Monday, July 22, 2013
Reflection on Samoan Education:
Throughout my readings of different indigenous cultures throughout the world, I find that sometimes influence from missionary groups or European culture isn't always the best thing for some people. The fact that Samoans had to learn a written language that had never been a part of their culture before may be seen as a good thing to some people, but it could also have had negative effects on their culture. Because of the way school and education was established in Samoa, it appears that there is a discrepancy between the way that the Department of Education would like to raise the youth, and the way the villages would like to raise the youth. Certain groups of people are not getting the education they deserve, while others are being pushed into a system that they do not want to be a part of. Samoan education is infamous for having low standards, and that could have a lot to do with the wide division between primary school and secondary schools. It appears that people are not given equal opportunities to pursue education.
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ReplyDeleteWhile we are taught that a structured education with classes that have rigorous curriculum will prepare us for the real world, we must understand that this is only ideal for our society. American society practices an autonomous model of literacy because students are taught that success correlates to a strong sense of literacy. The kind of mentality children develop here facilitates the success of students in the future, however this is not the case in Samoa. This method of learning has proved to suppress the interest of the Samoan youth in education. Polynesians of Samoa grew up in a society where experience in cultivating and preserving the natural resources of their country was prioritized. The missionaries that initially confronted the people of Samoa failed to see this and drastically changed the culture of the Samoan Islands with their ethnocentric beliefs. It is important to approach cultures that are different that ours with cultural relativity, because some things that we value are not valued by the Samoans. Although education could be argued to be important by the Department of Education, preserving the land and teaching children the story of their people is far more important to traditional villages. The missionaries from London failed to recognized this and instilled their beliefs on Samoan culture.
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