The protests against the “black-box” curriculum adjustments involve not only the issue of procedural justice, but the conflict between a closed perspective of history — represented by the ministry’s latest adjustments — and an open historical perspective that educators support, National Taiwan Normal University history professor Chou Liang-kai (周樑楷) said.
Chou called on the ministry to be open-minded and at the very least delay the implementation of the adjusted guidelines, while urging Minister of Education Wu Se-hwa (吳思華) to step down to take political responsibility.
Chou said he is willing to support students protesting against the ministry, even though the 2006 Taiwanese history curriculum guidelines had him embroiled in a controversy involving Taiwanese independence versus unification.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Saying that many people still do not understand the crux of the guidelines protests, despite the death of student activist Dai Lin (林冠華), who reportedly took his own life to raise public awareness of the campaign, Chou said that he decided to come forward and expound on the issue in light of his experience in the curriculum-adjustment process.
Curriculum adjustments have been used for political ends whenever a transfer of power or a major election is underway, Chou said.
The 2009 curriculum guidelines passed public hearings, the reviews of an advisory committee and other open procedures, but then-minister of education Cheng Jei-cheng (鄭瑞城) shelved the curriculum without any reasonable cause in 2008, following a change of government, Chou said.
The ministry has stepped up its intervention in the guidelines over the past six years by devising a curriculum review panel to oversee the latest adjustments, which Chou described as an “illegal add-on structure” that lacks legality or legitimacy.
“The curriculum review panel was not only made up out of thin air, but given too much power. There was no such a panel when I was the convener of the history curriculum,” Chou said.
Stressing the importance of a convener’s professionalism, Chou said: “It was people who had no background in history education being appointed to the history curriculum committee this time.”
If the authorities want to manipulate the public perception of history and return to a closed system of thought by making adjustments to curriculum guidelines, they should at least follow the legal procedures to do so, such as reshuffling the curriculum committee and holding public hearings, he said.
Former Taipei First Girls’ High School teacher Huang Te-chung (黃德宗), who previously worked at the history research center set up by the ministry, said research centers from different disciplines usually assign delegates to participate in the curriculum adjustment process and textbook reviews to act as a medium between teachers and the ministry.
However, those centers were excluded from the latest curriculum adjustments, which was perceived as a prelude to a “black-box” operation, Huang said.
Saying that students are protesting against the procedural opaqueness of the latest curriculum adjustments, Chou said that the previous adjustment process became increasingly strict each time, and all committee members had to be experts in the field of study they were making adjustments to.
The committee had to hold public hearings and pass reviews and any other necessary process, and committee members had to be present at hearings to communicate with attendees, he said.
Chou said he rejected the notion that the ideological conflict between independence and unification, in addition to the procedural flaw of the adjustments, caused the recent curriculum controversy, which he said was centered on the fight between a closed and an open historical perspective.
The latest adjustments maximize the inflexibility of the curriculum guidelines, Chou said, citing as an example that comfort women are described in the adjusted guidelines as “forced” to work in wartime brothels during the Japanese colonial era.
“History education that overemphasizes nationalism or a certain ideology will fall out with time sooner or later,” he said.
He said that the ministry is still refusing the students’ request to postpone the implementation of the new guidelines, which Chou said was a well-meaning request, and that the guidelines should be revoked entirely.
The latest adjustments did not follow legal procedures and society has paid a heavy cost for them, even including a student’s life, he said, adding that the authorities should be held accountable and that a cross-party negotiation at the Legislative Yuan could yield a viable solution.
Additional reporting by Chen Wei-han
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS