EMERGENT EDUCATION IN THE HOMOGENISED WORLD: The Significance of Integrating Indigenous Knowledge, Cultural Practices and Skills towards Future Education in India

India’s literacy rates have risen significantly since 1947 but the Education for All Report (2012) affirms that whilst special provisions were devised for the development of disadvantaged communities, the realisation of... [ view full abstract ]

India’s literacy rates have risen significantly since 1947 but the Education for All Report (2012) affirms that whilst special provisions were devised for the development of disadvantaged communities, the realisation of educational goals have remained unfulfilled. The indigenous peoples constitute over 84 million people of India’s population but their history reveals a constant struggle for their identity, and negligible engagement with conventional systems of education. Thus, India’s postcolonial mechanisms, homogenisation of culturally-rich indigenous communities, and topical educational hegemony contextualise my work with the indigenous Sabar community of Jharkhand. In particular, the study attempted to listen to indigenous interests, priorities, values and concepts with regards to education.

Transformative education should be inclusive, contextual and critical whilst striving to prepare learners for the future, and not merely a tool for mass-standardisation. Yet, many countries inadvertently adapt Western curricula without considering its ‘un-natural’ impact upon its learners. The paper reviews the wider context of this ‘marginalised’ voice by deconstructing theoretical and methodological frameworks. This enabled authentic reconstructions of learning content, processes and planning needed for sustainable educational systems, and managing outsider-insider disparities. It offers discussions on the importance of integrating indigenous skills, practices, arts, culture and community towards postcolonial educational imperatives (SPACCE tools); the intrinsic relationship between arts, environment and community; and situational ethics. Finally, the paper urges development of sustainable systems authenticated by listening and co-creating educational ideals to empower future citizenship. It directs a third space in education to reflect future pedagogic action, of difference not domination, of localisation not globalisation.