Project Report - La Trobe University

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Below: children in Tu-u-an, one of the puroks of Chananaw. Opposite: the view from the house in which we were hosted by our friends Agom (Arlene) Dawing and Gaspar Dawing, which looks out across the village to some of the houses in Lappi, another purok in Chananaw. The houses are placed on a steeply ascending slope, so everyone has a good view from their porches or balconies. Indigenizing Education in a Kalinga Public School | 6 In April 2008, a mutual friend introduced us to Chananaw: Tim Andrews, another Australian. Tim was studying at Ateneo de Manila University on a student exchange from La Trobe University. He had made friends with Chananaw locals (‘Ichananaws’) by chance while travelling months earlier with a friend in the Cordilleras. The Ichananaws Tim met made such an impression on him that he returned to Chananaw for several more visits. Before leaving the Philippines at the end of his six-month student exchange, Tim took Edwin with him to Chananaw on his final visit. Edwin returned three weeks later with Maria. At that stage, we had no intention of working with the Ichananaw tribe, as we were both busy with our respective commitments in Manila. But it was the seeds of friendship sown in those initial visits that later blossomed to bear the fruit of our five-months’ work. During our August 2008 visit to Chananaw, Fargwog (Daniel) Aga-id – friend, tribal elder and retired school teacher – invited us to stay in Chananaw for one year to help the Ichananaw document their ‘life system’ so that they would be able to pass their cultural heritage on to the tribe’s future generations. We weren’t able to dedicate a year, but we offered the first five months of 2009, after Maria would have completed her work at Ateneo and Edwin would have completed a year’s research in Manila. Edwin decided to take a fivemonth break from his PhD to work on the project. From the seed of Fargwog’s initial invitation, and through many conversations with our friends in Chananaw over cups of sweet coffee, we designed a five-month project to document the Ichananaw’s way of life and to develop ‘indigenized’ educational materials for use in Dananao Elementary School, their local public school, as the means for passing cultural heritage to the next generation.
The project at a glance Timeframe Project duration: 5 months Project start: mid February 2009 Project end: mid July 2009 Location The upland-living members of the indigenous Ichananaw tribe live in the remote, small (104 families, a population of 600-700 inhabitants) wholly indigenous community of Chananaw (formally known as ‘Dananao’), located in the mountains of Kalinga Province, Cordillera Administrative Region, Northern Luzon. Luzon is the largest island in the Philippine archipelago. No road accessible by vehicles reaches the village and there is no electricity supply. A cash economy is almost non-existent within the village since the community practices subsistence farming. Our project was largely carried out in both Chananaw and Manila, with short stints in provincial centers across the Cordilleras like Baguio, Bontoc and Tabuk. Key individuals The Aussies � Maria Cameron – overall project manager, educational materials developer, cultural documenter � Edwin Wise – educational materials developer, networking advisor The Ichananaws � Agom (Arlene) Dawing – project supervisor in Chananaw � Fargwog (Daniel) Aga-id – key tribal elder involved in the project � Apalis (Ombin) Abaggoy – became Maria and Edwin’s unofficial ‘local counterpart’ as the project unfolded The Ateneans � Carmela Oracion – project director at the Ateneo Center for Educational Development � Mai Francia – project officer at Ateneo Center for Educational Development Key organizations � Dananao Elementary School – the project’s official ‘target beneficiary’ (the recipient of the educational materials developed), official host organization for Maria and Edwin in Chananaw � Ateneo Center for Educational Development, Ateneo de Manila University – key organization partnering with Dananao Elementary School for the development of indigenized educational materials � Philippines Australia Studies Centre, La Trobe University – supported Maria and Edwin in their work on the project by granting each of them Honorary Research Fellow status � AusAID-funded Volunteering for International Development from Australia – supported Maria and Edwin as volunteers hosted by Dananao Elementary School for their work on the project � Direct Aid Program, Australian Government – funded the printing of the educational materials developed, from a small grants program managed by the Australian Embassy in Manila � Ang Ilustrador ng Kabataan (Ang INK) – 17 members of the Philippines’ premier children’s book illustrators’ association voluntarily illustrated several of the educational materials developed � Art Angel Printshop – printed all educational materials developed, volunteered graphic layout for several of the educational materials � Cordillera Studies Center, University of the Philippines Baguio – granted Edwin Research Affiliate status, provided links and contacts to assist in the collection of secondary materials
Page 1 and 2: Project Report Indigenizing Educati
Page 3 and 4: Chananaw is surrounded by terraced
Page 5: Once upon a time… Project backgro
Page 9 and 10: Arranging support Obtaining funding
Page 11 and 12: At the forefront of our mind was ou
Page 13 and 14: Maria drafted the written English t
Page 15 and 16: The tangible results Project output
Page 17 and 18: The intangible results Project outc
Page 19 and 20: issues. It is possible that the net
Page 21 and 22: Thank yous and goodbyes Project han
Page 23 and 24: Friends first Probably the single m
Page 25 and 26: What challenged us? The main challe
Page 27 and 28: Publishing for a wider audience? Al
Page 29 and 30: Appendices Project schedule and pro
Page 31 and 32: Appendix 2. Philippine Daily Inquir
Page 33 and 34: materials suited to the needs and c
Page 35 and 36: culture, language, traditional poli
Page 37 and 38: Appendix 4. Connect Magazine articl
Page 39 and 40: centers and pre-schools across the

Project Report - La Trobe University

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