Promoting Global Citizenship among Youth in Asia: An Investigation of the Social Studies Curriculum in South Korea and Taiwan

The cultivation of young people who actively participate in global affairs is one of the most important goals within contemporary liberal democratic societies. In the Eastern context, existing discourse suggests that the presence of Asian values represents a unique challenge to the promotion of global citizenship. The values and qualities it promotes may stand in contrast to those required for global citizenship, such as obedience and harmony (in contrast to critical thinking and social change) and the primacy of the nation-state (in contrast to global orientation). This study examines what values and citizenship attributes are promoted in Social Studies in South Korea and Taiwan, two Asian-Confucian democracies that were formerly Japanese colonies and democratized in the late 1980s and 1990s. It seeks to understand (1) the extent to which globality, human rights, peace, and sustainability are promoted; (2) whether obligations are prioritized over rights; and (3) how these contents are framed or shaped by geopolitical contexts. This study employs discourse analysis of the latest national Social Studies curricula in Taiwan (2019) and South Korea (2022), comprising over 320,000 words, and integrates both quantitative and qualitative analytical methods. Social Studies was chosen based on its central role in fostering future citizens in both countries. The findings indicate that both curricula emphasize global citizenship values and do not privilege Asian Values. However, clear differences remain between the countries: the Taiwanese curriculum foregrounds “rights” more frequently, whereas the Korean curriculum places greater emphasis on “peace” and “democracy". Notably, while both curricula frequently mention “global”/“international”, the Taiwanese curriculum places greater emphasis on the “country” compared to Korea. This study contributes to the understanding of Asian values in contemporary contexts and in relation to global citizenship, and calls for further research on how geopolitics shape formal citizenship education in fostering young citizens.