ABSTRACT
Northern European education and the ‘Nordic model’ have become increasingly attractive objects of study for scholars in East Asia, particularly in China. This contribution looks at how ‘Nordic’ education has been referenced by Chinese scholars, and what this tells us about the role that the Nordic countries play in Chinese scholarship on education. Based on a thematic and frequency analysis of journal articles, the chapter investigates, first, how scholarly references to education in the Nordic countries have evolved since the mid-1990s, and how this development compares against an influential reference society like the United States. Second, thematic areas are presented that Chinese scholars associate with education in the Nordic countries, investigating whether these countries, in the Chinese perception, constitute a comparatively homogeneous region or a more diverse conglomerate. Third, the chapter zooms in on the Chinese discussions of teachers and teacher education in Finland and Sweden, the two Nordic countries that have received most attention from Chinese scholars. The conclusion revisits the concept of ‘externalisation’ in education and poses the question of how in today’s globalised world, international consultant-academics, through their active engagement in educational export, directly influence domestic constructions of international educational reference societies.
