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.
Section 1 A Theoretical Perspective on Social Studies Education 1. An exploration of social studies education in Asian contexts Section 2 Politics, Culture and Reform in South and South East Asian Social Studies Education 2. Postcolonial national identity formation through social studies: The case of India 3. Developing loyal citizens: A case study of social studies education in Pakistan 4. Social studies education in Bangladesh: Contextual influences, reforms and development, and curriculum 5. Social studies education in Singapore: From cultural transmission to social transformation 6. Social studies curriculum in Thailand: A contested terrain 7. Social studies as citizenship transmission in Indonesian schools 8. The development of social studies education in Myanmar Section 3 Social Studies Education in South And South East Asian Classrooms 9. Marginalised students and their contexts: A case from India 10. Teaching and learning in social studies classrooms in Pakistan 11. Civic and citizenship education in Bangladesh 12. Discussion and inquiry in social studies 13. ‘Noble character’ as a focus for moral education in Malaysia 14. Adaptive model of social studies learning and classroom culture in Indonesian schools 15. Teaching history in Myanmar: Nation building or national reconciliation? Section 4 Lessons from Asian Contexts for Social Studies Education 16. Interrogating the nature of Asian social studies
Kerry J Kennedy isan Emeritus Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and Advisor (Academic Development) at The Education University of Hong Kong. He is also a Distinguished Visiting Professor in Curriculum Studies in the Faculty of Education at the University of Johannesburg.
