Indigenous knowledge, pedagogy and education have even more

1
Indigenous knowledge, pedagogy and education have
even more intrinsic paradoxes and dilemmas (than
in my introduction to the presentation)-

• Increasing concern, if not opposition, from
  Indigenous peoples, to anthropological research.
• Research needs to be more responsive to the
  community and involve members fully in the
  process, from beginning to end.
• Can engaged anthropology be objective?

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Additional paradoxes and dilemmas

• Possible conflict between national needs,
  employment needs, and preoccupations of local
  people.
• Development of suitable staffing and governance.
• Difficulties in providing relevant, attractive
  comprehensible curricula over diverse, perhaps
  remote, cultural and linguistic regions.

3

• Additional paradoxes and dilemmas
• How secular, how religious?
• The provision of skilled and motivated
• resource teachers, linguists, librarians and
• information technology specialists.

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Key Arguments

• Traditional socialisation and pedagogy can make a
  major contribution to Indigenous Education
  content and methodology
• Indigenous education, indeed all education, can
  benefit from incorporating elements of Indigenous
  knowledge and pedagogy
• Social education and cultural studies,
  particularly, should be multi-disciplinary.
• Can you see any problems with purely
  historical or geographical approaches?

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Why and How?

• Indigenous knowledge IK is a unique
• formulation of knowledge coming from a
• range of sources rooted in local cultures, a
• dynamic and ever changing pastiche of past
• tradition and present invention, with a view
• to the future (Sillitoe, P. in Sillitoe, Bicker
  and Pottier, 2002).
• Has been largely ignored and is a key factor in
• lack of Indigenous educational participation
• and success.

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• Some Background Information
• 2009- 550,000 Indigenous Australians, approx.
• 2.5 of 21 million. Up from 260,000 in 1992
  Census. Why?
• Reflects high birthrate, increased willingness to
  identify
• as Indigenous, plus eligibility for benefits
• 70 in provincial, rural or remote areas-
• often poorer facilities than in capitals
• The most disadvantaged of Australians
• Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait
• Islander culture is complex and diverse-
• from isolated to inner city communities.

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• Health and Education
• Poor health, eg middle-ear infection,
• listlessness, poor attendance
• Effects on education-
• Only 33 complete secondary
• education (80 for total population)
• 2.2 university graduates (13 overall)
• Western education often seen as
• alienating and irrelevant
• (conversely aspects valued)

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Melanesia Overall population nearly 8 million,
PNG 6 million approximately. Young,
diverse culturally, linguistically- eg 820
Indigenous languages in PNG. Patchy provision
of education, poorly resourced, yet relatively
successful
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Melanesia

• Dependent on aid, eg 300 million pa
• from Australia.
• Solomon Islands intervention, Bougainville,
• AIDS, drugs, corruption fear of failed
  states.

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The State of Remote Indigenous Australian
Communities- A national disgrace, a disaster

• Mal Broughs response to the Little Children are
  Sacred Inquiry, June 2007. In response to high
  levels of child sexual abuse the Report
  recommended control of drugs and alcohol, and
  stated that
• Education is the key to helping children and
  communities nurture safe, well-adjusted
  familiesat school they are safeand can confide
  in their teachers
• NB. Issues of ownership, appropriation,
  knowledge, pedagogy, power, governance, are
  crucial.
• Another paradox- Can one take over
  decision-making and then expect to build
  long-term responsibility and care? History tells
  us, no!

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Melanesia

• Many dysfunctional communities, particularly in
  fringe settlements, with poor records in
  education. Issues funding, staffing, equity.
• In remote subsistence communities, there is
  likely to be no access to western/national
  schooling.
• Change is desperately needed, especially to
  counter the sense of otherness, appropriation,
  anger, powerlessness, lack of inclusiveness,
  sense and reality of citizenship.
• Mi rubbish man tru is a common sentiment.

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• Contextual- observation, participation in
• relevant contexts
• Person-Oriented- positive personal
• relationships, trust, even body-language,
• are important
• Elements have been put into practice, eg.
• KODE schools in Victoria, community education
• elsewhere, urban and rural. Primary Connections
• http//www.science.org.au/primaryconnections/addit
  ional.htm

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Some relevant, recommended pedagogical approaches

• Substantial involvement of Indigenous parents,
  teachers
• Combines well with modern best practice
  constructivist, inquiry, child-centred approaches
• Cooperative group work

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Some relevant, recommended pedagogical approaches

• Visual images, role-play, narratives
• Symbols, diagrams, computer models
• Excursions, photography, sketching

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Some relevant, recommended pedagogical approaches

• Maps, pathways
• Experiential, relevant culturally
• Positive, affirming role models
• Wider assessment approaches, including self and
  peer
• Lots of oral English practice, reinforcement,
  enrichment

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Fieldwork

• Participant observation in communities and
  schools, mostly NSW, Victoria and NT
• Traditional Culture- Song, site, skin, ceremony
• Traditional education- largely oral, storytelling
• Informal, except for initiation, when they were
  Broken, tamed, into the burba. We grow them up
  in the ashes.
• Spirituality permeated all life
• Education closely adapted to economy
• Relationships, kinship, central to learning

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Indigenous Pedagogy should be reflected in

• National and State policy, structure particularly
  re preschool and primary education
• School form, structure, leadership
• Indigenous involvement, community leadership,
  school council, appointments
• Nature of teaching team- their mix, training,
  experiences, pd support
• Curriculum- content / knowledge and pedagogy

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Indigenous Teacher, Yipirinya School, Alice
Springs

• In my experience, most mainstream schools dont
  cater for a diverse range of students, preferring
  to teach in a mainly white, middle class fashion.
  Students who come from a different culture or
  background are expected to assimilate, or else
  face a difficult learning situation which could
  lead to eventual dropping out of school.

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Indigenous Teacher, Yipirinya School, Alice
Springs

• I would go so far as to say that to expect one
  style of teaching to work for a diverse range of
  students is unequal, unjust and could be deemed
  as racist.

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The Detractors

• Eg Roger Sandalls, The Culture Cult. Affirming
  culture allows primitive, tribal, feudal,
  undemocratic and sexist values to flourish. Keith
  Windshuttle has similar views.
• Will sow the seeds of the destruction of civil
  life, of the creative marvel that is
  civilisation.
• Culture theory is particularistic, chauvinistic,
  primitivistic.
• Small homelands, outstations, are not viable
  economically.
• Any relation to 2007 Federal Government
  take-over of remote Indigenous communities?
  Discuss

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The Rebuttal

• Historical evidence- integration is preferable to
  assimilation (which failed in the 1940s and
  1950s)
• Its what most Indigenous leaders and communities
  say they want.
• Anthropological and educational research
  indicates the relevance and need for Indigenous
  knowledge and pedagogy
• Culture need not equate to divisive, regressive
  it can equate to democratic, progressive,
  inclusive, peaceful
• Anthropologists, other social scientists and
  teachers, are almost never complete cultural and
  ethical relativists

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Conclusion

• The culture subject, anthropology, has much to
  contribute to education programs, particularly
  regarding appropriate content and learning styles
  for multicultural Australia, and for other
  nations.
• In Australian education Aboriginal pedagogy
  should be embraced by all teachers and indeed all
  students would benefit from this. In terms of
  reconciliation this is only one part, but it is
  certainly an essential one. (Yipirinya Teacher,
  Alice Springs, Northern Territory)

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Discuss It is often said that Indigenous
students need a white anthropology- to
understand how the dominant culture and society
work.