Abstract
While herder culture continues to be a powerful symbol of the rich traditional heritage of Mongolia, many herders want their children to become “well educated” and move to urban areas rather than become herders themselves. The adoption of a standardized, urban-oriented content and pedagogy is posing a serious challenge to maintaining the herder cultural identity and Mongolia's national identity. Drawing from the concepts and literature on culturally responsive education and funds of knowledge, the authors explore an educational future for Mongolia that locates strengths in herder knowledge, values, and lifeways as a developed Third Space. This Third Space defines cultural responsiveness to Mongolian herder ways of life within national curriculum, not in the context of a static, sentimental past, but as part of a robust, attainable future for the next generation in the herder culture.
TopIntroduction
Sparkling like diamonds in the middle of the silk-like green scenery, white gers spread out along the endless steppes of Mongolia. The gers, tent-like dwellings, are homes for herder families, families who continue the age-old tradition of living in close relationship to the Land1 and its animals. Following a covenant of respect within this reciprocal relationship, life-giving sustenance is provided and cultural meaning is generated for the herder families. Beyond a lifeway for the herder people, the herder culture is represented outwardly to the world as the national identity of Mongolia (Dyer, 2022; Nichols, 2014).
Herders are defined as those deriving their income exclusively from herding (National Statistics Office of Mongolia, 2019). With more recent terminology of pastoralist categories, Mongolian herders are described as “mobile pastoralists.” That is, their movement is a “deliberate livestock strategy” (Dyer, 2022, p. 55) to ensure constant food and water for their animals. Herding animals continues to be a powerful symbol of the rich traditional heritage of Mongolia, both inside and outside of the nation (Dyer, 2022; Nichols, 2014).
Most herders enjoy living in the countryside and their living conditions, however, their difficult and continually demanding work requires constant movement with their herds of livestock (Lkhagvadorj et al., 2013). Because of the challenges they do not want their children to be herders like themselves, preferring instead their children to become “well educated” (Batsaikhan, 2021, p. 135) and move to the national capital Ulaanbaatar for employment. Thus, a formalized education is highly regarded by herder parents, with most families maintaining a deep commitment to supporting their children’s education (Lkhagvadorj et al., 2013).
Living as a herder is now considered by many as economically unstable, professionally undesirable, and risky due to environmental and climate uncertainty, in addition to being an obstacle to being well educated and successful within modern society (Batsaikhan, 2021; Krätli, 2001). The adoption of a national standardized curriculum and pedagogy, urban-oriented content and pedagogy in the country is posing a serious challenge to maintaining the herder cultural identity and Mongolia’s national identity. However, not all herders are giving into the invisibility and negation generated by national policies to become sedentary (Dyer, 2014): “Herding communities are … raising their voices to signal their concerns over relevance and quality of education provision for them” (UNESCO, 2020, p. 114).
Changes in policy to ensure that cultural relevancy is incorporated into the curriculum has the potential to improve the education of children from herder families, improve the future economic livelihood of herders, and increase the likelihood of future generations of herders continuing to be the real-life national symbol rather than a romanticized historical memory. The development and introduction into Mongolian classrooms of a strategic Third Space curriculum that integrates herder knowledge, values, and lifeways offers a powerful way to confront the ongoing oppression and negation of herder culture and abandonment of the herder way of life and livelihood.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Funds of Knowledge: Collections or bodies of historical or contemporary knowledge embraced and used by cultural groups, families, or individuals that facilitates functioning and well-being in environment or context.
Ger: A traditional Mongolia accommodation consisting of a portable tent structure used by herders for shelter (also called yurt ). A ger has a collapsible circular wooden frame that is covered with felt and heated by a small stove.
Taviul child: A child from a rural area who is living away from their family of origin in order to have access to formal education in an urban area. The host family may be grandparents, uncles or aunts—any kind of relatives— even friends of parents if the parents do not have relatives in an urban area.
Steppe: A dry, grassy plain. The grassland steppe covers 860,000 sq. kms, which is 55.4% of the country.
Soum: A rural administrative subdivision of an aimag . There are 331 soums in Mongolia.
Culturally Responsive Education: An educational approach where students’ cultural background, knowledge, experiences, and perspectives are used to teach them more effectively. The approach provides a bridge to or makes relevant academic content, instruction, school procedures and functions.
Bagh: Smallest unit of local administration in rural Mongolia. A bagh consists of around 100 households that are spread throughout a certain part of the countryside. A soum (see below) consists of 3-5 baghs .
Herder: (Herdsman, Herdswoman, plural: Herdsmen/). People who herd livestock for a living. A person or persons whose job is herding livestock and that one’s income relies solely on herding. The term herder is used in this study although it is synonym with nomad (nomads) which is also commonly used by outsiders.
Aimag: An administrative district equivalent to a province. There are 21 aimags in Mongolia.