Some thoughts on education as we go along

Writing this, the Forum conference 2014 is in its center. It is the middle of the second day. We have had presentations from all over the world, from different kinds of perspectives, covering a wide range of topics. Still, there are some commonalities. Having education and indigenous peoples as main topic, makes all the participants talk about something that can be shared.

On the first day of the conference, Ellen-Rose Kambel, Director of the Rutu Foundation for Intercultural Multilingual Education (Netherlands/Suriname), talked about the challenges of indigenous education in postcolonial Suriname. Here, the Dutch perspective remains the dominant one also in educational contexts. School textbooks show pictures and illustrations that are far from familiar in Surinam – especially among the indigenous peoples of Surinam. This clearly was an expression of what Jannie Lasimbang earlier talked of as the majority culture being pressed upon the minority.

From other presenters we heard stories from Botswana about the San and from Russia about different indigenous peoples and from Scandinavia about the Sami that all shared some aspects: The colonial experience of states and majorities dominating minorities. The challenges of education in contexts of revitalization. How to deal with the past. An example: Tatiana Bulgakova, professor at the Institute of the People of the North in St. Petersburg in Russia, presented how shamanism has become a topic that is taught in school to indigenous children. This is controversial, she stated.

A main dilemma, I would claim, however, concerns the efforts of the work on indigenous peoples and education: First, we should focus on the education of indigenous peoples, ensuring the use of indigenous languages and the integration of traditional knowledge. At the same time, we should work towards improving the education of the majority population on indigenous issues.

No matter which geographical context we reside in, this provides us with a challenge. In France, what should be taught regarding those not belonging to the majority population? In Norway, can we ensure both to provide the proper education of the Sami and to educate the majority population about the Sami? In Australia, how can schools in local communities gather both aboriginal and non-aboriginal pupils to increase and share knowledge?

Hence – and this is what I find most interesting and important – local issues, challenges and achievements quite often also are global issues, challenges and achievements.

By Torjer A. Olsen,
Chair, Forum for development cooperation with indigenous peoples