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Nation, Nationalism, Curriculum, and the Making of Citizens

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N
Nation, Nationalism, Curriculum,
and the Making of Citizens
Lukas Boser Hofmann
University of Applied Sciences and Arts,
Northwestern, Switzerland
Synonyms
Nation-state
Introduction
Following the eighteenth-century political revolu-
tions in North America and Europe – which were
followed by the emergence of modern constitu-
tional states – public education has been seen as a
conditio sine qua non for integrating a linguisti-
cally and ethnically heterogeneous population into
one nation. In 1792, for example, the French poli-
tician Louis-Michel Lepeletier de Saint-Fargeau
(1760–1793), in his plan for national education,
stated that the immortality of nations is ensured
by three “monuments”: a constitution, the rule of
law, and public education. A constitution and laws
were important because they established the state
on a formal level, defined its organizational form
and institutions, and set the rules for peaceful
domestic coexistence. Certain eighteenth-century
philosophers and politicians argued that being a
citizen was more than simply having legal status
# Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2016
M.A. Peters (ed.), Encyclopedia of Educational Philosophy and Theory,
DOI 10.1007/978-981-287-532-7_3-2
and following laws; being a citizen also meant
being intellectually and emotionally attached to
the cultural and ethnic entity called the nation. In
this sense, it was – and still is – public education’s
task to make individuals into national citizens.
Nation and Nationalism
There is no comprehensive definition or theory of
nation or nationalism. Phenomenologically,
nations appeared over time in different forms
and in various places, as did nationalism. In medi-
eval universities, nations were groups of students
speaking the same language who sat together at
the dinner table. The notion that multilingual
Switzerland is a federation of nations still exists.
Other concepts of the nation focus on ethnicity
(e.g., the First Nations in Canada), religion
(e.g., Zionism), or cultural homogeneity (e.g.,
the German Kulturnation). Accordingly, notions
of nationalism also differ. Certain theorists such as
the Germans Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762–1814)
and Johann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803)
suggested an “ethnic” nationalism by tying the
nation to allegedly objective facts such as race,
faith, and language. Others such as the French
writer, historian, and philosopher Ernest Renan
(1832–1892) understood nationalism as a shared
national identity. This so-called “civic” national-
ism is more integrative than “ethnic” nationalism
in that the former is open to everyone, whereas the
latter is based on a shared heritage, language, and
2 Nation, Nationalism, Curriculum, and the Making of Citizens
faith. In a famous address to the University of
Paris in 1882, Renan stated that a nation is con-
stituted by citizens’ desire to live together: a
nation is “a large scale solidarity” (Renan 1990,
p. 19). A nation’s existence, in Renan’s famous
words, is “a daily plebiscite” (ibid.). Nationalism
is therefore not only based on a preexisting nation
(i.e., a country and its population) but is also the
ongoing construction and self-reassurance of the
existence of a nation, whereas in the absence of
nationalism, no such thing exists. Or, in Ernst
Gellner’s (1925–1995) words, “Nationalism is
not the awakening of nations to self-
consciousness: it invents nations where they do
not exist” (Gellner 1964, p. 168). Reflecting on
Renan’s and Gellner’s thoughts, the Irish historian
and political scientist Benedict Anderson
(1936–2015) suggested that nations be under-
stood as “imagined communities” (Anderson
1983). According to Anderson, a modern nation-
state is an imagined community because as a
community it is not based on personal experiences
and relationships. Due to the nation-state’s large
territory and population, it is likely that most
citizens will never meet one another nor will
they see all regions of the nation with their own
eyes. Anderson therefore argued that the nation,
of which the individual citizen only knows a small
part from his or her own experience, is largely
imagined. This idea of nations as abstract com-
munities that are the result of (intentional or
unintentional) imagination, interpretation, and
even invention has proven very fruitful for under-
standing the complex relationships between
nations, nationalism, and public education
(e.g., Sobe 2014).
National Identity, Curriculum,
and the Making of Citizens
Citizenship in legal terms is acquired by birth
(or naturalization), whereas national identity is
not. The latter results from learning processes
such as enculturation, socialization, and – last
but not least – informal and formal education.
The building and safeguarding of nations have
been seen as a political, a juridical, and a
pedagogical task. From early on, modern nation-
states have established symbols to prove their
existence and sovereignty against the outside
and to provide their citizens with symbols to iden-
tify the nation and themselves. Although national
currencies, national weights and measures, and
postage stamps, for example, were first and fore-
most introduced for economic and administrative
reasons, there was always a pedagogical agenda
also. Through national symbols, people are
expected to become emotionally and intellectually
attached to the nation. This process was also the
reason for building national libraries, national
museums, and national theaters and ballets and
for establishing national flags and anthems, holi-
days, and memorial days. Throughout the nine-
teenth and twentieth centuries, the nation became
the most important point of reference for answer-
ing the question of who “we the people” are.
Today, national symbolism remains a part of the
concepts of national teams, national histories, and
even national license plates.
Since the nineteenth century, public schools
have been viewed as particularly good institutions
for familiarizing children with national symbols
and evoking national sentiments. Integrating as
many national symbols into the curriculum as
possible has been viewed as the most promising
way of making children from various social, cul-
tural, ethnic, religious, and linguistic backgrounds
into national citizens. However, the curriculum
had to be primarily secular and under public con-
trol so that other points of reference would not
interfere with nation building.
One Nation, One Language
One of the most important school subjects has
been language instruction. Language, both spo-
ken and written, is the basis of most human com-
munication. Language is also a very important
part of the concepts of the nation and the nation-
state. Long before the emergence of the nation-
state, nations were identified with people speaking
a single language. However, most modern states
included more than one language group or, in the
case of the United States, were confronted with
Nation, Nationalism, Curriculum, and the Making of Citizens
immigrants speaking many languages. If a coun-
try wanted to be a “true” nation-state, it needed to
harmonize the use of languages within its borders.
France is an early example where this ideology of
“one nation, one language” found its way into the
curriculum. As early as 1794, Abbé Grégoire
(1750–1831) asked the National Assembly to
introduce French as the standard language in the
new republic. Throughout the nineteenth century,
French curricula were based on the maxim that
every student should learn to use the langue d’oı̈l,
i.e., standard French. However, Eugen Weber
(1976) noted that it took more than a century to
accomplish this task. Although it took some time,
linguistic adjustments via schooling were viewed
as one of the most-promising integration mea-
sures. Stephen Harp (1998) noted that in Alsace-
Lorraine, a region whose national affiliation
changed between Germany and France several
times in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries,
integrating the population into France or the Ger-
man Reich mostly meant teaching French when-
ever Alsace-Lorraine was part of France and
teaching German whenever it was part of
Germany.
However, teaching children to use the national
language was not the only task language educa-
tion had to fulfill regarding national integration. In
reading and writing classes, children were also
familiarized with national idiosyncrasies regard-
ing spelling, vocabulary, and typography. These
idiosyncrasies distinguish two nations that share a
single language. For example, the letter ß is used
in Germany but not in German-speaking Switzer-
land; British English and American English differ
in grammar and spelling as do French and
Québécois.
Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth cen-
turies, most nation-states adopted the “one nation,
one language” ideology in their curricula, and
many of them have retained it to this day. There-
fore, the right to teach a local or regional language
or to use such a language for instruction is a strong
symbol of local autonomy (e.g., the use of Catalan
in Catalonia). In many nations, minorities still
strive for the acceptance of their language as a
language of instruction. However, not all modern
states adopted the “one nation, one language”
3
ideology. Some states, for example, Canada,
Belgium, Luxemburg, Finland, Afghanistan, and
Switzerland, deliberately chose not to adopt one
national language. In many cases, this situation is
also mirrored in the curricula in different lan-
guages and in their content regarding language
education. National identities apparently can also
be multilingual (e.g., in Switzerland and Canada),
although this multilingualism can also be a cause
of internal friction (e.g., in Belgium).
Civics, History, and Geography
Language instruction was not the only subject that
was intended to shape the students’ identity as
national citizens; civic education was another
important subject matter in that regard. In many
countries, one of the first actions to make individ-
uals into citizens was to publish a new type of
textbook: the civic catechism. Religious cate-
chisms were well established in early modern
schools and were often the only textbooks that
children used. Books of this type, which were
initially intended to make children into devout
and obedient Christians, were revised with the
goal of creating citizens who possessed basic
knowledge of the constitution, state institutions,
civic virtues, the rights and duties of citizens, and
the moral principles and values that were held in
high esteem in a state (e.g., Tosato-Rigo (2012) and
Viñao (2011) describe instances in Switzerland and
Spain, respectively).
History is another subject that has been greatly
involved in shaping national identities. National
histories began to appear at the end of the eigh-
teenth century and flourished in the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries. These histories traced the ori-
gins of nations back to ancient times and legiti-
mized their existence through an allegedly long
development. Narratives related the actions of
heroic figures whose patriotism, virtue, courage,
and self-sacrifice were expected to ignite readers’
love of the fatherland or motherland. The narrative
centered on how the nation was forged in heroic
and mostly victorious battles against oppressors or
invaders (e.g., the “German” Arminius against the
Romans, the Swiss William Tell and Arnold
4 Nation, Nationalism, Curriculum, and the Making of Citizens
Winkelried against the Habsburgs, and the French-
woman Joan of Arc against the English). Such
stories were often folk myths rather than
documented historical events, and given the rising
standards of academic history, many of them were
deconstructed by professional historians over time.
Nevertheless, the stories long remained the center-
pieces of history textbooks. History as a school
subject was not so much about “how it really
was” in the past as it was about the assertion of a
proud national heritage.
Another important subject was geography.
Geography textbooks and maps were intended to
provide children with an image of what their
nation looked like. Textbooks were organized in
the form of a tour of the nation. Through descrip-
tions of various regions and their inhabitants, chil-
dren were familiarized with their compatriots,
whom they probably would never meet in person.
State borders were also important for imagining
the nation. They were often depicted as natural
borders such as seashores, rivers, and mountain
ranges to give students the impression that the
national territory was a product of nature
(or perhaps God even) rather than one of men.
Geography was also connected to history by
showing that heroic historical deeds had occurred
in a particular place that could therefore also
become a place of remembrance. Finally, geogra-
phy placed the nation among other (neighboring)
nations and assigned it a place on the map of the
continent or the world. Maps published in a par-
ticular nation always showed this nation-state in
the center.
The Whole Curriculum
However, important language, civics, history, and
geography allegedly were in the process of mak-
ing citizens; all other subjects were also involved
in the task. To give but one example, mathematics
teaches students to think logically and rationally,
as the French philosopher and mathematician
Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas de Caritat, Marquis
de Condorcet (1743–1794), noted at the end of the
eighteenth century. In contrast to the early modern
period, when people acquired mathematical skills
and knowledge regarding specific tasks such as
buying or selling on a farmer’s market, measuring
timber for construction, or keeping the accounts of
a warehouse, mathematics was introduced into
modern curricula in the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries as a tool to train the students’ mental
abilities in general. Rational thinking was purport-
edly the basis for acting as a modern citizen.
Furthermore, in mathematics lessons, children
learned to use national currencies and weights
and measures, which were – as mentioned
above – important symbols of national sover-
eignty and identity.
The rationale of the rational citizen was
stressed again in the 1960s and 1970s, when
many countries introduced “new math” into their
curricula. New math aimed to teach students the
modern ways of mathematical thinking (such as
set theory, Boolean algebra, and bases other than
10) instead of the old-fashioned, decimal elemen-
tary arithmetic. The main agenda of new math,
however, was no different from Condorcet’s plan,
which was to generate logical-thinking, rational,
virtuous citizens who were well equipped for liv-
ing in a modern democratic state (see Phillips
2015). Although the introduction of new math
was anything but a success story (actually new
math disappeared from the curricula after a few
years), the intentions behind this endeavor clearly
show that mathematics is not a neutral subject.
Mathematics conveys, as any other subject, an
idea about the learning child, the (future) citizens,
and the (moral order of the) state.
Nations at Risk
The alleged importance of public schooling to the
nation has been a particularly prominent topic of
discussion during times of national crisis. Most
modern nation-states have experienced several
crises. They were threatened either by other
nations or states or by internal friction such as
ethnic, religious, linguistic, or social tensions
that could have led to turmoil, revolution, civil
war, or secession – in short, to national collapse.
Indeed, most modern nations were born from wars
of liberation (or wars of secession, depending on
Nation, Nationalism, Curriculum, and the Making of Citizens
the point of view) and revolutions (or rebellions).
Throughout the nineteenth century, nation-states
became increasingly involved in national
rivalries, competitions, and belligerent confronta-
tions. These conflicts also led to changes in the
notion of nationalism. Nationalism was increas-
ingly meant to spread and consolidate the idea of a
“we” among the people of a nation-state. This
“we” was contrasted with a “they”: people in
other nations and those within the particular
nation-state who did not share what was com-
monly viewed as the national identity. When
nation-states faced war or internal turmoil
(e.g., the Revolutionary War and Civil War in
the USA, the French Revolutionary Wars, the
Austro-Prussian War, the Franco-Prussian War,
World War I, World War II, and the Cold War),
this sense of national identity more than ever was
distilled down to patriotism, allegiance, and the
willingness to serve (and to risk one’s life for) the
fatherland or motherland. Two institutions were
charged with making young men into citizen-
soldiers (soldat-citoyen): military and public
schools. Although the idea of the citizen-soldier
disappeared in most nations during the twentieth
century, the tight connection between national
security policy and public schooling (or public
investment in schooling) remained because
nation-states – whether presently at risk or
not – wanted to foster patriotism and allegiance
through informal and formal education. They also
were – and still are – interested in providing
students with advanced scientific knowledge that
could one day be useful in defending the nation
through advanced civil and military technology.
Several examples demonstrate this motive. Fol-
lowing the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, a
rumor in European newspapers held that as a
result of superior public education in Prussia,
German soldiers were better oriented on French
territory than the French themselves. It is no won-
der that nation-states such as Switzerland increas-
ingly emphasized geography and map reading in
public schools in the late nineteenth century.
Additional examples from the twentieth century
illustrate this relationship between education and
national security. Only a year after the Soviets
launched their satellite Sputnik in 1957, which
5
revealed a technological gap between the Eastern
and the Western Blocs, the US Congress passed
the National Defense Education Act. In 1983, a
report of the US National Commission on Excel-
lence in Education argued that national security
depended on the educational system. However,
the threat this time did not come from outside
but rather from within: “If an unfriendly foreign
power had attempted to impose on America the
mediocre educational performance that exists
today, we might well have viewed it as an act of
war” (National Commission on Excellence in
Education 1983, p. 5). Following the report, the
allegedly poor American education was not
only threatening the well-being of individual
Americans but also threatening the state itself by
weakening the nation’s main source of strength,
i.e., its well-educated, loyal, and competent citi-
zens. Although the twentieth century has been
labeled the “century of the child” – with education
focusing primarily on children’s physical and psy-
chological needs – this example shows that the
making of virtuous citizens remains one of the
basic tasks of public schooling in modern nation-
states.
Cross-References
▶ Globalization, Postcolonialism, and Education
▶ Religion and Modern Educational Aspirations
▶ School Development and School Reforms
▶ The Educationalization of the World
▶ The Formation of School Subjects
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National Commission on Excellence in Education. (1983).
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Excellence in Education.
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