In Japan, as reported in the chapter by Kobara( 2010), the main school subject assigned to fulfill the task of citizenship education is once again Social Studies. The goal of Social Studies covers a whole range of areas that serve the interests of the nation, the community, as well as the international community. While the citizenship education goals are quite ‘ collective’ in terms of being focused upon national, community, and international community interests, the pedagogical approaches adopted by teachers are tather person oriented. According to Kobara’s analysis of 45 exemplary teaching plans identified by the Japan Social Studies Research Association in 2004 and 2005 , the pedagogical approaches adopted by Japanese teachers place strong person-oriented approaches to citizenship education. These approaches include experience and understanding , explanation and enquiry, problem solving, decision making, and social construction. Given the context of Kobara’s analyses, these probably need to be seen as ‘ ideal’ types of lessons selected for their potential to demonstrate the preferred approach to Social Studies in Japan. However, such approaches indicate how enquiry learning can be organized even in the context of a ‘ strong state’.
In China, as reported in the chapter by Zhou and Fairbrother (2010), nationalistic education has always been a focus of citizenship education. However, very recent curriculum development in legal education and psychological health addresses personal dimensions of citizenship, including their affectivity and the exercise of civic, political, enonomic, cultural, and social rights while fulfilling civic responsibilities. Their chapter about China reveals how innovative and indigenous pedagogies can be beveloped by local citizenship educators within the context of a strong, state-driven curriculum. The pedagogical approaches include aesthetic appreciation, dialogical approaches, life- practice and activity-oriented approaches, and learning-to-care approaches. The description of these approaches deserves careful attention, as the way these approaches are delineated is quite different from the international literature on citizenship pedagogy. They are indigenous and authentic, strongly intertwined with the cultural context of teaching and learning in China. A closer look at these locally developed approaches, however, suggests that they tend to be person oriented in addressing various dimensions of individuality, such as psychological health, self cultivation, investigation, and dialogue. Nevertheless, the person-oriented pedago-gies are tools for collective goals, just like in the case of the Philippines.