Smart Schools for saving the soul: a juxtaposition of neofundamentalist and neoliberal discourse concentrations in contemporary Malaysia

摘要

This paper reports on an analysis of public documents produced by the government of Malaysia for the purpose of guiding the enactment of educational technology efforts in Malaysia. The analysis explores the concentration of discourses that make possible certain framings of technology in educational contexts that seek to act upon the notions of citizenship and identity among Muslims in Malaysia. Using the lenses of neofundamentalism and neoliberalism and leveraging analysis methods from the grounded theory methodological tradition, this study examined the ways the Malaysian government works on constructing the identities of its young Muslim citizenry by way of policy initiatives for the implementation of educational technologies. Sixteen documents produced and published by the Malaysian government served as the data for the analysis. Findings indicate that a neofundamentalist governmental rhetoric insists on looking to the past nostalgically and to non-rational textual hermeneutics for interpretations of Islam. At the same time, neoliberalism underpins discourses on educational technology and ‘wealth-making’ contemporary discourses on education and particularly educational technology. This produces a situation in which contemporary Malaysian government citizen work is locked in a crisis of bilateral nostalgia whereby a technology-rich and materially wealthy future is anticipated simultaneously with a longing for an Islamic civilization rooted in past traditionalisms and spiritualities. The Malaysian government then works a form of alchemy to manage this ironic tension.View full textDownload full textKeywordsidentity, Islam, Malaysia, technology, Smart Schools Initiative, discourseRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2011.601550