Citizenship is having a sense of belonging towards the country. That should then naturally result in a certain level of patriotism and the desire to play the part of a good citizen.
Before being given the opportunity to teach Social Studies, I regret that I was not as interested and informed as I should have been in current affairs, including that of Singapore's. To me, being a good citizen back then was just to abide by the laws of the state and do what is expected of me as a good person and citizen.
However, now that I have been more exposed to the concepts behind Social Studies and having read the article written by Westheimer and Kahne, I find that my beliefs in the past are more of just simply being a "personally responsible citizen" and staying comfortable where I am at - mainly uninvolved and contented.
The impact that the article left on me was rather profound. It made me think about stepping out of my comfort zone and explore options of being a more "participatory" and "justice-oriented" citizen instead. It is fundamental to be personally responsible, but upon achieving that, I believe that a good citizen should then move on to being more concerned about the government and other institutions and taking on a more actively participating role in the planning and organising of events to care for people in need. Concurrently, this should also be carried out with the desire to address root causes of societal problems through analysing and assessing the different structures of the society, economy and politics and the way they relate to one another. With that knowledge, citizens can then come up with effective strategies to challenge the injustice in society and efficiently change things for the better.
It does seem like a long and arduous journey to becoming this vision of an ideal citizen. Yet, having mentioned this, a good citizen will then already be defined by his effort and the willingness to try.
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