Project Report - La Trobe University

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How did we go? <strong>Project</strong> evaluation Gaspar Dawing sings a song he composed some years ago about Chananaw (included in our book Ichananaw Songs and Stories). His daughter Karen (Irish Grace) Dawing stands nearby, listening to the song. Our digital voice recorder sits atop a pile of books, recording Gaspar’s song. Indigenizing Education in a Kalinga Public School | 22 Now, with hindsight, we can sit back and reflect on how the entire project measured up against our initial hopes. Overall, we, and everyone else involved, it seems, are very pleased with the entire project. We managed to create, produce and present to the Dananao Elementary School a suite of high quality educational materials, all in a relatively short time. Sixty-seven individuals from across four countries directly contributed to these materials, with many more providing indirect support. Most importantly, the educational materials are a considerable first step towards documenting the Ichananaw’s rich cultural heritage to assist its transmission to the tribe’s future generations. We initiated a series of partnerships between the Ichananaw and various sectors of the Philippine and Australian communities which already show promise to continue in the project’s wake. We parted with the community on good terms, with some tribe members, who may have been initially suspicious of the project and our underlying intentions, expressing their gratitude for what we’d done and inviting us to return for further work. This is important as it sets a positive precedent for future involvement we (or others connected to us) may have with the Ichananaw. Also, as we’d hoped, the five months has opened up several new avenues for further engagements both by ourselves and others. Why was it so successful? Given the apparent success of the project, we think it is worth asking: why were we able to pull it off in such a short time, and with what some may consider limited resources? This has been valuable for us to consider simply for ourselves, but may also hold useful lessons for others conducting similar community development or social research projects. The following are what we consider to be the main factors contributing to the success of the project:
Friends first Probably the single most important factor is that we were friends with the Ichananaw first, and the friendships counted (and still count) for more than any aspect of our formal work. The project was only conceived in the context of trust and friendship, which was formed in turn through a series of visits to Chananaw. So we were friends with our Ichananaw project supervisor, and other key people with whom we worked, before the project began. This meant that there were no relationship issues or personality clashes to negotiate. And at a deeper level, our personal relationships established with the Ichananaw translated into long-term commitment to doing our very best by the community in terms of the project, always keeping in mind potential long-term implications of our actions. Respecting the community’s wishes We were doing something that was actually requested by the beneficiaries of our project. This was important to us in principle, but also had useful consequences in practice. We didn’t need to ‘win’ the community over to get them involved – everyone we interacted with was enthusiastic to participate and all involvement was volunteered. It also meant that all aspects of the project were considered important by the community. In practical terms, we couldn’t have done anything without community support and participation: the Ichananaws’ involvement was essential to most aspects of our work on a daily basis. Also, during the course of the project, we allowed the community’s wishes and interests to direct our activities. For example, the development of the four-way dictionary came about largely in response to the strong community sentiment that it would be a useful resource not just for the school but for the entire community. Flexible about everything… We were flexible. Flexible about what we wanted to achieve (we adjusted our ‘wish list’ of project outputs many times, without worrying about not meeting any preconceived ideas of what we wanted to produce), flexible about our roles (we ‘filled in’ for each other when necessary or convenient), flexible about our location (we moved between Chananaw, Manila and across the Cordilleras as needed), flexible about the resources available to us (we were prepared to make do without funding for publishing if the grant Indigenizing Education in a Kalinga Public School | 23 To top off our project presentation and celebration in Chananaw on July 3, 2009, Maria sings a song she composed in Chinananaw to a common salidummay melody. The song tells of our time in Chananaw, our plans to return in a few years, and thanks the Ichananaw for the shared experience of the last five months. Good friend and supervisor Agom (Arlene) Dawing supports Maria by singing with her, while Edwin stands by for moral support.
Page 1 and 2: Project Report Indigenizing Educati
Page 3 and 4: Chananaw is surrounded by terraced
Page 5 and 6: Once upon a time… Project backgro
Page 7 and 8: The project at a glance Timeframe P
Page 9 and 10: Arranging support Obtaining funding
Page 11 and 12: At the forefront of our mind was ou
Page 13 and 14: Maria drafted the written English t
Page 15 and 16: The tangible results Project output
Page 17 and 18: The intangible results Project outc
Page 19 and 20: issues. It is possible that the net
Page 21: Thank yous and goodbyes Project han
Page 25 and 26: What challenged us? The main challe
Page 27 and 28: Publishing for a wider audience? Al
Page 29 and 30: Appendices Project schedule and pro
Page 31 and 32: Appendix 2. Philippine Daily Inquir
Page 33 and 34: materials suited to the needs and c
Page 35 and 36: culture, language, traditional poli
Page 37 and 38: Appendix 4. Connect Magazine articl
Page 39 and 40: centers and pre-schools across the

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