Philosophy Teaching
Teaching of Philosophy in Asia and the Pacific at primary and secondary level is illustrated on this page through the provision of summaries of curriculum goals, and examples of materials, for all member countries in Asia-pacific region. In addition there are concept map summaries to link the goals of the curriculum with the Regional Action Plan on teaching of philosophy. This page is for the purposes of consultation and the draft files presented will be updated following open review, as we have more information. Inquiries and submissions to revise and update these should be made to rushsap.bgk (at) unesco.org Currently RUSHSAP is involved in mapping of peace curriculum in selected Asai-Pacific countries in an intersectorial programme that should be published by late 2013.
The High level Conference on Teaching of Philosophy in Asia and the Pacific was held 25-26 May 2009, Manila, Philippines. UNESCO organized, in cooperation with the Philippine Department of Education, the Office of the Philippine Presidential Assistant for Education, and the Philippine National Commission for UNESCO, a regional high-level meeting on the teaching of philosophy in Asia and the Pacific. We invited government officials, curriculum experts, and philosophy teachers to this. That meeting and subsequent consultation led to adoption of the Regional Action Plan on Philosophy Teaching developed at the Meeting (pdf file). A summary brochure of philosophy teaching in the region has also been published (pdf file).
All the national concept maps are coded to link to goals of wisdom, capacities and dispositions following the regional action plan (the master map [jpg file] here). The concept maps and summaries are listed here [further explanation is also provided below].
Country by country profiles (Summaries of teaching [pdf] / Concept maps [jpg]):
Central Asia
1. Uzbekistan / concept map
2. Turkmenistan / concept map
3. Tajikistan / concept map
4. Kyrgyzstan / concept map
5. Kazakhstan / concept map
6. Mongolia / concept map
7. Iran / concept map
8. Afghanistan / concept map
East Asia
1. People's Republic of China / concept map
2. Japan / concept map
3. Democratic People's Republic of Korea / concept map
4. Republic of Korea / concept map
Southeast Asia
1. Brunei / concept map
2. Cambodia / concept map
3. East Timor / concept map
4. Indonesia / concept map
5. Laos / concept map
6. Malaysia / concept map
7. Myanmar / concept map
8. Philippines / concept map
9. Thailand / concept map
10. Vietnam / concept map
11. Singapore / concept map
South Asia
1. India / concept map
2. Pakistan / concept map
3. Nepal / concept map
4. Bhutan / concept map
5. Bangladesh / concept map
6. Sri Lanka / concept map
7. Maldives / concept map
Pacific
1. Australia / concept map
2. Cook Islands / concept map
3. Fiji / concept map
4. Kiribati / concept map
5. Marshall Islands / concept map
6. Micronesia / concept map
7. Nauru / concept map
8. New Zealand / concept map
9. Niue / concept map
10. Palau / concept map
11. Papua New Guinea / concept map
12. Samoa / concept map
13. Solomon Islands / concept map
14. Tonga / concept map
15. Tuvalu / concept map
16. Vanuatu / concept map
Further background
The objective of the 2009 regional meeting was to discuss the formulation of policies in the field of the teaching of philosophy at national and regional levels, in view of the full attainment of quality education. To this end, this meeting addressed the main challenges that the teaching of philosophy in Asia and the Pacific is facing today, such as - the place that should be given to philosophy in primary and secondary education curricula - the added value of philosophical inquiry to moral education - the crucial issue of philosophy teacher training - the development of culturally appropriate content and methods drawing from the rich traditions of philosophy in Asia and the Pacific - and the question of the necessary interactions between the teaching of philosophy in secondary and higher education.
The meeting also drew on the study published by UNESCO in 2007 on the state of the art of the teaching of philosophy in the world, entitled “Philosophy, a School of Freedom”. This publication, based on the results of a worldwide survey, draws up the state of the teaching of philosophy at all education levels, both formal and informal. Further work was conducted in the context of the Inter-regional Philosophical Dialogues project of UNESCO, teaching materials on philosophy, and the work was conducted with partners including Eubios Ethics Institue, Asia Pacific Philosophy Education Network for Democracy (APPEND), Central Asian Bioethics Association (http://www.bioethics-caba.org) etc.,
