Teaching culture in a competitive market: the introduction of VCE Chinese Language, Culture, and Society

In 2012, the White Paper Australia in the Asian Century urged governments across Australia to improve access to Asian studies in schools. Despite this, schools still struggle to maintain interest and success for secondary students, particularly those without an Asian family background. In response to the low numbers of non-Chinese-background students graduating from secondary schools with proficiency in Chinese language, the Victorian government launched a new Chinese Language, Culture, and Society subject in 2017. This study focuses on the teaching of this subject, which is taken in the last two years of secondary schooling during the pretertiary Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE). Drawing upon interview data with administrators, teachers and students during the first years of its implementation, the article presents the views and challenges of stakeholders involved in this subject and argues that the inherent limitations of the VCE system will make it difficult for the new subject to achieve its stated aims.