ERIC Number: EJ1042766
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1559-5692
EISSN: N/A
Fostering Social Cohesion and Cultural Sustainability: Character and Citizenship Education in Singapore
Tan, Charlene; Tan, Chee Soon
Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, v8 n4 p191-206 2014
This article critically discusses the Singapore state's endeavor to balance social cohesion and cultural sustainability through the Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) curriculum. This article points out that underpinning the CCE syllabus are the state ideologies of communitarianism and multiracialism. It is argued that the ideology of communitarianism is compatible with and finds support from Confucius's emphasis on the concept of harmony ("he") and his advocacy of values inculcation that progresses from the family to the community and the rest of the world. The article further argues that a key challenge in balancing social cohesion with cultural sustainability in Singapore is to guard against essentializing and stereotyping the various cultural groups through the surface culture approach.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Ethical Instruction, Citizenship Education, Social Integration, Cultural Maintenance, Course Descriptions, Ideology, Cultural Pluralism, Collectivism, Stereotypes, Confucianism, Philosophy, Teaching Methods, Educational Objectives
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Singapore
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A