ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses the political role of education in the process of modern state formation in Asia. It focuses primarily on the vision of twenty-first-century Chinese citizenship propounded in the current textbooks for Moral Education. The book identifies the messages of citizenship – official as well de facto – and demonstrates the comprehensiveness with which these are taught in schools. It assesses the role that education needs to play in the next decade, if the target of 2020 for further modernisation of the economy is to be met in any realistic way. The book discusses the use of textbook changes to form a particular national identity and construct the ‘other’ in order to suit the ideology and politics of the day. It analyses the history of the Islamisation process and the events which led to the current review and reforms.
