The National Identity Education In The Process Of American Modernization And Its Effect On Modern State Building

All over the world,countries that have undergone modernization or are in the process of modernization are committed to national identity education,with the aim of enhancing national cohesion and centripetal force by strengthening citizens’ loyalty and belonging to the nation,so as to ensure the long-term stability of the country.Our government has always attached great importance to national identity education and regarded the promotion of patriotism as an important goal of citizenship and moral education.However,just as national identity education has aroused widespread controversy internationally,the implementation of national identity education in China has not been satisfactory,and the objectives,contents and methods of national identity education are also questionable.There have been endless debates about whether and how national identity education should be conducted.The former concerns the legitimacy of national identity education,while the latter concerns the effectiveness of national identity education.Previous studies on the legitimacy and effectiveness of national identity education have focused more on theoretical discussions at the philosophical level than on empirical studies(especially historical studies)of national identity education practices in various countries.In order to fill this gap and promote the dialogue between philosophical and empirical research on national identity education,the field of citizenship education research needs to strengthen the reflection and critique of national identity education practices in various countries.Through literature review,this study finds that national identity education is nurtured and developed as a result of modern state building.This implies that the question of the legitimacy and effectiveness of national identity education can be addressed by examining the role played by national identity education in the process of state construction.The modern state construction acts as a frame of reference that provides a benchmark for exploring these dilemmas.Modernization,on the other hand,provides a macro-historical context for this study to further explore the role of national identity education in the process of modern state building.As the most successful modernizing country in the world,the United States’ exemplary role in nation-building and its mature national identity education system provide an excellent case study for examining the role of national identity education in the process of modern state building.The documentary analysis and historical research were the methods used in collecting and analyzing the literature for this study,respectively.We examine the relationship between modern state building and national identity education in the United States at different stages of modernization by dividing the modernization process into a beginning stage(1776-1789),a maturing stage(1890-1959),and a secondary modernization stage(1960-present).We first examine the demands of the American modern state building on its national identity education at different stages of modernization;second,we focus on the responses of the American national identity education at different stages of modernization and assess their effects;finally,we summarize the role and character of American national identity education in the modernization process.In the modernization process of the United States,the national identity education in the United States presents the following three characteristics: First,the national identity education in the United States has always occupied a dominant position in its civic education,which is determined by the priority and compulsion of the construction of the American nation-state.Second,American national identity education spreads civic nationalism,which strives to shape the American nation into an inclusive,diverse and cohesive democratic political community.This is not only due to the success of the democratic state construction,but also the result of the balance between the unity of the country and the diversity of ethnic cultures in the United States as a nation of immigrants.Third,the United States tends to implement a broad sense of national identity education based on rationality.It aims to cultivate informed and responsible participatory citizens,and relies on the "classroom-school-community environment" to carry out "citizenship education for national identity".In addition to developing informed citizens through traditional citizenship courses such as social studies,the United States is increasingly focusing on the role of participation in developing responsible citizens.The role of American identity education in nation-building must be viewed in two ways.In the modernization process of the United States,the social integration function of national identity education is a powerful weapon to promote the construction of the American national community.It has played an important role in promoting the national integration of American society and maintaining the long-term stability of American society.However,in the midst of severe international conflicts,the national identity education of the United States will also be coerced by narrow nationalism,which promotes a kind of blind and authoritative patriotism,which invisibly encourages Americans’ blind sense of national superiority,which in turn strengthens the foreign expansion of the United States,and has brought disaster to the harmony and stability of the international order.