ABSTRACT
Recently, the school-level educational system in tribal areas adopted innovative strategies to realise educational inclusiveness under the Multilingual Education (MLE) Programme. The local knowledge-systems of tribal communities were incorporated in framing the curricula and instructional materials for MLE schools. This study takes into account local artefacts that are useful for pedagogical activities, as instruments to develop the cognitive capacities of tribal students. Instruction on introducing such local artefacts informs the cultural context of the young learners, new pedagogical sights and the community’s contributions to inclusive school education. Also,non-academic participation by the community under a programme called ‘Srujana’ (creativity) and ‘suravi’ (talents) – a cluster approach to education – has been introduced in tribal areas, where school and community members provide a space for the children to express their creativity. This study demonstrates how the indigenous activity of the community can appropriately help students to learn about their culture, which shapes education and learning outcomes. Reorienting education with modes of instruction, transaction and artefacts under the MLE programme seems to strike a balance between school and community.
