An Exploration of Young Singaporeans' Active

AN EXPLORATION OF YOUNG SINGAPOREANS’ ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP BY SIVA GOPAL THAIYALAN A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Victoria University of Wellington 2020 Abstract Nurturing young people to be active citizens has increasingly captured the imaginations of politicians and education policymakers in many countries in recent years (Jochum, Pratten, & Wilding, 2005; Kallio & Häkli, 2013; Nelson & Kerr, 2006; Ross, 2012). Politicians and policymakers in some countries, who have traditionally preferred more passive forms of law-abiding ‘good’ citizens, are seeking more participatory forms of citizenship, largely fuelled by their concerns about a perceived civic deficit among young people, characterised by declining rates of voting and community engagement (Ross, 2012). However, efforts to promote active citizenship among young people have been narrowly confined to public participation, for example, voting and volunteering. This focus on public participation overlooks young people’s diverse forms of citizenship practices in their personal and private worlds, and thus has the potential of leading to a false perception that young people are apolitical, apathetic and disengaged (Bessant, Farthing, & Watts, 2016; Wood, 2014). Moreover, citizenship education that aims to nurture active citizens has focused too much on trying to fix the perceived civic deficit in young people, neglecting how young people actually learn in and through the everyday practices in their lived world (Bessant et al., 2016; Biesta, 2011). Similarly, educational policies and programmes in Singapore have prioritised nurturing active citizens, but these have also focused on didactic forms of citizenship education, through formal and public participation, such as volunteering and service projects (Han, 2015). Although all young Singaporeans undertake such forms of citizenship education, little is known about how active citizenship is actually defined in educational policies in Singapore and exactly what kind of citizens these policies and programmes aim to nurture. Moreover, not many studies have examined how young people understand and enact these policies, who or what has shaped their citizenship perceptions and practices, and what their experiences with citizenship in their everyday lives are. This thesis advances a call to recognise young Singaporeans’ experiences with citizenship beyond a focus on their formal and public forms of civic learning and participation, and to turn our attention to their lived and relational experiences in their everyday lives. This research examined the citizenship experiences of 40 young Singaporeans aged 17–25. A qualitative, case study approach was adopted where verbal and visual data were collected from a series of focus group dialogues and a visual methodology, photovoice. A thematic analysis of policies and programmes for citizenship education was also conducted 3 to identify the kinds of citizen that are prioritised by the Singapore government, and this was analysed against what shaped young people’s citizenship and how they lived and imagined their citizenship in their everyday lives. Central to this thesis is the exploration of young people’s citizenship imaginations, which I define as a quality of mind that enables the ability to critique social, political and economic contradictions in everyday life in order to maintain, continue and repair the world in order to live in it as well as possible. This conception of citizenship imaginations is guided by critical and feminist theories, particularly a feminist ethic of care. The findings in this research suggest that policies and programmes for young people’s citizenship and citizenship education in Singapore prioritise character-driven citizens, social-participatory citizens and ‘citizen-workers of the future’ who will contribute to the social cohesion and economic prosperity of Singapore. Although at the surface level many participants’ conceptions of active citizenship seemed to conform to the government’s policy intents, a deeper analysis revealed that these conceptions were undergirded by a relational disposition rooted in care. It emerged that participants prioritised relational forms of citizenship that were focused on small, mundane and everyday acts of care with, and for, family, friends, others in the community and the natural environment. At the same time, their citizenship imaginations involved active critiques of society and politics, a search for social justice and a prioritisation of relational forms of care as their citizenship practice in their everyday worlds. Their citizenship imaginations also comprised an ideal Singapore society that is more inclusive, with a lighter focus on economic success, and more reflective, dialogic and critical forms of education. Three big ideas emerged from the findings of this research. First, policies and programmes that aim to foster active citizenship amongst young people need to recognise and include their experiences with citizenship in their everyday lives. The second is a call to attention to the politics in young people’s everyday relational forms of citizenship. And the third is that young people’s citizenship imaginations can be awakened through more critical forms of education for active citizenship. This research contributes to theoretical and methodological advancements in researching young people’s lived citizenship in a number of ways, and also presents the potential to reimagine policy formulation, curriculum design and engagement strategies that seek to foster active citizenship among young people. Drawing from the findings, this thesis proposes a unique model of nurturing critical and caring citizens in Singapore. 4 Acknowledgements My choice of feminist theory that guides this research is apt in many ways. One of these is a way to pay tribute to the women who have contributed to me arriving at this milestone in my life. First and foremost, to my mother, whose strength of character and care is what made me who I am today. This thesis is especially dedicated to her for all her sacrifices so that I could achieve all my dreams and have a better life. Second, to my sister, who nurtured me since we were young and who continues to be my biggest supporter. Next, to my wife, who walked every step of this journey with me and for living a life like a candle in the wind in order to give light to me. And to my mother-in-law who was understanding and supportive of my full-time studies over the years. Most importantly, to my beloved daughter, Maya – this research was conceived at about the same time Maya was conceived, and my imagination of the kind of citizen she might grow up to be provided the inspiration for this thesis. Last but not least, I am indebted to my two supervisors, Bronwyn Wood and Andrea Milligan, for their patience, perseverance and wisdom in nurturing me as a budding scholar. Bronwyn, in particular, for her unwavering care for all facets of my life throughout this doctoral journey. Together, it was this collective feminine energy, commonly known as Shakti in the Indian tradition, that provided the force for this thesis. I am also grateful to my guru Swami Muktirupananda-ji, my brother Francis Xavier, and my mentors Professor Michael Goh and Dr Vilma D Rozario, who took so much interest in my research and for their blessings and guidance. To my colleagues Professor Cheah Horn Mun and Joshua Yip for their understanding and support at work. I am also indebted to the members of the Citizenship and Social Sciences Reading Group at Victoria University of Wellington for their professional fellowship that helped shaped me as a doctoral student. A special thanks to my office-mate Phuong-Anh Do for her care and fun. To Martyn Reynolds, for being my best mate, a critic and for taking me into the Wellington wilderness. And to my friends from the Victoria Floorball Club, for their interest in my research and for providing the social and emotional support I needed. Finally, my doctoral studies and research would not have been possible without the kind support from the Victoria University of Wellington whānau. In particular, I am grateful for the generosity of the Victoria Doctoral Scholarship and for the care and support provided by staff, faculty and friends at the Faculty of Education, the Faculty of Graduate Research, Victoria International and the Victoria University of Wellington Students’ Association. Thank you all for your care. This is an important milestone in my life. 5 Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................. 3 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................ 5 List of Figures ...................................................................................................................... 11 List of Tables ....................................................................................................................... 13 List of Abbreviations ........................................................................................................... 15 Chapter 1 – Introduction .................................................................................................... 17 Why research young Singaporeans’ lived citizenship? ..................................................... 17 Personal motivation

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