Module Code 單元編號 EDA2062 Module Title 單元名稱 DEMOCRACY AND EDUCATION: INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES AND LOCAL REFLECTIONS Module Synopsis 單元概要 This course addresses two questions: (1) How does education affect democracy and democratic participation? (2) How does democracy affect education? It will be conducted for the first time in 2016 when John Dewey’s 1916 classic Democracy and Education celebrates its 100th anniversary. Students of the course will study the way in which this book still has influence in its second century since publication, in the context of Asian education and societies. As for the case of Hong Kong, we will critically assess the effectiveness of democratic activities in influencing the making of Hong Kong education policy (for example moral and national education) when the administrative arrangement ‘one country two systems’ for Hong Kong will end in 2047. You will have the opportunity to conduct a small scale research project which connects democracy and education, as well as assesses critically the extent to what education is for liberation of individual minds or for social control. The research project itself can be an out-of-classroom field observations in teachers’ unions, protests by students, alumni or parents, or meetings at HKSAR Legislative Council’s Panel on Education etc. Not taking liberal democracy for granted, this course aims to enable you to critique the concept of democracy, especially considering the interrelationships between education and democracy at different levels of analysis, and apply international perspectives for local reflection. Engaging in the discussions of this course, you will have opportunity to critically reflect upon the relationships between self and nation through informed analysis about democracy and education.