Directions

Directions: Journal of Educational Studies Pacific Curriculum Network
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Mel, Michael A.

Title: Heart and mind : the liminality of the learner in relation to education in the new millennium

Author: Mel, Michael A.
Subject:  Emotional problems of children|Periodicals
 Learning, Psychology of|Papua New Guinea
 Educational anthropology|Papua New Guinea
 Cognition
Volume: Directions: Journal of Educational Studies vol.24, no.1, 2002
Collation: p. 38-46 ;

Abstract: Classrooms in Papua New Guinea (PNG) have supported the view that since all human beings have a head (intelligence) each person should be able, with precision, (logically) to acquire knowledge. Logic has been equated with intelligence. Areas of knowledge that were built on logic have been given significance in the curriculum, while those that seemingly have little to do with logic have been pushed aside. The enterprise of education – processes of knowledge acquisition and creation – needs to move beyond the confines of logic as being equivalent to intelligence. To claim that all logic is intelligence is at best illogical and at worst irrational. There is a need to recognise that the human condition does not learn and live on logic alone. Emotions, or matters of the heart, have long been seen as the enemy of logic, or effective thinking. The two – logic and emotions – have been separated as entities. In my paper I propose that there is a need for a major shift away and beyond this mind set. If education in PNG and around the world is about integral human development and is based on knowledge from within our own cultures as much as from without, then the need to go beyond logic and sensibilities as separate entities or domains of knowledge is paramount.

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Title: Shifting cultures : Mbu - a proposal for pluri-cultural perspective to culture in education in Papua New Guinea

Author: Mel, Michael A.
Subject:  Education|Papua New Guinea
 Multicultural education|Papua New Guinea
 Educational anthropology|Papua New Guinea
Volume: Directions: Journal of Educational Studies no.45, vol.23, no.2, 2001
Collation: p. 70-90 ;

Abstract: The erosion of Pacific cultures by western influences is an issue that has given rise to much concern. Many feel that one way of preserving indigenous cultures is to teach them in school. In Papua New Guinea, there is a strong desire to cling to the various cultures and develop curricula that are responsive to each culture. So writes Michael Mel, but he himself believes this can become counter-productive to promoting multi-culturalism in PNG. Students should be given the opportunity to learn about other cultures, as well as their own.

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