Language, identity and power: hybrid orders of discourse and minority education policy enactments in Tibetan school communities in Sichuan, China Yang Bai A thesis in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Education Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences December 2013 i Acknowledgements There are a number of people to acknowledge who helped and supported this study. First I wish to extend my wholehearted gratitude to my supervisors, Dr. Matthew Clarke, who works in education policy and politics, and Dr. Michael Michell, who works in educational policy, language and literacy education, and multicultural education. They offered me excellent supervision with their professional guidance, feedback, inspiration, and careful assistance throughout my research process. Particularly, their intellectual enlightenment and encouragement inspired me to overcome many obstacles I encountered during difficult times. Without either of these people, I do not know where my work would have ended up. I also wish to thank the members of my thesis review panel who have attended my presentations and given me constructive feedback: Professor Colin W. Evers, Dr. Kerry Barnett, Dr. Phiona Stanley, Dr. Kalervo N. Gulson, and Professor Chris Davison. I am also grateful to Bronwen Phillips for her editorial assistance and thorough help with my writing. I would like to thank Mary Potter Forbes, Ian Forbes and Alexander Forbes for all their support and encouragement during my stay in Sydney. Various teachers over the years have influenced me and my approach to the study in ways that are not always apparent but are nevertheless significant. In particular my M.A. supervisor, Professor Badeng Nima, provided me with useful background information, insights and publications that helped to make the picture of Tibetan education more complete. Thanks are due to Professor Lu Desheng, Professor Li Songlin, and Buqiong of Sichuan Normal University, classmates, colleagues, and friends who shared with me some of the insights from their work. I am also grateful to the people I interviewed and the people I received assistance from throughout my fieldwork in Danba and Ruoergai. Appreciation is due to the Education Bureau of Danba County and the Education Bureau of Ruoergai County, for allowing me to interact with many government officials, scholars, and students. This has helped shape my views, especially with respect to the discord between official rhetoric and social realities. I am in particular indebted to Qimi, Namu, Zaxi Pencuo, Ajia, and Hongke who hosted and looked after me carefully and selflessly during my fieldwork. ii Deep thanks inevitably go to my parents for their understanding, support and encouragement. Of course I am truly thankful for my ever understanding husband, Gou Xiyong, and my son, Gou Junlin. Without their patience and love I could not have completed my study. To all of you and many others, my sincere thanks! iii Abstract China’s engagement with the outside world over the last 60 years has intersected with its internal ethnic relations in a host of complex ways. In the context of China’s changing policies on ethnic relations, this study critically examines key discourses shaping China’s minority/bilingual education policy, and how these policies are enacted in three Tibetan schools. A qualitative research methodology involving an ethnographic case study approach was employed, rooted in a social constructionist epistemology. Three theoretical lenses provided the conceptual framework: policy genealogy, discourse theory, and policy enactment. Documentary, interview, and observational data was collected from a Tibetan farming town school, a Tibetan semi-agro-pastoral school, and a Tibetan pastoral school. Findings show that firstly, a political-moral unity discourse reflecting a discursive dichotomy between ‘backward’ minorities and the ‘advanced’ Han majority and a cultural diversity discourse reflecting neoliberal ideology have been central themes in China’s minority/bilingual education history. These conflicting discourses were further found to be inscribed into the everyday practices of Tibetan school life. A third finding identified varied dynamics of discursive power relations and Tibetan identity across the three schools. In the first school, a moral-neoliberal order fostering monolingual education was identified, in which Tibetan students developed instrumental linguistic dispositions, characterized by Han-only values and marginal Tibetan identities. In the second school, a moral-cultural order fostering monolingual and bicultural education was identified, in which Tibetan students developed instrumental linguistic dispositions, characterized by cultural distance and alienated Tibetan identities. In the third school, however, a cultural-neoliberal order was identified promoting bilingual and multicultural education, in which Tibetan students developed open linguistic dispositions, characterized by multicultural values and core Tibetan identities. The study reveals the hybrid nature of neoliberal globalisation processes in China’s minority education policies and describes the role such hybrid discourses play in shaping public representations and policy enactments in Tibetan schools. This study makes a contribution to developing the theory of policy enactment by extending its iv reach to the analysis of issues of language, identity, and power affecting bilingual learning of Tibetan communities with relevance to other bilingual and/or multiethnic contexts. v Table of Contents Page Title Page i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iv Table of Content vi List of Tables xi List of Figures xii Chapter1. Introduction 1 1.1 Context of this study 1 1.2 Theoretical tools 4 1.3 Research questions 7 1.4 Methods 8 1.5 Findings 10 1.6 Significance 11 1.7 Outline of the thesis chapters 12 Chapter 2. Literature Review 14 2.1 Introduction 14 2.2 Nation-building and language and education policy in China 14 2.2.1 China’s nation building 15 2.2.2 Research literature: language and education policy in China 18 2.2.3 Case studies: language and education policy implementation for Tibetans 25 2.2.4 Implications within the context of the logic of equivalence 30 2.3 Bilingual education policy for minorities in China 31 2.3.1 China’s ethnic diversity 31 2.3.2 Research literature: bilingual education policy for minorities 34 2.3.3 Case studies: bilingual education policy implementation for Tibetans 42 2.3.4 Implications within the context of the logic of difference 44 vi 2.4 Neoliberalism and its impact 45 2.5 Summary 47 Chapter 3. Qualitative Inquiry 50 3.1 Introduction 50 3.2 Epistemology 50 3.2.1 Four tenets of social constructionism 51 3.2.2 Implications of social constructionist tenets for this study 53 3.2.3 Analytical framework 55 3.3 Theories 59 3.3.1 Foucault’s genealogical work and governmentality 60 3.3.2 Laclau and Mouffe’s Discourse Theory 64 3.3.3 Ball et al.’s work on policy enactments in schools 71 3.4 Approaches 73 3.4.1 Case selection 74 3.4.2 Comparison case study 76 3.5 Strategies 77 3.5.1 Data and data collection 79 3.5.2 Data analysis 83 3.6 Summary 85 Chapter 4. The Context of Education Policy for Minorities in China 87 4.1 Introduction 87 4.2 The Initial Pluralistic Stage (1949-1957) 88 4.2.1 The Central Government’s Principle of Different Treatment 88 4.2.2 Steady and Gradual Democratic Reform in Sichuan Province 95 4.2.3 The Implementation of the Spoken and Written Languages of Nationalities (1952) in Tibetan Autonomous Prefectures 97 4.3 Chinese Monopolistic Stage (1958-1977) 102 4.3.1 The Central Government’s Policy towards Assimilation 102 4.3.2 Suppression and Reform in Sichuan Province 106 vii 4.3.3 Anti-Rightist and Destroying ‘Four Olds’ in Tibetan Autonomous Prefectures 107 4.4 The Modernisation Stage towards Harmony and Stability (1978-2012) 111 4.4.1 The Central Government’s Unity between Diversity 111 4.4.2 Western Development Program in Sichuan Province 125 4.4.3 Universal Compulsory Education in Tibetan Autonomous Prefectures 129 4.5 Summary 135 Chapter 5. Case 1 Zhanggu – A Monolingual School in a Farming Town 137 5.1 Introduction 137 5.2 Zhanggu Town 138 5.2.1 Key signifiers in discourses of education policy in the town 138 The discourse of moral education 138 The discourse of education with local characteristics 143 5.2.2 Hybridity in the discourses and discursive strategies in the town 146 Actors: ambivalent attitudes towards development 147 Agendas: tying cultural diversity and political loyalty to the needs of the local community and the CCP 146 Actions: Han model curriculum implementation 150 Artefacts: environmental and cultural artefacts 152 5.3 Zhanggu Primary School 156 5.3.1 Key signifiers in discourses of education policy in the school 156 The discourse of standardisation 156 The discourse of curriculum with local characteristics 159 5.3.2 Hybridity in the discourses and discursive strategies in the school 164 Actors: ambivalent attitudes towards development 164 Agendas: tying standardisation and characteristics to the needs of the School 165 Actions: Han model curriculum implementation 167 Artefacts: environmental and cultural artefacts 169 5.4 Summary 175 viii Chapter 6. Case 2 Badi – A monolingual and bicultural School in a Semi-agro- pastoral Area 180 6.1 Introduction 180 6.2 Badi Town 180 6.2.1 Key signifiers in discourses of education policy in the town 180 The discourse of the development of morality 180 The discourse of local community involvement 182 6.2.2 Hybridity in discourses