2016/03/04 by Li-Ching Ho, Li‐Ching Ho · 2 citations
Social Sciences · #Global Education and Multiculturalism #Socioeconomic Development in Asia #Tourism, Volunteerism, and Development
paper · doi:10.1080/00220272.2016.1155648
crossref issued 2016/03/04 · crossref published 2016/03/04 · crossref published-online 2016/03/04 · openalex publication_date 2016/03/04 · crossref created 2016/03/04 · crossref published-print 2017/07/04 · crossref deposited 2022/06/06 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref indexed 2026/07/27 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
This paper uses the concept of stories of peoplehood to examine how the Singapore government has constructed a story of harmony and to consider how this story has influenced two important school subjects focused on civic education: Social Studies and Character and Citizenship Education. Stories of peoplehood, including constitutive, economic and political power stories, play a central role in the political project of people-making which involves defining the nature of membership in a political community and promoting a collective political identity. This study provides an alternative way of conceptualizing the goals and curriculum content of civic education and it also offers an example of how a nation state with a strong Confucian tradition has chosen to address the educational goal of living together through the promotion of values such as social cohesion and community relationships within a story of harmony. The study also shows how Singapore political leaders construct a narrow and limited discourse of harmony within the curricula and use it to legitimize policies that privilege particular groups, limit political freedoms, marginalize groups with less power or status, and circumscribe the kinds of actions a citizen can legitimately take.