Schools in the rainforest Innovative indigenous edueducation in the Amazon Rainforest Foundation Norway 2009 Eva Marion Johannessen SCHOOLS IN THE RAINFOREST 1 Contents Foreword by Rainforest Foundation Norway (RFN) 4 Foreword by Operation Day’s Work (ODW) 6 Preface by the author 7 1. Introduction 8 2. Brief presentation of the projects 10 3. Global challenges and local initiatives 12 4. Indigenous education in Brazil: 15 history and recent developments By Marta Azevedo 5. Indigenous schools in the rainforest 21 6. A multicultural classroom 23 7. Teaching, learning and evaluation 28 Introbilde?????? 8. Teacher education and the teacher’s role 35 9. The school and the community 38 10. Conclusions and lessons learned 41 About the author 45 Front cover photo: Studying traditional indigenous handicraft in a class of ethno-mathematics in the Tuyuka school in Rio Negro. Photo: Beto Ricardo / ISA Class room in the Ngowêrê school in Xingu. The young pupils in the front row study numbers while the older in the back study vocabulary related to fishing. Photo: Camila Gauditano / ISA 2 SCHOOLS IN THE RAINFOREST SCHOOLS IN THE RAINFOREST 3 Rainforest Foundation Norway and educa tion projects: Why? Reading, writing and having access to formal education are al- years), was to develop an educational system which would most universally seen as unquestionably good. Illiteracy and not combine respect for the knowledge, culture, language and social having access to schools are equated with lack of development. values of each indigenous group with the provision of new skills Schools and literacy are a sign of progress. and knowledge necessary for dealing with those new challenges. The approach would have to be culturally sensitive, bilingual and Rainforest Foundation Norway does not share this view. Schools definitely innovative. and educational systems can also serve as extremely efficient mechanisms of oppression and cultural disintegration. Most of In many cases an initial step was to establish – with the help the schools that reach out to traditional communities in the of linguists – a way of putting into writing what had until then depths of the rainforest actually have this function, to a greater been a purely oral language. In no cases could we take the or lesser extent. They become instruments for making the orally official Brazilian curricula and teaching methods as the start- transmitted local knowledge irrelevant, for creating the fiction ing point. None of the projects were formally endorsed by the that what is put in writing is more important than what is not. government at the outset, although some were viewed with Badly prepared teachers from the majority culture may not have sympathy, and all of them gradually obtained materials and other so much success in teaching their ethnic minority pupils math- support from federal or state-level education authorities. In the ematics and writing, but they often succeed in shattering their end these pioneering projects became models for the official, self-esteem. When a youngster who is able to stutter his way culturally differentiated approach to indigenous education in through a written text considers himself more important than a today’s Brazil. previously respected elder, then that community is in real danger of succumbing to the pressures from the surrounding national An enormous amount of energy, creativity and sacrifice has gone society. into transforming visionary ideas into a multitude of long-term processes benefitting some 40 ethnic groups throughout the Bra- Teacher Julio Barbosa Kaxinawa in front of his class at the Kaxinawa school in the Paroá village in Acre, 1985. Skills, knowledge and mastery of the world do not depend on zilian Amazon. The true heroes of those stories are the innumera- This school was among the first that were organized by nongovernmental organizations in Brazil. Photo: Nietta formal schooling. To be convinced of that, it is enough to take a ble tireless, gifted, respectful and dedicated staff members of our Lindenberg Monte / CPI-Acre walk in the rainforest with a local youngster who has never seen Brazilian partner organizations. Fortunately, they were often able a school, and then start asking questions. On the other hand, if to find invigorating inspiration in their interactions with enthu- levels who made this all possible. Special mention must be made ing the Brazilian experience beyond Brazil. In the end, she ended you live in the rainforest, reading, writing and becoming familiar siastic indigenous teachers who were not only receiving training, of the ODW Project Council, which has meticulously studied up writing this book herself, in dialogue and discussions with the with the knowledge systems of the Western world may also be but who used the training courses to become authors and artists, annual plans, budgets, reports and accounts for all the projects Brazilian demographer Marta Azevedo, who for several years also important, even necessary, instruments for defending your own developing new teaching materials for their own village schools. as long as there remained a single Norwegian krone in the ODW served as a highly competent coordinator for one of the projects rights and interests. It all depends on the way it is done – and project account. Our thanks also to the Norwegian Agency for being evaluated. Eva has, with great pedagogical skills, managed the kinds of challenges that your community is facing. It is a tribute to Norwegian youth and to the amazing interna- Development Cooperation, Norad, for their generous willingness to present four complex and diverse projects in a way that is tional solidarity and fund-raising campaign called “Operation to extend that period, by providing co-funding when ODW funds easy to read, highlights lessons learned, but also challenges, and When Rainforest Foundation Norway, as a small and recently Day’s Work – ODW”, organized and administered by Norwegian were running low, thereby enabling more indigenous teachers to stimulates reflection. created organization, started to engage in education projects for secondary school students themselves for more than 40 years, complete a full training cycle and more villagers to benefit from indigenous peoples in Brazil in 1992, it was not because we felt that the projects described in this book could be realized. They these innovative projects. It is our hope that this book can be an inspiration for educators, that education was inherently good or necessary. It was because would simply not have been possible without the consistent, NGOs and governments in other countries – especially those with many indigenous communities, as well as their pro-indigenous long-term funding provided by the ODW campaigns in 1992 and First of all, although I’ve saved this till last, I wish to thank the culturally distinct indigenous peoples or other ethnic minorities. supporters, expressed the need to handle the interaction with 1997. On behalf of Rainforest Foundation Norway and our Brazil- author of this book, Eva Marion Johannessen. As the Norwegian and the pressures from the outside world in a better way. Our ian partner organizations I wholeheartedly thank all those who team member on four international third-party evaluations of ambition, together with our Brazilian partner organizations gave the income of their day’s work to these projects, as well as Rainforest Foundation Norway’s indigenous education projects in (some of them already involved in such projects for several all those unpaid organizers at the school, district and national Brazil, Eva became so inspired that she launched the idea of tak- Director, Rainforest Foundation Norway 4 SCHOOLS IN THE RAINFOREST SCHOOLS IN THE RAINFOREST 5 Preface The main ideas in this book have been developed through numer- ous conversations with the demographer Dr. Marta Azevedo, in Brazil and in Norway. We first met in 2003, when she was the coordinator of the Rio Negro project. She has been involved in indigenous education ever since she was a young student. My thanks to Marta for sharing her vast knowledge with me, for inspiring discussions, for encouraging and critical comments, and also for writing the chapter on the recent history of indigenous education in Brazil. The support of Lars Løvold and Torkjell Leira of the Rainforest Foundation Norway has made the production of the book pos- sible. Finally, my thanks to the Norwegian youth initiative, Operation Day’s Work (ODW), which has financed the writing of the book. Although Marta has read and commented on the chapters, I myself am responsible for any errors or shortcomings. Eva Marion Johannessen Oslo, March 2009 Yanomami girls in the Demini village. Rainforest Foundation Norway has supported the Yanomami education project since 1997. Photo: Thomas Nilsson / VG Schools in the rainforest has the right and opportunity to education, ODW is an attempt used some of the experiences in developing a model for indig- Editor: Torkjell Leira Design: Speed Design to show solidarity with those that are not as fortunate. enous education in general. More recently, the successes of the One day of solidarity Print: Grøset Rainforest Foundation Norway’s work has led to great interest On 23rd of October 1997, 180.000 pupils entered the streets, And it works! far beyond some few education projects. The current debate on Published by Rainforest Foundation Norway with financial support from Operation Day’s Work gardens, homes and workplaces all across Norway to do one climate and forests and the immense importance of preserving day’s labor. Instead of attending regular class, they chose to earn ODW 1997 contributed to funding education for underprivileged what is left of the Amazon Rainforest, clearly shows the signifi- Rainforest Foundation Norway money to support education of indigenous people in Brazil. By indigenous peoples in the Amazon, at a time when few others cance of supporting the people who actually live there. Grensen 9 b would.