Associate Professor Sim Boon Yee Jasmine from the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, was invited by Dr Jason Cong Lin (an Assistant Professor in IE) to give a guest lecture for his course titled “INS 4065 The Sustainable Development Goals and Education” at the Education University of Hong Kong on 8 October 2024.
During the lecture, Dr Sim provided a comprehensive overview of the geographical, political, societal, and cultural background of Singapore as a nation-state and how this background has impacted Singapore’s priorities over time. She then traced the evolution of education in Singapore and how this has influenced the shift in citizenship education from the independence of Singapore to the present. She highlighted the tensions and gaps between the well-intentioned design of citizenship education and its practical implementation. Finally, she advocated for an approach called “critical reflexivity” to move towards a more just, democratic, and sustainable world.
The lecture was attended by 36 undergraduate students, who all expressed positive feedback. They particularly appreciated how the lecture enabled them to view Hong Kong from a comparative and global perspective, identify similarities and differences between Hong Kong and other societies, and gain a more comprehensive understanding of citizenship, multiculturalism, and other concepts underpinning the Sustainable Development Goals.
Written by Dr LIN Cong Jason, COIL Facilitaor