A Study On The French Textbooks Of Higher Primary Schools In Tonkin Vietnam During The French Colonial Period

"Franco-Vietnamese education" is a colonial education system established by the French in Vietnam during the French colonial period.Franco-Vietnamese education is a typical case of studying French colonial education.Up to now,a lack of thematic research exists on Franco-Vietnamese education in domestic academia,let alone case studies on the topic in higher primary schools in Vietnam,so there is still a blank area in this academic field.Based on the French language textbooks of Franco-Vietnamese higher primary schools in Tonkin during the French colonization of Vietnam in the early 20th century,this paper attempts to analyze the situation of French language education in Tonkin,to reveal the characteristics,objectives and essence of Franco-Vietnamese education,and to discuss the French colonial policy in Vietnam and its impact on the colonial society.In addition to the introduction and conclusion,this paper is divided into four chapters,the main contents of which are as follows:Chapter 1 summarizes the Franco-Vietnamese colonial education system in Tonkin.This includes a background analysis of the Tonkin area of French Indochina and the establishment of the Franco-Vietnamese schools in the Tonkin area.The conditions and political status of Tonkin led to the development of a social identity distinct from that of the rest of the Indochina federation.The establishment of Franco-Vietnamese schools in Tonkin was also typical,among which the higher primary schools with French as the language of instruction had an important influence on the cultivation of Vietnamese under French colonization,as well as on the Vietnamese society.Chapter 2 mainly takes the French textbooks for higher primary school students in Tonkin area in the period of French colonization of Vietnam as the original historical sources,and focuses on the analysis of the French textbooks for higher primary school students in Tonkin area.The textbooks focused on the daily livelihood of Vietnamese people,such as rice growing and handicrafts,which were simple and easy for students to learn.The textbooks emphasized the vocational rather than academic aspects of education,and provided basic skills training and moral education for Vietnamese people to engage in these low-level occupations.The textbooks mainly included five aspects:morality and daily life;Industry,transportation,commerce and others;Agriculture,handicrafts,health and science;Career planning;"Modernity".Chapter 3 reveals the purpose and essence of Franco-Vietnamese colonial education through French textbooks of higher primary school.The purpose of Franco-Vietnamese colonial education is "educational assimilation",which can be specifically divided into two aspects:firstly,to educate and guide the Vietnamese to support French colonization,and to make some of them become"French citizens" with yellow skin in aspects of life interest,way of thinking and values;Secondly,some Vietnamese,generally middle and upper class people in Vietnam,were equipped with enough knowledge and ability to serve as middle and lower class civil servants and technicians(skilled workers)used by the French colonial machine.The essence of Franco-Vietnamese colonial education is the embodiment of"obscurantism".Firstly,the French had a strong racist attitude towards the Vietnamese from beginning to end.The French have always considered themselves the master race of the world,even the "mother of all the nations of the world";Secondly,the French colonists'development on education in Vietnam took the maintenance and expansion of their colonial interests as the only consideration,and the political significance of colonial education was much higher than that of education itself.Thirdly,while overthrowing the traditional education,the French colonists did not replace it with the completely homogeneous French indigenous education.In terms of academic quality,the Franco-Vietnamese education could not be compared with the French indigenous education for a long time.Chapter 4,from the perspective of colonial education,deeply interprets the ideological basis of French colonial policy,especially the "assimilation principle" and"association principle",as well as the debate on "Frenchness".Generally speaking,the implementation of the French mission of civilization in Vietnam followed two policy directions(forms):one was assimilation policy,and the other was association policy.France is often troubled by the choice between the colonial policy of "assimilation" and"association".No matter how beautiful and constructive the association policy introduced in the late colonial era was described,the conquest and subjection of nations is the basic clue throughout the overseas colonization of France.In this sense,the so-called association policy is set within the framework of an all-encompassing "colonial assimilation".Like most of the policies enacted during colonial rule in Indochina,Tonkin's colonial education was designed primarily to benefit the French,not the Vietnamese.On the one hand,the French did bring some "modern elements" to Vietnam;On the other hand,the Franco-Vietnamese colonial education intensified the division and opposition of social classes in Vietnam,and generated strong nationalism in all parts of Vietnam,"becoming the gravedigger of French colonialism",which promoted the development of the national liberation movement in Vietnam.