Tove Skutnabb-Kangas and Robert
Dunbar
Guovdageaidnu/Kautokeino
Gáldu, Resource Centre for the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples (http://www.galdu.org) (2010)
Back cover text and
List of contents
Back cover:
Indigenous Children’s Education as
Linguistic Genocide and a Crime Against Humanity? A Global View
(in press,
Guovdageaidnu/ Kautokeino: Gáldu, Resource Centre for the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples, www.galdu.org) is written by Tove Skutnabb-Kangas
(sociolinguist and educationist) and Robert Dunbar (human rights lawyer).
The book builds on two Expert papers
for the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. As the title
shows, the book investigates to what extent educational methods for
Indigenous/Tribal and minority children which use a dominant language as the
means of instruction can give rise to international criminal liability on the
part of States which use such forms of education, within the meaning of the
United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of
Genocide and under the concept of crimes against humanity. These methods of subtractive education very
frequently result in the degradation and even loss of competence in the mother
tongue and also inadequate acquisition of the dominant language, with severe
consequences for these children. This contributes to language shift, and thus
to the disappearance of the world’s linguistic diversity (and, through this,
also disappearance of biodiversity). Using insights drawn from education,
sociolinguistics, psychology, anthropology, sociology, political science and economics,
as well as the law, and drawing on a wealth of evidence from around the world,
the book shows that this kind of education intentionally aims at alienating
these children from their own languages and cultures and assimilating them into
the dominant culture. Such education also can and often does cause both
physical and mental serious harm to them, with consequences that can last for
generations. We show that such forms of education are completely inconsistent
with educational and other rights of Indigenous/Tribal peoples and minorities,
as well as frustrating the satisfaction of other important international
obligations, and that the very severe consequences for the lives of those
affected raise serious issues of international criminality. The education is
also organised in contradiction with solid research evidence. The book also
answers the question what forms of education would be consistent with law and
research, and ends with concrete recommendations.
List of
contents
List
of abbreviations
Foreword
2.1.
Introduction
2.2.
The Right to Education
2.3.
Interaction of the Right to
Education and the Principle of Non-
Discrimination
2.4.
Instruments and Provisions
Specifically Directed at Minorities and
Indigenous
and Tribal Peoples
2.5.
Instruments to Which
Appropriate ITM Education Would Make a
Significant
Contribution
3.1.
Mother tongues – some
definitions
3.2.
The importance of
languages/mother tongues: Indigenous
voices
3.3.
Reifying? Essentialising?
Romanticising? Arguments belittling
mother tongues/languages, and some
counterarguments
3.4.
Linguicism and
hierarchisation
4.1.
Goals in ITM education
4.2.
Non-models and weak models
of bilingual education do not reach
the goals; they harm ITM children and
promote language shift
4.2.1.
Summary
of prototypes for bi-/multilingual education
4.2.2.
Deficiency-based
theorising and assimilation
4.2.3.
Presentation
of non-models and weak models of
bi/multilingual
education
4.2.4.
Assessing
the non-models and weak models
4.3.
Force as means of control
in ITM education: “sticks”, “carrots” and
ideas
4.4.
Educational, social, physical and psychological consequences of
submersion education
5.1.
ITM education and poverty
5.2.
Do states act rationally in
ITM education?
5.2.1.
Are
states following research recommendations?
5.2.2.
Moral
considerations arguments and welfare considerations
arguments – what does
supporting ITM languages cost?
5.2.3.
MLE,
high-level multilingualism and creativity – the causal
chain
5.2.4.
The
ecolinguistic relationship between linguistic and
cultural
diversity and biodiversity
8.1.
How should ITM education be
organised on the basis of research
results?
8.1.1.
Change
of ideology from forced homogenisation through
assimilation to
enrichment-based theorising and real
integration
8.1.2.
Presentation
of strong models for the education of both ITM
and
dominant group children
8.1.3.
Presentation
of some concrete positive projects
8.2.
Assessing the leading
principles for strong models: Towards
recommendations
8.3.
Recommendations for ITM
education
References
Notes