DOCUMENT RESUME ED 313 269 SO 019 139 AUTHOR Carrier, James G. TITLE Education and Society in a Manus Village. ERU Report No. 47. INSTITUTION Papua New Guinea Univ., Port Moresby. Educational Research Unit. PUB DATE May 84 NOTE 119p. AVAILABLE FROM Educational Research Unit, Box 320 University P.O., University of Papua New Guinea, Papua New Guinea. PUB TYPE Reports - Research/Technical (143) EDRS PRICE MF01 Plus Postage. PC Not Available from EDRS. DESCRIPTORS Case Studies; *Cultural Context; Economic Factors; Educational Anthropology; *Educational Envircnment; *Educational Sociology; Elementary Secondary Education; Foreign Countries; *School Community Relationship; Schools; Social Influences; Socioeconomic Background; *Socioeconomic Influences IDENTIFIERS *Papua New Guinea ABSTRACT This report uses the case of Ponam Island to show the sorts of social and economic factors that have influenced one village's response to schooling. These factors appear to have been important in affecting the relative success of educational programs in Ponam. Findings suggest that researchers and policy makers concerned with education need to pay attention to the ways villagers respond to formal education. The first section constitutes a discussion of the changes in the economic position of Ponam Island, and Manus more generally, brought about by colonization and the current economic position of Ponam itself. It is shown that important influences on Ponam's relationship to schooling are broad social and economic forces. In the second section, the author looks at the beliefs, practices, and values of Ponam society and the ways these shape and reflect islanders' response to education. Islanders see no conflict of importance between the reasons for success in school and the reasons for success in village life. Ponam's use of the sorts of practical knowledge and skills which might be taught in a more vocationally oriented curriculum shows that in attempts at village improvement or development through education, cons:deration needs to be given not just to the sorts of skills that villagers would have to acquire to improve their lives, but also to the social factors affecting the use of those skills. A 69-item bibliography is included. (JB) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** EDUCATION AND SOCIETY IN A MANUS VILLAGE U It DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Flosesrch and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) y,This document has been reproduced is received from the person or organization unginating it 0 Minor changes have teen made to improve repriduction quality Points of view or opinions stated in this docu- ment do not necessarily represent official OE RI position or pc4icy "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL IN MICROFICHE ONLY HAS BEEN GRANTED BY SHEI_Do w s TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)" ...11011111., pi/ ERU REPORT NO. 47 University of Papua New Guinea 0 2 stS1 COPY AVAILABLE, ABSTRACT This report uses thecase of Ponam Island to show the sorts of social and economic factors whichhave influenced one village's response to schooling. These factors appear to have been impor- tant in affecting the relative success of educational programs in Ponam. Findings suggest that researchersand policymakers con- cerned with education need topay attention to the ways villagers respond to formal education. The first main section constitutes a discussion of the changes in the economic position ofPonam Island, andManusmore generally, brought about by colonisationand the current economic position of Ponam itself. As is shown the important influenceson Ponam's relationship to schoolingare broad social and economic forces, particularly the relationshipbetween formal education and employment, rather than curricula and the organisation of the school system. In the second main section of thisreport, the author looks at the beliefs, practices and values ofPonam Society and the ways these shape and reflf-t islanders' response to education. Island- ers see no conflict of importance betweenthe reasons for success in school and the reasons forsuccess in village life. This means that they accept schoolingmore readily than those societies where such conflicts exist. Ponam's use of the sorts of practicalknow- ledge and skills which might be taughtin a more vocationally- or community - oriented curriculumshows that in attempts at village improvement or development througheducation consideration needs to be given not just to the sorts of skillswhich villagers would have to acquire to improve their lives,but also to the social factors affecting theuse of those skills. ERU REPORT NO, 47 EDUCATION AND SOCIETY IN A MANUS VILLAGE JAMES G. CARRIER LECTURER DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY AND SOCIOLOGY UNIVERSITY OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH UNIT UNIVERSITY OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA PORT MORESBY MAY 1984 4 Editing: Sigrid Docken Mount Word Processing: Cathy Polos Elizabeth Morove Copyright: The author and UPNG Printing: The University Printery The opinions herein are those of the author and not necessarily those of the University of Papua New Guinea. Price: K2.50/1(1.9 0 to subscribers Available from: Educational Research Unit Box 320, University P.O. University of Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea Note: All future ERU publications will be presented as a single series starting with ERU Report No. 40. The ERU will no longer publish Occasional Payers or Working Papers. ISSN No. 025-069X Registered at the General Post Office, Port Moresby for transmission by post as a qualified publication. 6 iii CONTENTS PAGE LIST OF TABLES LIST OF FIGURES vi PREFACE vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xii CHAPTER 1 Introduction. The Socolcgical Study of Education in Papua New Guinea Education Research in Papua New Guinea 2 Education from the Outside 7 SECTION ONEEducation, Economy and Society on Ponam 13 Island CHAPTER 2 A History of Ponam and Menus Province 14 by James G. Carrier and Achsah H. Carrier Pre-Colonial Economy 14 Early Colonial History 18 Reorientation and Dependence 22 Ponam Education and Migration 29 CHAPTER 3 Education, Migration and Remittance 36 Dependency on Ponam Island Ponam Economy 38 Ponam Labour Export 41 Risks and Consequences for Ponam 50 iv SECTION TWOEducation, Culture and Society on Ponam 53 Island CHAPTER 1: Taming the School: Understanding 55 Education on Ponam Island Exchange on Ponam 56 Explanations of Success in Exchange 59 Explanations of Success in Education 62 Conclusions 65 CHAPTER 5 Factors Affecting the Use of Knowledge on 67 Ponam Returned Teachers on Ponam 70 Knowledge and Society on Ponam 73 Informal Knowledge and Society on Ponam 78 Conclusions 83 CHAPTER 6 Conclusions 87 APPENDIX TO CHAPTER 1 91 APPENDIX TO CHAPTER 2 92 REFERENCES 93 LIST OF TABLES PAGE Table 1 Sociological articles in PNGJE 3 Table 2 Varieties of sociological articles in PNGJE 4 Table 3 Percent of males 17-45 absent, selected 29 villages Table 4 Migrations of living Ponam adults 31 Table 5 Education of living Ponam adults 32 Table 6 Education and migration of Ponam adults 33 Table 7 Education and job rank of migrant Ponam men 34 Table 8 Age and sex of non-resident adult Ponams 36 Table 9 Jobs of migrant Ponam adults 37 Table10 Education and labour among selected Ponam children 44 Table11 Education of living Ponam adults, comparing teachers and others, 1977 70 Table12 Education of resident male ex-teachers and their peers 71 vi LIST OF FIGURES PAGE Figure 1 Map of Manus 15 Figure 2Map of Ponam Island 30 PREFACE vi This Research Report brings together a great deal of the work I have done on schooling and its relationship to the society and economy of Ponam Island, in Manus Province. I wanted to bring this material together for a number of reasons. For one thing, I think it will be useful for researchers interested in the anthro- pology and sociology of education in Papua New Guinea to have at hand an extended case stud', which is what this report consti- tutes. The more substantial reason for preparing this report, how- ever, is rather different. As I point out in the introductory chapter, I think the study of education (a word I use in prefer- ence to both the slightly misleading 'schooling' and the ponderous 'formal education') in Papua New Guinea seems blind to what I think is an extremely important aspect of education: the relation- ship of education with its host society. This blindness is not, I should add, peculiar to education research. Anthropologists too in this country generally have been unwilling to paymuch aLten- tion to education, perhaps feeling that it is not of sufficient anthropological moment to merit serious attention. On the other hand, they might have been put off by exposure to what is now often callei the anthropology of education, much of which consists of not much more than observations of classroom behaviour. For- tuitously, my own doctoral training in sociology led me to read in the sociology of education, particularly the relationship between social structure, educational performance, and the way members of a society account for educational success and failure. Thus I was fortunate, as it turned out, to be able to approachPonam Island and education with a sociologist's predelictions and prejudices. In any event, my main purpose in preparing this report has been to present what I hope is the beginnings of a real anthropo- logy or sociology of education in Papua New Guinea, by which I mean a study which places education in the context of the society in which it exists. This view omits a number of approaches to the study of education and society. The most important of these are the study of what goes on in classrooms, and the structure and operation of the educational institutions in the country. In omitting these I am not arguing that they are unimportant to the study of education in Papua New Guinea. However, I do think that given the current state of the field in these areas, their utility is limited.