The Loss of The'world-Soul'? Education, Culture and the Making
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
The Loss of the ‘World-Soul’? Education, Culture and the Making of the Singapore Developmental State, 1955 – 2004 by Yeow Tong Chia A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of Theory and Policy Studies in Education Ontario Institute for Studies in Education University of Toronto © Copyright by Yeow Tong Chia 2011 The Loss of the ‘World-Soul’? Education, Culture and the Making of the Singapore Developmental State, 1955 – 2004 Yeow Tong Chia Doctor of Philosophy Department of Theory and Policy Studies in Education Ontario Institute for Studies in Education University of Toronto 2011 Abstract This dissertation examines the role of education in the formation of the Singapore developmental state, through a historical study of education for citizenship in Singapore (1955-2004), in which I explore the interconnections between changes in history, civics and social studies curricula, and the politics of nation-building. Building on existing scholarship on education and state formation, the dissertation goes beyond the conventional notion of seeing education as providing the skilled workforce for the economy, to mapping out cultural and ideological dimensions of the role of education in the developmental state. The story of state formation through citizenship education in Singapore is essentially the history of how Singapore’s developmental state managed crises (imagined, real or engineered), and how changes in history, civics and social studies curricula, served to legitimize the state, through educating and moulding the desired “good citizen” in the interest of nation building. Underpinning these changes has been the state’s use of cultural constructs such as ii Confucianism and Asian values to shore up its legitimacy. State formation in Singapore has been very successful, as evidenced by its economic prosperity and education has played a key role in this success. However, the “economic growth at all costs” ethos comes, arguably, at a price – the potential loss of zeitgeist, or the loss of the “World-Soul”. Nation building in the sense of fostering a sense of rootedness and belonging to the country in its citizenry – the “World-Soul” – had to be relegated to the backburner in the relentless pursuit of economic development, in order to sustain and legitimize the developmental state. By harnessing the educational sphere for its economic growth objectives through the discourse of crisis, the developmental state gained political legitimacy in the eyes of a citizenry increasingly accustomed to educational mobility and material wealth, even if at the expense of political freedoms. iii Acknowledgments Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith… - Hebrews 12: 2 (King James Version) Writing this dissertation has been a trying, but also a rewarding learning experience. It has been a long journey. I am greatly indebted to all who helped me along the way. The dissertation originated from an eureka moment back in January 2000. Therefore, I would like at the onset to give thanks to God for being the source and inspiration of this thesis. I wish to express my deep gratitude to Associate Professor Ruth Sandwell, my thesis supervisor, for her interest in my thesis topic, even though she does not know much about Singapore. I deeply appreciate her quick response and detailed feedback on my drafts despite her very busy schedule. With the benefit of hindsight, what appeared initially to be harsh comments turned out to be the major building blocks of my thesis. The thesis would not be in its final form without her critical comments and guidance. I owe her an immense intellectual debt. I thank my thesis committee members for their willingness to be on my committee. I am thankful to Professor Ruth Hayhoe for introducing the methodology of ideal types. Her knowledge of East Asian culture proved invaluable in helping me fine-tune my analyses and interpretations. I thank Dr. Mark Evans for his interest in my study, and his very useful comments on the civic and citizenship education aspect of my thesis. In particular, I thank him for his suggestion to include a brief overview of the literature on citizenship education. To Associate Professor Karen Mundy, I deeply appreciate for her comments on a very early draft of my thesis proposal, which I wrote as a term paper for the Comparative, International and Development Education introductory course. I am especially grateful to Karen for re-scheduling the talk by Professor Andy Green so that he could attend my final oral defense. I couldn’t have asked for a better external examiner than Professor Andy Green. I thank him for the glowing examiner’s report, which demonstrated not only an understanding in the concept of the developmental state, but also on Singapore’s education and society as well. I am grateful and touched for his presence at my final oral defense. To Dr. Roland Sintos Coloma, my internal examiner, I thank him for his comments and questions during my final oral defense, as well as for his interest on my thesis topic. iv The research and writing of my thesis was made possible by the University of Toronto School of Graduate Studies Travel grant, which funded my two research trips to Singapore. I am also deeply thankful to the guaranteed minimum funding provided by OISE, as well as the OISE Graduate Students Conference Travel grants and GSA conference funding that made it possible for me to present different parts of my thesis at various academic conferences. I especially like to thank my home department, Theory and Policy Studies in Education, for the Berta Vigil Laden Travel Fund which enabled me to present one of my thesis chapters at AERA 2010 conference in Denver. I was fortunate and blessed to be selected as a Lee Kong Chian Research Fellow at the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library, Singapore in 2009. I am deeply grateful to the National Library Board, Singapore for this generous funding, which granted me the space and time to do my research and writing. I would like to thank Leander Seah for telling me about this fellowship, and also for his suggestions on my thesis title. Arising from my stint as a Lee Kong Chian Research Fellow, a part of Chapter 3 of my thesis was published as an article entitled “Education for Living: Epitome of Civics Education?” in BiblioAsia, Vol. 7, Issue 3, July 2010, a quarterly journal of the National Library, Singapore. It has been reproduced with permission from the National Library Board. I would like to place on record my deepest thanks and appreciation to the National Library Board for granting me the permission to reproduce this article in my thesis. I would also like to thank Gwee Li Sui for graciously allowing me to reproduce his poem ‘A Chinese Parable’ in my thesis. This poem was a godsend – it encapsulated perfectly what I wanted to say for my thesis, and provided its title. It would be amiss if I failed to mention the tremendous help that Mdm Azizah Sidek provided during my research fellowship stint at the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library, Singapore. I thank her for retrieving the many primary and secondary sources for my study, which was a great help in my research and writing. I also thank Mr Tim Yap Fuan at the NUS Central Library and Mr Lee Ching Seng, the former Head of NUS Chinese Library, whose knowledge of the relevant primary sources proved to be most useful in my research. And over at the NIE library, I am grateful to Ms Pauline Ang for her assistance in answering my many queries and requests, as well as allowing me access to Singapore textbook collection in the v library. I would also like to thank the staff at National Archives, Singapore, especially Ms Grace Tang, for their assistance and support. The original inspiration in January 2000 was an idea for a term paper on history education in Singapore for an elective Comparative Educational Policy course at the National Institute of Education, Singapore. I thank Associate Professor Jason Tan (NIE) for encouraging me to pursue this topic, and for introducing me to the field of Comparative and International Education. I am also grateful to Jason for writing the letter of recommendation for my PhD application to OISE. I subsequently developed this term paper into a major paper for my Master of Educational Management program with the University of Western Australia, which I did as a part-time student in Singapore while being a full-time high school history and social studies teacher. I thank Dr. Alan Pritchard, my major paper supervisor for his comments and guidance, and for encouraging me to consider doing a PhD. The other UWA professor I owe a debt of gratitude to is Professor Tom O’Donoghue, as he was the one responsible for introducing me to the field of history of education through one of his course readings. Over the course of conceptualizing my thesis topic, there were many who offered invaluable advice and suggestions. I thank Professor Gary McCulloch, Brian Simon Professor of History of Education at the Institute of Education, University of London, Associate Professor Craig Campbell at the University of Sydney, Professors Joseph Farrell, Kathy Bickmore, Daniel Schugurensky and John Portelli for replying my many emails to them as on my thesis topic even before I started my PhD program. Their comments and suggestions proved useful when I was developing my thesis proposal. I would also like to thank Joe Farrell for encouraging me to apply for the collaborative CIDE program. As well, I thank John Portelli and Daniel Schugurensky for their interest and advice on my thesis topic through the term paper I wrote for their courses at OISE.