ABSTRACT
India is a postcolonial nation-state with great internal diversity. Following independence from British colonial rule, therefore, Indian national identity formation became a major curricular priority. This chapter argues with evidence from existing literature that, irrespective of the ideological orientation of successive governments, the postcolonial social studies curriculum and pedagogy in schools reinforced this sense of national belonging. The nation-building agenda became embedded into the national social studies curriculum, despite ideological disputes over what constitutes Indian national identity.
The schools promoted Indian national identity formation through various ritual practices such as singing of the national anthem every day and hoisting the national flag during the Independence Day and the Republic Day ceremonies in schools. The current Indian government has recently legislated a new National Education Policy 2020 and is in the process of drafting a new National Curriculum Framework 2021 to be released early next year. Hence, in the context of the global challenges in the 21st century, this chapter concludes by raising questions to be explored about the future of social studies education in India under NCF 2021 that is supposed to forward the agenda of the new National Education Policy 2020.
