China’s School Textbook Replacement and Curriculum Reform in the New Era of Globalization

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article constitutes the first attempt to analyze the driving force of the nationwide replacement of previous local editions of textbooks with the new edition (MOE authoritative edition) in China. This large-scale replacement of school textbooks began in 2017 and was completed in 2019, accompanied by the establishment of the National Textbook Committee in 2017. The article attempts to analyze the rationale of the textbook replacement in the context of its development history, and it argues that the reform can partly be regarded as a corrective measure taken to adjust the inculcation of national identity, patriotism and citizenship and to shape correct world views and values in students in a new era of globalization. In the end, the article places the new edition of textbook in the context of the Hong Kong riot 2019, and argues that the educational policy in Hong Kong, especially its loosening of ideological control over its textbooks, has to be partially responsible for the riot, therefore attesting to the need of the large-scale school textbook replacement in mainland China.