The Discourse on Nationalism in China's Traditional Culture Education Policy and in School Practices

• In Event: Roundtable Session 12
  In Roundtable Session: Immigration and Nationalism

Abstract

Education in Chinese cultural heritage has been endorsed by the central government. This research examined and compared the discursive construction of nationalism in a landmark policy and in texts produced by practitioners. To identify ways of representing and articulating the concepts of “nation” and “state”, textually centered discourse analysis was adopted as the primary methodology. The research uncovered a gap between policy and practice. First, teachers and school managers appeared to be more sovereignty oriented, exhibiting a defensive and exclusive nationalist aspiration. Second, their methods of teaching usually centered on habit formation, rather than on cultivating the nation concept expected by policy. Third, they were not aware of the difference between the traditional way of indoctrination and student-centered learning.

Author

• Xi Wang, Beijing Normal University