Indigenes Wissen und Umweltbildung in neukaledonischen Geographieschulbüchern

Abstract

Indigenous knowledge is often seen as superstition and myth in schooling, granted at best a secondary epistemological status (Bishop, 2020; Black, 2017). This article explores how Indigenous Ecological Knowledge (IEK) and sustainable development are represented in New Caledonian geography textbooks and curricula. IEK has strong roots in land, sea and resource governance. In the Pacific archipelago New Caledonia, a French possession since 1853, the Indigenous Kanak represent the largest ethnic group with approximately 41% of total population. Although curricula have been adapted to the local context and teaching materials have been created, the New Caledonian school system is still French dominated. School subjects such as Biology or Geography are rarely taught in Indigenous languages.

Our case study of the only two geography textbooks that have been produced locally analyses narratives about Indigenous Kanak knowledge and environmental and sustainability education. We ask how environmental and sustainability knowledge is represented in geography textbooks. What didactic approaches do they take? And to what extent Kanak knowledge, cultural practices and worldviews are taken into account in the textbooks examined?

This study is the first of its kind in New Caledonia and raises important questions for the future of New Caledonian educational media and educational policy in general. With the global climate crisis and an omnipresent mining sector in New Caledonia, issues of IEK and environmental and sustainability education are crucial for the ecological balance of the archipelago.