A pilot program to strengthen the transmission of indigenous knowledge (IK) and traditional resource management through the formal school system
Being implemented in collaboration with the “Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems” (LINKS) initiative of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), hence the name of the project
The Vanuatu Cultural Centre is partnering with the Ministry of Education and the Environment Unit (Department of the Environment), with the support of UNESCO, in developing a program to strengthen the transmission of indigenous knowledge (IK) and traditional resource management through the formal school system. This ambitious program seeks to affect a change in the education system inherited from the colonial era, which does not recognize local and indigenous knowledge and is thus resulting in a loss of traditional life skills and dislocation from their own communities for young people.
At this stage, only a plan of action has been developed. Funding is now being sought to implement this plan of action.
The plan of action has the following components :
1) awareness raising with key stakeholders (including chiefs, community leaders, principals, teachers and students)
2) the evaluation of existing initiatives in the education sector that already include IK in the school syllabus to learn from their strengths and weaknesses
3) support for a national policy of literacy acquisition in vernacular languages
4) the development of modules and methods to encourage student enquiry into their own communities’ knowledge and practices
5) the production of high quality resource materials to facilitate the use of IK in secondary school classrooms, and
6) teacher training to provide teachers with the skills to be able use the knowledge and expertise of community members (community facilitation skills).
The partnership in this program at the national level reflects the changes that have been taking place in the way Pacific peoples, particularly educators and cultural and natural resource managers, perceive the role and relevance of the formal education system. A central component of the regional “Re-thinking Pacific education” initiative (also supported by UNESCO), now being devolved to the national level, is the incorporation of IK and traditional knowledge into not only the curriculum of schools but also the teaching methodologies. A principal objective of the Vanuatu program is to begin to break down the division between the classroom and community, to foster an interactive relationship between the community and the school, to encourage involvement of community members as educators and to develop an attitude among students, teachers and community members that encourages transmission of IK both in the classroom and in the home.
Plan of Action for bringing indigenous knowledge (IK) into the science curriculum
As part of the Rethinking Vanuatu Education initiative, a UNESCO-sponsored brainstorming workshop was held at the Vanuatu Cultural Centre from the 1st until the 4th of December 2003. Participants included representatives from the Ministry of Education (MoE), the Vanuatu Cultural Centre (VKS), the Environment Unit (Env.Unit), Centre National de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and the UNESCO project “Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems in a Global Society” (LINKS), who elaborated the following Plan of Action for bringing indigenous knowledge into the science education curriculum:
Awareness-raising
Objective:
To gain support for this initiative, particularly among decision makers, parents, communities and teachers, by raising awareness as to its rationale and benefits
Activities:
1. Radio programs – for the MoE, VKS, and Env.Unit weekly programs
2. Newspaper articles - written jointly by project partners
3. Information meetings with Malvatumauri, VNCW and other stakeholders
4. Information meetings within the education sector (principal’s meetings, ZCA meetings, private and church schools, etc)
5. Launch national school competition promoting IK
6. LINKS posters on value of IK to be produced in Bislama and distributed through MoE, VKS, and Env.Unit
7. Distribution of Tree of Opportunity and Rethinking Vanuatu Education report to all schools
Endorsement of project by NEC (National Education Commission)
Objective:
To gain official MoE and Government support for and endorsement of this initiative
Evaluation of existing programs that include IK (lessons learnt)
Objective:
To evaluate existing initiatives that already include IK in the school syllabus to learn from their strengths and weaknesses
Activities:
1. Identify schools that already use IK in the classroom (including year 1 vernacular classes)
2. Prepare introductory letter and questionnaire and distribute through MoE network to these schools and their communities (separate questionnaires for community members/parents, teachers and students)
3. Analyze feedback from questionnaires
4. Visit selected schools, if needed
5. Evaluate CAPS (Community and Parent Support for Schools) program, assess strengths and weaknesses, begin revision towards developing a teacher training package in facilitating community involvement in education
Encourage student enquiry into IK in their own communities (primary level)
Objective:
To begin to break down the division between the classroom and community; to foster an interactive relationship between the community and the school; to develop an attitude among students, teachers and community members that encourages transmission of IK both in the classroom and in the home; to encourage involvement of community members as educators
Activitives:
1. Get approval from NEC for the program:
- Develop concept paper that includes:
- Objectives, Background, Rationale
- Strategy, Methodology
- Provide examples
2. Produce an introductory pamphlet for teachers - to introduce the concept and its rationale and which includes a list of sample activities and questions
3. Produce an interim instruction manual for this program which provides a methodology, schedule and suggested list of activities and questions for each class level from class 1-8
- include collective and individual activities, for students to present daily
(individual research) and fortnightly or monthly (collective research)
- emphasis on oral presentations in local language
4. Seek funds for CDC to publish interim instruction leaflet and distribute through MoE system
Collation of existing information / Production of guides
Objective:
To produce high quality materials to facilitate the use of IK in science class.
Activities:
1. Appoint an Advisory Committee comprising all partners to oversee this work
2. LINKS and CNRS to identify people to start developing specific IK examples for curriculum guides and to provide contracts to these researchers
3. A joint project profile to be submitted for funding of one full time researcher (local science education specialist with good knowledge of Vanuatu) for two years based at VKS to coordinate development of examples (modeled on National History Curriculum Project) and production of teacher guides
4. MoE to provide full time local science education specialist to work on development of examples and guides
5. Produce primary guide (detailed examples only for teachers guide)
6. Produce junior secondary guide
Teacher Training
Objective: To provide teachers with the skills to be able use the knowledge and expertise of community members (community facilitation skills)
Activities:
1. In-service train-the-trainer programs for ZCAs and principals at a provincial level
2. Training to VKS fieldworkers at their annual workshops in Port Vila
3. In-service training for current teachers in both community facilitation and in how to use the interim instruction manual as a part of the educational program
4. Assist communities in identifying resource persons
5. Insert new IK syllabus into VITE diploma and certificate programs
6. Ongoing evaluation of new program
7. Ongoing training in local language for local language primary teachers by the community
