Ethnic arithmetic and the challenges of nation building : a study of Malaysian education policy for national integration, 1970 to present
Year: 2008
Type: dissertation
Abstract: This study investigates education policy since 1970 in Malaysia aimed at achieving \nnational integration across ethnic groups. The approach adopted is critical policy \nsociology; the study thus utilised historical analysis and semi-structured interviews \nwith 'policy players' across the three main ethnic groups in Malaysia. The analyses \nare framed by theoretical considerations of ethnicity, nation, nation-building and \nplural society and the role of education policy in relation to them. The historical \nanalyses demonstrated the ongoing effects of colonial residues in contemporary \neducation policy and the ongoing ethnic-based contestation around the policy and \naccommodative state strategies utilised. The interview analyses demonstrated the \ncontested nature of the concept of integration, tensions in the application of a \nbumiputera/non-bumiputera binary in policy, Malay concerns over their rights and \neconomic opportunities, and Chinese and Indian concerns for language and cultural \nmaintenance. The articulated Malay position was one tending towards assimilation \nand demanding recognition of their status as 'sons of the soil', while the Chinese and \nIndian stances tended towards multiculturalism. Language of instruction in schooling \nwas shown to be central to these contested ideologies. These ethnic groups also \nworked with different constructions of the nation. The analyses demonstrated how in \nAppadurai's (1996) terms the nation (ethnic cultures and languages) and the state \n(politics and policy) have remained the project of each other in Malaysian education \npolicy aimed at national integration. The analyses also showed how changing global \ncontexts have challenged ethnic politics through the demand for better education for \nall, irrespective of ethnicity, socio-economic background and urban-rural location. \nEnglish and Mandarin have taken on different policy salience in education in this \nglobal context. Human rights discourses have also to some extent reframed ethnic \npolitics, as has recognition that socio-economic status might be a better focus for \neducation policy for national integration. The research showed that concern for \nnational integration has retained meta-policy status within Malaysian education.
Author: Hazri Jamil
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1546342986