Negotiating spaces for young students as informed and active citizenry: Discourses on schooling and individual’s aspirations in contemporary Cambodia Pheaktra Pich ORCID iD: 0000-0002-5811-2940 A Thesis Submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy February 2021 Youth Research Centre, Melbourne Graduate School of Education The University of Melbourne 1 ABSTRACT Young people in Cambodia are faced with multiple uncertainties including how to exercise their rights as active citizens in a self-acclaimed democratic state. They are living in unfavourable socio-political contexts for civic participation (e.g. active participation negatively connotes politics synonymously as arrests, risks and death) as well as a discouraging cultural backdrop (e.g. ‘age and knowledge hierarchy’). In addition, discussion of politics-related issues as well as on government’s policy and performance are often viewed too political and are rarely expressed in public and on school campus. This study is set to contribute both to the practices of active citizenship in Cambodia in particular and to the current state of practices of active citizenship in the field of youth and citizenship in general. To put it in crude terms, this study aims to understand the practice of citizenship in an ‘authoritarian society’. Built upon the foci and questions of our time, this thesis aims to provide a thorough understanding of active citizenship spaces in schools for young Cambodians through civics education (Moral-Civics Education in Cambodia), which has a great implication for citizenship practices in a wider social context. Empirical data were collected through the mixed-methods design, including student questionnaire, semi-structured interviews with teachers who were currently teaching Citizenship Education in grades 10, 11 and 12, and the students in these grades at the time of data collection. The data were processed via SPSS and NVivo software, then analyzed and discussed through Bourdieu’s theoretical lenses of ‘shadow capital’, ‘institutional habitus’, and ‘doxa’ and ‘illusio’. Understandably, young Cambodian students have been shaped significantly by the socio- cultural limitations on their citizenship aspirations, given the introduction of Moral-Civics Education, the façade of content delivery, the limited citizenship spaces on school campus. These are understood as the imposed limitation on the accumulation of different of capitals. However, there is an enlightened aspect of education, in which a unique form of Cambodian citizenship practices emerges despite various forms of restraints. As the above-mentioned, this study has implicated the important roles of citizenship education, albeit in its weak form, and historical, socio-cultural imperatives in shaping young people’s citizenship aspirations. 2 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP This is to certify that: i. the thesis comprises only my original work towards the PhD except where reference is made in the text; ii. due acknowledgement has been made in the text to all other material used; iii. this thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution; and iv. the thesis is less than 100,000 words in length, exclusive of tables, bibliographies and appendices Pheaktra Pich February 2021 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My academic journey at the Youth Research Centre (YRC) in the past four years has been a great experience. Not only have I been working in a collegial and supportive environment, but I have also been oriented to a life with twin roles: a PhD student and a father of two. I am grateful to many people’s wisdom and support in making this journey a joyful one, and to the University of Melbourne for the scholarship granted to me to conduct this study. First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisors A/Prof. Hernan Cuervo and Emeritus Professor Johanna Wyn for their encouragement and unfailing support at every step throughout this long journey. Their wisdom, scholarship knowledge, commitments and professionalism have impacted me enormously, both personally and academically. They have provided me with support in any way necessary to make my study possible. I am also grateful to the members of my advisory panel, A/Prof. Kylie Smith and Dr. Cuc Nguyen, for their consistent support and guidance during progress reviews meetings and at my completion seminar. My thanks also go to both colleagues and staff at Youth Research Centre, and MERI team members who have provided support and advice to me as an international student so that I could have access to necessary resources and services to complete my study. I am also grateful to several people, including my friends and family members, in Cambodia where my fieldwork took place. Without the support from the management teams at the Royal University of Phnom Penh and Institute of Foreign Languages, the head of Phnom Penh Department of Education, principals of the four schools, my entry to the fieldwork would not be possible. I profoundly thank the teachers and students who contributed to this research by devoting their time to participate in a survey and interviews. Their inputs to this project are incredibly significant for the field of youth citizenship and citizenship education. Last but not necessarily least, I owe my gratitude to my wife and my two kids who have always made home a relaxing place for me. My wife’s commitments and encouragement and my kid’s presence and smile have been inspirational. They have provided me with incredible support, which makes a lot difference to my motivation and commitment. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................. 2 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ........................................................................................ 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ....................................................................................................... 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................ 5 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION: INTERROGATING CITIZENSHIP SPACES IN CAMBODIAN SCHOOLS ...................................................................................................... 8 WHY CITIZENSHIP RESEARCH MATTERS .....................................................................................................8 THE AIMS OF THIS RESEARCH .......................................................................................................................12 WHY TEACHING AND LEARNING CITIZENSHIP IN SCHOOL MATTERS...............................................14 APPLYING BOURDIEU’S THEORETICAL TOOLS TO CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION ................................17 THE ORGANISATION OF THE THESIS ...........................................................................................................20 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................................................23 CHAPTER 2: CAMBODIAN YOUTH NEGOTIATING INSTITUTIONAL AND SOCIO-CULTURAL IMPERATIVES ................................................................................ 24 INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................................................24 SOCIAL EXCLUSION AND MARGINALISATION .........................................................................................25 CITIZENSHIP AS A SPACE AND PLATFORM FOR ACTION .......................................................................28 APPLYING BOURDIEU’S THINKING TOOLS ................................................................................................33 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................................................44 CHAPTER 3: MORAL-CIVICS EDUCATION IN CAMBODIAN SCHOOLS ............ 46 INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................................................46 HISTORICAL AND EDUCATIONAL TRANSFORMATIONS.........................................................................47 CAMBODIA’S CONTEMPORARY EDUCATION SYSTEM ...........................................................................50 THE UNDERPINNING VALUES OF THE CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION CURRICULUM ............................54 UNDERSTANDING THE CAMBODIAN VERSION OF CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION .................................58 THE DOXA OF CITIZENSHIP VALUES ...........................................................................................................64 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................................................67 CHAPTER 4: THEORISING CITIZENSHIP THROUGH A CAMBODIAN LENS .... 69 INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................................................69 MARSHALLIAN PARADIGM OF CITIZENSHIP .............................................................................................70 CRITIQUES OF MARSHALL’S CITIZENSHIP THEORY ................................................................................72 CONTEMPORARY CITIZENSHIP THEORIES .................................................................................................76