Conflict in the Classroom: a case study from Vietnam, 1918‐38

Abstract

Abstract This article is a case study of colonial Vietnam in the period 1918 to 1938. It argues that the conflicts in the classroom and over the schools mirror those which take place in the society. In the case of colonial Vietnam, struggles over curriculum and the use of education were tied organically to class and national liberation movements. In colonial Vietnam village schools were part of class conflict between the peasantry, Vietnamese landlords and French colonisers. In elite schools conflict characterised relations between Vietnamese aspiring elites, French petty functionaries, Vietnamese collaborators with the French and the colonial state. The conflicts over and in the schools in colonial Vietnam did have an impact on changing existing social relations because they were tied to broader social movements. This case study also demonstrates that resistance to the reproduction of social class relations characterises a range of struggles and is not confined necessarily to the working class.