A Study Of The History Of Government Education System In British Burma(1853-1948)

Taking the government education system of British Burma as the research object,this dissertation traces its history of construction based on English historical materials,and expounds its role as the impetus of social change in British Burma from this perspective.This dissertation redresses the stereotype of "Binary Opposition" and "One-Sided Discourse" in historical writing of 20 th century colonial education,and draws attention to the initiative and identity evolution of the local educated as the important factors influencing the construction of the government education system.By thinking outside the box,this dissertation investigates the social function of education in the background of the history of British Burma,therefore,this dissertation focuses on three main aspects respectively: firstly,it traces the history of the government educational system in British Burma.Secondly,it analyzes how diversity in education influences on the social status of Burman majority,minorities in mountainous areas and women.Finally,focusing on the initiative of indigenous intellectuals,it intends to present how these intellectuals mixed,refined,and socialized the knowledge they acquired,and turned it into a cohesive,general,and revolutionary national culture,which provided intellectual support for the Burmese nationalist movement.From the first Anglo-Burmese war in 1824 to the independence from Britain in 1948,some brand-new elements were brought into British Burma under the rule of Britain,which accelerated the pace of Burma’s social transformation and paved the way for an independent nation state.There were many factors that led to the social transformation,among which was education.Although education couldn’t trigger a social mutation,it was a profound and long-term transformation of thought,which could both clearly and vividly promote social practice.Here,the interesting point is whether this educational system,a powerful tool for shaping the middle class,simply reflects the political ideology of the authority? If not,how those elites change their status from an awkward position and successfully win the speaking right from British rulers.Also,how does this system differentiate the local people and help these group members to construct their identityso as to realize the social transformation of British Burma.The potential impact of education was closely related to the stages of social development in British Burma.As a tool of British rule,education met the government’s needs of stabilizing society,cultivating labor force and exporting its ideology,however,except for the needs of the ruling class,education,as a ladder of social mobility for the ruled,also fulfilled their expectation of being "mimic men",like the rulers.The uniqueness of education is its flexibility,that is,education can be used as a tool of hegemony exercising from the top down and also as a tool of resistance countering from the bottom up.Being inclusive is one of the characteristics education has,which means that it accepts all kinds of ideologies without distinction,and then integrates them into different forms.Also,education is arbitrary,it is in the service of power,reflecting the overall will of the ruling class,and effectively eliminating dissidents.Education is gentle and generous too,it popularizes among the masses in the form of welfare,and meanwhile,it is a double-edged sword,because with the combined action of other factors,it may be transformed into an invisible force of violence.British Burma’s education is unique and complex.I argue that in an educational setting,a host of societal issues can be reviewed from this perspective,such as the struggle and collaboration between the new foreign forces and the traditional indigenous forces,the adaptability and the interrelationship among local authorities after the introduction of new concepts,and the religious neutrality and the interaction between religion and hegemony.Not only through politics,economics and ethnicity,but also through education,did the mosaic society with different knowledge and will come into being.British authority was unable to integrate the mosaic society effectively,as a matter of fact,“order without meaning” produced a “pluralistic but unintegrated” British Burma.