Multileveled citizenship education in Beijing: Liberation with limitation

Educational policy-makers in many societies around the world have shown increased awareness of the need to broaden the scope of citizenship education policies and/or curricula to include global, national, local, and personal components, in order to help students understand international aff airs and develop a more global outlook, while still treasuring their own national and local heritages, institutions, and values (Cogan et al. 2002; Banks 2004b; Lee et al. 2004). In the European Union, for example, the need to help young people understand diverse and multiple identities is receiving increased attention from educational policy-makers and practitioners (Ross 2007a, 2007b). In Singapore, school subjects and activities cultivate national loyalty, patriotism, a sense of belonging, and a commitment to national development (Gopinathan 1988; Hill and Lian 1995; Green 1997) while also encouraging students to think and act globally and to develop a cosmopolitan identity (Singapore 21 Subject Committees 2001; Koh 2004; Ryan and Rossi 2006). Likewise, Hong Kong, since its 1997 return to the People’s Republic of China (PRC), has reformed its citizenship education curriculum to promote national and local identities, a global outlook, and transnational skills among its students (Ho et al. 2005; Lo 2005; Lee and Leung 2006). Copyright © 2014 Taylor & Francis.