Deng, Zongyi; (2022) Recontextualizing and Translating Twenty-First Century Competencies into Curriculum: Bringing Didaktik into Conversation. In: Lee, Wing On and Brown, Phillip and Goodwin, Lin and Green, Andy, (eds.) International Handbook on Education Development in Asia-Pacific. (pp. 1-21). Springer: Singapore, Singapore.

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Abstract

There has been a significant body of literature produced by Asian researchers that describes how twenty-first century competencies are recontextualized into educational policies, translated into comprehensive plans for implementation, and taught in schools and classrooms in various Asian contexts. However, researchers have seldom questioned the basic assumptions underpinning the competency discourse and the ways of translating competencies into the curriculum. This chapter examines how twenty-first century competencies are recontextualized into educational aims and translated into the national curriculum in Singapore and, in so doing, questions the competency discourse and the way of translating competencies into the curriculum. It starts by describing how Singapore has responded to the challenges of globalization by introducing a set of educational and curricular initiatives and policies. It next examines how twenty-first century competencies are recontextualized into educational aims and translated into syllabus documents. Afterward, the chapter questions the basic assumptions underpinning the competency discourse and the “infusion strategy” for incorporating competencies into the curriculum. This is followed by introducing the basic tenets of Bildung-centered Didaktik and next by arguing that this theory provides an alternative, viable way of thinking about competencies and translating competencies into the curriculum. The chapter concludes by discussing what it means to bring this way of thinking into the conversation about twenty-first century competencies, curriculum making, and classroom teaching. The chapter can also be seen as an attempt to introduce Didaktik to Asian education communities. As such, it seeks to invite policymakers, curriculum developers, educators, and researchers to think beyond the current competency discourse and competency-based approaches to curriculum making, using curriculum and educational language as offered by Bildung-centered Didaktik. This theory foregrounds the importance of disciplinary-based content – rather than generic competencies – and of positioning students as subjects of their own rights for developing human powers (understanding, capabilities, dispositions).

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