ABSTRACT
This paper analyzes global education policy and curricular documents in Singapore and Hong Kong. Using a discursive approach, we characterize curricular aims through various cosmopolitan perspectives. We posit that although touted as Asian global cities, Singapore and Hong Kong are cases where neoliberal and nation-centric educational agendas have effectively rebranded cosmopolitanism and tamed its transformative potential. To develop this argument, we review theories and critiques of cosmopolitan forms of global citizenship education deemed necessary to prepare young people for complex global social conditions. We discuss cosmopolitan principles on identity, values, and deliberation and draw on critical cosmopolitanism and Asian forms of cosmopolitanism to provide a discursive framework for analyzing curricular intentions in the two cases.
Data availability statement
The data described in this article are openly available in the Open Science Framework at DOI:10.17605/OSF.IO/TPA6U.
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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Correction Statement
This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.
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Notes on contributors
Mark Baildon
Mark Baildon is Associate Dean in the Office of Education Research and Associate Professor in Humanities and Social Studies Education at the National Institute of Education (Singapore). His scholarly interests focus on global citizenship education and ways to support social studies inquiry practices and 21st century literacies in new global contexts. He has published two books: Social Studies as New Literacies in a Global Society: Relational Cosmopolitanism in the Classroom (Routledge, 2011) and Controversial History Education in Asian Contexts (Routledge, 2013).
Theresa Alviar-Martin
Theresa Alviar-Martin is an Associate Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at Kennesaw State University. Her research examines citizenship education in culturally diverse democracies from global and comparative perspectives. Her writing has been published in several academic books and peer-reviewed journals, including Teaching and Teacher Education, Journal of Educational Research, Teachers College Record, and Theory & Research in Social Education.