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Citizenship Education in Asia and the Pacific: Concepts and Issues

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cerc-14Edited by: W.O. Lee, David. L. Grossman, Kerry J. Kennedy & Gregory P. Fairbrother

2004, 313pp.

ISBN 10: 962-8093-59-2

ISBN 13: 978-962-8093-59-5

HK$200 (local), US$32 (overseas)

Published by Comparative Education Research Centre (CERC) and Kluwer Academic Publishers

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This book is a landmark in citizenship and citizenship education discourse. It combines conceptual debates with case studies on the question whether the notion of Asian Citizenship can be established, and if yes, what its research agenda would be. The book contains polemic discussion, empirical data analysis, consultancy reflections, and descriptions of citizenship education in Asian and Pacific countries. Its themes include citizenship paradigms, democratization, patriotism, social tolerance, globalization and information society, and colonialism. The volume explores various perspectives on citizenship, including Confucian, Islamic, humanist, global, indigenous, cultural, political, and comparative. The book covers a wide range of countries and regions, including China, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Taiwan and Vanuatu.

W.O. Lee is Professor and Head of Department of Educational Policy & Administration and Co-Head of Centre for Citizenship Education at the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd). David L. Grossman is Dean of the School of Foundations in Education, and Co-Head of the Centre for Citizenship Education at the HKIEd. Kerry J. Kennedy is Head of the Department of Curriculum & Instruction at the HKIEd. Prior to that he was Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic) at the University of Canberra. Gregory P. Fairbrother is a researcher with the School of Foundations in Education and the Centre for Citizenship Education at the HKIEd.

Changing Education: Leadership, Innovation and Development in a Globalzing Asia Pacific

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cerc-20Edited by Peter D. Hershock, Mark Mason and John N. Hawkins

June 2007, 348 pp.

ISBN 10: 962-8093-54-1

ISBN 13: 978-962-8093-54-0

HK$200 (local), US$32 (overseas)

Published by Comparative Education Research Centre (CERC) and Springer

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This book responds to the growing unease of educators and non-educators alike about the inadequacy of most current educational systems and programs to meet sufficiently the demands of fast changing societies. These systems and programs evolved and were developed in and for societies that have long been transformed, and yet no parallel transformation has taken place in the education systems they spawned. In the last twenty years or so, other sectors of society, such as transportation and communications systems, have radically changed the way they operate, but education has remained essentially the same. There is no doubt: education needs to change.

To those ready to accept this challenge, this book represents a welcome guide. Unlike most books on educational policy, this volume does not focus on improving existing educational systems but on changing them altogether. Its focus is not on doing things better, but on doing better things; not on doing things right, but on doing the right things to prepare students for a fast changing interdependent world.

Peter D. Hershock is an Educational Specialist and Coordinator of the Asian Studies Development Program at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. He is trained in both Western and Asian philosophy, with a specialization in Buddhist philosophy. His research and writing focus both on historical dimensions of Buddhist thought and practice, and on their relevance to addressing such contemporary issues as technology and development, education, human rights, and the role of values in cultural and social change.

Mark Mason is Associate Professor in Philosophy and Educational Studies in the Faculty of Education at the University of Hong Kong, where he is also Director of the Comparative Education Research Centre (CERC). With research interests in philosophy, educational studies, comparative education and educational development, he is Regional Editor (Asia & The Pacific) of the International Journal of Educational Development, Editor of the CERC Studies in Comparative Education Series, and President of the Comparative Education Society of Hong Kong.

John N. Hawkins is a Professor in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is Director of the Center for International and Development Education at UCLA, where he served for twelve years as Dean of International Studies. His research focuses on education and development, and specifically on higher education reform, in the Asian region. He is the author of 15 books and over 60 articles on educational development in Asia.

A review of this book was published in the Asia Pacific Journal of Education (Vol.30, No.3, 2010) pp.355-357.

Citizenship Curriculum in Asia and the Pacific

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cerc-22

Edited by David L. Grossman, Wing On Lee and Kerry J. Kennedy

February 2008

ISBN 978-962-8093-69-4

HK$200 (local), US$32 (overseas)

Published by Comparative Education Research Centre (CERC) and Springer

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Based on case studies of 11 societies in the world’s most dynamic region, this book signals a new direction of study at the intersection of citizenship education and the curriculum. Following their successful volume, Citizenship Education in Asia and the Pacific: Concepts and Issues (published as No. 14 in this series), the editors, widely regarded as leaders in the field in the Asia-Pacific region, have gone beyond broad citizenship education frameworks to examine the realities, tensions and pressures that influence the formation of the citizenship curriculum. Chapter authors from different societies have addressed two fundamental questions: (1) how is citizenship education featured in the current curriculum reform agenda in terms of both policy contexts and values; and (2) to what extent do the reforms in citizenship education reflect current debates within the society? From comparative analysis of these 11 case studies the editors have found a complex picture of curriculum reform that indicates deep tensions between global and local agendas. On one hand, there is substantial evidence of an increasingly common policy rhetoric in the debates about citizenship education. On the other, it is evident that this discourse does not necessarily extend to citizenship curriculum, which in most places continues to be constructed according to distinctive social, political and cultural contexts. Whether the focus is on Islamic values in Pakistan, an emerging discourse about Chinese “democracy” a nostalgic conservatism in Australia, or a continuing nation-building project in Malaysia – the cases show that distinctive social values and ideologies construct national citizenship curricula in Asian contexts even in this increasingly globalized era.

This impressive collection of case studies of a diverse group of societies informs and enriches understanding of the complex relationship between citizenship education and the curriculum both regionally and globally.

David L. Grossman is an Adjunct Senior Fellow of the Education Programme of the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. Dr. Grossman was formerly Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Languages, Arts and Sciences, and co-Head of the Centre of Citizenship Education at the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd). Before that he was Director of the Stanford University Programme on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE).

Wing On Lee is Acting President and Vice-President (Academic) of the Hong Kong Institute of Education. Before that he was Professor of Education and Director (International) for Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Sydney in Australia, where he remains an Honorary Professor. Prior to his Australian appointment, he served at HKIEd as the founding Dean of the School of Foundations in Education, Head of two Departments, and co-Head of the Centre for Citizenship Education.

Kerry J. Kennedy is Acting Vice-President (Academic) and Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Professional and Early Childhood Education at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. He has also served as Head of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at HKIEd. Prior to that, he was Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic) at the University of Canberra in Australia.

Read the review in Asia Pacific Journal of Education, Vol.30, No.1, pp.123-126

Citizenship Pedagogies in Asia and the Pacific

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cerc-28Edited by Kerry J. Kennedy, Wing On Lee & David L. Grossman


March 2010

ISBN 978-988-17852-2-0

HK$250 (local), US$38 (overseas)

Published by Comparative Education Research Centre (CERC) and Springer

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How are students in Asia and the Pacific taught to be effective citizens? Following two successful volumes previously published in this series, Citizenship Education in Asia and the Pacific: Concepts and Issues and Citizenship Curriculum in Asia and the Pacific, this volume focuses on citizenship pedagogies that are promoted by governments in the region, advocated by scholars, and adapted in the schools and classrooms where citizenship education takes place every day. Thirteen case studies from diverse societies in Asia and the Pacific highlight the ways in which teachers and students think about, experience or plan for citizenship teaching and learning. Different methods - vignettes, student surveys, case studies and literature reviews - are used to portray these experiences, from both macro- and micro-analytic perspectives. The wide array of case studies provides rich information and insights into the realities and possibilities of pedagogies for citizenship across the region.

What we discover from this volume is as diverse and complex as the region itself. Conservative teacher-dominated pedagogies are common in many places, but more progressive pedagogies can also be found. In some places teachers struggle to implement new methods, while in others, students seem to be more radical than their teachers in seeking more engaging pedagogies. Many cases highlight also the pressures of examination cultures that influence teachers' choices of and students' preferences for particular pedagogical approaches. From a comparative perspective, the volume shows how pedagogical approaches from other contexts are interpreted locally, and how government directives are adapted in classrooms. It describes how integrated and hybrid pedagogical approaches evolve when teachers in the region struggle to respond to national, global and person-oriented approaches to citizenship education. As curriculum gate-keepers, some teachers in these case studies seek an appropriate instructional space by judiciously choosing pedagogies to suit their own conceptions of citizenship education. For other teachers there are more limited choices, because of strong societal mandates, perceived community expectations, or simply because of a lack of skills to teach in any other way.

Collectively these chapters constitute a remarkable study of the delivery of citizenship education across the region and of the variety of pedagogies that influence the lives of teachers and students in this context.

Kerry J. KENNEDY is Chair Professor of Curriculum Studies at the Hong Kong Institute of Education, where he is Dean of the Faculty of Education Studies and Associate Vice-President (Quality Assurance). He is also a Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Governance and Citizenship. Before moving to Hong Kong, he was Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic) at the University of Canberra in Australia.

Wing On LEE is currently Vice-President (Academic) and Deputy to the President at the Hong Kong Institute of Education, where he is also Chair Professor of Comparative Education and Co-Director of the Centre for Governance and Citizenship. He was formerly Director (International) in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Sydney in Australia, where he was also Professor of Education. He is a member of Hong Kong's Central Policy Unit, Education Commission and Curriculum Development Council.

David L. GROSSMAN is currently Dean of the Division of Education at Chaminade University in Hawaii and an Adjunct Senior Fellow of the Education Program of the East-West Center. Prior to that, he was Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Languages, Arts and Sciences at the Hong Kong Institute of Education and Co-Head of the Centre for Citizenship Education.
A review published in the journal Comparative Education, Volume 48, Number 3, 2012: 403-406

Early Childhood Care and Education in the Asia Pacific Region: Moving towards Goal 1

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Mono8

Nirmala Rao and Jin Sun

2010, 97pp.
ISBN 978-988-17852-5-1
HK$100 (local), US$16 (overseas)
Published by Comparative Education Research Centre (CERC) in collaboration with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

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In 2000, the global community set six goals as part of the Education for All (EFA) agenda. This monograph considers progress towards Goal 1, namely “to expand and improve comprehensive early childhood care and education”.Compelling reasons have been provided for investment in the early years, and much progress has been achieved in Asia and the Pacific. Particularly important are improved access and strengthened quality in early childhood services. However, much remains to be done to enhance child and maternal health, enhance the quality of services, and expand access particularly for children below the age of three. Further progress will require improved monitoring and attention to legislation. The book shows that policy priority and funding for early childhood care and education should markedly increase throughout the region.

Nirmala Rao is a Professor in the Faculty of Education of the University of Hong Kong. Her research focuses on early child development and education in Asia, and she has published widely in the area. She has been an adviser on early child development and education for international developmental agencies, and is actively involved in professional organizations concerned with the well-being of young children.Jin SUN is a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Faculty of Education of the University of Hong Kong. Her professional interests include child development in social contexts, early childhood bilingual development, and early childhood education for disadvantaged children.Click here for the book review published in the journal International Review of Education, Volume 58, Number 3 (2012), 427-428