Global WEIRDing

Abstract

Abstract Western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic (WEIRD) notions of pedagogy, as many other aspects of WEIRD culture, are spreading rapidly around the world. The most obvious sign of this phenomenon is that a larger and larger proportion of the world’s population is schooled. This chapter reviews four areas where this transformation is having a major impact. “Lesson Creep” documents the growing role that formal education plays in the lives of both WEIRD and village children. The second topic in the chapter, “Lost Skills,” follows directly from the first. If schooling is occupying a larger and larger portion of the child’s time, it follows that children will have much less time to benefit from local, Indigenous pedagogy. Another victim of WEIRDing is the drive to fit in, be helpful, and learn to work collaboratively. The third topic in the chapter is labeled “The Schooled Mind.” Recent research is focused on the decline or absence of Indigenous cognitive and social skills due to schooling. A major shift takes place as the pedagogy of the village—direct, hands-on experience—is replaced by lessons that are delivered primarily through speech and printed material. The fourth topic to consider is the future of research on Indigenous pedagogy. The study of pedagogy in Indigenous communities has been significantly compromised by the spread of formal education. A community where children no longer participate in subsistence activity is, for the purpose of comparative analysis, already WEIRD. The chapter ends with a review of the major points made throughout the book.