ABSTRACT
Tibet is required by China to have an education system that popularizes basic education, and also socializes Chinese citizens into a political discourse consonant with the state programme to build a harmonious society. Nevertheless, the expansion of educational opportunities has made Tibetans more like Chinese, though no less Tibetan, as ethnic identities are remodelled by state schooling and responded to by local communities. Regardless of the cultural transformations taking place in Tibet, the analysis of the education system, policies, programmes, problems and practices inevitably has to be based on the realities of students, households, schools, teachers and communities. Pluralism is as important as harmony in conceptualizing ethnic intergroup processes in Tibet. It has been the source of much cultural vitality throughout China's history, though not as conflict free as portrayed, as in the case of the Mongol and Manchu Eras when intergroup processes included both harmonious acculturation and conflict prone impact integration.
