What can 'mainstream' education gain from a deeper understanding about indigenous knowledges and adult learning?

A deficit discourse on women has often been adopted in policy and programme in developing countries like Nepal where 'women' are considered vulnerable and needing coping strategies and thus the target of many adult educational... [ view full abstract ]

A deficit discourse on women has often been adopted in policy and programme in developing countries like Nepal where 'women' are considered vulnerable and needing coping strategies and thus the target of many adult educational interventions. What is ignored in the process are the contextualised and localised knowledges and informal learning processes that are grounded in the everyday experiences of life. What is also embedded in such informal learning are alternative values and epistemologies informing ways of being and doing in life.

Building on qualitative research with a community in Nepal, this paper argues the importance of such learning for new understandings into women’s informal learning, exploring their insights into local issues and alternative solutions for transformative action. These insights may have implications not only for non-formal and informal educational practices for social transformation, but may also offer a basis for rethinking curriculum in mainstream education approaches that could link learning with the everyday needs of people. 

By framing educational policy around women’s strengths, alternative values and epistemologies and other ways of learning (including intergenerational and intercultural learning), the paper proposes a new lens for analysing curriculum and pedagogy approaches. Such approaches are urgently needed in mainstream formal and nonformal educational programmes to take forward the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, particularly SDG 4 and SDG5 (around gender equality).