This paper will examine the discourses of Information and Communication Technology-based educational technologies (henceforth referred to as EdTech) in contemporary Indian and Chinese policyscape and how ambitious narratives of future are built on the backbone of EdTech-based educational reforms. The paper will be a conceptual analysis conducted using Jasanoff’s concept of sociotechnical imaginaries and Bacchi’s WPR approach.

Background

From being another tool in the pedagogue’s arsenal to a revolutionary force which could cure ills endemic to educational systems, educational policies in many nation-states now routinely deem EdTech as the driver of socioeconomic transformation and global domination. It has simultaneously generated and has been accompanied by a rich discourse on knowledge economy/information society and an ever increasingly hyperconnected world shaped by supranational policy advocacy organisations, mega tech corporations, and philanthrocapitalists. 

These globally circulating ideas become sedimented in different national contexts in the form of what Jasanoff and Kim term as sociotechnical imaginaries, i.e., “collectively imagined forms of social life and social order reflected in the design and fulfilment of nation-specific scientific and/or technological projects.” Such visions, and the policies built upon them, have the power to influence technological design, channel public expenditures, and justify the inclusion or exclusion of citizens with respect to the benefits of technological progress. 

It is interesting to note that states with vastly different political and social systems can have very similar sociotechnical imaginaries and the projected ideal futures–which is to say, that these states may assign similar roles or weightages to edtech in order to realise futures with common characteristics such as global domination, economic prosperity, national strength, and a stable society. Recent educational policy developments in China and India are a very good example.    

As two nations gaining independence from hostile rule at roughly the same time, China and India have evolved with very different political and economic systems, social organisation, and foreign engagement. Both have struggled through geopolitical instability, economic sanctions, and social unrest to become among the largest economies in the world. As the centennial anniversary of both nations’ independence (China in 2049, India in 2047) draws closer, it is natural that they have lofty ambition of becoming global powers. In 2012, Xi Jinping set the goal for China in 2049 to become "strong, democratic, civilised, harmonious, and modern socialist country." More recently in August 2022, Narendra Modi announced the goal of India as a developed country in 2047 along with “removing traces of colonial mindset, unity and a sense of duty among the citizens.” 

Central to the realisation of these goals is reform and development of education, and recently, EdTech. The linking of use of EdTech with the overarching goal of national development can be investigated with the concept of sociotechnical imaginaries. Policies on education and/or EdTech thus provide unique sites for exploring the role of political culture and practices in stabilising particular imaginaries, as well as the resources that must be mobilised to represent technological trajectories as being in the “national interest.” Bacchi’s concept of problematisation can help us examine the specific manner in which the ‘problem’ of rural education is defined and how EdTech is proposed as the solution.

Research question

How is rural education problematised in contemporary Indian and Chinese policy discourses on EdTech?

The proposed research paper is a part of my doctoral project which is in an early stage at present. The doctoral project comprises both desk-based and field-based research. In the initial stage of research and for the purpose of this paper, I will be focusing on a few key policy documents issued by the respective Ministries of Education (MoE) of India and China. Indian documents: National Education Policy 2020 National Policy on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) In School Education Chinese documents: Educational Informatization 2.0 Action Plan Chinese Education Modernization 2035 2022 Educational Informatization Work Key Points Two key conceptual frameworks are employed in this research. The first is Jasanoff's framework of sociotechnical imaginaries which will be used to examine the discursive framing of EdTech to achieve larger goals of national socioeconomic development and global prominence. This framework is inherently comparative in nature. As Jasanoff contends, the comparative aspect of the concept helps see clearly the political nature of science and technology policies as well as the role played by political and cultural institutions in the formation of these imaginaries. The second is Bacchi’s framework of What’s the Problem Represented to be? (WPR). Bacchi’s concept of problematisation will be used to examine and analyse how these policy documents ‘problematise’ rural education and posit EdTech as a solution. The ‘problem’ of rural education is understood as one the resolution of which is supposed to accelerate the process of socioeconomic transformation (read: urbanisation), and preparation of a high-skilled labour force suited to work in a knowledge economy of the future–both which together will boost national strength and the relevance of these two nations on a global stage. This paper will develop these arguments in a rigorous manner using the aforementioned source materials and conceptual frameworks.

As the first part of my doctoral research, this paper should help observe and examine: Discursive formation of rural education as an obstacle to be overcome and EdTech as the most suitable solution Discursive linkage of EdTech use in rural education with a vision of the future in which the nation is strong and globally prominent. Political and cultural factors which influence policy and discourse of EdTech Similarities and dissimilarities between Indian and Chinese understandings of EdTech as a tool for educational and greater national socioeconomic reform

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