The turning tide of the International Baccalaureate in China: when global dreams meet national priorities

ABSTRACT

This article investigates how the International Baccalaureate’s ‘global dream’ for education interacts with the national priorities of governments. In mainland China, a thriving international school market has been met with tightened government control. We draw on the analytical lens of ‘cosmopolitan nationalism’ to demonstrate how a cosmopolitan openness to international schooling was subject to reversal when deemed to counter national interests. Through content analysis of government documents and state media, we discuss how representations of the International Baccalaureate were in tension with national agendas of the ‘China dream’ and ‘common prosperity’. Finally, we reflect on the malleability of the International Baccalaureate across diverse national contexts.

KEYWORDS:

• International Baccalaureate
• international education
• cosmopolitan nationalism
• China dream
• common prosperity

Disclosure statement

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

Notes

1 Schools for children of foreign nationals can only enrol foreign passport holders, residents of Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, or Chinese citizens with at least one parent holding foreign permanent residency. This category of school includes a small number of public schools with international departments (国际部) that operate under the same regulations as schools for children of foreign nationals.

2 By attending an international school, Chinese citizens forgo the opportunity to take the National College Entrance Examination (gaokao) and are excluded from admission to Chinese universities.

3 It is expected that the government will issue a new policy document for schools for children of foreign nationals in the coming years. The information presented here is primarily based on the latest policy document issued in 2014.

4 Some private bilingual schools offer the Primary Years Programme until the start of compulsory education.

5 There are exceptions. In Shanghai, ten private senior high bilingual schools require students to complete national curriculum courses alongside international programmes to attain the Shanghai high school graduation certificate.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Education University of Hong Kong: [Grant Number RG57/20-21R].