[Draft IV] Indigenous Educational Act

[Russian Brotherhood]

Whereas the lack of education for Indigenous groups in some WA states, such as Indigenous cultures and way of life and identity being stripped away from the curriculum of some WA states. The World Assembly hereby by enacts the following:

I. Definitions

A: "Indigenous" means a heritage of people that had been living in the area before any others, they are considered to be the first people in that area. Either being first or having been related to other native populations in the same region.

B: "Reservation" is a set area of ownership for an Indigenous population, the area is established by a governing authority that has granted the land right to the Indigenous group. The main purpose is to provide a governing body, celebrate traditions, and housing for an Indigenous community.

C: "Curriculum" is a lesson plan that is regulated by an overseeing government authority, over the curriculum multiple lessons will be planned for students to learn. With a set of standards that the government authority has set in place.

D: "Semester" is an academic semester rendering half of the academic schedule of a member state.

E: "Indigenous heritage site" Is an area of land that is a historical site for a local Indigenous population, if the area of land has been

F: "Indigenous heritage events" is an event that shows the daily life of Indigenous people.

G: "Full year" is an academic full-year.

II. Curriculum Requirements

A: Grades 4-5 should teach a combined semester of Indigenous history and arts, the semester will teach students the first discovery and how the Indigenous population and their practices.

B: Grades 6-8 should be taught a full semester with students needing to pass Indigenous history. The history will teach students the history before the first meeting between the Indigenous population and settlers of the country. Students should be proficient in the subject, students must pass Indigenous history to go to the 9th grade.

C: From Grades 9-10 must teach a full year, with students having to take in 11th grade a specialized course for Indigenous History I. The course is specialized towards Indigenous history and how the impacts of their culture and historical impact on the member state.

D: Once a student has finished Indigenous History I, if the student wishes to advance in the subject they may take Indigenous History II. If the student chooses to take the next step they will keep learning about the Indigenous population and the current state in modern-day learning about artists and other important figures.

E: The member state may change the course length depending on how much it wants to include, such as art and culture. The grading systems may rely on some countries, the member state may change the grade and requirements if needed to fit the history and other requirements such as length of the course if needed and fit by the governing authority.

F: Schools may create afterschool programs to provide students with additional education and will be provided funding for the program.

III. Teacher Training

A: Teachers will have to take a course called "Cultural Foundations in Indigenous Education" (CFIE) to be certified to teach Indigenous history either in Early childhood education or late. The first try of the course shall be funded by the member state. The course will last as long as the governing authority believes fit, this is due to member states having longer history than others. Once the course has been completed the governing authority may pass the teacher if they believe fit.

B: Secondary education teachers must get their CFIE with another course for additional certification, this course will be called Advanced Foundations in Indigenous Education (AFIE). The government will fund the educator's first course, Like the CFIE a governing authority will moderate the length of the course. With a test at the end, the teacher if they pass will be allowed to teach Indigenous History I, and 2.

IV. Community Engagement

A: Schools will receive optional funding to send kids on a reservation, which the member state has already approved as an Indigenous heritage site. Then the students will go on the field trip. Which will be funded by the government, and a school shall receive two trips. One at the start of the year and the end of the year.

B: Schools will host Indigenous guest speakers that will teach kids their way of life and what the modern life of an Indigenous person is like. Once the school hosts an Indigenous guest speaker they may receive a grant that is picked by the member state.

V. Funding and Resources

A: The government will create a fund that will be accessible for the schools, with the school, receiving a portion of this fund to provide resources for the classrooms and students. The fund will be strictly for the usage of Indigenous history, with a school receiving a maximum of the member states' choice. The minimum must provide enough for the school to give an education to all students who are taking the class.

B: The government will approve Indigenous heritage sites for schools, Allowing them to schedule with their local government for approval. The same is true for Indigenous heritage events.

[Elyreia]

I.A: You'd need to define what an "established nation" is. Using a real world analogue, the Iroquois Confederation or the Inca Empires could be considered "established nations" in their region, thus making them or their descendants exempted as Indigenious peoples.

I.B: Land Mass is a continent or other large body of land; it is not a delineated territory, which most reservations actually are. You'll need to work this definition to be more accurate.

I.C: Many speciality schools and education systems actually do not have a hard set and fast curriculum. It is erroneous to define it as something that is a requirement for teachers to teach, when it is, in fact, not. More accurately, it is a lesson plan with requirements set by the governing authority for competency and lessons learned, laid out over a year. Teachers in fact often have no control over the curriculum and instead base lesson plans to adhere to them, if they are provided one.

I.D: "Semester" is spelled wrong ("Semster"), and does not necessarily mean an exact half year (after all, summer semesters are a third semester in the year, even if optional).

I.E: "credit" is incorrect. In fact, most college courses are 5 credits for a single semester, not a single credit. Often it's based on how many classes per week for the semester - 3 credit courses meet 3 days a week, 5 credit classes have 5 classes a week, etc. Even this definition is pretty loose, as I had two 3-hour classes at night every week for a year and those classes counted as 5 credits per semester. Also, these college credits defined are the American Colleges, not other colleges. UK Colleges loosely base 1 credit on 10 hours of study.

I.F. "Secondary Education" only refers to Grades 9th - 12th in the US, and not if the education system used Junior and Senior High Schools like mine did, where "high school" was 10-12. In the UK, there is no "12th grade" - it's Year 7 through Year 11, and sometimes Year 10-13 are essentially entry level university. A Real World Reference to American Schooling Systems that aren't even universal in the U.S. and should be removed or defined properly.

I.G: You've defined a "heritage site" as both a location or a heritage event. A site is a physical location; I'd recommend a second definition for heritage [u]events[/i].

II.A: "Early Childhood Education" is generally recognized to end at Grade 3 if you're using the American system, or Year 2 for the UK systems. Your definitions is incorrect and also does not account for species or nations for whom growing up is shorter or longer (some species may take ten years development to reach teenage years).

II:A - II.C: More issues regarding using "grades" as a determining factor. It won't work.

III. A-B: I don't like this section at all. What if a nation has twenty thousand years of indigenous history? 7-8 weeks is acceptable to learn all of the information needed? Really? Can't we just... leave it up for the nation to determine adequate criteria and lessons to be learned within a time scope? Pretty sure there are people in US schools who spend years getting degrees to teach about indigenous populations, not 7-8 weeks.

IV.A: The grammar here is sloppy and doesn't read well.


All in all the whole thing is a mess not suited for the WA without heavy revision, but I could see some merits if it was properly rewritten.

[Russian Brotherhood]

I.A: You'd need to define what an "established nation" is. Using a real world analogue, the Iroquois Confederation or the Inca Empires could be considered "established nations" in their region, thus making them or their descendants exempted as Indigenious peoples.

I.B: Land Mass is a continent or other large body of land; it is not a delineated territory, which most reservations actually are. You'll need to work this definition to be more accurate.

I.C: Many speciality schools and education systems actually do not have a hard set and fast curriculum. It is erroneous to define it as something that is a requirement for teachers to teach, when it is, in fact, not. More accurately, it is a lesson plan with requirements set by the governing authority for competency and lessons learned, laid out over a year. Teachers in fact often have no control over the curriculum and instead base lesson plans to adhere to them, if they are provided one.

I.D: "Semester" is spelled wrong ("Semster"), and does not necessarily mean an exact half year (after all, summer semesters are a third semester in the year, even if optional).

I.E: "credit" is incorrect. In fact, most college courses are 5 credits for a single semester, not a single credit. Often it's based on how many classes per week for the semester - 3 credit courses meet 3 days a week, 5 credit classes have 5 classes a week, etc. Even this definition is pretty loose, as I had two 3-hour classes at night every week for a year and those classes counted as 5 credits per semester. Also, college credits is a system of American Colleges, not other colleges. UK Colleges loosely base 1 credit on 10 hours of study. I feel like this might run afoul the Real World References rule as-is with assumptions made.

I.F. "Secondary Education" only refers to Grades 9th - 12th in the US, and not if the education system used Junior and Senior High Schools like mine did, where "high school" was 10-12. In the UK, there is no "12th grade" - it's Year 7 through Year 11. Another Real World Reference to American Schooling Systems that aren't even universal in the U.S. and should be removed or defined properly.

I.G: You've defined a "heritage site" as both a location or a heritage event. A site is a physical location; I'd recommend a second definition for heritage [u]events[/i].

II.A: "Early Childhood Education" is generally recognized to end at Grade 3 if you're using the American system, or Year 2 for the UK systems. Your definitions is incorrect and also does not account for species or nations for whom growing up is shorter or longer (some species may take ten years development to reach teenage years).

II:A - II.C: More issues regarding using "grades" as a determining factor. It won't work.

III. A-B: I don't like this section at all. What if a nation has twenty thousand years of indigenous history? 7-8 weeks is acceptable to learn all of the information needed? Really? Can';t we just... leave it up for the nation to determine adequate criteria and lessons to be learned within a time scope? Pretty sure there are people in US schools who spend years getting degrees to teach about indigenous populations, not 7-8 weeks.

IV.A: The grammar here is sloppy and doesn't read well.


All in all the whole thing is a mess not suited for the WA without heavy revision, but I could see some merits if it was properly rewritten.

Ok, I'll be taking all of this and fixing it in the next draft. I do plan to have a lot of drafting, just wanted a basic draft out there. I know some of the grammar is horrible, I rushed it and didn't have time to review. But thank you I hope you will stick around and keep giving advice.

[Elyreia]

I will do what I can, a lot going on. Besides, I am the most novice of ameteurs here, there may be far more people more qualified than I to get this over the finish line.

[Attempted Socialism]

Elyreia gave sone great feedback. I want to reiterate two points, one specific and one general.
First, the definition of indigenous, as it is currently, is not fit for purpose. You intend it to mean Native American, First People, etc., but the way it is worded, it would include e.g. English in England, Celts in the entirety of the British Isle, and so on. But it would also include English settlers in North America who arrived and had settled some time before the Declaration of Independence. After all, they are a group of people native to the area before the establishment of a state.
While it's an old thread I gave a different user some feedback that you may be able to use, see here:
viewtopic.php?p=39665002#p39665002
The wording "group of people" also needs a rework since it could plausibly be interpreted as meaning a group of specific people, rather than a status that can be inherited in some sense. I.e. the group has to have lived natively on the land prior to the establishment of the state, and when they die theee are no more indigenous people.

The other, general, issue is that you seem to assume a US default (Federal, the credits, etc.). I suggest you remove wordings that rely on such assumptions. The Kingdom of Denmark is a unitary state and so has no federal level, but we do have indigenous Inuit people in Greenland. Likewise with France and several other European states. And while the EU has a credit system for higher education (Creatively named the European Credit Transfer System) it is nothing like what you have laid out here.

[Russian Brotherhood]

I.A: You'd need to define what an "established nation" is. Using a real world analogue, the Iroquois Confederation or the Inca Empires could be considered "established nations" in their region, thus making them or their descendants exempted as Indigenious peoples.

I.B: Land Mass is a continent or other large body of land; it is not a delineated territory, which most reservations actually are. You'll need to work this definition to be more accurate.

I.C: Many speciality schools and education systems actually do not have a hard set and fast curriculum. It is erroneous to define it as something that is a requirement for teachers to teach, when it is, in fact, not. More accurately, it is a lesson plan with requirements set by the governing authority for competency and lessons learned, laid out over a year. Teachers in fact often have no control over the curriculum and instead base lesson plans to adhere to them, if they are provided one.

I.D: "Semester" is spelled wrong ("Semster"), and does not necessarily mean an exact half year (after all, summer semesters are a third semester in the year, even if optional).

I.E: "credit" is incorrect. In fact, most college courses are 5 credits for a single semester, not a single credit. Often it's based on how many classes per week for the semester - 3 credit courses meet 3 days a week, 5 credit classes have 5 classes a week, etc. Even this definition is pretty loose, as I had two 3-hour classes at night every week for a year and those classes counted as 5 credits per semester. Also, these college credits defined are the American Colleges, not other colleges. UK Colleges loosely base 1 credit on 10 hours of study.

I.F. "Secondary Education" only refers to Grades 9th - 12th in the US, and not if the education system used Junior and Senior High Schools like mine did, where "high school" was 10-12. In the UK, there is no "12th grade" - it's Year 7 through Year 11, and sometimes Year 10-13 are essentially entry level university. A Real World Reference to American Schooling Systems that aren't even universal in the U.S. and should be removed or defined properly.

I.G: You've defined a "heritage site" as both a location or a heritage event. A site is a physical location; I'd recommend a second definition for heritage [u]events[/i].

II.A: "Early Childhood Education" is generally recognized to end at Grade 3 if you're using the American system, or Year 2 for the UK systems. Your definitions is incorrect and also does not account for species or nations for whom growing up is shorter or longer (some species may take ten years development to reach teenage years).

II:A - II.C: More issues regarding using "grades" as a determining factor. It won't work.

III. A-B: I don't like this section at all. What if a nation has twenty thousand years of indigenous history? 7-8 weeks is acceptable to learn all of the information needed? Really? Can't we just... leave it up for the nation to determine adequate criteria and lessons to be learned within a time scope? Pretty sure there are people in US schools who spend years getting degrees to teach about indigenous populations, not 7-8 weeks.

IV.A: The grammar here is sloppy and doesn't read well.


All in all the whole thing is a mess not suited for the WA without heavy revision, but I could see some merits if it was properly rewritten.

Tried to fix it, did I miss anything that you see could be fixed?

[Kostane]

This seems to be directed towards settler states, as opposed to all nations broadly. However, your definitions apply to natives in every nation. I would include something specifying that applies to indigenous people where other groups later settled.

Also, it assumes all indigenous groups had sustainable practices, which is not necessarily true. You should make it teach about indigenous practices, not necessarily selecting "sustainable" ones.

Definitions should specify that a "full year" refers to an academic period rending the entire academic schedule of a member state so that's it's more congruent with your definition of semester.

I.F looks incomplete.

[Russian Brotherhood]

This seems to be directed towards settler states, as opposed to all nations broadly. However, your definitions apply to natives in every nation. I would include something specifying that applies to indigenous people where other groups later settled.

Also, it assumes all indigenous groups had sustainable practices, which is not necessarily true. You should make it teach about indigenous practices, not necessarily selecting "sustainable" ones.

Definitions should specify that a "full year" refers to an academic period rending the entire academic schedule of a member state so that's it's more congruent with your definition of semester.

I.F looks incomplete.

Okay, I added. I don't know if you want to point anything out.

[Elyreia]

My only recommendation at current is to have this up for drafting for a week or two so more eyes can get into it. I won't be able to do a full reread until next week, for instance.

[Midlona]

Midlona opposes this resolution in principle and as applied in its draft language.

On the principle issues:
First, as the discussion indicates, what and who counts as "indigenous" is a fluid and subjective question. It is a question often infested with ideological or political considerations best left for local and regional leaders (and educational professionals) to decide and regulate. Midlona does not consider this an international issue. To the extent a majority disagree, a more workable standard would be broad commands such as "educational institutions shall provide instruction on the history of native peoples and communities to the extent deemed appropriate by educational authorities" or similar language that leaves flexibility for member-states to tailor this resolution to the disparate and varied relationships they may have with native communities and history.

Second, Midlona disagrees that there is inherent value in all "indigenous cultures and way of life and identity". Not all cultures, lifestyles, or identifies are equally valid or contain academic or intellectual merit suitable for uniform K-12 educational requirements. Why should member-states be required to teach irrelevant or unproductive material?

On the application issues:
First, not all countries have "indigenous" populations, let alone ones that reside on a reservation-style arrangement. The requirement that all students in every country visit a reservation twice a year would require the creation of reservation-style arrangements in some places. Is that advantageous? Is that an intended consequence of this resolution? Is the field trip optional and contingent on the funding?

Second, the educational requirements related to "indigenous" education would rival or exceed core academic areas, let alone related arts and electives. The testing requirements also amount to a large burden in both time and content. Schools have a finite amount of instructional and testing time, resources, and capacity. Every minute the WA forces schools to teach on "indigenous ways of life" is time not spent teaching other topics (and most other topics, like reading, home economics, science, math, or economics are much more likely to be more relevant and important to the lives, success, and welfare of students and communities).

Third, as others have pointed out, your educational timetable makes presumptions about the organization of class time, progression, and academic calendars that could frustrate implementation across the WA's jurisdiction. Midlonan primary and junior high schools operate on a quarter basis, not a semester basis, for instance.

Alternative Suggestions
First, Midlona supports incorporating native and other community groups into the educational culture of students. Midlona would be open to some encouragement or requirement of funding multi-cultural afterschool clubs, extracurricular activities, or marketing similar activities hosted by third parties or other government organizations.

Second, Midlona would be open to an expansion of protections for native students and their cultural expression in academic spaces, to the extent the author finds existing regulation on the topic lacking (GAR #234;GAR #426; and GAR #696 to name a few).

[Russian Brotherhood]

Midlona opposes this resolution in principle and as applied in its draft language.

On the principle issues:
First, as the discussion indicates, what and who counts as "indigenous" is a fluid and subjective question. It is a question often infested with ideological or political considerations best left for local and regional leaders (and educational professionals) to decide and regulate. Midlona does not consider this an international issue. To the extent a majority disagree, a more workable standard would be broad commands such as "educational institutions shall provide instruction on the history of native peoples and communities to the extent deemed appropriate by educational authorities" or similar language that leaves flexibility for member-states to tailor this resolution to the disparate and varied relationships they may have with native communities and history.

Second, Midlona disagrees that there is inherent value in all "indigenous cultures and way of life and identity". Not all cultures, lifestyles, or identifies are equally valid or contain academic or intellectual merit suitable for uniform K-12 educational requirements. Why should member-states be required to teach irrelevant or unproductive material?

On the application issues:
First, not all countries have "indigenous" populations, let alone ones that reside on a reservation-style arrangement. The requirement that all students in every country visit a reservation twice a year would require the creation of reservation-style arrangements in some places. Is that advantageous? Is that an intended consequence of this resolution? Is the field trip optional and contingent on the funding?

Second, the educational requirements related to "indigenous" education would rival or exceed core academic areas, let alone related arts and electives. The testing requirements also amount to a large burden in both time and content. Schools have a finite amount of instructional and testing time, resources, and capacity. Every minute the WA forces schools to teach on "indigenous ways of life" is time not spent teaching other topics (and most other topics, like reading, home economics, science, math, or economics are much more likely to be more relevant and important to the lives, success, and welfare of students and communities).

Third, as others have pointed out, your educational timetable makes presumptions about the organization of class time, progression, and academic calendars that could frustrate implementation across the WA's jurisdiction. Midlonan primary and junior high schools operate on a quarter basis, not a semester basis, for instance.

Alternative Suggestions
First, Midlona supports incorporating native and other community groups into the educational culture of students. Midlona would be open to some encouragement or requirement of funding multi-cultural afterschool clubs, extracurricular activities, or marketing similar activities hosted by third parties or other government organizations.

Second, Midlona would be open to an expansion of protections for native students and their cultural expression in academic spaces, to the extent the author finds existing regulation on the topic lacking (GAR #234;GAR #426; and GAR #696 to name a few).

No, I oppose the idea that afterschool clubs that are required I believe that they would not work so no. But I do support the funding if such groups are made by students and have an active base. I'll look into the optional after-school club for Indigenous stuff and such but I don't know if there would be a reason to have it.

Plus I put lack of Indigenous education I don't think that any of those had Indigenous education in mind.

[Midlona]

No, I oppose the idea that afterschool clubs that are required I believe that they would not work so no. But I do support the funding if such groups are made by students and have an active base. I'll look into the optional after-school club for Indigenous stuff and such but I don't know if there would be a reason to have it.

Plus I put lack of Indigenous education I don't think that any of those had Indigenous education in mind.

I did not mean students would be required to attend or participate in the sponsored programs, merely that they would be offered and funded.

I agree there seems to be little reason to mandate "indigenous" education, hence Midlona's opposition to this resolution as it stands. Take or leave our suggestions; I was trying to find some middle ground.

[Russian Brotherhood]

No, I oppose the idea that afterschool clubs that are required I believe that they would not work so no. But I do support the funding if such groups are made by students and have an active base. I'll look into the optional after-school club for Indigenous stuff and such but I don't know if there would be a reason to have it.

Plus I put lack of Indigenous education I don't think that any of those had Indigenous education in mind.

I did not mean students would be required to attend or participate in the sponsored programs, merely that they would be offered and funded.

I agree there seems to be little reason to mandate "indigenous" education, hence Midlona's opposition to this resolution as it stands. Take or leave our suggestions; I was trying to find some middle ground.

I will leave it, if you get rid of the education there no need for a WA proposal

[Russian Brotherhood]

Added a new Claus I.E.

[Midlona]

I will leave it, if you get rid of the education there no need for a WA proposal

My suggestion still provides for education on the topic, it just shifts the forum of that education from required in-class instruction to optional extracurricular instruction.

[Russian Brotherhood]

I will leave it, if you get rid of the education there no need for a WA proposal

My suggestion still provides for education on the topic, it just shifts the forum of that education from required in-class instruction to optional extracurricular instruction.

The majority of it can be changed with I.E.

[Russian Brotherhood]

Added Claus I.F.

[Attempted Socialism]

I would argue that the definition of indigenous is still unfit for purpose. "Before any others" would mean that there aren't any indigenous peoples in the Americas, for example, because those who were there first moved on or died put, and we're replaced by new people. I was taught that the Clovis peoples were the first humans in the Americas but apparently even they had precursors. At any rate, the Native Americans that the Spanish or English explorers and settlers encountered did not have any direct ties to the Clovis people and some had also moved around so much that their history on that specific land might not go back more than a century.
However the attempt to fix with the follow-up isn't a fix at all. Being related to? Well, what does that mean? Is is enough for a group of predominantly men to arrive, do a light genocide, and take the widows to be their wives, for the kids of those unions to be called native? We wouldn't think so, but that's the function of the current language. However if those initial settlers call in their buddies to slowly force the natives away, pushing them into some land that initially belonged to someone else, then the displaced natives cease to be native. That initial displacement can then ripple through the native peoples to make sure that there are no natives left because they have all moved.
As I said earlier this is a difficult topic and I don't blame you from having trouble getting it right. I noted to Makko Oko (here) that even the UN sidestepped the thorny issue of defining indigenous peoples as such, and instead noted the experience they shared. I recommend following that approach.