Citizenship pedagogy in Asia and the Pacific: Global trends, national goals and individual responses

This paper is an analytic reflection on a number of country cases in regard to citizenship pedagogies, submitted to a volume on Citizenship Pedagogies in Asia and the Pactific, co-edited by Kerry Kennedy, Wing On Lee and David Grossman, as the third volume of our citizenship education series focusing on Asia and the Pacific. The paper argues that, like its preceding volume on citizenship curriculum, pedagogies for citizenship education are contentious in nature, struggling between competing demands by the national government, global perspectives on citizenship education, and individual choices. There are common features of citizenship pedagogies that reflect strong state governance in Asia-Pacific countries. However, as citizenship education also reflects hybridization and eclecticism as a mix of tratitional culture and modernisation as well as east-west encounters, citizenship pedagogies "fluctuates" between these demands and perspectives. Interestingly, this leaves room for individual educators who could make their own choices in adopting and adapting pedagogical approaches amidst these contentious situations.