Chapter 4
The development of civic values: case study of Taiwan

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0883-0355(01)00005-2Get rights and content

Abstract

This chapter describes the study as it was conducted in Taiwan in three schools: a prestigious private Christian school and two public schools. The results suggest that because of the national curriculum policy, the aims and approaches to civic education are very specific and prescriptive. Furthermore, there was a strong continuity between national policy and school curriculum provisions. The educational experiences seem to be structured with an intention to achieve moral autonomy by interweaving school activities with discipline and attachment to social groups. Finally, although the principals and teachers viewed civic education as worthwhile and important, it was accorded low priority because of its low status on the high school entrance examination.

Section snippets

Policies and intentions

The MOE decides all matters pertaining to school subjects, including goals, objectives, curriculum patterns, and instructional guidelines. The current civic education curriculum for junior high school follows the 1994 national curriculum standards, which associate two subjects — Civics and Morality, and Understanding Taiwan — with civic education.

In addition, the MOE and Ministry of Justice issued law-related education guidelines in 1997 because of the increasing problem of juvenile delinquency

Curriculum provision

Formal and informal civic learning permeates junior high school students’ life. The educational experiences seem to be structured with an intention to achieve moral autonomy by interweaving school activities with discipline and attachment to social groups. Table 3 summarizes the nature of the provision in each of the schools.

Perspectives on implementation

The principals, selected teachers, and selected students of each school were asked about the implementation of the civic education curriculum. Selected responses are presented and discussed in this section. The discussion is organized around the three case study schools.

Summary and conclusions

Table 4 summarizes the similarities and differences across the schools as well as the continuities and discontinuities between the perspectives of the participants. Because of the national curriculum policy, the aims and approaches to civic education are very specific and prescriptive. There was a strong continuity between national policy and school curriculum provisions. Formal and informal civic learning permeates junior high school students’ life. The educational experiences seem to be

Mei-hui Liu, Professor, Graduate Institute of Multicultural Education, National Hualien Teachers College, Hualien, Taiwan. She is a widely known specialist in civics and multicultural education in Taiwan. She has made numerous presentations at international conferences on her work in addition to her publications.

References (4)

  • J.J. Cogan et al.

    Citizenship for the 21st centuryAn international perspective on education

    (1998)
  • M. Liu

    Civics education in TaiwanValue promoted in the civics curriculum

    Asia Pacific Journal of Education

    (2000)
There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (3)

  • Teaching for citizenship in Lebanon: Teachers talk about the civics classroom

    2012, Teaching and Teacher Education
    Citation Excerpt :

    Degrees of avoiding discussions on politics and history have also been found in cases in Rwanda, Kosovo, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina (Weinstein et al., 2007) and Northern Ireland (Donnelly, 2004). It is important to note that avoidance of controversial issues is also found in more stable societies such as Taiwan (Liu, 2001) and Australia (Dunkin, Welch, Merritt, Phillips, & Craven, 1998) and even across disciplines like when teaching certain topics in UK science classrooms (Oulton, Day, Dillon, & Grace, 2004). Intentionally keeping controversial issues away from classroom learning experiences is a global concern.

Mei-hui Liu, Professor, Graduate Institute of Multicultural Education, National Hualien Teachers College, Hualien, Taiwan. She is a widely known specialist in civics and multicultural education in Taiwan. She has made numerous presentations at international conferences on her work in addition to her publications.

View full text