Indigenous adult women, learning and social justice: Challenging deficit discourses in the current policy environment

Acharya, Sushan, Jere, Catherine ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7934-3951 and Robinson-Pant, Anna ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3989-2272 (2019) Indigenous adult women, learning and social justice: Challenging deficit discourses in the current policy environment. Studies in the Education of Adults, 51 (2). pp. 268-289. ISSN 0266-0830

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Abstract

Indigenous education engages directly with an overtly politicised process of knowledge construction, recognising and building on existing skills and informal learning practices within communities. Given the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda’s emphasis on social justice and gender equality, this paper sets out to explore what indigenous movements can offer in terms of developing an alternative approach to adult learning based on a rights perspective. The article compares documentary analysis of policy on indigenous women and adult education internationally with a case study of indigenous movements and government policy in Nepal. The analysis reveals that international policy recognises indigenous women as a particularly marginalised group, but is not informed by a transformative notion of empowerment nor consideration of the implications of indigenous knowledge for mainstream education. In Nepal, indigenous federations and the government non formal education programmes similarly aim to impart skills for a modernised economy. However women’s indigenous movements are committed to developing capabilities and creating new spaces for indigenous women to engage in political debate and representation. This politicised informal learning offers insights for developing the cross-sectoral rights-based adult education envisaged in the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Issue: Indigenous Women and Adult Learning
Uncontrolled Keywords:	indigenous women,informal learning,nepal,educational policy,sustainable development,sdg 5 - gender equality ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/gender_equality
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Global Development (formerly School of International Development) Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Education and Lifelong Learning
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Literacy and Development Group
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	20 Mar 2019 15:30
Last Modified:	18 Dec 2024 01:28
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/70281
DOI:	10.1080/02660830.2019.1593307

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