Modernizing education with Chinese characteristics? The Chinese academic discourse on education modernization (1985–2021)

Academic work in China has proliferated in response to the persistent and recently intensified policy interest in education modernization, which, however, has received little scholarly attention. This paper explores the Chinese academic discourse on education modernization from 1985 to 2021. Three main patterns have emerged from the literature: (1) localizing Western modernization theory; (2) innovating a “new Chinese culture” through synthesizing the Chinese and Western merits; and (3) interpreting the “Chinese road” to education modernization. By comparison with the historical intellectual discourse, this paper illustrates that a unilinear notion of time, a dichotomous view of “China–West,” and deeply rooted nationalism have conjointly characterized the contemporary academic discourse, enabling Chinese scholars to envision the progress of education and justify what policymakers desire in education. Thus, the current construction of education modernization with Chinese characteristics has been continuously underpinned by the Western modernist framework, while imagining education inspired by Chinese cultural resources has been restricted.