Routledge Civic Education in the Asia-Pacific Region

This book examines the approach to civic education in six societies located on the Pacific Rim: Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, and the US. In these scrupulously designed studies, the contributors investigate the recent re-emergence of civic education in this region. Developments such as globalization, nationalism, and sovereignty have profound effects on how schools make "good citizens." These essays reveal how definitions of citizenship are contested and revised under such influences, and interrogate differences in civic education from nation to nation. As societies attempt to strike a balance between obedience and critical thinking, schools become the primary site of these transformations. Analyzing both educational policy and its implementation, these contributors offer a groundbreaking, comparative study that grounds civic education historically and politically. Review "Cogan, Morris and Print have edited a worthwile collection...The authors have done those of us who work in universities, ministries of education as well as in other institutional situations an invaluable service in providing a template of how six differing societies are attempting to reconcile the newly emerging civic notions with established culture and tradition." -- McGill Journal of Education