isabel nisbet senior education adviser jakarta, 27 february 2013
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National and international education in South East Asia. Are they in conflict?. Isabel Nisbet Senior Education Adviser Jakarta, 27 February 2013. Outline. The question National and international education: Are they in conflict? Defining our terms National International - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Isabel Nisbet
Senior Education Adviser
Jakarta, 27 February 2013
Are they in conflict?
National and international education in South East Asia
• The question• National and international education: Are they in conflict?
• Defining our terms• National• International• Global (“global perspectives”, “global citizenship”)
• The different domains for national and international education
• Five answers to the question • Some examples from countries outside Indonesia
Outline
The problem
“.. How to reconcile national loyalty, or patriotism, with superior devotion to the things which unite men in common ends irrespective of national political boundaries…”John Dewey, Democracy and
Education, 1918
National education
“Learning about Singapore, our history, our geography, the constraints we faced, how we overcame them, survived and prospered, what we must do to continue to survive. That is national education.” Singapore former PM Goh, National Day rally, 1996
Global and local citizens
“All young Australians – should become global and local citizens”(Australian National Curriculum)
Defining terms: “National education”
1. The education system of a nation-state Can have international content
2. A subset of the national education programme, aiming to promote knowledge about the student’s own country and (in many cases) patriotism and commitment to “national” values. Often reflected in curriculum content of history, language/literature,
“civics”, “social education”
Controversies about history textbooks (japan, China. Hong Kong)
Fear of young people being attracted to radical overseas movements
National education is alive and well in SE Asia.
Defining terms: international education
“International schools”: A school run by an international organisation 9with schools in more
than one country)
A school following an “international” curriculum or working for “international” qualifications (eg Cambridge, IB)
A school intended primarily for children from one overseas country, delivering its national curriculum (“overseas schools”)
A school offering the (home) national curriculum, but particularly emphasising international content or activities.
Defining terms: international education
Non-national
Pan-national (applying across all - or most – countries)
Ex-national (expatriate)
Multinational (examples from more than one country)
Transnational (equipping students to cross borders in the future)
(McKenzie)
Defining terms: “global”
• All countries? (not just some)
• “Globalisation”• Increased trade and
communications
• Travel
• Economic/financial integration
Another word for “Americanisation”?
An internationalised Thai role model?
“Global citizenship”
“the position or status of being a citizen of a particular country” – how can people be “global” citizens?
A paradox?
A metaphor – applying to the world as a whole some of the concepts and feelings normally applied to individual countries
Not a competition between one’s country and “the globe”
Citizenship education
A template for comparisons
Domain National International
Cognitive (knowledge, skills)
Affective (feelings)
Ethical/religious
Participative
Cognitive domain (national and international) Includes knowledge of national and international systems
How to exercise the responsibilities of a citizen (national) and any international equivalents
But the language of “international civics” can read as heavily Western
Dominated by the United Nations and its derivatives
Several SE Asian countries are not signatories to the UN declaration of Human Rights
Affective domain (feelings)
National level: love of one’s country and willingness to serve it
Singapore: The Desired Outcomes of education (2009)At the end of Primary school, students should:
… know and love Singapore.
At the end of secondary school, students should:
… believe in Singapore and understand what matters to Singapore
At the end of post-secondary education, students should:
… be proud to be Singaporeans and understand Singapore in relation to the world.
Affective domain – international
Some international agendas have more radical objectives
Oxfam (UK-based international famine relief charity)
Curriculum for global citizenship We see the global citizen as someone who:
… is aware of the wider world and has a sense of their own role as a world citizen
…
is outraged by social injustice
…
is willing to act to make the world a more equitable and sustainable place.
Ethics and values
Much common ground between national and international objectives
Valuing diversity / respecting other races: important for national cohesion
Sustainable development: important nationally as well as internationally
Developing values-driven Malaysians
“What success will look like:
Every student leaves school as a global citizen imbued with core, universal, values and a strong Malaysian identity. The values they have learnt are applied in their day to day lives, leading to more civic behaviour such as an increase in volunteerism,; a willingness to embrace peoples of other nationalities, religions and ethnicities; and a reduction in corruption and crime.”Malaysian Education Blueprint, 2012
“Threads in the tartan” (Scotland, UK)
“Threads in the tartan” provides a vehicle for the examination of the role of the individual in the context of the wider community based on the core values of wisdom, justice, compassion and integrity. … Representatives of the local police and an African poet work with the learners to contextualise their learning…(Learning and Teaching Scotland)
Two approaches to national and international curricula As new, discrete, subjects to be added to the existing
curriculum
Need to find time/space for them
Tend to be replaced by maths revision before exams
Integrated: to be reflected in the way that all subjects are taught
The model more favoured now
But teachers need help: how to teach “patriotic maths”?
What is the relationship between national and international education?1. The sceptical answer: either national or international
education will die out naturally
- inevitable progress of international secular capitalism, linked to the decline of the nation-state
No evidence of this
- international education just a fad – will pass
Not sustainable
What is the relationship between national and international education? (2) 2. The international ethicist position: there is a conflict,
and the international should prevail
True that exposure to wider ides may cause students to question what they have been taught
But much overlap of content between national and international
And some legitimate challenge to the international perspective from the national one.
What is the relationship between national and international education? (3)3. No problem – national and international educational programmes are always compatible
Too complacent
Yes, there is shared content, but there are questions to ask
What is the relationship between national and international education? (4)4. A reciprocal relationship (at least in SE Asia): the more international the economy and education are, the more governments will want to strengthen national education to reinforce national values (Kennedy and Lee)
The 21st century Thai learner
Nurturing and developing a strong set of Thai and moral values is important given the threats placed by
Globalisation on national language and identity.
But what ought to happen?
What is the relationship between national and international education? (5) 5. A dynamic interrelationship – each feed into, informing and challenging the other
National challenges to traditional (Western) internationalism
Role of the family
Respect for the elderly
The spiritual domain
International challenges to national
Social justice
Permission to question and oppose
• The question• National and international education: Are they in conflict?
• Defining our terms• National• International• Global (“global perspectives”, “global citizenship”)
• The different domains for national and international education (cognitive, affective, ethical, participatory)
• Five answers to the question: propose a dynamic interrelationship
Outline
A new role model for schools in the UK
For discussion today
What is your experience in Indonesia?
… with national education?
….with international education?
How can Cambridge help?
