The varied dimensions of Character and Citizenship Education in the prism of values in grades 1-2 in Primary Education in Singapore

Abstract

The article begins with a review and analysis of the literature on Character and Citizenship Education in Singapore in grades 1-2, with particular reference to values in education. The understanding of values in terms of Marwin Berkowitz, Fritz Oser and Wiel Veugelers is the theoretical basis of the article.The analysis of curriculum began with a review of the literature on values in education. The next stage was to analyse the curriculum along with its Core Values (Respect, Responsibility, Resilience, Integrity, Care and Harmony), embodied in the five domains, its three Big Ideas (Identity, Relationship, Choices) and its guiding principles in grades 1-2. Education here comes across as an interaction between various sets of teachers’ values and the ongoing construction of students’ values. The key part of the study is to analyse the Singaporean Character and Citizenship Education, principally its parts which involve the Core Values. Key Understandings and Key Questions make it possible for students to become involved in the variance of values in a constructive and critical manner. Documents concerning the subject of the analysis were studied by means of a problem method, which is based on an educational phenomenon examining various consistent factors related to time and society.