State-run formal schools were established as novel educational institutions throughout the Tibetan regions in China in the 1950s. Based on a fifteen-month anthropological fieldwork in a Tibetan region in A mdo, this dissertation examines the impact of formal education on social change in Tibetan communities. Through a comprehensive analysis of: Chinese government policies; economic development; Tibetan educational models and practices; personal narratives from Tibetans of different generations; and traditional rituals, this dissertation investigates the role of formal education in Tibetan society. I argue that formal education is a main factor spurring social change in Tibetan communities. Education, through established formal institutions, integrates Tibetan communities into the national society of China, bringing close contact with non-Tibetan outsiders and binding students together with shared values and goals. This study shows that formal education is a legitimating venue through which Tibetans seek socioeconomic benefits and, as a result, education creates diversification in livelihoods and influences the dynamics of family structure, marriage patterns, identity, gender relations, and labor divisions.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:columbia.edu/oai:academiccommons.columbia.edu:10.7916/D8930RBF |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Lamaozhuoma, . |
| Source Sets | Columbia University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Theses |
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