Modeling Skills for Survival: Hidden Curriculum in Rural Fiji Education

• In Event: 77.057 - MTCC Roundtable Session 35
  In Roundtable Session: 77.057-10 - Professional Development Through an International Lens

Abstract

By asking the question, “How do rural iTaukei schoolteachers navigate the complexity of modernity and traditionalism in their curriculum?” the researcher engaged with six participants in exploring rural Fijian school curriculum. The researcher examined narratives of modernity and traditionalism and their meaning in both school curricula and at large in a changing society. The researcher used culturally responsive methodology for data collection along with narrative inquiry as part of this qualitative study. This methodology allowed the researcher to identify four emergent themes: (a) courage, (b) agency, (c) resilience, and (d) loyalty. Participant discussion of these themes suggests that the iTaukei educators model these traits implicitly as a part of the hidden curriculum of skills for survival in 21st century Fiji.

Author

• Elizabeth Yomantas, Pepperdine University