Interior Ethnic Minority Boarding Schools: China’s Bold and Unpredictable Educational Experiment

Abstract

By way of introduction, this lead essay provides an overview of China’s ethnic minority boarding school system, exploring its background, aims and history, while introducing the mechanics and curricula employed in these special schools. The article seeks to interrogate the goals and outcomes of the system, arguing that the pedagogic results do not fully accord with the expectations of minority graduates or Han Party-state officials. The result is a highly significant educational experiment whose long-term results are far from predictable. This introduction sets the stage for the detailed empirical and ethnographic studies that comprise this special issue.