Teaching civic education for a civil, democratic society

Abstract

Most countries of the world have experienced a revival in civic education in recent years. Issues of globalization, migration, national identity, citizenship, democracy, and civil society have forced them to devise, or reflect upon, some form of civic education for their schools. This is certainly the case for many countries in the Asian region. We have sought to identify appropriate pedagogy for teaching civics and citizenship in schools across the Asian region. From the literature it was possible to identify four categories of pedagogical strategies for civics and citizenship education which are applicable to the great variety of Asian schools. The categories are: 1) class-based, passive — cognitive pedagogies; 2) school-based, passive — cognitive pedagogies; 3) class-based, participative-active pedagogies; and 4) school-based, participative-active pedagogies. Some of these strategies appear more promising than others in Asian schools given that traditional, didactic teaching strategies dominate. What looks most promising include: whole school pedagogical strategies; critical thinking, particularly through group work; a variety of cooperative learning strategies including group problem-solving exercises; school-based activity learning; and the use of a technology such as CD ROMs as a resource. It is unlikely only one pedagogical strategy will prove to be singularly effective with civics. A more probable outcome will be that a combination of strategies will be most effective. Future research will provide suggestions as to the composition of that set of pedagogical strategies.