Indigenous cultural pedagogies for the caring and teaching of young children in the Solomon Islands: A Kolombangara Island case study

Abstract

The village leaders and early childhood teachers have practised knowledge and understanding of Kolombangara indigenous cultural pedagogies in caring and teaching young children. This study explores and examines how the village leaders and early childhood teachers gain knowledge, understanding and experiences through their leadership roles care and teach young children.

It uses an interpretive theoretical lens to analyse participants’ knowledge, understanding and experiences of caring, rearing and teaching beliefs, values and practices. Data were collected through the semi-structured interviews individually and in focus groups. The key finding of the study reveals that the caring and teaching practices of young children originate from Saki Rai Takopo, wisdom from Mt. Rano crater (Koqu Rano), by god Leve the creator and the angelic beings through the creation story of the island. The wisdom is sacred and rooted in beliefs, values and ninanau (teaching practices) in the entire functioning of tribes and families in Kolombangara society. It was handed down from the ancestors to the people through generations. The implication of this study is an agent to revitalise and strengthen the worthy indigenous cultural pedagogies in pre-primary curriculum framework as part of the current constitutional reform of the Solomon Islands education system.