PROPUESTA DE INTERVENCIÓN

In general, in the operating frameworks of indigenous schools, curriculum design cannot be free from the educational framework set in place by the country. The decision-making is still controlled by the dominant government, and the administrators and teachers at indigenous schools are mostly non-indigenous people. To be sure, different states face different challenges in the case of education given their different political environments, but the actual educational needs of indigenous peoples and minorities are quite similar. Despite the concerns of governmental education systems regarding the problems of indigenous education, given political intervention and unfamiliarity with indigenous culture, knowledge and world view, the course taken by educational policy has never accorded with the needs of indigenous students. If school administrators are not indigenous people, it is difficult for them to understand that the dominant administrative paradigms cannot be applied wholesale to an indigenous school. The compulsory education system is a “one size fits all” type and that size is the dominant way. Even if some indigenous school administrators are indigenous people, under the constraints of a government education system, school administration still seems to blindly adhere to non- indigenous educational policy. It is fair to say that the failure of indigenous education is due to non-indigenous administration. Dominant schooling has an exclusive effect on indigenous knowledge and language, blurring indigenous identity. Non-indigenous people administering non-indigenous education, providing dominant language instruction in schools, is of no help at all to indigenous language revitalization and reconstruction of cultural identity. Social skills are learned via the modeling of human behaviors, learned in part in school classrooms and from interaction with teachers and fellow students. At this stage, the socialization of indigenous children is in large part fostered by the dominant culture and values. Yet values that conflict with ancestral culture and vastly different cultural behavioral models can distort indigenous children’s social development; this is one of the chief reasons why indigenous children feel a sense of estrangement in the learning environment and course content provided at schools.

It must be noted that the gift of empowerment, allowing real participation by indigenous peoples in schooling, is helpful for strengthening indigenous cultural heritage, self- esteem, cultural identity and language. Of course, this is not an easy challenge for the

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For example, the subject of “Social Study” in 5th grade elementary school education in Taiwan, in the textbook: After the Dutch and Spanish colonization, Taiwan finally appeared on the international stage (台

灣自荷西時期,開始進入國際舞台); During the period of Ming and Ching Dynasty in China and Zheng

Cheng-gong invasion the emigration from mainland China created a Han Taiwanese society, and opened the door for modernization (明鄭與清朝的移民開墾,形成以漢人為主的社會,並開啟了近代化); the Japanese colonization strengthened the foundation of modernization (日本的殖民統治,進一步深化了近代 化的基礎); the governance of R.O.C. has made a great contribution to political democracy and economic modernization (中華民國治理台灣,則造就政治民主與經濟發展現代化的重要成就); and indigenous peoples became valuable national heritage (而原住民也成為寶貴的國家資產). (Nan I Book Enterprise Co., Ltd. 南一書局 2007:86 )

dominant education system: what acceptable bounds on freedom can be made, and how should indigenous administrators be trained? As globalization quickens the pace of social change, governments are being forced to rethink the issue of indigenous education. Some scholars suggest that building a partnership65 between school, community66 and parents would be of benefit to indigenous education, and this idea has been implemented in some cases; for example, in some Maori English-medium schools, principals and teachers try to incorporate acknowledgement of Maori culture into their curricula, and work with parents and community members as well. But the implementation of this program has not come about as smoothly as expected: there have been problems with insufficient funding, non-indigenous teachers who are unfamiliar with or unsympathetic to indigenous culture, and non-indigenous principals whose leadership skills do not conform fully to the needs of the program. Despite the fact that the theory has proven successful in many dominant schools, in indigenous education there remains a lack of empirical experience, so that no framework can be built on to advance indigenous education. There are many other problems awaiting solutions, such as how to build effective relationships between indigenous schools and communities, how to determine who has the right to decide and manage educational policy, and what responsibilities should be borne by the involved parties. At any rate, given the current state of affairs, it is inevitable that considering the combination of indigenous peoples’ complex experience of being colonized, today’s increasingly mixed society and the political framework, the development of indigenous education should emphasize the strengthening of traditional cultures, values and languages. There should also be cooperation to build good partnerships with the communities in which indigenous students live.

Currently, most teachers in Taiwan’s indigenous primary and secondary schools are non- indigenous, young, newly graduated, and inexperienced in teaching, knowledge and understanding of indigenous culture. It is not hard to understand that in school, besides using the same teaching materials used by non-indigenous students, Taiwan’s indigenous students are also mostly instilled with knowledge based on non-indigenous cultural values. No wonder then that indigenous students overwhelmingly underachieve. A census67 of indigenous education in Taiwan (行政院原住民委員會全球資訊網) show that in 358 indigenous elementary and junior high schools, only 129 (36%) are headed by indigenous principals, and there are only 1,035 indigenous teachers (13%). With over a

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Some research has shown that partnerships improve school results, connect parents, increase leadership skills, and promote healthy mutuality among the entire school community (P. Davies and P. Karr-Kidwell 2003, R. Foster and T. Goddard 2003, G. Spry and J. Graham 2006).

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Quote from the paper of Martha Sombo Kamara (no year) “Spry and Graham (2006) note that “community” is a key word invoked in educational circles, and an emphasis on building community in schools is fast becoming a cliché in educational circles. It is little wonder, then, that buzzwords such as “community decision making,” “community standards,” “learning communities,” “communities of practice,” (Spry and Graham 2006) and “community partnerships” are now the standard glossary of most educational institutions. P. McInerny (2002:3) defines community as “a social group with similar interests, social structures, values and life styles”. W. Boyd (1997:14), on the other hand, describes community as a site of contested interests. In this view, a community is a social democratic setting within which people have equal rights to contribute to community issues.” which people have equal rights to ontribute to community issues.”

http://www.aare.edu.au/07pap/kam07608.pdf. 67

third of indigenous school principals being indigenous people, it is reasonable to say that they should be able to contribute to the development of curricula suitable for indigenous students. Unfortunately, so far, since the government has not given the indigenous principals meaningful empowerment, compounded by the fact that the ideas about school administration held by the majority of indigenous principals come from dominant theory and practice as well as lack of funding and other factors, there are numerous obstacle to the term ‘indigenous education’ becoming a meaningful one in Taiwan.

Section 3: Attitude towards Language and Schooling

Today, centuries after colonial powers deeply implanted themselves in the territories of indigenous peoples, indigenous cultures have, under the long-term influence of mainstream culture, been transformed into something other than themselves. The aspects thus influenced include their determination to strengthen and revitalize their cultural heritage, their attitude towards using their own language, and their expectations of and efforts in schooling. Yet, in recent years, the impact of global economic development has deepened the degree of negative influence on these aspects. Such negative influences have a close causal correlation with the academic performance of indigenous students.

The concept of attitude covers cognitive, affective, and behavioral aspects. In the views of Wendy D. Bokhorst-Heng and Imelda Santos Caleon (2009) (see also Peter Garrett et al. 2003), we find the following explanation:

Language attitudes are cognitive in that they comprise beliefs about the world (e.g. proficiency in English will lead to better jobs and upward social mobility). They are affective in that they involve feelings about the language. They are also ‘systematically linked to behaviour, because they predispose us to act in a certain way.’ (Bokhorst-Heng and Caleon 2009:235)

It is evident that the attitudes held by indigenous students towards learning indigenous languages in schools and towards receiving schooling, as well as the views of the dominant government and non-indigenous people towards the use of indigenous languages by indigenous people plus the academic achievement of indigenous students, are all serious factors that affect the development of indigenous education.