By Judy Cariño-Fangloy
On August 28-31, 2019, 100 indigenous educators from schools and communities converged for the celebration of TAWID Indigenous Knowledge Learning Festival. In attendance were Department of Education (Dep Ed) officials with key roles in Indigenous Peoples Education (IPEd), teachers and principals from public and private schools, state colleges and universities. Equally represented were NGOs, peoples organizations and individual artists, writers and artisans to share their community based initiatives for the transmission of indigenous knowledge.
Indigenous Peoples Education (IPEd) in schools
Recent Philippine education policies open opportunities for the teaching of indigenous knowledge in schools. Department of Education Order 62, series of 2011, recognizes the right of indigenous peoples to culture-rooted education. Dep Ed Order 32, Series of 2015 adopts the Indigenous Peoples Education Framework that provides guidance to schools as they engage with indigenous communities in localizing, indigenizing and enhancing the curriculum.
Saint Mary’s School of Sagada, Mountain Province, under the initiative of LA Piluden, is now in their third year of doing heritage mapping, as a requirement for students in her research classes. In line with the school’s principle of student centered learning, the students are given the opportunity to go to the community, join in traditional community activities in agriculture, sleep in the dap-ay and do foot massage for the elders while interviewing them on a subject of their own choosing. These experiences show that the youth have the energy and thirsting to learn, when given a push to visit their elders. These learning activities on field are documented in fields notes and research papers which are then compiled into newsletters made available to the school and to the community.
The Department of Education has drafted a roadmap for the implementation of IPEd in the region, so that each school in each district will be able to localize, indigenize, and enhance the curriculum. However, many schools have met challenges in getting IPEd off the ground, such a limited knowledge and appreciation for IK among teachers and students; lack of contextualized learning materials; and fundamentalist religious beliefs held by teachers who are tasked to implement IPEd in the school.
Community-led initiatives for the transmission of IK
Meanwhile, outside the schools, there is a growing, vibrant movement to revitalize the indigenous culture and the values of caring for the land and community, and respect for the unseen; and to strengthen the transmission to the younger generations.
These initiatives were showcased in the TAWID Indigenous Knowledge Learning Festival. At total of fourteen Indigenous Learning Stations were set up showcasing community-led initiatives to strengthen and promote the learning of IK. These included the Schools of Living Tradition in Wangal, Trinidad, Benguet and Loakan, Baguio City; heirloom recipes and indigenous health, the traditional crafts of weaving and woodcarving; performances of indigenous music, dance and visual arts; exhibit and talks in the making of comic books and other publications; community radio and film shows. It was a grand display of the wide range of indigenous learning activities going on in communities. It showed the possibilities for youth-friendly learning, that could be adapted in schools.
Towards stronger partnerships
Teachers expressed their pleasure in being invited to the learning festival, because their questions on IPEd were answered. Many teacher participants were newly appointed as IPEd Coordinators for their school, and they said that it helped them make concrete plans for IPEd in their schools. Some principals plan to include indigenous weaving to be offered as a track in Senior High School. Many teachers found the community led initiatives inspiring and practical and to possibly adapt these for their schools.
On the other hand, the community educators saw the great potential of partnering with schools, as their initiatives could be integrated into school IPEd learning activities and thus scaled up.
All in all, it was a great learning event and the start of stronger partnerships between school based and community-led indigenous learning.
The learning festival was jointly organized by the Partners for Indigenous Knowedge Philippines (PIKP), Philippine Task Force for Indigenous People Rights (TFIP), and the Cordillera Studies Center of the University of the Philippines Baguio, with support from VOICE, a funding facility of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs.