Reclaiming - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Reclaiming

Reconciliation through Community Education for the Muslims and Tamilsof post-war Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Ross Duncan (University of Amsterdam)

Mieke

Lopes Cardozo (University of Amsterdam

)

16

th

September 2015Slide2

“It is important not to forget [the war].....and make the same mistakes as our parents’ generation. To prevent this from happening again, it begins with the schools…the children must not be poisoned. Yet, we are not prepared to stop this

[war] from happening again.” 15 year-old Muslim secondary school studentSlide3

(Post-) Conflict Context of Sri Lanka

Multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-lingual South Asian countryThe 26 year civil war (1983-2009) – Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) 'Tamil Tigers' vs. Sri Lankan Army (SLA)Current militarisation in Tamil-dominated North

through authoritarian

and Sinhalese

ethnicised

stat

eThe Northern Muslims – “the forgotten minority” displacement of 15,000 Muslims from Jaffna in 1990 by LTTE What role can education play in such post-war reconciliation and peacebuilding?Introduction of official peace education in 1991 with a increasing focus on Sinhala and Tamil languages, and emphasis upon teaching the values of democracy and citizenshipSlide4

Methodological & Theoretical Foundations

Ethnographic study of two ethno-religious groups: Northern Sri Lankan Tamils (Hindu & Catholics) and Sri Lankan Moors (Muslims) with research conducted in 3 urban secondary state schools within the city of Jaffna: Islamic school, Tamil-Catholic school, Tamil-Hindu

school

Methodology incorporating Dale’s (1999; 2000; 2005) theory of the 'Politics of Education',

and multi-level

framework advocated by

Novelli and Smith (2011) acknowledging the need to examine not only educational discourseAnalytical framework inspired by Fraser’s (1995; 2005) dimensions of social justice: Recognition, Representation and RedistributionNovelli

, Lopes Cardozo and Smith

(2015) ‘

4R’ framework to include

Reconciliation to

facilitate sustainable peacebuilding

in

conflict or post-conflict

societiesSlide5

1st Research Theme: Reproduction of structural social, political and economic injustices through education

Structural inequalities of Sri Lankan society are perceived to be perpetuating conflict between ethno-religious groups which is reflected within secondary school education

The ‘3Rs’ of

Recognition

, Representation and

Redistribution

Recognition

-

Historical grievances regarding Muslims displacement perpetuating educational exclusion and segregation

Representation

-

identity-based conflict regarding political representation in secondary schools

Re

distribution

-

educational inequality and uneven distribution of resources between schoolsSlide6

2nd Research Theme: The ‘4th

R’ of multi-scalar Reconciliation

Through multi-scalar analysis peace education is perceived by respondents not to be addressing the needs of communities (no implementation, training, funding, resources)

Supra-community

-

Sinhalese history bias, second national language

, no discussion of 1983-2009 war

Inter-community

-

peace education does not address unresolved Tamil

(Hindu and Catholic)-

Muslim religious identity-driven

conflict

Intra-community

-

physiological

needs of war-affected students

neglected, Muslim students negatively impacted by displacementSlide7

3rd Research Theme: Teacher, student and community agency for ethno-religious reconciliation

Agency of teachers – discussion of human rights, critical of GoSL and LTTE, free speech in the classroom, alternative curriculum

Agency

of students

- question selective narratives of the past and prevent the neglect and marginalisation of minority Muslim and Tamil culture and

history

Agency of external actors –individuals and CBOs from both Muslim and Tamil communities - inter-religious reconciliation through cross-community engagement, collaboration and participation days.

In light of perceived failings of official peace education, alternative forms of social justice-based, bottom-up and ‘unofficial’ peace education has emerged through community and individual agency, predominantly for Tamil-Muslim reconciliation, although impeded by militarisationSlide8

Conclusions and Recommendations

Official education is perceived to be the embodiment of the negative face of education through enforced segregation, ethnic bias of the curriculum, and repression of critical thinking and debateCommunity-led and non-formal educational initiatives are viewed as positive face of education through

the desegregation of ethno-religious groups, and the teaching of democratic principles and one’s own

culture

Peace

education is too narrowly focused on the ethnic problem at the

national-level; research on the role of Muslims within post-war reconciliation and rebuilding; and the reasons for increasing conflict between the four main religious groups using 4R frameworkImplementation - greater GoSL support to implement peace education and to expand the policy country-wide to prevent a sense of injustice and perception that peace education lacks political will De-segregation - Increase inter-ethnic and inter-religious events through both unofficial and official channels Curriculum - greater local involvement in peace education policy through a consultation process (teachers and students) allowing for participation and empowerment. Creation of a comparative religion subject.

Peace

education cannot succeed unilaterally - without political consensus for structural reform to alter fundamental structural inequalities; specifically reduce militarisation and allow for democratic freedoms