Autonomy and Indigeneity in Taiwan's Aboriginal Education Policy

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 20
  In Roundtable Session: The Power and Possibilities for the Indigenous Good: The Importance of Indigenous Research and Praxis 2

Abstract

This study investigates how nascent education policy for Taiwan’s aboriginal people is formed and implemented and examines the concepts of autonomy and indigeneity and how they influence notions of schooling. This year-long ethnographic study incorporates interviews of policy makers and practitioners, observations of indigenous educational programming, and discourse analysis of recently produced curricula for indigenous students. Preliminary findings indicate a vibrant revitalization of indigenous education located at the intersection of grassroots participation, government policy intervention, and economic empowerment. This study offers a rebuttal to the assertion that indigenously centered education will serve to alienate indigenous students from mainstream culture. These reforms represent an exciting possibility for the perpetuation of indigenous culture within the Austronesian peoples of Taiwan.

Author

• Eric W. Layman, Kiangsu-Chekiang College