The primary social education curricula in Hong Kong and Singapore: A comparative study

Abstract

In the face of the challenges of globalization, nation states try to reinvigorate their traditional or national values and local identities as a kind of counterbalance to globalizing influences. Hence, social and citizenship education across nations in Asia takes different forms with certain distinctive varieties in terms of policies, practices and values in alignment with national priorities. Based on this premise, this article compares and contrasts the primary social education curricula in Hong Kong and Singapore in order to trace the differences and similarities in the responses of these two Asian city states to external and internal forces since the turn of the century. The article particularly sheds light on the tensions and contradictions in policies and practices in social and citizenship education as a result of the interaction of global and local perspectives.