Parents’ Perspectives on Citizenship Education in Kazakhstan

• In Event: Citizenship and democratic education in formal and non-formal contexts

Proposal

Parents’ Perspectives on Citizenship Education in Kazakhstan
Schools in Kazakhstan, regardless of levels of education, are traditionally expected to perform a dual role – providing academic learning and fostering learners’ character, values and social skills. Conventionally, education of values is understood as “upbringing” (tárbıe in Kazakh). Its multifaceted nature entails the dimensions of intellectuality, personality, ethics, thrift, and physical education as well as spiritual, moral and citizenship education (Alkozhayeva & Zhumabekova, 2015). The State Program of Educational Development for 2010-2020 (hereafter – SPED) delineates that schools should produce “intellectually, physically and spiritually developed” patriotic young people with “high moral and leadership skills” who exercise active citizenship and social responsibility. However, there has been much grievance that schools have not achieved their full potential in the provision of this so-called mission of ‘upbringing’, which would allow young learners to enter Kazakhstani society in the future (Ministry of Education and Science [MoES], 2015).
The common view of schools as bastions of values can be traced back to the Soviet educational legacy. In the Soviet pedagogy “upbringing” was a highly politicized enterprise (Piattoeva, 2010). It mostly focused on indoctrination of Soviet communist ideology and cultivation of social and moral values deemed necessary to function in communist society (Rockhill, 2010). Cultivation of citizenship emerged in Kazakhstani educational discourse after independence. Despite denouncement of the Soviet educational legacy and removal of the communist ideology from the curriculum, there has been some evidence that teachers continue to struggle with the lack of certainty about the content or the purposes of upbringing mission today (NIS, 2011; DeYoung, 2007). However, as in other post-Soviet nations, it arguably can reflect on three Western discourses of moral education, character education, and citizenship education (Bogachenko & Perry, 2015)
Several studies (Kissane, 2005; Asanova, 2007; Stein, 2011; Mun, 2014) have shown that curriculum and schooling in Kazakhstan has been mostly focused on cultivation of national values neglecting the multicultural makeup of contemporary Kazakhstan and favored values and norms specific to the Kazakh culture. Although civic values are partly integrated into curriculum, it is not very clear what they stand for as citizenship education is not structured as a single discipline but integrated into the curriculum of social science subjects (Law, Ethics, Individual and Society) and extra-curricular activities commonly structured in the dimension of upbringing activities (Kogabayeva & Algozhaeva, 2015). In this perspective, citizenship education in Kazakhstan can be understood as a multidimensional learning approach that seeks to ensure young people’s integration into society and participation within it through provision of moral, civic, and social education.
Although these studies considered officially prescribed curriculum and top-down influences on formation of young learners’ sense of belonging and citizenship, little attention has been paid on how family and home environment may impact on the development of moral and social values of young learners. This study seeks to address the perspectives of parents on construction and implementation of citizenship education in schools. In particular, the study aims to explore parents’ interpretation of citizenship education and their views on the role of schools in their children’s citizenship development. The study seeks to address the following research questions:
• How do parents understand citizenship education?
• What do they know about citizenship education in schools?
• What are their views about how citizenship education is/should be taught in schools?
Method
This study is a part of an upcoming doctoral research on construction and implementation of citizenship education in secondary schools of Kazakhstan. It is part of the initial qualitative research with educational experts, policy-makers, and parents of young learners. The data is collected from semi-structured interviews with participants selected by purposeful maximal variation sampling technique. The participants are selected from parents of children attending:
(a) Urban and rural mainstream school with Kazakh medium of instruction with a primarily ethnic Kazakh teaching staff and student body
(b) Urban and rural mainstream school with Russian medium of instruction with teachers and students of diverse ethnic, cultural, and religious backgrounds
Parents selected as research participants represent a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds and family structures as well as have children of diverse academic performances. Due to lack of the previous research and the contested nature of citizenship as a concept and citizenship education, it was important to focus on the participants’ values and experiences as well as their priorities. As such, this research relies on constructivist approach. Having open-ended semi-structured interviews allow me to explore their perspectives and experiences in greater detail.
Expected outcomes
The current body of literature indicates the lack of research in this particular field in Kazakhstan. On the one hand, there is system-wide problem with formulation of Kazakhstani model of citizenship education. Different scholars seem to offer different understanding of this notion, and focus on parts of the larger whole. Up to this point, it seems to have often been studied in relation to discourses of nation-building and citizenship. However, citizenship education is more complex, and it is important to explore its other dimensions not as parts and particles but as a whole. Moreover, the role and views of various stakeholders should be taken into account. The findings of the study may be particularly important for understanding the relationship between parents, schools, and teachers. Several international studies have shown the importance of parental perceptions, and family influences on formation of young people’s citizenship attitudes (Dynneson, 1991; Fincham, 2007) as well as on the citizenship education curriculum in schools (Holden, 2004; Stringer et al, 2010). On the other hand, young people’s own experiences at home contribute to their citizenship knowledge and attitudes in addition to what is taught or not taught at schools (Olson et al, 2013; Gholami, 2014). In order to make sense of how education for citizenship is constructed and implemented in Kazakhstan, it is important to take into account parents’ experiences in relation to, expectations, and interpretations of citizenship education in schools. Hopefully, the study results may have implications for citizenship education research as well as policy and practice in Kazakhstani schools.

Authors

• Kuralay Bozymbekova, Education University of Hong Kong

• Chi Kin John LEE, Education University of Hong Kong