and systematic “decolonisation” of the social studies curricu-
lum has taken place across the region. If decolonisation can be equated with
an enhanced nationalism, then this is certainly the case across the region. Yet
more detailed analysis is needed to assess the extent to which indigenous knowl-
edge has replaced colonial knowledge, how indigenous people are portrayed in
the curriculum and understand how power relations now operate between elites
and others in constructing “official” curriculum knowledge. This is an important
topic for future research in the area.
Democracy and social studies in Asia

W.B. Stanley (2005), a noted US social studies educator of the late twentieth
century, made the point that “in the United States, schooling is generally under-
stood as an integral component of a democratic society” (p. 282). This broad
statement was particularly important for social studies education, so Gross and
Zeleny (1958) commented that “schools require youth to pursue the social stud-
ies so that they become useful democratic citizens” (p. 3). Jorgensen (2014)
highlighted John Dewey’s view that schools “should both embrace the demo-
cratic process and promote democracy itself by exemplifying on a daily basis the
principles of democracy” (p. 5). Even in the late nineteenth century when debates
raged between those who favoured single social studies disciplines and those who
supported a more multidisciplinary approach, it was argued that subjects such as
history could be “laboratories of democracy” to foster citizenship, assimilation
and “social stability and moral uplift” (Perrotta & Bohan, 2018, p. 29).
This focus on democracy in nineteenth and twentieth century United States
was not always in support of current social and economic systems. Rather, as Stan-
ley (2005) showed, the democratic focus was often seen to be important because
the system was seen to be in need of reform. This kind of social reconstruction-
ism certainly influenced social studies in whatever form it took, although it was
not a panacea that was embraced by everyone. Nevertheless, from the beginning
and over time, social studies education in the United States was associated with
democracy, its development, its improvement and its importance in the lives of
future citizens.
Links between democracy and social studies are not always evident in Asian
contexts. Fukuyama (1995), for example, made the point that “no one in Asia
226 Kerry J Kennedy
today believes it likely that Asian societies will ultimately converge with the par-
ticular model of liberal democracy represented by the contemporary United
States” (p. 29). He described Singapore’s political system as one reflecting a “soft
authoritarianism” (p. 24) rather than democracy. Hood’s (1998) explanation for
this was that while democratic institutions such as elections were often in place,
deeper democratic values simply did not develop. Even so, he seemed confident
that in time this development will take place. Roy (1994), on the other hand, was
less sanguine about democracy’s development in Asia. He saw “soft authoritari-
anism” as a strategy, especially in Singapore, to pit Western and Eastern views of
governance and philosophy against each other. Having been colonised once by
Western nations, many Asian countries declared they would not be so again, even
by such a hallowed institution as liberal democracy.
In describing what became known as the “Asian values” debate, Roy (1994)
pointed out that Singapore’s challenge to Western democracy also won support
from countries such as Indonesia, Myanmar, Malaysia and Thailand. This resis-
tance to democracy signals a distinctiveness about Asian contexts compared to
the United States. This distinctiveness did not show itself in the same way in
every country. One thing many Asian countries had in common, however, was
that democracy, in whatever form, did not eclipse local values and traditions.
Fukuyama (1995), for example, talked about democracy’s survival in Confucian
contexts, signalling the existence of thousands of years of tradition influencing
Singapore alongside its democracy. It is important to understand, therefore, that
democracy did not form the crucible in which social studies education was nur-
tured in Asian contexts. There were other significant regional influences, and
many of these have been highlighted throughout the chapters of this book.
One of these influences has been religion. Different chapters deal with religion
in different ways. In Myanmar and Thailand, where Buddhism is dominant, there
is little mention of its influence. Yet in the case of both countries, there is a Bud-
dhist nationalism. In Myanmar, it is related to protecting the religion against
perceived Muslim incursions (Foxeus, 2019). In Thailand, it was so integrated
with the Thai state that McCargo (2007) argued any democratic gains achieved
have been despite Buddhism and not because of it. In both of these cases where
there are clear democratic aspirations, religion is often pulling in the opposite
direction. This has nothing to do with the mechanics of democracy, such as elec-
tions and structures. Rather, it has to do with democratic values that, in both
Myanmar and Thailand, compete with religious values. When these contexts are
considered, the call for national reconciliation in Myanmar and a greater commit-
ment to democracy in Thailand can be better appreciated.
In Pakistan and Malaysia, where Islam is dominant, religion is shown to perme-
ate decisions about schooling so that very often religious values are given priority.
It should be noted, however, that this issue was not canvassed in the Bangladesh
and Indonesian chapters that also reflect societies where Islam plays a dominant
role. Therefore, it cannot be concluded, from these chapters at least, that there
is a necessary tension between Islam and education or Islam and democracy.
Indeed, the Pakistan chapter ends with a new vision for the country’s social
studies education, yet that view did not represent a rejection of religion. Rather,
it simply highlights the importance of democratic understanding that does not
need to be at odds with religious values. The issue of religion and its interaction
with social studies education in countries like Pakistan, Malaysia, Thailand and
Myanmar is an important area for future research.
The chapter on India reveals similar tensions to those referred to earlier. The
context is a revival of what might be called Hindu nationalism (Anand, 2011).
Over time it seems the social studies curriculum reflected new post-colonial pri-
orities, even to the point of preferring to change “civics” to “political science”
since the former represented an old colonial school subject that sought to pro-
duce docile citizens. Yet currently the focus is more on nationalism fuelled by
“Hindutva ideology” (Ramachandran, 2020) that seeks to build a new narra-
tive for the state. This ideology, by some accounts, is both fundamentalist and
anti-Muslim, seeking to transform India’s secular state to a religious state. The
important point to note here, and this applies across all chapters, is that changing
politics means changing curriculum.
More research is needed on the issue of what has been referred to earlier as
“religious nationalism” and in particular its influence on the school curriculum,
including social studies education. At the macro level, Juergensmeyer (2019) has
pointed to the “vulnerability of the nation state” under the assault of globalisa-
tion and the extent to which “new ethnoreligious politics . . . step into the breach
and shore up national identities and purposes”. This is an important perspective
and suggests that European notions of the secular state, such an important part
of Enlightenment thinking, have been rejected in many Asian countries with clear
implications for schooling and the curriculum. What is more, often democracy
and religion are not always compatible in these contexts. This is a major issue for
social studies education, needing further investigation at a deeper level than has
been possible in this book.
Moral education and the social studies

Based on the analyses in the previous section, it is not surprising to identify moral
education as a key aspect of social education across the region. The Malaysian
chapter in the classroom section highlighted this issue with its title “Noble char-
acter” as a focus in Moral Education in Malaysia. Yet this is not moral education
in the secular sense of providing a set of practices normally associated with pro-
ducing “good people”. In the Malaysian context, moral education is designed
to produce good Muslims. A similar point is made for Pakistan with reference
to the 2017 reforms in which “the policy relies solely on the teaching of Islami-
yat and Holy Quran to become responsible citizens and respond to the emerg-
ing demands of globalization”. In Singapore, there has been an historic reliance
on producing “moral, law abiding and patriotic citizens”, and while there are
changes in social studies moving towards more inquiry-oriented and transfor-
mational goals, there is little evidence that these long-term objectives will be
ignored. What is important about the Singapore case is that it is expressed in
228 Kerry J Kennedy
purely secular rather than religious terms so that the concept of being “moral”
takes on different meanings in different contexts.
The focus on moral education, with its connection to religion in many coun-
tries across the region, does not have any equivalence in Western contexts. Yet
from the very beginning of post-colonial educational development in the United
States until now, there has been an emphasis on producing “good citizens”.
This term has become quite contested over time with multiple meanings being
attached to it (Westheimer & Kahn, 2004). Nevertheless, seeking to produce
“good citizens” reflects a commitment to a particular set of values – Western sec-
ular values. This stands in contrast to the religious values so important to many
countries in the region. Religion versus secularism is very much an old debate
popularised during the European Enlightenment. Yet Enlightenment values are
not the values of the region fuelling moral education. For the most part (with the
exception of Singapore), religion provides a distinctive context for social studies
education. Even in places such as India, where there is a constitutional commit-
ment to a secular state, the religious push grows stronger. As shown in this book,
such a push is having implications for the social studies curriculum. These value
differences between Asian and Western contexts are neither small nor insignifi-
cant; they create different contexts, lead to different curriculum and highlight
different social and cultural influences. Understanding these differences can help
to appreciate the distinctiveness of social studies education in Asian contexts.
Such understanding can also highlight the research that is needed to explore this
distinctiveness and the unique contexts that produce it.
Beyond the formal curriculum

The second section of the book focuses on a broad range of subjects and issues
related to social studies education. These were selected by the authors to reflect
what they saw as important areas for social studies education in their contexts. As
shown previously, moral education is important for Malaysia and its link to reli-
gion was highlighted. By contrast, civic and citizenship education was selected for
Bangladesh. Its description indicates that such courses at the primary and junior
secondary school levels focus on understanding of “civic society and system and
civic principles” but not “civic participation and civic identities”. These latter
domains are left to the secondary and higher secondary levels. This is a fairly
traditional set of civics courses that highlights the diversity in the region when set
against Malaysia’s moral education. This is an important point highlighting again
that there is not a single “Asian” way of doing social studies education. Countries
will select priorities that will suit their unique contexts as demonstrated by both
Malaysia and Bangladesh.
Chapters from Singapore, Indonesia and to some extent Pakistan show a con-
cern with social studies pedagogy. The explanation of discussion strategies for
Singapore classrooms is detailed and matches well with some of the new direc-
tions in curriculum development outlined in the earlier chapter. For Indonesia, a
new pedagogy (adaptive learning) is explained against a background in the earlier
Indonesia chapters where social studies education is described as representing the
cultural transmission tradition. The Pakistan chapter covers more than pedagogy
(e.g. curriculum, assessment and teacher quality), but it also comments on the
use of traditional lectures, memorisation and examinations. All of this paints a
picture of not just a conservative approach to social studies but to education in
general. Concerns for pedagogy are widespread, not just in these Asian contexts
but internationally. It is of some interest to see that these concerns are shared in
a number of these chapters and some progress is being made in addressing them.
The final two chapters in the classroom section deal with different issues but
have in common a broad concern for the societies of which the schools are a part.
For Myanmar, the concern is with using the teaching of history to bring about
national reconciliation in a divided society. It is a very broad goal, but the chapter
itself shows how important it is, especially in light of nation building in Myanmar
that seeks to exclude rather than be inclusive. The Indian chapter, on the other
hand, focuses on ways in which society can reach out to disadvantaged members.
The context is not the formal lesson but the community, and while this is not part
of the social studies curriculum, it is certainly a part of social life and social living
that are important in any society that wishes to care for its citizens.
There is, of course, more variety in social studies education than what has been
reflected in the classroom chapters. Yet it has been important to show that while
there is a formal social studies curriculum across countries, there are also exten-
sions of different kinds that seek to engage students in a broader range of activi-
ties. In a sense, it might be better to talk about a broader social education that
includes the formal curriculum but goes further. It seeks to provide additional
activities or a broader view of traditional activities embracing important social
objectives. This broader scope of social education is worth exploring further as a
means of broadening the formal curriculum and ensuring that school experiences
are both relevant and engaging.
Comparisons of social studies in East and

South/South East Asia
A companion volume to this book is Social Studies Education on East Asian Con-
texts (Kennedy, 2021). Its purpose, similar to that of the current volume, was
“to explore the development of social studies in selected East Asian societies and
provide some insights into distinctive classroom practices” (p. xii). Putting the
two volumes together provides a very broad overview across many, although not
all, Asian societies. This kind of comparison is rare. Given curriculum provision
in East Asia and South and South/South East Asia as outlined in the two books,
what is the impact on student learning? What follows is a preliminary attempt to
address this issue from a comparative perspective. More importantly, however, it
may set an agenda for future research with student learning at its centre.
International comparisons can take many forms, as comparative educators have
argued (Bray, Adamson, & Mason, 2014). One enduring form, at least in the
twenty-first century, has been the large-scale assessments related to mathematics
230 Kerry J Kennedy
and science achievement. These have been part of international testing regimes
such as OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and
IEA’s Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). There
has been no direct assessment of social studies achievement, perhaps because it
has not been considered important enough by policymakers and politicians. Yet
IEA has supported large-scale assessments in civic and citizenship education since
1999 focused on knowledge, skills and attitudes. In 2018, PISA included an
assessment of what was called “global competence” that included some reference
to intercultural skills and understanding (Sälzer & Roczen, 2018; OECD, 2020).
While the educational validity of these kinds of assessment is often questioned
(Zhao, 2020), the results of these studies do have the potential to provide some
insights to students’ social learning conceived in its broadest sense.
The focus of interest here is on students from different parts of the region. One
way to provide a benchmark for the comparisons is with the more well-known
PISA mathematics, science and reading studies. In the 2018 PISA assessments
(OECD, 2019), no matter which curriculum area, there is a common pattern in
the results: students from East Asian societies (China, Korea and Hong Kong)
scored above the OECD average1 while students from South and South Asian
societies (Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand and the Philippines) scored well
below that average. The exception is Singapore that scores alongside the East
Asian societies. There has not to date been any explanation for these regional
differences or why they persist.
Coming to the International Civics and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS)
for 2009 (Schulz, Ainley, Fraillon, Kerry, & Losito, 2010) (when there was the
largest participation by Asian societies), exactly the same pattern can be observed
as in the PISA study referred to earlier: East Asian societies (Korea, Hong Kong,
Taiwan) scored above the ICCS knowledges core average while those from South
East Asia (Indonesia and Thailand) scored below the average. One study com-
pared Hong Kong and Thai students to find an interesting association (Ken-
nedy, 2012). Hong Kong students scored high on civic knowledge and low on
attitudes towards religion, whereas Thai students showed the reverse association:
high on attitudes towards religion and low on civic knowledge. These associa-
tions were not causal because the ICCS study was a one-off survey, but they do
suggest the importance of context for student learning. It was shown earlier that
Buddhism in Thailand plays a very important role in the social life of the nation,
and where this happens, other forms of social knowledge may not be consid-
ered as important. This is a very tentative explanation that requires much more
research, but it does start to suggest that a deeper exploration of social contexts
might start to unravel the differences between regions.
The PISA 2019 assessment of global competence (OECD, 2020), the results
of which were released in October 2020, showed similar patterns to the one
described earlier. This can be demonstrated looking at just a few questions. When
students were asked whether they examined issues of global and local significance
(p. 83), the response clustered in the same ways as reported earlier: students from
East Asia scored above the OECD average while students from Brunei, Thailand,
Indonesia and the Philippines scored below that average. The same results can
be seen when students were asked about understanding the perspective of oth-
ers (p. 110) and whether they would take action for collective well-being and
sustainable development (p. 149): students from East Asia scored higher than
students from South East Asia. The regional divide seems to transcend school
subjects, and to date there has not been any explanation. The issue is really one
for research that should be given high priority. In the meantime, a tentative expla-
nation can be offered, and this might also provide a direction for future research.
One way to do this is to examine macro variables such as Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) to see whether there is an association between learning outcomes
and the broad economic contexts that influence student lives. Alternatively, an
individual variable such as socioeconomic status (SES) could be used to assess
whether it was more the home background of students across the two regions
that was associated with their performance. While OECD in particular focuses on
variables such as these, they are not helpful to educators who have the respon-
sibility for shaping students’ education. What may be more useful is to consider
curriculum contexts that shape students’ learning.
This may be the contribution of the chapters in this book and its companion
volume on East Asia. The curricula outlined in both volumes provide the basis
for understanding the diverse learning experiences that are provided for students
in different contexts. It is these experiences that shape learning. Thus, when we
examine the results of OECD’s global competence test, for example, we can
check whether the questions asked are reflected in students’ curriculum experi-
ences. This is because if students are asked questions about content not covered
in the curriculum, this may help to explain students’ responses. Of course, PISA
developers often pride themselves on asking non-curriculum related questions.
Yet if explanations are being sought for different levels of performance, then it
makes sense to at least be aware of students’ curriculum experience.
A second insight that can be provided in the chapters in the two books con-
cerns the broad cultures that influence students. As shown, across regions there
are multiple cultural influences that have ancient histories. How they influence
twenty-first century students is a key issue. A great deal of work has been done
on Confucian influences on student learning in East Asian societies (Watkins &
Biggs, 2001), but almost no work has been done on cultural influences on learn-
ing in South and South East Asian societies. This would be a productive area for
future research. If culture influences learning, as it appears to do in East Asian
contexts, this could be a powerful explanation for understanding student learning
in diverse contexts.
A third possible area that could help explain student learning relates to peda-
gogy. This has not been a central concern in either book, but it was given some
consideration on the classroom section of the present book. There is a general
concern throughout the chapters of both books that pedagogy often seems to
be teacher-centred and conservative. Yet Watkins and Biggs (2001) showed in
Confucian contexts that there is something distinctive about pedagogy in East
Asian classrooms. What about classrooms in other contexts? What could be learnt
232 Kerry J Kennedy
by investigating how curriculum implementation takes place, how students are
engaged in learning and how well they are prepared for navigating the major
issues that are bound to confront them. If we can better understand how stu-
dents learn and in particular if we can understand how the contexts in which
they learn influence their learning, we may have better insights into their learning
outcomes, including those in major international assessments.
Conclusion
An important motivation for this book has been to enhance scholarship in the
area of social studies education as it is practised in Asian contexts. There is no
question that social studies as a school subject (or a collection of school subjects)
received a significant stimulus in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century
in the United States. Yet across South and South East Asia, in the mid-twentieth
century, social studies in many different forms became part of the post-colonial
curriculum. Sometimes this was in the form of retaining academic disciplines
such as history and geography, as had been the practice under colonial regime,
although this tended to be more in secondary schools. When countries saw ben-
efits in adopting a more integrated social studies in primary schools, these efforts
were fuelled more by the academic disciplines than a social issues approach to the
curriculum. There does not seem to have been any progressive movement sup-
porting social studies in the region, although this remains an important area for
future research.
Social studies education, in the contexts examined here, seems to have been
influenced more by nation-building strategies than any commitment to pro-
gressive education. Of course, while there were strong progressive voices in the
United States, they were not always successful and more conservative voices often
won the day. Yet that struggle does not seem to have taken place across the
region. What is more, in countries such as Myanmar and Malaysia, nation build-
ing was often seen as a process to exclude minorities. Even in assumedly secular
states such as India, strategies for nation building over time appeared to be exclu-
sionary than inclusive.
In an important sense, the work presented here has only started to interrogate
social studies education in South and South East Asian contexts. Each coun-
try’s case raises multiple issues and questions that hopefully will be explored in
ongoing work. Social studies is so important for young people facing challenges
not only in their own countries but across the globe. More needs to be known
about it in the contexts that produce it, and more needs to be done to enhance
and improve it. Many countries might think that their future is in the hands of
its mathematics and science graduates. What should not be forgotten is that the
social and political future of countries is in the hands of those who understand
the importance of creating societies that will meet the needs of all citizens. Social
studies education can do this, and that will be its significance for young people
and their societies in the future.
Note
1 The comparisons with the OECD average score is the only valid comparison for
PISA scores. The scores allocated are not actual results; they are transformed Rasch
scores.
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Index
A B
ability, 50–51, 75, 94, 96, 98, 140, Bagan, 212–13
163–64, 167, 169, 175, 177–78, Bandung, 95, 101–3, 191, 200–201
180–81, 188–91, 195 Bangkok, 87–88
academic disciplines, 13, 223, 232 Bangladesh, 9, 11, 44–49, 51–55,
accountability, 24, 124, 133, 138–39, 57–59, 145, 147, 149–54, 157,
142, 147, 167 159–60, 223, 228
acculturation, xiii, 20 basic education, 18, 31, 104, 106, 107,
achievement, 42, 46, 113 108, 110, 114, 207–8, 210, 214
activists, 74, 81, 87 uniform, 46
adaptive model of social studies, 188–205 beliefs, 34, 36, 42, 71, 75–76, 133,
adolescents, 173, 185, 201 140, 147, 174–75, 177, 179, 181,
affective domain, 39–40, 53, 67–68, 135 217–18
Afghanistan, 29, 33, 35, 135 benchmarks, 31, 134, 230
Aga Khan University, 137, 143 Bengali, 45, 51–53, 58–59, 148, 154,
agency, 21–22, 25, 62, 129, 133, 142 159, 210
anthropology, 89, 94, 96–97, 131 bilingualism, 63–64
Asia, 3–5, 7–9, 11–13, 52, 54, 58, 104, boys, 123–25, 127–28
110, 115, 150–51, 225–26 boys and girls, 119, 124–25, 127, 185
Asian contexts, 3–5, 172, 221, 223, British colonial rule, 17–18, 44, 104,
225–26, 228–29, 232 114
Asian Development Bank (ADB), 107, British rule, 52, 105, 149–50, 156
110, 114 Buddhism, 6–8, 13, 79, 105, 177, 212,
Asian societies, 13, 226, 229–30 226, 230, 233
selected East, 229 Buddhist culture and influences
assassination, 44–45, 47 Architecture, 213
assessment, 55–56, 110, 112, 136–37, Communities, 7
140, 144, 167, 170, 176, 180–81, Country, 218
199, 201, 229–30 Education system, 13
assessment framework, 145–46, 148, Images, 213
158, 160 Literature, 105
assessment practices, 132, 134, 136–137, Monastic schools, 106
139, 140 Monks, 79, 106
assessment strategies, 109, 111, 112 137 Nationalism, 226, 233
attitudes, 39–41, 52, 61, 64, 85, 89–90, Teachings, 7, 79, 82
92–93, 131, 132, 133, 137, 139–40, Temples, 212–13
145–47, 149, 150, 152, 190, 21, 23 Burma, 86, 104–6, 116, 206–7, 209,
awareness, 46, 50, 53, 67–68, 93, 96, 210–11, 216–19
138–40, 141, 188 Burma Independence Act, 206
236 Index
Burma Studies, 115, 219–20 civic principles, 146–47, 149–51, 153,
Burmese language, 108, 208, 210, 211, 156, 158, 228
212, 217 civics, 10–12, 19–22, 25–26, 47–48,
Burmese migrants and refugees in 51–52, 55–58, 63, 71, 148–54,
Thailand, 219 156–58, 160
class discussion, 123, 125–26, 128, 162,
164, 167, 169, 197, 172
C
classroom participation, 120, 123–24,
California, 101–2, 200 126–27
Cambodia, 7, 116 collaboration, 30, 68, 107, 121, 191,
capabilities, 121, 139, 140 200
capacity, 50, 167, 194 interethnic, 212
caste, 18, 20, 22–23, 26, 119, 125, community, 4, 17, 19, 60, 62, 81–82,
127, 129 97–98, 128–29, 138–40, 147, 164–65,
centuries-old, 128 174, 188, 197–99, 201–3
hierarchies of, 119, 125 comparative education, 26, 115
higher, 125 competencies, 38, 63, 68, 82, 133, 142
low, 125 basic, 98, 201
caste-based discriminations, 23, 125–26 making citizenship, 188
character education, 12, 32, 63, 101, skill level, 137
176, 178, 184, 187, 193, 200 social, 39
Charter of Human Rights, 141 transversal, 9
children, 28, 30–31, 33, 46, 51–52, 54, value, 189
62–63, 79, 106, 110, 119, 121–22, Comprehensive Education Sector
126–28, 150–51, 208–9 Review (CESR), 107
autistic, 156 conflict, 7, 72, 90, 92, 100, 114, 177–78,
disadvantaged, 219 211, 219
helping, 121 armed, 210–11
male, 51 corrective, 100
school-age, 90 drive, 211
socializing, 61 ethnic, 210, 212
tribal, 121 hidden, 100
child rights, 57, 157 latent, 100
China, 6–7, 13, 105, 208, 230, 234 manifest, 100
citizens, 6, 18–19, 24–25, 32, 34, moral, 175
40–42, 54, 61, 63, 67–71, 92–94, producing, 18
145–47, 149–52, 154–57, 160–61, social, 114
163–64, 188, 193, 195 Confucianism, 5–8, 13–14, 71, 174,
citizenship, 17–18, 23, 25–26, 28, 32, 226, 231, 233
41–42, 55, 60, 72–73, 91–92, 97, constitution, 19, 30, 33–34, 45–46, 58,
151–52, 154, 156–58, 166 63, 76–78, 80–81, 85, 107, 151–52
citizenship education, 10–11, 13, 28, construction of national identity, 37, 42,
32, 34–35, 37–38, 40, 60–61, 63–73, 172, 218
90–91, 102, 145–59, 228, 230 content knowledge, 30, 134
citizenship transmission, 89–103, 190, pedagogical, 134
223 contents
civic and citizenship education, 71, appropriate, 94
145–49, 151–55, 157–59 controversial, 74
civic competence, 28, 38, 94, 98, 145, main, 97, 175
188, 163–164, 194–95 selected, 135–36
civic education, 11, 73, 94, 97–98, 101, shared, 136
171–72, 193 constructive, 171
civic participation, 79, 146–47, 151–52, core subjects, 48–49, 95, 108, 110–11,
156, 159, 164, 228 176, 179
Index 237
COVID-19 pandemic, 24, 148, 161, 168 social, 31
critical thinking, 12, 22, 60–61, 67–68, socioeconomic, 141
70, 132, 135, 137, 163–64, 167, dispositions, 28, 61, 69, 145, 149, 165,
169–70 170, 195
culture, 10–11, 37–39, 50–57, 59–60, civic, 98, 194
74–75, 85–86, 96, 141–43, 149–50, diversity, 4–5, 7–8, 20–21, 33, 36,
191, 201, 207–8, 210, 215, 218–19 38, 40–41, 93, 98, 174, 180, 182,
curriculum, 5, 9–11, 18–20, 28, 30–32, 208–10
36–39, 44, 51, 53, 62, 64–65,
68, 70, 71–73, 75–77, 78, 79–82,
E
93–95, 97–98, 131–32, 134–35, 136,
137–43, 211–12, 223–25, 227–29, East Asia, 4, 5, 6–7, 14, 224, 229–31, 233
231–33 economics, 10, 12, 19, 48, 55–56, 58,
curriculum and textbooks, 18, 28, 62, 64, 89, 94–97, 106, 108–9, 111, 113
135, 140, 145–49, 158–59, 211 economy, 4, 9, 19, 44, 52, 62, 64, 81,
curriculum development, 9, 18, 30–31, 106
86, 90, 140, 228 ailing, 81
curriculum reforms, 8, 13, 106, 108, education, 1–15, 22–26, 28–73, 76–78,
224 85–88, 93–99, 104–17, 121–23,
Czech Republic, 191 127–29, 133, 138–45, 149–51,
171–73, 182–86, 190–91, 207–10,
217–19, 223–29, 231–34
D
educational policies, 31–32, 41, 34, 72,
decolonisation, 18, 86, 129, 225, 233 218
democracy, 24, 26, 33, 45, 73, 75–76, new, 106
78–81, 85–86, 102–3, 109–10, previous, 34
114–15, 151–52, 209, 225–27, 233 educational reforms, 34, 41, 87
constitutional, 79 education policy, 14, 18, 30, 33–35,
contested, 223 47–49, 57, 77, 145–49, 158, 211,
illiberal, 171 224
laboratories of, 225 colonial, 18
the movements for, 209 country’s, 47
participatory, 72 current, 47, 49
democratic society, 68, 75, 86, 89, 91, draft, 49
94, 119–20, 163, 225 first, 48–49
democratic system, 76, 79, 140, 193 interim, 47, 59
constitutional, 193 new, 33
one-sided, 74 new National, 25, 33
dialogues, 40–41, 164, 172, 205 education reform, 26, 81, 85, 87, 106,
disciplines, 3, 9, 11–12, 22, 50, 53, 89, 107, 110, 114, 209, 219–20
86, 92, 94, 99, 127, 223, 225 education system, 5, 7, 30, 32–34, 36,
discourse, 4, 20, 36, 66, 73, 162, 173 44, 46, 62–63, 81, 105–8, 115–16,
disciplining, 220 119, 121, 175, 218–19
educational, 18 election, 76, 78, 85, 100–101, 107,
hegemonic, 63 109–10, 115, 151–52, 157, 206,
new citizenship, 99 209, 226
religious, 32 elites, 7, 31, 46, 99–100, 137, 225
discrimination, 24, 45–46, 50–51, 57, emotions, 39, 166–67, 167–169, 171,
125, 126, 149, 212 172–73, 184, 186
discussion, 20, 30, 49, 60, 70, 131–32, empires, 104, 209
161–73, 199 engagement, 20, 61, 73, 146–47, 164,
disparities, 37 170, 171, 173
reducing educational, 31 environment, 47–48, 50–52, 54–55, 57,
sharp, 119 59, 61, 65, 121–22, 188, 190, 194
238 Index
equality, 19, 24, 40, 60, 119, 122, 134, governance, 69, 76–77, 79–80, 81, 129,
141, 147, 149, 150, 151–52 139, 226
ethnic groups, 37, 45, 52–55, 57, 59, government, 31–32, 46–47, 56, 61–62,
105, 174–75, 179, 206–7, 209–12, 76–78, 105–10, 113–15, 122–24,
174, 214–18 134–35, 140–44, 151–53, 199, 202–3,
ethnic identities, 30, 38, 207, 218 206–7, 209–10, 212, 215–16, 218
ethnicity, 37, 46, 50, 141, 218 groups, 54, 75–76, 90–91, 95, 98, 100,
examinations, 9, 52–53, 55–56, 108–9, 108, 111, 113, 143, 164–65, 188–89,
132, 137, 161, 165, 167, 229 197–99, 210–11, 216
extremism, 34–36, 41 growth, 54, 123, 153–54
extremists, 34–36 annual GDP, 45
extremists use, 35 high GDP, 45
sustainable, 121
F
H
faiths, 29, 32, 50, 135, 167
families, 44–45, 51–52, 54, 98, 100, Handbook, 13, 23–24, 42, 26, 87, 144,
122, 123, 127, 154, 155, 157, 183, 159, 173, 184, 186
197 harmony, 53, 65, 66, 69, 218
formative assessment 53, 137 heritage, 53, 65–66, 212, 215
France, 79, 160 archaeological, 54
freedom, 50, 79, 99, 119, 146–47, 149, cultural, 141
151, 153–54, 156 national, 212
freedom fighters, 33, 135 heritage languages, 45, 50
function, 20, 24, 75, 85, 92, 119, 128, higher education, xvi, 50, 104, 106,
193 109, 114, 129, 172, 193, 207–208
cultural, 25 Higher-Order Thinking Skill (HOTS),
executive, 187 161, 176
governmental, 153 Hinduism, 6, 8, 177
overlapping, 89 Hindu nationalism, 17, 18, 19, 227,
traditional, 38 233
Hindus, 20, 29, 45, 71, 121, 126, 174
G upper-caste, 20
gender, 4, 20, 23, 29, 36, 41, 42, 46, 52, Hindutva ideology, 19, 227, 233
57, 59, 119, 124–29, 134, 141, 164 history, 9–12, 19–20, 32–33, 51–53,
geography, 9–12, 48, 51–52, 55–59, 55–58, 73–75, 78–79, 85–86, 89,
63–65, 68, 93–97, 105–6, 108, 93–97, 105–6, 108, 110–11, 113–14,
110–11, 113–14, 131, 149–51, 131, 149–51, 161, 208–13, 215–16,
156, 158 218–19
physical, 20 history and geography, 9, 12, 48,
geography and history, 78, 105, 108, 63–64, 95, 106, 108, 111, 113, 212,
110, 131 232
geography contents, 9, 108, 212 history curriculum, 20, 115, 210–13,
Germany, 78 215–16, 219
global citizenship education (GCED), history teachers, 172, 213–15, 217
23–24, 26, 41, 101 history teaching, 79, 114, 208–9, 215,
global competence, 230, 231, 234 229
globalisation, 9, 26, 34, 36, 39, 41, 42, history textbooks, 74, 211–12, 214,
60, 65, 67, 69–72, 81, 119, 227 218
Global New Light of Myanmar, 115–16 Hong Kong, 8, 13–14, 41, 230, 233–34
Global Studies, 11, 52, 54, 157, 159–60 humanities, 37, 39, 40, 48, 55, 66, 72,
good citizens, 6, 12, 39, 47, 50–51, 57, 73, 91, 93–94, 138–39, 165
63, 114, 154–55, 157, 228 human rights, 22, 25, 39–40, 50–52,
good governance, 55–56, 148, 152–54, 57, 134, 140–41, 147, 149, 153, 160
154, 156, 157, 158, 159 Hungary, 191
Index 239
I languages, 4, 52–55, 57, 62, 64, 66,
125–27, 183, 185, 207–8, 210–12,
ideal citizen, 63, 65
218–19
identities, 18, 25, 31, 34, 37, 50, 57,
laws, 8, 13, 45–46, 58, 77, 94–95, 99
73, 86, 193, 210
leaders, 50, 69, 76, 79, 109, 149, 157
ideology, 17–18, 20, 25, 40, 50, 71, 79,
leadership, 53, 107, 129, 153–54
89, 94, 97, 136
developing teacher, 143
independence, 12, 18, 28, 31–32,
educational, 173
34, 62–63, 65, 105, 114, 206,
effective, 189
212, 224
exceptional, 125
given, 104
learners, 19–20, 22–24, 51–52, 94
India, 6–7, 9, 11–12, 17–18, 20–21,
learning, 6–7, 68–69, 71, 90–91, 94,
25–26, 29, 44–45, 119–21, 123–25,
98, 113–14, 126–27, 131–44, 171–73,
128–29, 153–54, 227–28, 232–33
179–80, 188–205, 231–32
indigenous knowledge, 54, 225
learning experiences, 190, 189,
indoctrination, 67, 75, 90, 99, 179–80
199–200, 231
Indonesia, 9–10, 29, 36, 94–103, 189,
learning outcomes, 66, 68, 140, 192,
191, 201, 223, 226, 228, 230–31
194, 231–32
inequalities, 18, 24–25, 46, 116
lessons, 68, 72, 81, 132, 141, 162, 168,
economic, 45
176, 180, 192, 197, 229
existing, 119
formal, 22
mediating, 129
liberal democracy, 28, 32, 34, 70, 226
influence
local curriculum, 81–82, 87, 216, 218
contextual, 44, 46
London, 13–14, 25–26, 41–43, 71,
direct, 142, 223
184, 186
diverse, 5
global, 3
M
important, 5
key, 9, 188 madrasah, 31, 56, 175
Ireland, 191 Malaysia, 7, 9, 11, 14, 61–62,
Islam, 6, 8, 28–30, 32–37, 39–40, 42, 174–75, 177, 179, 181–87,
45, 174–75, 177, 179, 183, 226 226–28, 230, 232
Islamabad, 29, 42, 143 Mandalay, 105, 113, 212–13
Islamic and moral education, 186 methodology, 120, 190, 146–47, 173
Islamic Education, 33–34, 175, 179–80, community-based participatory, 120
185–86 mindsets, 21, 28, 35, 36, 71, 76
minority groups, 50–51, 54, 210
J mobile learning, 18, 30, 63, 129, 164–65,
171, 189–91, 194, 226
Japan, 7, 78, 108 monastic schools, 207, 219
junta, 106, 207 moral development, 63, 98, 179, 181,
justice, 24, 33, 40, 45, 50, 58, 79, 134, 184, 186, 178–79, 181
99, 178–79, 185 moral education, 10–11, 13, 63,
72–73, 78, 95, 97–98, 174–87,
K 224, 227–28
Karachi, 137, 143–44 multicultural education, 37, 39, 42, 101
knowledge, 21, 36–40, 61, 65–67, Muslims, 20, 29, 34, 37, 39–40, 42, 45,
70–71, 75, 82, 92–96, 129, 133–35, 131, 174, 179, 218, 227
145, 182–83, 188, 214–15, 224–25 Myanmar, 7, 9, 11–12, 104–16,
206–12, 215–20, 224, 226–27, 229,
232–33
L
Myanmar education system, 104–5,
language and culture of minority ethnic 110, 210
groups, 52–55, 57, 59 Myanmar National Curriculum
language policy, 97, 42, 212 Framework, 110–12, 115
240 Index
N pedagogy, 5, 17, 21, 22–23, 75, 81, 87,
136, 119, 131, 132, 140, 224, 225,
narratives, 19, 20, 23, 36, 74, 212, 220
228–29, 231
nation, 20, 32–33, 40, 42, 44–45, 47,
Philippines, 230–31
50, 65, 67, 77–80, 87, 96–98, 100,
philosophy, 5, 18, 57, 78, 81, 89, 94,
149–50, 209–10
98, 141, 143, 223, 226
National Commission on Social Studies
Project Curriculum, 95
in School, 91, 102
policy, 32–35, 41–42, 47–49, 70, 73,
national curriculum, 12, 20, 25, 144,
109, 111, 133, 142–44, 147, 195,
28, 31, 33, 36–37, 59, 135, 140,
197–99, 202–5
159, 212
policymakers, 18, 32, 36, 49, 135, 142,
national curriculum standards for social
192, 230
studies, 94, 102, 201
political parties, 31, 81, 85, 107, 135,
national education, 65–66, 70–72
147, 151, 153–54
launch of, 72
politics, 13, 15, 25–26, 30, 42–44, 56,
national identity, 18–19, 21, 31, 38, 42,
58, 71–73, 80, 86, 233–34
62, 65, 67, 68, 70, 79–80, 85, 209,
post-colonial contexts, 17, 22, 25,
211–12, 218
223–24
nationalism, 19, 32, 45, 50, 82, 85,
poverty, 20, 22–24, 29, 35, 45, 80
129, 149, 152, 224, 227
eradicating, 80
national reconciliation, 206, 210–13,
power, 24, 31, 33, 75, 78, 86, 99–102,
215–19, 226, 229
107, 109, 115, 122, 126, 128–29
New York, 14, 42, 71–73, 87, 101–2,
primary education, 46, 49, 51, 58, 108,
130, 160, 171, 173, 185, 233
111, 139, 142, 149, 156
noble character (NC), 13, 72, 87,
primary schools, 9, 12, 51, 64, 97, 105,
174–87, 227
109–10, 115, 125, 157, 232
norms, 18, 61, 140–41, 147, 161, 165,
problem-solving, 12, 69, 92, 99, 129,
176, 178
134, 162, 175, 177, 190, 192
structured, 92
O Program on International Student
obedience, 21, 61, 63, 82 Assessment (PISA), 5, 14, 230, 233–34
Organisation for Economic progressive education, 17, 65, 67, 74,
Co-operation and Development, 80, 140–141, 143
(OECD), 145, 160, 230–31, 23 Project Citizen, 101, 190–91, 193–95,
outcomes, 20, 9, 29, 61, 68, 139, 140, 197, 200–201
143, 163 protests, 27, 45, 74, 79, 85
P Q
Pakistan, 11–12, 26, 28–37, 40–45, qualitative research, 58, 145, 159
131–34, 136–37, 139–44, 153–54, quality, 31, 37, 46, 50–51, 69, 102,
223, 226–29 133–34, 136–40, 142, 165, 167–68
Pancasila, 10, 95, 97–99 quality education, 29, 33, 46, 133, 136,
parents, 82, 106, 112, 126, 144, 203 142.
Paris, 129, 160, 233 Quran, 29, 34
participation, 23, 53, 58, 75, 79–80,
R
86, 93, 61, 82, 119, 132, 141, 147,
152–54, 169–70, 180, 193 races, 50, 63, 66, 90, 105, 164, 166,
parties, 31, 33, 109–10, 115, 182, 192, 176, 179, 213, 209, 216–17
206 reasoning, 35, 62, 69–70, 121, 162,
patriotism, 38, 47, 50, 53, 57, 63, 164, 177, 216–17
77–79, 90, 149, 153–54 reforms, 31–32, 44, 46–47, 81, 99–100,
peace, 22, 35, 37, 62, 296, 217, 219 104, 107, 110, 116, 137, 139, 211,
erodes world, 37 218–19, 225, 227
global, 22 regimes, 17, 76, 80, 85, 5, 209, 230
Index 241
religion, 10–11, 13, 28–29, 32, 34–38, social cohesion, 25, 31, 37, 40, 69,
40, 42, 44, 50, 71–72, 79–80, 174–77, 140, 161
226–28, 230, 23 social education, 3–5, 9, 11, 72–73,
research, 12–13, 41–42, 72–73, 87–88, 171–73, 227, 229, 234
90, 120–22, 124, 133–34, 143–44, broader, 229
173, 186–87, 211, 227–33 social media, 85, 168, 170
rights, 17, 54, 63, 75, 77, 80, 86, 99, social norms, 20, 60, 122–23, 127,
141, 146, 150, 154, 156, 157 141
rights and responsibilities, 40, 52, 145, gendered, 128
150–51, 153 social science disciplines, 51, 89–90,
rights of senior citizens and women, 54, 131, 134, 22
150 Social Studies, 9–11, 47, 71, 87, 89–94,
Rohingya, 210, 218 101–2, 111, 135, 173, 189, 227,
223–24, 233
S society, 4, 6–7, 23–24, 29–30, 33,
35–38, 44, 50–52, 56–57, 60–61,
scholars, 6, 19, 38, 60, 75, 85–86, 75, 96, 100–101, 141–42, 145–47,
104–5, 124, 163, 210, 212 149–51, 154–55, 193, 197–98,
ethnic, 218 229
religious, 32 sociology, 47–48, 51–52, 55, 57–58,
school curriculum, 4–5, 8, 11–12, 95, 64, 89, 94, 96–97, 130–31, 149–51,
97, 209, 211, 217–18, 223, 227, 233 154, 156, 158
elementary, 95 standards, 31, 61–62, 98, 134, 137,
existing, 9 142, 180, 182, 226, 232
four-year PPSP middle, 95 student activists, 74, 85–86
grammar, 12 student assessment, 133, 136, 137,
high, 110 138
inclusive, 217 student assessment system, 137
modern, 3–5, 8 student participation, 130, 167–68, 180
national, 214 syllabus, 20, 65–66, 68–73, 110, 134,
new, 9 136, 162, 171–72, 176, 179, 182
primary, 108
subject-based, 12
T
the, 82
schools, 4–26, 30–31, 52–53, 62–63, Taiwan, 23
77–78, 81–82, 85–87, 89–91, 93–95, teacher education, 23, 41, 44, 104, 134,
102, 119–20, 122–29, 137–39, 157, 138–39, 141, 142, 143, 146, 159,
164–65, 175–76, 182–86, 193–94, 167, 172–73, 184–85
207–8 teachers, 22–25, 37, 51, 53, 72–73,
school subjects, 4–6, 9, 11–12, 19–20, 91–92, 111, 120, 122–29, 131–33,
47–49, 51–52, 55–58, 93, 95, 135–40, 142–46, 148, 154–59,
97–98, 74, 105–106, 108–113, 131, 162–72, 179–82, 191–92, 195,
138–141, 148–50, 156–58, 161, 170, 197–98, 214–17
174–77, 181, 188, 223–25, 232 teaching, 22–23, 50, 56–57, 101–2,
secondary education, 47–49, 52, 55, 109, 111, 122, 131–33, 138, 140,
150–51, 19 143–44, 154, 171–73, 180–82,
secularism, 12, 19, 21, 45, 27, 227–28, 216–17, 219
232 technology, 4, 38, 71, 134, 161, 168–72,
segregation, 106, 125, 127 190, 193
Singapore, 11–12, 14, 58, 61–73, 161, textbooks, 18–19, 21, 31, 47, 51, 74,
164, 166–67, 172–73, 184–85, 77–81, 87–88, 132–33, 135–38,
223–24, 226–28, 230 140–41, 144–50, 152–53, 155,
skills, 9, 38, 61, 63–64, 67, 69–71, 157–59, 207–9, 211–13
89–90, 131, 133–34, 138–39, 145, Thailand, 7, 9, 11, 14, 74, 76–88, 219,
162–63, 168–70, 181–83, 188 224, 226–27, 230, 233
242 Index
thinking skills, 68, 93, 162, 189 V
analytical, 136
values, 52–54, 61, 63–65, 70–71,
creative, 9, 67
74–75, 92–93, 98, 131–32, 139–41,
critical, 9, 36, 71, 189
154, 165, 176, 178–80, 183–84, 228
developing critical, 90
voices, 20, 25, 129, 143, 163, 166,
higher-order, 161
183, 232
tolerance, 33–37, 50–53, 57, 149, 190,
217
W
traditions, 3–5, 11, 46, 50–51, 60,
91, 93, 95, 97–98, 210, 215, war, 35, 50, 135
226, 229 work, 6, 8, 31, 33, 50, 52, 120,
Trends in Mathematics and Science 125, 127, 162, 164, 166, 231–32
Study (TIMSS), 5, 23 World Bank, 45, 59, 81
world civilization, 54–55, 150–51,
U 157, 161
UNESCO, 45–46, 59, 78, 109, 111,
Y
116, 129, 134, 143
United States of America, 3, 24, 28, younger generations, 34–35, 37–38,
33, 35, 78–79, 89–90, 93, 191, 194, 40, 89, 139–41
209, 223, 225–26, 228, 232 young people, 4, 12, 30, 36, 41,
contemporary, 226 65, 91, 94, 168–70, 188, 232

(Routledge Series On Schools and Schooling in Asia 5) Kerry J Kennedy - Social Studies Education in South and South East Asian Contexts - Perspectives From East Asia-Routledge (2021)

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(Routledge Series On Schools and Schooling in Asia 5) Kerry J Kennedy - Social Studies Education in South and South East Asian Contexts - Perspectives From East Asia-Routledge (2021)

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Social Studies Education in

South and South East Asian

Kerry J Kennedy is an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Curriculum and

1 Minority Students in East Asia

2 A Chinese Perspective on Teaching and Learning

3 Language, Culture, and Identity Among Minority Students in China

4 Citizenship Education in China

5 Social Studies Education in South and South East Asia

Edited by Kerry J Kennedy

ISBN: 978-0-367-52368-8 (hbk)

1 An exploration of social studies education in Asian contexts 3

2 Postcolonial national identity formation through social

3 Developing loyal citizens: a case of social studies education

4 Social studies education in Bangladesh: contextual

5 Social studies education in Singapore: from cultural

7 Social studies as citizenship transmission

8 The development of social studies education

9 Marginalised students and their contexts: a case from India 119

10 Teaching and learning in social studies classrooms

11 Civic and citizenship education in Bangladesh 145

12 Discussion and inquiry in Singapore social studies 161

13 ‘Noble character’ as a focus in moral education in Malaysia 174

14 Adaptive model of social studies learning and classroom

15 Teaching history in Myanmar: nation building or national

16 Interrogating the nature of Asian social studies 223

6.1 Display of the 12 core values in the classroom 83

1.1a Social Studies Education in Selected South East Asian Countries 10

Takbir Ali holds a PhD degree in education, with specialization in curriculum

Inherent in this approach is a perspective that defnes social studies as an integrated

• Asia as a context for social studies education;

Asia as a context for social studies education

Tradition and its influence on the development of

it began as a humanist and individualistic soteriology (religious doctrine of

The modern school curriculum and social

It focuses on developing all students as active learners with critical think-

This typifed new approaches to curriculum development across the region.

an important role to play in school education. Integrated subjects are evident

Social studies education in Asia – nations charting

Politics, culture and reform

Contextualising social studies

National identity and the curriculum

Teaching history and civics

The way forward

Social studies curriculum

Islamization of social studies education

the overarching ideology of Islam remained present in the educational

Although this policy envisioned a society based on tolerance, social justice,

The only justification for our existence is our commitment to Islam to be

The fallouts from the educational reforms

A major factor that enables extremists to use religion to their advantage is

Similarly, a recent study proposes religious literacy as a potential tool to address

Likewise, bringing about religious tolerance and moderation in society through

Issues with social studies curriculum

Directing a singular Islamic identity in opposition to all other identities

Similarly, Javaid (2010) underscores the negative consequences of social coer-

Tolerance in society is required especially when it comes to the various reli-

Furthermore, yet another recent study by Muhammad, Masood, and Anis

A framework for re-visioning social studies curriculum

[Today] emigration is no longer a prerequisite for interaction between citi-

Consequently, the phenomenon of globalization should extend the scope of

Intercultural Education is based on the advantages of trans-cultural educa-

Besides an intercultural approach to education, the social studies curriculum