International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education
Editors: A/Prof John Lidstone, Queensland University of Technology and Prof Joseph P. Stoltman, Western Michigan University
Book Review Editor: Dr Sarah Witham Bednarz, Texas A & M University
Editorial Assistant: Donna Bennett, Australia
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Volume: 12 Number: 2 Page: 123–138
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Environmental Education in Singapore: A Curriculum for the Environment or in the National Interest?
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Francis Wong Bing Kwan and Philip Stimpson
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Over the last decade, Singapore, in line with other countries in the region, has been attempting to develop a cross-curricular environmental education programme. This paper examines the context variables
that have helped to shape the environmental curriculum in schools using evidence from interviews conducted with key players and teachers involved in the development. Despite a rhetoric couched in progressive
terms focusing on 'awareness', 'attitudes', 'action', 'participation', 'experience' and 'life-long learning', the curriculum detail stresses information of a dominantly scientific nature reflecting a largely
academic rationalist, rather than socially critical, approach. The interviews revealed three underlying themes that help to explain the sort of curriculum that is found: (1) a pragmatic utilitarian concern
for the urban environment of Singapore; (2) a school and examination system that is still largely focused towards traditional disciplinary knowledge; and (3) the overriding influence of government and the
balance that it prioritises between environment, economic development, social stability, nation building and external image.
Keywords: ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION, SINGAPORE, CURRICULUM
© Multilingual Matters 2003
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