Developing children's sense of national identity through the formal curriculum: Lessons from a school-based civic education project

This study investigates how civic education implemented through a primary school subject, General Studies, can contribute to the development of children's sense of national identity. Through action research into the development and implementation of a school-based General Studies unit, this study aimed to provide practical understanding for informing and improving teachers' practice in this marginalized but increaseingly important curriculum area at the primary level. The findings indicated that the school-based project achieved limited success in fostering children's sense of national identity. Difficulties and problems encountered in the process of the development and implementation of the project were mainly related to teachers' inadequate understanding of the concept of citizenship and civic education and their lack of experience in promoting civic learning in the primary school. But the participative research did lend itself to better understanding of some very important issues related to the teaching and learning of civic education, in particular, the adoption of a permeation approach to civic education via the General Studies curriculum and the teaching of civic values through General Studies topics. They helped to further develop the civic education curriculum in the HKSAR.