This case study of Lamotrek Atoll with comparative analysis of the literature on the Trukic cont... more This case study of Lamotrek Atoll with comparative analysis of the literature on the Trukic continuum is an attempt to describe traditional education in Micronesia with the purpose of identifying traditional schooling pedagogies not unlike those found in modern schooling institutions. Information concerning traditional educational processes and practices in Micronesia has long been a neglected area of study. In general, these subjects have been dealt with in superficial terms, following a pattern wherein traditional education in Micronesia is described primarily as an informal process with some formal training of specialists such as navigators and canoe builders. There has been no in-depth survey of traditional educational practices, no assessment of their collective meaning, nor any reconstruction of the processes by which Micronesians were formally educated before foreign-introduced schooling systems assumed a dominant role in the region. The void in the education literature on traditional schooling in Micronesia rests partly on the informal-formal dichotomy which writers have been using to describe educational processes and practices. Using La Belle's theoretical model of formal, nonformal, and informal educational relationships, field data on traditional educational pedagogies was collected on Lamotrek Atoll. Field methodology included participant-observation and formal and informal interviews conducted in the Lamotrekese language. The primary field "site" for sampling information consisted of master-teachers of specialized skills who were recognized in the Lamotrekan community as having rong "sacred knowledge." The secondary field "site" for sampling consisted of the apprentice-learners who were receiving this knowledge. The results of this study suggest that formal traditional schooling pedagogies in Micronesia similar to those found in modern schooling institutions are most clearly manifested at the level of high-ranking professions represented by "taboo men." In the past, the guilds or specializations on Lamotrek which were represented by "taboo men" included navigation, weather control, and divination, with the possible addition of martial arts. Nonformal schooling pedagogies were found for the specializations of canoe building, canoe restoration, house restoration, and healing by massage. Evidence in this study strongly suggests that a non-Western, model-based configuration of traditional formal and nonformal schooling still exists in Lamotrekan society in the specialization of navigation for the former and in all of the specializations for the later.
This case study of Lamotrek Atoll with comparative analysis of the literature on the Trukic cont... more This case study of Lamotrek Atoll with comparative analysis of the literature on the Trukic continuum is an attempt to describe traditional education in Micronesia with the purpose of identifying traditional schooling pedagogies not unlike those found in modern schooling institutions. Information concerning traditional educational processes and practices in Micronesia has long been a neglected area of study. In general, these subjects have been dealt with in superficial terms, following a pattern wherein traditional education in Micronesia is described primarily as an informal process with some formal training of specialists such as navigators and canoe builders. There has been no in-depth survey of traditional educational practices, no assessment of their collective meaning, nor any reconstruction of the processes by which Micronesians were formally educated before foreign-introduced schooling systems assumed a dominant role in the region. The void in the education literature on traditional schooling in Micronesia rests partly on the informal-formal dichotomy which writers have been using to describe educational processes and practices. Using La Belle's theoretical model of formal, nonformal, and informal educational relationships, field data on traditional educational pedagogies was collected on Lamotrek Atoll. Field methodology included participant-observation and formal and informal interviews conducted in the Lamotrekese language. The primary field "site" for sampling information consisted of master-teachers of specialized skills who were recognized in the Lamotrekan community as having rong "sacred knowledge." The secondary field "site" for sampling consisted of the apprentice-learners who were receiving this knowledge. The results of this study suggest that formal traditional schooling pedagogies in Micronesia similar to those found in modern schooling institutions are most clearly manifested at the level of high-ranking professions represented by "taboo men." In the past, the guilds or specializations on Lamotrek which were represented by "taboo men" included navigation, weather control, and divination, with the possible addition of martial arts. Nonformal schooling pedagogies were found for the specializations of canoe building, canoe restoration, house restoration, and healing by massage. Evidence in this study strongly suggests that a non-Western, model-based configuration of traditional formal and nonformal schooling still exists in Lamotrekan society in the specialization of navigation for the former and in all of the specializations for the later.
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The void in the education literature on traditional schooling in Micronesia rests partly on the informal-formal dichotomy which writers have been using to describe educational processes and practices. Using La Belle's theoretical model of formal, nonformal, and informal educational relationships, field data on traditional educational pedagogies was collected on Lamotrek Atoll. Field methodology included participant-observation and formal and informal interviews conducted in the Lamotrekese language. The primary field "site" for sampling information consisted of master-teachers of specialized skills who were recognized in the Lamotrekan community as having rong "sacred knowledge." The secondary field "site" for sampling consisted of the apprentice-learners who were receiving this knowledge.
The results of this study suggest that formal traditional schooling pedagogies in Micronesia similar to those found in modern schooling institutions are most clearly manifested at the level of high-ranking professions represented by "taboo men." In the past, the guilds or specializations on Lamotrek which were represented by "taboo men" included navigation, weather control, and divination, with the possible addition of martial arts. Nonformal schooling pedagogies were found for the specializations of canoe building, canoe restoration, house restoration, and healing by massage. Evidence in this study strongly suggests that a non-Western, model-based configuration of traditional formal and nonformal schooling still exists in Lamotrekan society in the specialization of navigation for the former and in all of the specializations for the later.
The void in the education literature on traditional schooling in Micronesia rests partly on the informal-formal dichotomy which writers have been using to describe educational processes and practices. Using La Belle's theoretical model of formal, nonformal, and informal educational relationships, field data on traditional educational pedagogies was collected on Lamotrek Atoll. Field methodology included participant-observation and formal and informal interviews conducted in the Lamotrekese language. The primary field "site" for sampling information consisted of master-teachers of specialized skills who were recognized in the Lamotrekan community as having rong "sacred knowledge." The secondary field "site" for sampling consisted of the apprentice-learners who were receiving this knowledge.
The results of this study suggest that formal traditional schooling pedagogies in Micronesia similar to those found in modern schooling institutions are most clearly manifested at the level of high-ranking professions represented by "taboo men." In the past, the guilds or specializations on Lamotrek which were represented by "taboo men" included navigation, weather control, and divination, with the possible addition of martial arts. Nonformal schooling pedagogies were found for the specializations of canoe building, canoe restoration, house restoration, and healing by massage. Evidence in this study strongly suggests that a non-Western, model-based configuration of traditional formal and nonformal schooling still exists in Lamotrekan society in the specialization of navigation for the former and in all of the specializations for the later.