Decoloniality, power and ideology in the social studies textbooks of Tibetan exile schools

: Wangdu Kalsang

Publisher: Routledge

: 2019

: Journal of Curriculum Studies

: Journal of Curriculum Studies; Journal of Curriculum Studies

: 52

: 230

: 246

: 17

: 0022-0272

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2019.1657958

: https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2019.1657958

History is often deemed essential to the construction of national identity. However, the issue of how refugee communities construct their national identity and the image of their historical legacy via the teaching of history is an understudied one. As such, this study examines the role of history teaching in the construction of national identity in the context of Tibetan refugee schools in India. By employing critical discourse analysis of the primary-level social studies textbooks with a focus on power and representation, this paper analyses the key features of nation-building project of the Tibetan exiles, and how nation-building project manifests itself in the curricular and pedagogical practices of social studies education. The findings show presence of an overriding political and cultural agenda in the social studies textbooks. The paper argues that refugees and other communities in diaspora live in an unstable socio-political climate where the use of history for the construction of collective national identity is even more pertinent and urgent.