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切換側邊選單 切換搜尋選單

From 'Me' to 'Us'

Taiwan Redefines Civic Education

Taiwan Redefines Civic Education

Source:cw

Each individual is a piece of a puzzle that, put together, makes up the multifaceted picture of Taiwanese society. Our futures hinge on finding our own place, getting along with other "stakeholders" and believing we can effect change.

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Taiwan Redefines Civic Education

By Editors of CommonWealth Magazine
From CommonWealth Magazine (vol. 486 )

Recently, a university student discovered that the "treasure" he had built up in an online game had been stolen.

Although the one million credits had a cash value of just NT$500, the student decided to report the theft to the police. Accompanied by police officers, he visited the gaming company to find the perpetrator's IP address, which was based in Jhanghua County. Eventually, the thief and the student met in court.

What was the right approach – to forgive and forget, or to pursue the culprit to the very end? How would fairness and justice really be served? These were the questions that the young victim and his worried mother kept debating all along.


It's the weekend, and Lee Mu-huan, a freshman at the Department of Photonics at National Cheng Kung University, takes a time-consuming intercontinental flight to South Africa to attend the 17th conference on the U.N. Convention on Climate Change in Durban.

"We need to present Taiwan and get to know young people from different countries," the 22-year-old explains. Lee and 11 other young Taiwanese want to make Taiwan's voice heard at the global meeting of nearly 200 nations. "We want to let the world know that in Taiwan a whole lot of people still care about environmental issues," declares Lee.

Why is it so important to let the world know about Taiwan's concern for the environment?

"It's because I am Taiwanese. What Taiwan's like is inseparable from me," Lee declares. But how can young people find time to take care of world affairs, given their heavy workloads and the fierce competition they face in school?

Finding Common Ground in Society

We all face similar decisions on a daily basis.

In the virtual, global 21st century, survival skills for the new era not only include specialist subjects such as math, science and languages, but also getting along with "stakeholders" in the world around us.

The challenges of handling relationships – of moving from "Me" to "Us" – put us all to the test every day. They may be as small as how to break up with a girlfriend or boyfriend, how to publicly express a differing opinion, or how to protect your rights as a part-time worker. They may be as big as how to deduce the reality that lies behind what the media doesn't tell, or how to communicate and reconcile different interests in a difficult meeting.

Whether young people are able to handle group relations influences their happiness at school and their competitiveness throughout their lives.

Clearly identifying the "stakeholders" in different settings and situations, putting yourself in someone else's shoes, and looking for common ground that meets the interests of all sides are important survival skills in modern civic society.

Civic Education – A Basic Human Right

Traditionally, civic education in Taiwan has meant the curriculum studied in military training courses and classes on the Three Principles of the People – the political doctrine of Republic of China founder Sun Yat-sen – which extol the ideals: "to be an upright Chinese, to love your country and to love your people."

But according to the Ministry of Education's latest version of the 12-Year Public Education Program, public education aims to cultivate citizenship competencies – abilities that every citizen should have.

And while civic education is supposed to nurture skills such as identifying, understanding, explaining, innovating, communicating and computing, it also "needs to enable every individual to develop his or her knowledge and abilities through continued learning to achieve individual goals and participate in civic society. These skills help people lead successful lives and keep the wheels of society well oiled," the program states.

Based on the definition of citizenship by the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the development of civic competencies is the "basic human right" of every citizen.

Therefore, Taiwan's civic education also needs to be redefined.

"In the past civic education in Taiwan was an extremely sidelined knowledge or subject, because mainstream political education was education in a specific ideology," concedes Chang Mau-Kuei, research follow at the Institute of Sociology, Academia Sinica.

Following two decades of democratic transformation, Taiwan has changed dramatically in the political, social and economic spheres. So far educators, however, have failed to come up with suitable teaching materials and methods to help mold juveniles into "new citizens."

Instead, the media (television, newspapers, the Internet) have taken the lead in guiding "civic education." But as prominent commentators, sensationalist politicians, and celebrities comment on public issues to further their own agenda, the public has lost faith and interest in public affairs. "Lethargy" has become the common problem among this new generation of citizens.

Don't Let TV Teach Civic Competencies

As students are more aware of their rights and more likely to insist on them, maintaining discipline and order on school campuses has become increasingly difficult. Students' pursuit of their own individual interests, in the name of defending their rights, far exceeds their sense of responsibility for the greater good.

"The ability to act responsibly means understanding the relationship between the individual and society, between yourself and others. We don't litter, because we have a responsibility toward other people and don't harm the public interest of others," posits Chang in explaining the self-restraining effect of a responsible attitude.

Although there is still a lack of resources in the research and development of civic education courses and, compared to other subjects, civic education remains a marginal discipline, new teaching materials and teaching methods to respond to the need for modern civic education are already being developed in Taiwan.

A number of enthusiastic educators are experimenting with new approaches to civic education in elementary schools, junior and senior high schools, and even the general education curricula in universities.

Starting with the current winter semester, the Ministry of Education's Advisory Office has begun to promote its Modern Civic Core Competencies Development Program in the university-level general education curriculum. Through a subsidy program, the ministry hopes to encourage general education teachers to develop courses that foster literacy in five areas that are key to modern, active citizenship: ethics, democracy, science, media and aesthetics. Total annual subsidy budgets are as high as NT$10 million per year.

Civic Engagement Lower than Global Average

"On campus students only care about what goes on in their immediate surroundings. They don't care about public affairs or public space," laments Huang Chun-ju, an associate professor at the General Education Center of National Chung Cheng University who has been promoting the Education Ministry program. Huang has observed that very few students switch off the lights or turn off the air conditioning when leaving a classroom, which shows that knowledge does not yet translate into action when it comes to civic education.

Yet, in the 2009 International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) by the Amsterdam-based International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), Taiwanese adolescents ranked fourth worldwide with regard to their civic knowledge.

They even topped the list with regard to attitudes toward equal gender rights, according to the study, which covered Grade 8 junior high school students in 38 countries (Tables 1, 2).

Apparently, Taiwanese students don't have an attitude problem.

But when it comes to trust in government, Taiwanese youngsters are highly skeptical, scoring fifth from the bottom on the global list. (Table 3)

They also brought up the rear with regard to their willingness to participate in national elections and lag far behind their peers in other countries in terms of civic participation outside of school. (Tables 4, 5)

"Any public issue involves conflicting values and the input of knowledge from different fields. You have to communicate and negotiate. It's not that easy. If you rely on specialist knowledge alone, you won't achieve good communication," cautions Huang. Good citizenship means more than just rote memorization. It's a kind of skill one needs to practice.

Even in an established democracy like the United States, voices are growing louder for intensified civic education in schools. They argue that the lack of communication and negotiation competencies in American society undermines national strength.

With a new generation increasingly exposed to the influences of cyberspace and global trends, Taiwan, which has long prided itself on leading Asia with its democratic development and civic society, would surely benefit from civic education of a greater depth.

Translated from the Chinese by Susanne Ganz

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Keywords:

好友人數