Reimagining mission schools and the construction of mission school histories

Abstract

This paper argues that the negotiation of the position of mission schools within the evolving post-independence Singapore educational landscape is a bilateral project involving both mission schools and the state. Mission schools go through processes of reimagination of their history and development narrative to achieve an alignment with the language in the state’s ideology. By reflecting state values in their own historical narrative story, mission schools are hence able to maintain and celebrate the Christian character of their identity and history, whilst still conforming to the state’s overall ideology