On National Integration in Art Education in Singapore

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  • シンガポールの美術教育における国民統合
  • シンガポール ノ ビジュツ キョウイク ニ オケル コクミン トウゴウ

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<p>Singapore is a multi-racial country consisting of three ethnic groups: Chinese, Malay and Indian. National integration has been an important issue since the 1950s because of the need to accept cultural diversity while developing a national identity. Educational and cultural policies have been playing a role in developing national integration in Singapore’s plural society under the principles of pragmatism and meritocracy. This study analyzed art syllabuses to reveal how art education has been involved in national integration since 1959. Consequently, three stages of national integration were identified in the process of revising art syllabuses. The first one is the stage of cultural assimilation in which Malayan culture was set as the symbol of social cohesion. The second is the stage of balanced pluralism in which Chinese, Malay and Indian culture were treated equally, and “general themes” for art activities nurtured the national identity. The third stage entails a new type of national integration in which the people acquire a sense of identification with the knowledge-based society of the new century without emphasizing ethnicity or nationality.</p>

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