The Promotion of Multiple Citizenships in China's Music Education

Abstract

This chapter analyzes how ideas about multiple citizenship in Chinese school music education are put into practice, interpreted, and negotiated in this age of modernization and globalization. Education for multiple citizenships is made possible by an increasingly relaxed social environment attributable to international free trade agreements and the cultural and economic influences of globalization. Despite an emphasis on individualism and diversity in school music education, however, this educational project continues to consolidate the authority of the Chinese government by promoting traditional Chinese cultural and socialist values. This chapter furthers understanding of how China’s school music education responds to economic, political, and social demands and shapes students’ ideas about citizenship and identity. To this end, it includes discussions on education policy, pedagogy, community cohesion, democracy, and social justice as they relate to the formation of multiple citizenships in school music education.