Schooling the national imagination : education, English, and the Indian modern

Schooling the National Imagination examines English Studies in the school curriculum in India and, using this as a lens, also explores the shifts in the construction of nationalism, modernity, and identity in independent India. Discussing the national education policy in general and the English language policy in particular, this book traces the development of a specific ideology of postcoloniality in India. The book examines state-produced school textbooks, identifies how English curriculum both reflects and constructs identity in particular ways, and also discusses classroom practice in schools to consider the ways in which ideology shapes pedagogic practice. Combining theories of power in education with questions of postcolonial policy, language identity, and cultural identity as they are made visible in textbooks and practice, the book moves between nationalist policy, textbooks, and classroom ethnography to provide a swathe that is perhaps not covered elsewhere. This work will prove invaluable to students and teachers of education-related studies, English language studies, postcolonial studies, and cultural studies, policymakers dealing with education, as well as general readers looking for practical insights into the language issue and the spread of English as a global language. Title Pages - Oxford Scholarship Shalini Advani Title Pages (p.i) SCHOOLING the National Imagination (p.ii) (p.iii) SCHOOLING the National Imagination (p.vii) Preface Shalini Advani (p.ix) Abbreviations Shalini Advani Introduction - Oxford Scholarship Shalini Advani Introduction SHALINI ADVANI Abstract and Keywords Notes: Language, History, Modernity Shalini Advani Becoming ‘True’ Indians SHALINI ADVANI Abstract and Keywords ‘If our children become officers ...’ ‘We will also become true Indians’ Conclusion Notes: Language and the Postcolonial Predicament Shalini Advani SHALINI ADVANI Abstract and Keywords English in the Colonial State Seeking Ruptures: Language and the Redefinition of the Nation Regional Identities and Language: The North Versus the Other Crafting a Compromise: The Roots of Indian English Competing Elitisms: Regional Languages, Hindi, and English New Issues, New Concerns English in the Twenty-first Century New Language Policies in the New Millennium Notes: Education for Nationalism Shalini Advani SHALINI ADVANI Abstract and Keywords Defining the Nationalist Agenda The 1950s and 1960s Political Agendas and Renewed Anxieties: The Seventies Education's New Deal: The Eighties Global, National, and the Local: The Twenty-first Century Notes: Construction of the Nation - Oxford Scholarship Shalini Advani The Construction of the Nation SHALINI ADVANI Abstract and Keywords National Identity (p.79) Unity in Diversity Symbolizing the Nation National Leaders Mythifying the Nation The Nation and its Other Childhood and the Nation Notes: Normalizing the Boundaries Shalini Advani SHALINI ADVANI Abstract and Keywords Rural India Nationalist Modernity and Knowledge Wealth and the Nation Social Order Religion and Identity (p.118) Silences and Omissions: Absent Identities Notes: Engendering the Nation Shalini Advani SHALINI ADVANI Abstract and Keywords Education Policy and Gender (p.129) Gender and Textbooks Women and Domestic Labour The Masculinization of the Imagination Women and the Use of Stereotype The Nation as Woman Gender and the Classroom Notes: Using Texts An Ethnography of the English Classroom Shalini Advani SHALINI ADVANI Abstract and Keywords School A Classroom Observation (Class VIII) School B Classroom Observation (Class V) Classroom Observation (Class IX) Notes: Nationalist Pedagogy, Sub-national Identities, Transnational Desires Shalini Advani Conclusion SHALINI ADVANI Abstract and Keywords Notes: (p.180) Bibliography Shalini Advani Textbooks Reports on Education Books, Essays, and Periodicals (p.201) Index Shalini Advani This book examines English studies in the school curriculum in India and, using this as a lens, explores the shifts in the construction of nationalism, modernity, and identity in independent India. Discussing the national education policy in general and the English language policy in particular, it traces the development of a specific ideology of postcoloniality in India. It examines State-produced school textbooks, identifies how English curriculum both reflects and constructs identity in particular ways, and discusses classroom practice in schools to consider the ways in which ideology shapes pedagogic practice