ERIC Number: EJ1236713
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0218-8791
EISSN: N/A
A Study of Bangladesh's Secondary School Curriculum Textbooks in Students' National Identity Construction in an Overseas Context
Qazi, M. Habib; Shah, Saeeda
Asia Pacific Journal of Education, v39 n4 p501-516 2019
This paper problematizes the interplay between curriculum textbooks and national identity constructions. Drawing on data from Bangladesh's school-textbooks, and students' and teachers' perspectives, the study identifies factors shaping Bangladesh's national identity in the textbook discourses and discusses students' experiences of these in an overseas school. Conceptualizing national identity construction as a discursive social practice, the study is informed by the postcolonial theoretical framework and Foucauldian Discourse Analysis. Findings suggest that the sampled textbooks project Bangla Language Movement of 1952 and Bangladesh's Liberation War with Pakistan as Bangladesh's defining national identity markers. This constitutes Pakistan as Bangladesh's external "Other" and criminalizes those who did not support the Liberation War, establishing them as Bangladesh's internal "Other". Participating students' strong identification with the nationalist discourses signals intense hostility towards Pakistan which has implications in the given overseas context. Their acrimony towards home-based internal "Other", and significantly weak identification with other textbook-projected national signifiers i.e., secularism/liberalism, religious/ethnic diversity and female representation has implications for Bangladesh's national social cohesion, gender relations and multiculturalism.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Secondary Education, Secondary School Curriculum, National Curriculum, Textbooks, Textbook Content, Nationalism, Secondary School Students, Student Attitudes, Secondary School Teachers, Teacher Attitudes, Study Abroad, Identification (Psychology), Politics of Education, Power Structure, Language Usage, Grade 8, Grade 9, Grade 10, Immigrants, Land Settlement, War
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education; Elementary Education; Grade 8; Junior High Schools; Middle Schools; Grade 9; High Schools; Grade 10
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Bangladesh; United Arab Emirates
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A