LOCAL KNOWLEDGE AND CULTURAL CONSCIOUSNESS – ITS RELEVANCE TO INCLUSION

Author(s):

Egil Støfring

Conference:

ECER 2009

Network:

4. Inclusive Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

04 SES 05 B, International Perspectives on Inclusive Education

Paper Session

Time:

2009-09-29

08:30-10:00

Room:

NIG, HS B

Chair:

Dianne Ferguson

Contribution

A study is done in a broad paradigm of cross cultural research, by interviews of Norwegian and South African stakeholders within education. Local knowledge and sustainability are said to be thoughts leading to ethical, empowered and fulfilled individuals. Research questions are concerned about the values behind `inclusive school` thinking. What does this mean to the informants? How relevant is local knowledge in that respect? What do they see as main challenges? During the discussion there is a focus on the perspective of local knowledge and cultural consciousness.

Method

Interviews in South Africa: A number of 18 stakeholders were selected, nine in the province of Western Cape and nine in the province of Gauteng. They were selected by a consultant at the local or regional school authorities. The only one criterion for selection was level of school system. In Norway I followed the same procedure, and the same quantity of informants, but here I put my attention at three neighbour municipalities in eastern Norway, and here too, at the national level. The persons interviewed were, teachers, directors & principals, counsellors, training and research staff in each country.

Expected Outcomes

The main results are following two lines: First of all the answers seem to reflect the ideology of the international declarations than the local and national conditions. There was a great degree of similarity was found in the answers by respondents in the two countries. The South African respondents were far more conscious of the ideological question than the Norwegian respondents. Keywords are: Democracy, equality, equity, acceptance of diversity. Especially the South African respondents, who perhaps personally had suffered under the Apartheid regime, namely the black, coloured and Indian people, were most aware of this. These respondents also highly stressed the importance for South Africa to find its own way in the future, in these questions. The importance of staff qualifications and appropriate attitudes were highly stressed in both countries. There may different explanation to this, and I will discuss some of them in the following full text paper.

References

Banteyerga, H. (1994): An alternative model in Teacher Education: The Classroom in Focus: A paper presented at the Pan-African colloquium: Educational Innovation in Post- colonial Africa. University of cape Town, Rondebosch. Brundtland, G. (1987):The world Commission on Environment and Development.Oslo: Tiden. Capra, F. (2002): The hidden connections. New York: Doubleday. Dei, G. J.S. (2002): African Development: The relevance and Implications of `Indigenousness`. In G. J. S. Dei et al. (eds.) Indigenous Knowledges in Global Contexts. Multiple Readings of Our World. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Freire, P. (1970): Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Seabury. Giroux, H. (1992): Border Crossings: Cultural Workers and the politics of education.New York, London: Routledge. Mafeje, A. (1992): African Philosophical Projections and Prospects for the Indigenisation of Political and Intellectual Discourse. Seminar Paper Series No. 7. Harare: Sapes Books. O‘Sullivan, E. (1999): Transformative Learning. Educational Vision for the 21st Century. London/N.Y.: Zed Books Schoenhoff, D.M. (1993): the Barefoot Expert: The Interface of Computerized Knowledge Systems and Indigenous Knowledge Systems. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. Stephen, S. (1996): Valuing Local Knowledge: Indigenous People and Intellectual Property Rights. Sterling, S. (2001): Sustainable education. Revisioning Learning and Change. Bristol: Green Books UFD (2004): St.meld. nr. 30 2003-04 Kultur for læring. UNESCO: (1990): World declaration on Education For All and Framework For Action to Meet Basic Learning Needs. International Consultative Forum on Education for All. Paris: UNESCO (The World Conference on Education for All. Jomtien, Tailand, 5.-9. March 1990.) UNESCO: (1994): The Salamanca World Conference on Special Needs Education: Access and Quality. Paris: UNESCO UNESCO: (2000): World Education Forum. Dakar, Senegal, 26.-28. April. Paris: UNESCO

Author Information

Egil Støfring

Lillehammer University College

Social Sciences

Lillehammer

158

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