National and
international
education in South
East Asia
Are they in
conflict?
Isabel Nisbet
Senior Education
Adviser
Jakarta, 27
February 2013
Outline
• The question
• National and international education: Are they in conflict?
• Defining our terms
• National
• International
• Global (“global perspectives”, “global citizenship”)
• The different domains for national and international
education
• Five answers to the question
• Some examples from countries outside Indonesia
The problem
“.. How to reconcile national
loyalty, or patriotism, with
superior devotion to the
things which unite men in
common ends irrespective of
national political
boundaries…”
John Dewey, Democracy and
Education, 1918
National education
“Learning about Singapore,
our history, our geography,
the constraints we faced, how
we overcame them, survived
and prospered, what we must
do to continue to survive. That
is national education.”
Singapore former PM Goh, National
Day rally, 1996
Global and local citizens
“All young Australians –
should become global and
local citizens”
(Australian National Curriculum)
Defining terms: “National education”
 1. The education system of a nation-state
 Can have international content
 2. A subset of the national education programme, aiming to
promote knowledge about the student’s own country and (in
many cases) patriotism and commitment to “national”
values.
 Often reflected in curriculum content of history, language/literature,
“civics”, “social education”
 Controversies about history textbooks (japan, China. Hong Kong)
 Fear of young people being attracted to radical overseas movements
 National education is alive and well in SE Asia.
Defining terms: international education
 “International schools”:
 A school run by an international organisation 9with schools in more
than one country)
 A school following an “international” curriculum or working for
“international” qualifications (eg Cambridge, IB)
 A school intended primarily for children from one overseas country,
delivering its national curriculum (“overseas schools”)
 A school offering the (home) national curriculum, but particularly
emphasising international content or activities.
Defining terms: international education
 Non-national
 Pan-national (applying across all - or most – countries)
 Ex-national (expatriate)
 Multinational (examples from more than one country)
 Transnational (equipping students to cross borders in the
future)
(McKenzie)
Defining terms: “global”
• All countries? (not just
some)
• “Globalisation”
• Increased trade and
communications
• Travel
• Economic/financial
integration
Another word for “Americanisation”?
An internationalised Thai role model?
“Global citizenship”
 “the position or status of being a citizen of a particular
country” – how can people be “global” citizens?
 A paradox?
 A metaphor – applying to the world as a whole some of the
concepts and feelings normally applied to individual
countries
 Not a competition between one’s country and “the globe”
Citizenship education
A template for comparisons
Domain
Cognitive
(knowledge,
skills)
Affective
(feelings)
Ethical/religious
Participative
National
International
Cognitive domain (national and
international)
 Includes knowledge of national and international systems
 How to exercise the responsibilities of a citizen (national)
and any international equivalents
 But the language of “international civics” can read as heavily
Western
Dominated by the United Nations and its derivatives
Several SE Asian countries are not signatories to the UN
declaration of Human Rights
Affective domain (feelings)
 National level: love of one’s country and willingness to serve
it
Singapore: The Desired Outcomes of education (2009)
At the end of Primary school, students should:
… know and love Singapore.
At the end of secondary school, students should:
… believe in Singapore and understand what matters to Singapore
At the end of post-secondary education, students should:
… be proud to be Singaporeans and understand Singapore in
relation to the world.
Affective domain – international
 Some international agendas have more radical objectives
Oxfam (UK-based international famine relief charity)
Curriculum for global citizenship
We see the global citizen as someone who:
… is aware of the wider world and has a sense of their own role as
a world citizen
…
is outraged by social injustice
…
is willing to act to make the world a more equitable and sustainable
place.
Ethics and values
 Much common ground between national and international
objectives
 Valuing diversity / respecting other races: important for
national cohesion
 Sustainable development: important nationally as well as
internationally
Developing values-driven Malaysians
“What success will look like:
Every student leaves school as a global citizen imbued with
core, universal, values and a strong Malaysian identity. The
values they have learnt are applied in their day to day lives,
leading to more civic behaviour such as an increase in
volunteerism,; a willingness to embrace peoples of other
nationalities, religions and ethnicities; and a reduction in
corruption and crime.”
Malaysian Education Blueprint, 2012
“Threads in the tartan” (Scotland, UK)
“Threads in the tartan”
provides a vehicle for the
examination of the role of the
individual in the context of the
wider community based on
the core values of wisdom,
justice, compassion and
integrity. … Representatives
of the local police and an
African poet work with the
learners to contextualise their
learning…
(Learning and Teaching Scotland)
Two approaches to national and
international curricula
 As new, discrete, subjects to be added to the existing
curriculum
Need to find time/space for them
Tend to be replaced by maths revision before exams
 Integrated: to be reflected in the way that all subjects are
taught
The model more favoured now
But teachers need help: how to teach “patriotic maths”?
What is the relationship between national
and international education?
1. The sceptical answer: either national or international
education will die out naturally
- inevitable progress of international secular capitalism,
linked to the decline of the nation-state
No evidence of this
- international education just a fad – will pass
Not sustainable
What is the relationship between national
and international education? (2)
 2. The international ethicist position: there is a conflict, and
the international should prevail
True that exposure to wider ides may cause students to
question what they have been taught
But much overlap of content between national and
international
And some legitimate challenge to the international
perspective from the national one.
What is the relationship between national
and international education? (3)
3. No problem – national and international educational
programmes are always compatible
Too complacent
Yes, there is shared content, but there are questions to
ask
What is the relationship between national
and international education? (4)
4. A reciprocal relationship (at least in SE Asia): the more
international the economy and education are, the more
governments will want to strengthen national education to
reinforce national values (Kennedy and Lee)
The 21st century Thai learner
Nurturing and developing a strong set of Thai and moral
values is important given the threats placed by
Globalisation on national language and identity.
But what ought to happen?
What is the relationship between national
and international education? (5)
5. A dynamic interrelationship – each feed into, informing and
challenging the other
National challenges to traditional (Western)
internationalism
Role of the family
Respect for the elderly
The spiritual domain
International challenges to national
Social justice
Permission to question and oppose
Outline
• The question
• National and international education: Are they in conflict?
• Defining our terms
• National
• International
• Global (“global perspectives”, “global citizenship”)
• The different domains for national and international
education (cognitive, affective, ethical, participatory)
• Five answers to the question: propose a dynamic
interrelationship
A new role model for schools in the UK
For discussion today
What is your experience in Indonesia?
… with national education?
….with international education?
How can Cambridge help?
nisbet.i@cie.org.uk
Email us at
info@cie.org.uk
or telephone
+44 (0) 1223 553554
www.cie.org.uk