Rethinking Schooling for the 21st Century

promote sustainable peace and ‘global citizenship’. At the same time, the region’s
recent history means that it should come as little surprise to find the ‘nation as
a privileged referent of identity’ overwhelmingly dominant in Southeast Asian
curricular documents (see Appendix II-12i). The relatively recent emergence of
most societies in the region from colonialism, the conflict (especially horrific
in Indochina) that accompanied that process, and the enduring social divisions
that were often part of the colonial legacy, help explain why the task of nationbuilding
has been accorded such overwhelming priority by post-colonial elites.
There can be no doubt that strong and cohesive statehood is a necessary
condition for successful development. But if this comes at the expense of
the sensitive accommodation of domestic diversity, and involves the radical
‘othering’ of neighbouring peoples, it risks stoking conflict over the long term,
while undermining transnational collaboration on matters of urgent common
interest today.
ESD/GCED in Subject Curricula
Three principal trends emerge with regard to the integration of ESD/GCED
themes and competencies in subject curricula, which have implications for the
challenges of nationalism and identities across Southeast Asia.
Gap between policy and subject curricula
First, many concepts that can promote awareness and tolerance of diversity are
absent in subject curricula (at least for the grades examined here), even if they
are mentioned in strategic documents. In Cambodia, for example, such concepts
include: human rights; gender equality; culture of peace and non-violence; and
global issues. Similarly, although human rights feature frequently in the Thai
national curriculum framework, they are rarely discussed in subject curricula. As
discussed in Box 4.3, this is partly attributable to claims of a supposed tension
between universalist notions of rights on the one hand, and Thai values and the
preservation of social order on the other. As already noted above, such a gap
between broad statements of policy goals and subject curriculum guidelines also
reflects differences in the intended audiences for such documents — with the
former more likely to be circulated at international gatherings, and the latter
determining the parameters within which teachers and textbook publishers
actually operate.
The Philippines supplies another example of such a gap between broad curricular
‘vision statements’ and actual subject curricula — coverage of concepts such as
human rights and the culture of peace and non-violence being absent from the
latter, even though highlighted in the former. Why this is so is unclear, but it
does not betoken the resolution of conflict or infringements of human rights
through the expansion of democratic institutions, since such problems have
persisted and recently worsened (Amnesty International, 2017). In this case, the
gap between policy and subject curricula may reflect either official complacency,
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Chapter 4: Southeast Asia