Democratic Citizenship Education in Indonesia post-Suharto: Political Indoctrination or critical democratization? : A case study of civic education in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

In this paper I examine if civic education – including democratic citizenship education – has seen any substantial changes in content and practices since General Suharto was in power. During the Old and the New Order was civic education regarded as a tool to develop national cohesion and good citizens loyal to the state. The decentralization and democratization of education during the reformasi gave local governments and schools the autonomy to implement the curriculum as they see fit. I`m presenting some scholars that view civic education approaches as reflecting the interests of the political elite, and by showing that the former elites have infiltrated and hi-jacked the political system, I`m putting forth a hypothesis that states that civic education hasn`t changed since the reformasi. This thesis is tested in a case study of civic education in Yogyakarta by the use of theory on democratic citizenship education-approaches, the approaches used in this paper are the civic republican citizenship-approach, the liberal citizenship-approach, and critical citizenship-approach. I have also included a re-research on issues framed as challenges for a qualitative education presented by former research