Project Report - La Trobe University
Project Report - La Trobe University
Project Report - La Trobe University
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culture, language, traditional political<br />
system and history.<br />
With the ACED project, it is expected that<br />
teaching and learning will be more<br />
interesting and aid in the preservation of<br />
their heritage. The project is also being<br />
supported by AusAID through its<br />
Volunteers for International Development<br />
from Australia (VIDA), <strong>La</strong> <strong>Trobe</strong><br />
<strong>University</strong> through the Philippine-<br />
Australia Studies Centre (PASC), and UP<br />
Baguio via the Cordillera Studies Center<br />
(CSC).<br />
Some 21 books were published through<br />
the help of AusAID including short story<br />
books for children (with Ichananaw,<br />
Tagalog and English translations and<br />
illustrated by Ang I.N.K artists) books of<br />
songs and history, an Ichananaw<br />
dictionary, and a coffee-table book with<br />
photographs taken by the Cameron<br />
couple.<br />
ENSURING A FUTURE<br />
Before returning to Australia, Maria<br />
turned over the management of the<br />
project to ACED to make it sustainable<br />
and ensure the future of the young IPs in<br />
Kalinga.<br />
Carmela Oracion, assistant to the<br />
president for Basic Education of Ateneo<br />
de Manila <strong>University</strong> reveals that longterm<br />
plans are being set for the project<br />
which includes teacher training and<br />
performance monitoring.<br />
“We are also helping empower the<br />
principal on what steps to take to<br />
improve performance of the children and<br />
then eventually help them with access to<br />
high school. Most of the children are very<br />
gifted so we really like to provide them a<br />
good future by sending them to different<br />
high schools or maybe to Baguio for<br />
higher learning,” she explains.<br />
Indigenizing Education in a Kalinga Public School | 35<br />
However, the ongoing project is now<br />
being threatened by a major obstacle.<br />
Dawing, who has been teaching at DES<br />
since 1993, was transferred to another<br />
school. The community even made a<br />
petition for Dawing’s retention -- but to<br />
no avail.<br />
“The school is lost now because she’s not<br />
actually assigned in the school of her<br />
tribe. The project was also largely<br />
undertaken with her help so it is just right<br />
for her to be there to manage its full<br />
implementation,” Maria points out.<br />
By this time, Maria and Edwyn Cameron<br />
have already returned to Melbourne,<br />
living their lives as government employee<br />
and a doctorate student respectively. But<br />
in a few years, they intend to come back,<br />
hopefully with children in tow, to Kalinga<br />
where they found their greatest<br />
fulfillment.<br />
“It’s very rewarding to see that the people<br />
are happy with what we’ve done. I’m<br />
happy to have made wonderful friends<br />
there. I will miss the people, the hiking,<br />
the simple food of rice and eating with my<br />
hands, the coffee and conversations that<br />
go with the meal, and the language. We<br />
plan to return and raise our children<br />
there as well because the children in<br />
Kalinga have a very strong spirit. They<br />
know how to play and really enjoy but<br />
they are also very responsible and work<br />
hard to help their family,” says Maria.<br />
She hopes that through the project, the<br />
Ichananaws will be able to continue<br />
engaging themselves with the “outside<br />
world” for genuine self determination and<br />
development but at the same time, still be<br />
the ones to decide the development they<br />
want for their community.<br />
The formal turnover of instructional<br />
materials to the Ichananaw tribe was held<br />
last Friday at the Australian Embassy<br />
during its celebration of NAIDOC