Students of the Imaginary: Interpreting the Life Experiences of Ethnic Minority Students From Xinjiang Classes

Introduction

Xinjiang, characterized by multiethnicity and multilingualism, has historically been a source of tension for the Chinese state. The “Xinjiang problem”, a term generated by Fuller and Starr (2003), describes the continuous violence and the Uyghur separatist movement in Xinjiang, and indicates the struggle of ethnic Uyghurs to gain meaningful recognition of their identity and autonomy in China over the past decades (Li, 2018). The Chinese state, hence, has tried hard to promote national integration in Xinjiang and its neighbouring border areas. To meet this end, the unique schooling system named Inland Xinjiang Senior Secondary School Classes Policy (neidi Xinjiang gaozhongban zhengce, hereafter the Xinjiang Class Policy ¹) was implemented in the education sector. The policy, introduced by China’s Ministry of Education (MOE) in September 2000, has three specific goals, first, training quality senior secondary school graduates who achieve overall development in morals, intellect, physics, and atheism; second, boosting economic development and social progress in Xinjiang; and third, enhancing unity and cohesion among all ethnic groups, and ensuring national and border security (MOE, 2000a, b, c).

Specifically, middle school students are selected on the basis of their test performance and sociocultural background. This includes their ethnic status, hometown and family financial status, to ensure that 80 per cent of all incoming students comes from southern Xinjiang’s impoverished rural and nomadic regions. In addition, students must pass a comprehensive physical examination conducted at a county-level hospital (Grose, 2014). Just as Leibold (2019) noted, this policy is intended to “school them [ethnic minority students] in language, culture and values of the Han ethnic majority” (p. 3). The rationale behind this policy is that Xinjiang students, dislocated from their family and local community, would become immersed into the mainstream ideology and lifestyle, and acquire specific qualities and cultural capital through government schooling that may finally contribute to the ongoing thriving of Xinjiang and national integration of China. For the convenience of management, students are allocated in a closed campus in which their daily activities are based. Xinjiang students are separated from local Han students, with independent teaching areas most of the time, separate dormitories and different canteens. Depending on school management, students are allowed to sign out for several hours of off-campus activity once every two weeks, usually to shop for daily necessities using money sent from home. They connect with their family members normally via telephone and written letters (in the early years), yet family visits are rare because of the expense and time required (Chen, 2010).

It is not surprising, then, that state education in China, especially ethnic minority education, is viewed as part of a civilizing project. Harrell (2012) has considered that it plays an important role in controlling, transforming, and integrating minority groups who mostly inhabit the border or peripheral areas of China. Yang (2017) has noted that “the development of modern education brings more ethnic minorities under the influence and central authority of Han Chinese culture” (p. 11). The Xinjiang class policy, in this vein, is perceived by some as producing a new generation of ethnic elites (Chen, 2014), who could uphold national values and embrace ethnic culture, and ultimately promote national integration. The experiences of Xinjiang class students, however, contested this rationale. Subjected to a set of Han-dominated rules and regulations from language usage to bodily functions, students have come to develop forms of “everyday resistance” to represent their limited minority identity in boarding schools (Bovingdon, 2010, pp. 80-104). For example, researchers have observed that students are quietly resisting the government schooling by speaking their ethnic language (e.g. Uyghur) when they are required to use Mandarin in school settings (Chen, 2010), and they conduct religious practices such as reading Quran in prohibited settings (e.g. the dormitory) (Yuan, Qian, & Zhu, 2017).