Location

Universitas Indonesia, Depok, Jawa Barat 16424, Indonesia

Purpose

Indonesian democracy is rich in traditions, religions, cultures, and ethnic languages. To keep the nation unified with diversity, Indonesia must prepare its citizens with skills of perspective taking, constructive debate, and evidence-based reasoning to engage in a robust democracy. Historically, a rigorous study of the Liberal Arts held promise for creating a strong democracy and a well-educated citizenry. Currently, politicization of the term “Liberal Arts” attracts unjustifiable criticism and diverts attention away from a serious comprehensive study of literature, science, the arts, history, and mathematics. Narrowness in education of students toward technical and professional degrees appears not to align with the Indonesian goal of Unity in Diversity. The term Citizenship Education is proposed to encompass learning outcomes and skills honed through a student-centered rigorous study of the Liberal Arts in Indonesian higher education. When instructors structure student-centered academic controversy as part of the expected university classroom experience, students may be more likely to practice perspective taking, deal with difficult ethical conflicts, and hone skills for working with diverse opinions and peoples. Citizenship Education will help Indonesia continue to achieve peaceful, cooperative, respectful solutions in a well-educated and highly diverse democratic society.

Document Type

Other Presentation

Department

School of Education, Leadership, and Public Service

Date

Fall 12-12-2014

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