The business of Olympic education: interactions between the state, schools, teachers, academics, and external providers in Chinese public schools

ABSTRACT

The Olympics is one of the world’s biggest marketing platforms and, as such, presents the private sector with a vast range of advertising opportunities. One new area of opportunity is school-based Olympic education. While previous studies have revealed some of the marketing strategies used by Olympic sponsors in Olympic education, there is still a lack of understanding about how advertising tactics are employed by private sector players in Chinese Olympic education. In this article, we draw on a critical ethnographic research project conducted within two primary schools in Beijing to examine how and why private sector actors extend ‘market logic’ into schools through Olympic education programmes in 2022. We use the Foucauldian-inspired concept of technologies of consumption [Miller & Rose. (1997). Mobilizing the consumer: Assembling the subject of consumption. Theory, Culture and Society, 14(1), 1–36. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F026327697014001001] to demonstrate three technologies that private companies used to market their brand through Olympic education: provision of winter sports equipment and initiatives; collaborating with ‘experts’; and, hidden support from ‘star’ teachers. We argue that these technologies enabled private sector organisations and actors to promote their products and brands in schools under the umbrella of Olympic education, and attempt to shape students, teachers, and schools as consumers. We also argue that the ‘master key’ used by these businesses to access public education in China was aligned with the needs of government, the formation of mutually beneficial relationships with authorities, academics, and schools, as well as the covert involvement of teachers. We conclude by considering ethical and political issues that arise as external Olympic education providers profit from their relationships with children, teachers, and schools.

KEYWORDS:

• Olympic education
• external providers
• privatisation
• critical ethnography
• students as consumers
• China

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 We have withheld the name of the organisation and the equipment to maintain the anonymity of one key participant, teacher Zhu, who had a business relationship with the company.