Language and Nationhood: Tibetan Teachers’ Perspectives on Mandarin Instruction in Amdo Schools and Nationhood

Government schools in many Tibetan areas of China implement a bilingual education policy to promote both national integration and the preservation of ethnic minority languages. These schools are generally divided into two types. Mode 1 schools offer instruction in both Mandarin and Tibetan, while Mode 2 schools conduct most subjects in Mandarin, with Tibetan language taught as a dedicated subject in Tibetan. In 2020, the Ministry of Education enhanced the bilingual education policy in Mode 2 schools by encouraging equal emphasis on both Mandarin and Tibetan, recognizing them as important languages for students’ development. This study, grounded in Mother Tongue Teaching Theory, explores how Tibetan teachers at a selected primary school in Qinghai perceive the use of Mandarin as a medium of instruction, and how these perceptions contribute to fostering a shared national identity. The research aims to understand teachers’ experiences with bilingual education, their classroom practices, and their expectations for language use in teaching. It adopts an interpretive paradigm and a qualitative methodology, relying on semi-structured interviews for data collection. The thematic analysis of interview data is expected to provide insights that support the continuous improvement of bilingual education in ethnic minority regions, helping ensure educational quality and national unity across China.