Introduction

Indonesian Papua is a diverse region that is both multicultural and multilingual, with more than 275 distinct indigenous ethnic groups speaking more than 275 local languages. The diversity of Papua has also been described in terms of socio-cultural levels: urban, rural, and remote (Modouw, 2013). Urban communities have for some time been adapting to modern life circumstances. Communities in rural settings are still developing kampong community structures through agriculture and farming, and those in remote areas are still living very simple lives as hunter-gatherers within their communities. To support the learning needs of indigenous students living within culturally distinctive communities, physical and conceptual adjustments to the design and delivery of education are required. Such adjustments need to consider the indigenous communities’ current levels of development towards modernisation, while recognising and accommodating their distinctive social and cultural traditions and practices. Each indigenous group possesses different socio-cultural capital (Handoko, 2019) that they bring to the classroom, and which need to be considered when developing curriculum accommodation and differentiation of instruction.

Unfortunately, many teachers in Papua appear to have limited knowledge about the nature of pedagogy and the availability of resources suited to the culturally based learning needs of the diverse student population of Papua (Hamadi, 2021; Wulandari & Soesman, 2010). Many teachers appear to recognise the importance of incorporating local cultures and values into their teaching to make their teaching more meaningful and effective for students, but they are less likely to have clear ideas about how to do this (Hamadi, 2021).

The challenge is exacerbated by current approaches to preservice and in-service teacher education in Indonesian Papua, which do not equip teachers with adequate knowledge of the diverse socio-cultures of the communities in the region (Analytical and Capacity Development Partnership (ACDP), 2014). The preservice and in-service teacher education also fails to prepare teachers for the diverse learning needs of students in Papua, or the capacity to design and implement differentiated learning experiences for their students (ACDP, 2014). Consequently, the need to incorporate cultural aspects into education appears not to be supported by planned processes of change in teacher education and curriculum implementation in Papua (Allen et al., 2018).

Globally, the need to incorporate cultural aspects into education, i.e. Culturally Responsive Schooling (CRS), has been advocated over the past 50 years. CRS has been broadly recognised as a promising strategy for improving the relevance of education and increasing the academic achievement of American Indian and Alaska Native students in U.S. schools (Castagno & Brayboy, 2008). CRS assumes that a firm grounding in the heritage language and indigenous culture for a particular tribe or clan is a fundamental prerequisite for the development of culturally healthy students and communities associated with that place. Such a grounding is an essential criterion for identifying the appropriate qualities and practices associated with culturally responsive educators, curriculum, and schools (Alaska Native Knowledge Network, 1998).

Despite extensive literature on culture-based education within the framework of inclusive education, there appears to have been little impact on what teachers do in classrooms in many countries (Beaulieu, 2006; Demmert et al., 2006; Dick et al., 1994). Culture-based education approaches are not generally implemented in schools serving indigenous students to affect lasting changes. Uniformity, reflecting a single approach to national curriculum implementation remains the major phenomenon in many nations, including Indonesia (Castagno & Brayboy, 2008). Differentiation, which is based on every student’s learning needs, seems to be accepted, but such acceptance remains largely conceptual and is not observed in practice in many countries, including Indonesia (Poernomo, 2016). Cultural uniformity (based on Javanese culture) in the national curriculum is the dominant approach in Indonesia (Sarasvati & Sumardianta, 2016); cultural uniformity is particularly challenging for the diverse indigenous cultures of Indonesian Papua.

Without special responses, which are based on cultural learning needs, students with an indigenous heritage are likely to be in a disadvantaged position. This is because their home culture and inherent values, beliefs and traditions are potentially at odds with the more uniform cultural assumptions and expectations of schools. Such a disparity in expectations has resulted in high rates of school drop-out (Mollet, 2007; UNICEF, 2016), and low levels of academic achievement of indigenous students in Papua. For example, a UNICEF Indonesia 2016 report indicates that the drop-out rate in Papua reached 30% by Grade 3, while in remote areas, the drop-out rate was 50% for primary school level, and 73% for junior secondary schools (UNICEF, 2016). These data suggest that schools do not appear to effectively engage Papuan students and Papuan communities of indigenous heritage.

When the academic performance of students of Indonesian Papua is compared to that of other groups of students in Indonesia, major gaps are evident. A baseline study conducted by Research Triangle Institute (RTI)/United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Indonesia (2014), for example, shows a significant gap between National data and Papuan student data on scores for the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA). The average EGRA score nationally was 62, while for Papuan students it was 28.4. Further, the human development indices (HDI) of Papua and Papua Barat (Western Papua) Provinces rank among the lowest in Indonesia (RTI/USAID Indonesia, 2014).

In spite of these data, research examining the culturally based learning needs of students in Papua remains inadequate. Some studies have recommended differentiated education models for Papua by incorporating the socio-cultural aspects of each community. ACDP (2014), for example, proposes models of rural-remote community schools to best meet the learning needs of students of the community. Modouw (2013) recommends three models of education based on the development of human civilisation of each community: (1) education for food gatherer communities (remote education), (2) education for kampong communities (rural education), and (3) education for urban communities (urban education). However, these recommendations need to be supported by research investigating the culturally based learning needs of students within different communities.

Data reflecting the high levels of school drop-out (Mollet, 2007; UNICEF, 2016) and the significant academic achievement gaps between students in Papua and other groups of students in Indonesia (RTI/USAID Indonesia, 2014), suggest that research examining the learning needs of students with a Papuan indigenous heritage is both important and timely. It is particularly important to describe, understand, and interpret the culturally based learning needs of students with a Papuan indigenous heritage, and how their learning may be better understood and accommodated by key stakeholders. Such community-based research will help build an informed theoretical and practical understanding of the culturally based learning needs of students with an indigenous heritage in Papua and how these needs may be actualised by key stakeholders to develop effective curriculum and pedagogical differentiation.

The unique challenges faced by school education in Papua reflect contrasts between specific local cultures, traditions, languages and facilities and those aspects promulgated or assumed in national guidelines, curriculum statements, teacher education and provided facilities (Allen et al., 2018; Bjork, 2005). A prime purpose of this manuscript is to present a single case as an example that may allow further research to consider the wider interactions and bridges that could occur between national perspectives and local Papuan contexts. This study explored the culturally based learning needs of Korowai students living in a lowland-remote area in Papua. The research question was “how can education in this part of Indonesia be inclusive and engaging for the Korowai students and their community?”.

Methodology and researcher positioning

This study is positioned within a constructivist–interpretive paradigm which is built on three basic interconnected philosophical tenets: a relativist ontology, a subjectivist epistemology and a naturalistic methodology (Denzin & Lincoln, 2011). Relativists assume that reality is socially constructed (Rahman, 2016). In this perspective, realities are constructed by individuals to make sense of their experiences and practices. These constructions are shared among the individuals within particular contexts (e.g. classes, schools, communities, governments) and thus are always interactive in nature (Guba & Lincoln, 1989). In other words, people, their knowledge, beliefs, intentions, actions, and associated events are viewed as being interrelated and inseparable. To understand each other and the world, people and their experiences become a central focus. In such a paradigm, the thoughts, stories, and actions of participants are considered as valued sources of information in building an understanding of a particular context. As such, the multiple views from many participants contribute to developing a more complete and robust understanding of the phenomena under study (Denscombe, 2014). Indigenous Papuan students’ learning needs, and how education systems respond to them, constitute multiple realities and meanings that are subject to multiple interpretations at system, curriculum, school, and pedagogical levels.

As an Indonesian trained teacher from the island of Java, the first author’s experience of over 15 years as a teacher and teacher educator in Indonesian Papua has shaped the ontological position taken in this study. Teaching indigenous Papuan students and non-indigenous Papuan students who have diverse socio-cultural backgrounds led the first author to question the Indonesian education system’s response to student diversity in the context of ethnic origin, culture, social class, religion/faith, gender, and ability. In particular, witnessing the levels of low academic achievement and the high rate of school drop-out among indigenous Papuan students, motivated the first author to reflect on the social and cultural reasons for school failure, and to explore how the education system could be more inclusive and engaging for students with an indigenous heritage in Papua, in order for them to thrive within the education system.

Method

Case study was selected as the approach to research design as it has potential to reveal detailed structured information and in-depth description of people and their experiences within a particular location. The case study school was purposively chosen due to its uniqueness of being situated in a remote, hunter-gatherer community that has only recently begun to modernise (Yin, 2003). The case study participants, the Korowai tribe, are an indigenous culture who as late as the 1970s believed that they were the only humans on earth. They live in the southern part of the Jayawijaya mountain range of Papua, Indonesia, in a large area of lowlands, about 150 kms inland from the Arafura Sea. This isolated and remote area consists of myriad rivers, forming swamps, wetlands, and mangrove forests. The research participants from the case study school included the principal, two teachers of Grades 1 to 3, two parents, and a community elder. The approach taken to select students’ parents for the case study interviews was culturally appropriate; the researcher first developed trust and personal relationships with the parents in the community. Parents were then approached through initial referral by local elders. It was important that a range of parental and community views were accessed in relation to the school and its relationship with the local community. The first author’s meetings with parents or visits to their houses were essential for building mutual understanding, trust, and personal relationships regarding the study aims. All participation by stakeholders was informed and voluntary, with the required ethical processes of obtaining consent. Parents gave written permission and children gave verbal permission for their photos to be used in publications.

The data sources included departmental and school documentation, a range of observations recorded in field notes (e.g. classroom observations school activities, play time, staff meetings and gatherings, school-community meetings, and everyday life in the community), and interviews conducted with the principal, the participating teachers, and students’ parents, using semi-structured questions and extended conversations. Data were collected and transcribed by the first author while living in the community from June to August 2020. Within-case analysis (Creswell, 2007, p. 75) was conducted to provide a detailed description of the case and themes within the case. To directly address the research question, a top-down theoretical thematic analysis was conducted (Braun & Clarke, 2006). After reading, and re-reading the interview transcripts, and making notes, initial open coding was used to code each segment of data that was relevant to the research question: “how can education in this part of Indonesia be inclusive and engaging for the Korowai students and their community?”.

At this stage, methodological triangulation was conducted by using the other sources of data (departmental and school documentation, a range of observations recorded in field notes) to clarify any inconsistencies found in the coded transcriptions and to obtain a clearer and more comprehensive understanding of the phenomena. Data from the observations and document collections were checked against each other to build a more holistic understanding in relation to the codes that emerged from the interviews. The codes were then re-examined and combined into themes through an iterative process of cross-checking and further refining the themes into sub-themes.

The Comparative Case Studies (CCS) approach (Bartlett & Vavrus, 2017), was also used in the analysis. CCS is an analysis framework most-often used within a multiple case study design. It was used in the original doctoral study (Fiharsono, 2021) because two other Papuan case study schools were compared. Comparisons with these other schools are not reported here due to the narrower scope of this paper, but the CCS analysis has been maintained in this paper because it provides a critical lens through which to view the phenomena uncovered in the Korowai school case.

The CCS approach is guided by a critical theoretical stance and its concerns and assumptions regarding power and inequality (Bartlett & Vavrus, 2017). CCS is used to examine social phenomena through three axes of comparison: horizontal, vertical, and transversal. The horizontal axis is used as a lens to examine how national policies and procedures and associated local phenomena interact and unfold in a specific location that is socially and culturally produced (Massey, 2005) and complexly connected (Tsing, 2005). The vertical axis involves comparing power relationships. The vertical axis in this study attempted to trace policy and procedural formation, and their appropriation and the impacts across micro (local), meso (national, e.g. national curriculum) and macro (international) levels (Bartlett & Vavrus, 2017; Nespor, 2004). Finally, the third axis, the transversal axis, attempts to historically situate the processes or relations under consideration (Bartlett & Vavrus, 2017) on a timeline (i.e. relative to concepts of modern civilisation, traditional culture, and development agendas). An additional framework, the socio-ecological framework of school belonging (Allen et al., 2016), was applied to the case study findings. The framework is valuable in understanding the directions of influence among the socio-ecological layers of the case; it is used as an interpretive lens in the Discussion section of this paper.

Findings

School physical environment and building design was identified as one of the dominant themes that emerged during the interviews with the research participants. In terms of the horizontal axis, the research participants suggested that the school’s physical environments should reflect the socio-cultural aspects of the local community. They suggested that, if the school’s physical environment was designed according to the students’ culture and beliefs and was like what they experienced in their daily lives, they would feel at home and accepted in the school. This was perceived to potentially have a good influence on the learning of the students, providing them with psychological and spiritual support.

This theme comprised three sub-themes: (1) the school building design, (2) forest as the school’s physical environment, and (3) school garden and animal husbandry.

The school building design

The participants appeared to be concerned about the existing school building, which they suggested did not accommodate the socio-cultural aspects of the local community. As observed, local cultural elements were not clearly visible in the design of the current school building. The school building design was conventional and like other school buildings in and outside Papua.

Applying the transversal axis to the Korowai community in the lowland-remote area who have limited historical exposure to Western building concepts, the adopted modern school building design appeared to be a serious issue. Living in their remote, isolated area until the 1970s, believing that they were the only humans on earth, their exposure to Western building concepts as well as living in a village system commenced in 2012 when the government relocated them to a newly built village. Previously, each clan had lived separately in their clan’s customary area where they had lived in treehouses (khaim luop) (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1
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Korowai treehouse (khaim luop)

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In the new village, they lived a new way of life in a village system. According to their custom, the area where the new village was located, in a different hamlet, belonged to one of the Korowai’s clans, thus those from other clans could neither gather, nor grow food there.

“Many parents spend most of their time in their hamlets because they need to do hunting and gathering sago. Their children are left in the village because they have to go to school” (Com.Eld.LR).

In the new village the government built a modern-design wooden house for each family (Fig. 2), which, unlike the traditional open-plan khaim luops, were built close to the ground and had separate rooms (a living room, two bedrooms and a kitchen). This was very different from the customary treehouse living which they considered to be safer above the frequently muddy soil and the threat of floods, wild animals, mosquitoes, enemies, and evil spirits. “We live in treehouses because we want our wives and kids safe. Living on the ground is not good. It is not safe. Too many dangers and threats” (Com.Eld.LR).

Fig. 2
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A house on stilts in the village provided by the Government

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These observations suggest that, in terms of the transversal axis, the Korowai have not had the opportunity to adapt to a village system, nor to living in a modern house. They did not appear to feel fully comfortable with this lifestyle. They reported missing the sense of security and comfort of living in their customary areas where they could gather food easily and freely. “The forest is everything for us. It is like a mother who nurtures us and provides everything we need in our lives. We cannot live without our mother forest” (Com.Eld.LR).

Our main food sources come from the forest. We hunt pigs, cassowaries, snakes in the forest. We also do fishing in the rivers. We also gather vegetables, fruits, sago and sago caterpillars from our clan’s customary forest. It is true that there are some people starting gardening, but our main food sources are still from the forest. (Par.LR-1)

There was also a clear link between the feelings of cultural dislocation which the community members expressed about living in modern housing, and the design of the school building.

When the government replaced their treehouses in their hamlets with new houses in the village, the new houses have also been built on stilts. Yes, it is to accommodate their habit of living in a treehouse. In addition, the practical reason is that the soil here tends to be wet and muddy. So, living in a treehouse or house on stilts is more comfortable. So, I believe that school buildings on stilts are more suitable for the Korowai children. (Teach.LR-1)

In terms of the vertical axis, the current school building design (Fig. 3) appears to be strongly influenced by the power of more dominant cultures from outside as well as from the government that regulates education, and the schooling system, including the school buildings. It appears to be influenced by the mainstream perceptions of what a school building should be like, stemming from the national government policy, as well as from Western missionaries or the churches.

We did not know much about school. We only imitate the model of the school buildings in the village. We just wanted the government to recognise our school. So, we built this school as hard as we could so that it is similar to other schools. (Par.LR-1)

Fig. 3
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The school building

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When asked why the Korowai people did not build the classrooms on stilts or in trees, the interim principal explained that Korowai people imitated school buildings in other villages. They did not know that they could also build school buildings based on their culture and lifestyle. “They were also afraid that the government would not accept their school if the building had not been built like the ones of other schools” (Temp.Prin.LR).

Neglecting their socio-cultural and environmental traditions, the Korowai built the school with a ground floor, as they wanted the school to look normal and like other schools, and thus be officially accepted by the government. This suggests that the Korowai tend to comply with the dominant external cultures and the government as the regulator.

This was confirmed by parent 2. “We did not dare to build the school building in the form of treehouse. We were afraid that the government would not accept our school” (Par.LR-2). When asked which building model they liked the most and suited their children, both parent participants responded explicitly that they preferred the treehouse model or house on stilts. “Classroom on the ground is not good for our children” (Par.LR-1).

In terms of the horizontal axis, the school building is very different from their khaim luops as it is built on the ground with a dirt floor and does not reflect the Korowai culture and environment. This was perceived by participants to lead to Korowai children feeling uncomfortable and insecure when learning in the classrooms.

Based on my experience of visiting and teaching my students in their treehouses, they were more relaxed and happier. It is different from the situation in the classrooms. I also found that they could think and learn better. I think it is easier to teach them in a treehouse than in a classroom. (Teach.LR-1)

The horizontal analysis suggests that the participants’ compliance in adopting a conventional Western school building design reflects the socio-cultural and environmental aspects as well as views about the ideal school building designs for the local students. Some participants emphasised the importance of adopting the Korowai’s khaim luop design for a school building, believing that the students would feel more comfortable and connected with their culture when studying in a tree house-like classroom. They felt that this would increase their sense of school belonging.

I really like this concept [khaim luop design for a school building]. I think it suits the needs of the Korowai students. The treehouses are very important for them. It can be one of the characteristics of the Korowai school. And I believe it will be helpful for the Korowai students to build their self-confidence and pride as one of their cultural identities is presented and acknowledged at the school. (Teach.LR-1)

Another suggested reason why the Korowai students tended to feel more comfortable and could learn better when studying in a khaim luop was the seating arrangement.

The Korowai do not have chairs and tables. In their treehouses, they sit in a circle on the wooden floor. That is what we do when visiting and teaching them in their treehouses. The students sit in a circle. I think it is one of the factors why they feel more comfortable. So, sitting on a chair or a bench with a table as we arrange in our classrooms does not suit their culture. (Teach.LR-2)

Until recently, the Korowai did not have chairs and tables in their khaim luops in the hamlets or in their houses provided by the government in the village; they preferred to sit in a circle on the wooden floor. Hence, sitting on a chair or a bench at a table (Fig. 4), as they did in the current classrooms, did not accord with their culture, particularly in the early years of elementary school. However, participants suggested, chairs and tables could be gradually introduced to provide comfort, particularly when learning activities required students to read or write for sustained periods. This vertical axis feature could be seen as an attempt to accommodate accepted national policy on seating arrangements.

Fig. 4
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The benches and tables in the earth-floor classroom

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However, adopting khaim luop for all classrooms in a school appears to be less practical as the teacher and students must climb up to the classrooms that can be up to 50 m high. Acknowledging the impracticality, some participants suggested making concessions to accept a hybrid of cultural influences in the design of school buildings. They suggested that not all classrooms should be designed like a khaim luop.

We do not need to build all classrooms in the form of treehouses. I think we only need two or three treehouses. They can be used as a library and alternative classrooms. We still need classrooms that are practical. But I think they should be on stilts, not the one with ground floor. They can be one or two metres tall. Chairs and tables might not be needed as the Korowai students like sitting on the wooden floor. (Int.Prin.LR)

The suggestion of presenting a khaim luop in the school as a library or an alternative classroom is thinking laterally, particularly in an effort to respond to the culturally based learning needs of Korowai students. It could help build community confidence and pride as their cultural identity and beliefs would be acknowledged in the school design.

The treehouses are very important for them. It can be one of the characteristics of the Korowai school. And I believe it will be helpful for the Korowai students to build their self-confidence and pride as one of their cultural identities is presented and acknowledged at the school. (Teach.LR-1)

The forest as the school’s physical environment

The participants revealed that the forest was an integral part of the life of the Korowai. This suggests not only a horizontal aspect, but also a transversal of the long-held hunter-gatherer Korowai traditions in the remote and isolated area. The participants agreed that the forest should be part of the school’s physical environment; large trees around the school should be preserved.

…the forest and the big trees need to be preserved as natural as possible. This is important for the Korowai children, especially to make them feel comfortable and at home when studying at school. Yes, because the forest is their daily life. (Int.Prin.LR)

While this may suggest a horizontal aspect, the fact that the trees around the school were cut down may also reflect a vertical one, particularly related to the common perception of what a school’s physical environment should be like.

When we built this school, we did not think that the presence of the trees was important. We only tried to build the school as similar as possible to other schools so that the government would accept it as a formal school. (Com.Eld.LR)

In terms of the transversal and horizontal axes, the participants revealed that the lives of the Korowai people were still dependent heavily on the forest. All their daily needs, especially food, were available in the forest. Some people had started gardening, but the main food sources were still from the forest.

In contrast, however, as the Korowai had used the only school design of which they were aware—a nearby government village school, they had even cut down the large trees in the school’s area to try to attract government support by attempting to make their forest school look ‘normal’.

Reflecting on the current school’s environment, the principal and teachers expressed their disappointment that all the large trees in the front yard of the school had been cut down. A teacher stated, “Such a physical environment does not suit Korowai children who live and grow in the forest” (Teach.LR-2). From their perspective, an ideal school for the Korowai children would be one that kept the environment as natural as possible so that it could provide authentic and meaningful learning resources.

The Korowai students play and look for food in the forest. At the break time, they play and look for food in the forest. So, we should maintain the forest surrounding the school because it is where they play and find food, including during the school hours. (Teach.LR-2)

The school garden and animal husbandry

Although agriculture and animal husbandry had only been recently introduced to the hunter-gatherer Korowai, the participants emphasised the importance of teaching these forms of livelihood to the Korowai children. As they perceived, this could assist in the transition of the Korowai from a hunter-gatherer society to a blended society, including agriculture and animal farming.

Animal husbandry is still very new for us. Some have started raising pigs and chickens, but they have not worked well. We still hunt in the forest. So, some parts of the school area, in my opinion, should be used to farm pigs, chickens and ducks. The students should be taught how to raise pigs, chickens, and ducks. This is very important, not only for their own future, but also for the development of the Korowai community. (Com.Eld.LR)

The community elder explicitly suggested the teaching of gardening and animal husbandry skills to the Korowai children at the school. As he claimed, these skills would be important to help them survive, be more productive, and no longer be so heavily dependent on the forest. This appears to reflect not only transversal but also vertical aspects of the axes of comparison. In terms of the transversal aspects, it appears that the Korowai’s contacts with the outside world, to some extent, have made them aware of the need to transform their community from a hunter-gatherer towards an agricultural community. The village system that was introduced by the Indonesian government also appears to be a vertical aspect influencing their lifestyles. At the school level, teaching gardening and animal husbandry to the Korowai children could also be viewed as a vertical aspect because it is a form of accommodation to the national curriculum.

The teachers agreed that the school garden and animal farm could also be used as an authentic and meaningful learning resource for mathematics, science, and social science. It could also be a means of entrepreneurship for Korowai students. “The students can be taught how to grow various types of food crops and sell their produce to make money. Making money is really a new thing for them and thus it must be taught to them” (Teach.LR-2).

Discussion

The pragmatic aim of this study was to identify aspects of Korowai culture that could inform the creation of a more inclusive education system for the Korowai students, by containing a balance of Indonesian Papuan (uniform) and Korowai (differentiation) within the national education system. The culturally based learning needs of these students that are reflected in the theme of the school physical environment and building design appear to be worthy of an active response. By making the school’s physical environment and building design more culturally familiar, the students’ personal experience of education would align more meaningfully with their socio-cultural contexts. As Allen et al. (2016) emphasise, individual experience is central in the principles of inclusive education. This refers not only to an individual’s social participation, access to quality education, levels of academic achievement, specific competencies, or school placement considerations, but also to an enduring sense of well-being and school belonging.

This theme and the sub-themes can be interpreted through the lens of the socio-ecological framework of school belonging proposed by Allen et al. (2016) which is developed based on Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological framework for human development to school belonging. As Allen et al. (2016) propose, school belonging is a student’s sense of affiliation to his or her school, influenced by individual, relational, and organisational factors inside a broader school community, and within a political, cultural, and geographical landscape unique to each school setting. Put more simply, school belonging is one’s feeling of being connected to a school within a school social system.

Allen et al. (2016) propose that school belonging is a multilayered socio-ecological phenomenon. They applied Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological framework for human development to school belonging to explore the various layers that affect a student’s sense of school belonging. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological framework for human development is concerned with systems in society and suggests that for young people, the family is the first unit to which children belong. This is followed by school and community, with each student belonging to a broader network of groups and systems.

All children are at the centre of multiple levels of influence (i.e. the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem) (Fig. 5) and schools can have a significant effect on their development and psychosocial adjustment (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). Bronfenbrenner’s ecological framework for human development is the most widely applied theoretical construct to date with which to consider belonging in an organisational setting such as a school (Baumeister & Leary, 1995; Murphy, 2020; Saab, 2009; Waters et al., 2010). It effectively represents the varied layers and systems within a school while other models and frameworks may only examine constructs directly related to the individual student (Brendtro et al., 2002; Malti & Noam, 2009).

Fig. 5
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The socio-ecological framework of school belonging (Allen et al., 2016)

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The theme of school physical environment and building design identified in this study as components of the CCS horizontal axis fits within the mesosystem level of the socio-ecological framework of school belonging. The research participants recommended that the school building design and the seating arrangement in the classrooms should accommodate the specific cultural, social, and historical patterns of the Korowai community. Importantly, a khaim luop-like classroom without chairs and tables would be responsive to the cultural, social, and historical patterns of a community who still had limited exposure to the Western building concepts and seating arrangements.

The Korowai believe that a khaim luop is a safe place for them to live as it reduces dangers and threats from wild animals, mosquitos, flood, enemies, and evil spirits. Feeling safe at school has been identified in the literature as a critical factor in students’ sense of belonging at school (CDC, 2009; Samdal et al., 1998; Whitlock, 2006; Wingspread Declaration on School Connections, 2004) and, also a central theme in measures of school connectedness and school belonging (Libbey, 2004). A khaim luop-like classroom is also believed to be able to support the Korowai students’ sense of school belonging and boost their confidence in learning.

At the mesosystem level of the socio-ecological framework of school belonging, the school’s building design and the seating arrangement could be future components of the school’s policy to provide education differentiation for the Korowai students, and thus a more inclusive education setting. As Allen et al. (2016) emphasise, school leaders may intervene at the mesosystem level of the socio-ecological framework to foster themes that positively correlate with school belonging at individual and microsystem levels. However, at the same time, these could also be related to the government’s policies at the macrosystem level.

Other sub-themes that emerged from the research in relation to the school’s physical environment, such as maintaining the forest within the school’s physical environment, and the school garden and animal husbandry, also fall into the mesosystem layer. These sub-themes could also be responded to through the school’s design and policies. However, the school’s responses to these culturally based learning needs appear to require support from the government’s policies at the macrosystem level.

The macrosystem layer represents broader legislation and public policies at the national level and includes factors such as regulations, guidelines, and government-driven initiatives, budget allocations, and data collection (Saab, 2009) as well as the historical (e.g. past events, climate, collective attitudes, and conditions) and cultural (e.g. customs and beliefs) context unique to each school (Allen et al., 2016). The macrosystem can be an impediment to bottom-up policy recommendations from school communities. As Bjork (2005, p. 47) concludes,

Like all branches of the government, the [Indonesian] Ministry of Education and Culture (MOEC) [is] organised vertically, with ultimate authority ensconced at the top of the hierarchy. This is not at all surprising, considering the hierarchical nature of Javanese culture.

The macrosystem can be influential in the processes of daily school practice, particularly on how schools orient their priorities and goals (Allen et al., 2016), which may in turn influence a student’s sense of belonging when there is a disjunct between policy directions and diverse socio-cultural needs of indigenous students.

Conclusions

This study found that, as reflected in the theme of school physical environment and building design and the sub-themes identified, the culturally based learning needs of Korowai students in the lowland-remote school were related to their cultural and social values, which were reflected in their physical environment. Hence, while the lowland-remote school was identified to have several unifying features and to operate under the same national education policy, curriculum imperatives, and national standards for schools, students, and teachers, the Korowai students appeared to bring different social and cultural capital and expectations to their local school, as reflected in the theme and sub-themes identified. How the local school and teachers responded to these varied expectations and learning needs also differed and revealed further needs for differentiation in education.

The theme of school physical environment and building design are elements of the mesosystem and macrosystem levels of the socio-ecological framework of school belonging of the Korowai students. This framework serves as a reminder that within the school setting, each Korowai student is a part of a greater whole influenced by formal and informal groupings, and overarching systems represented within the school. This framework assists to provide an informed theoretical and practical understanding of the culturally based learning needs of Korowai students and how these may be actualised by key stakeholders.

In the effort to provide differentiated education for students with a Papuan indigenous heritage within Indonesia’s national education system, it is recommended that national and provincial education policies should provide support for adaptations based on the socio-cultural and environmental situations of the students, as reflected in the themes and sub-themes identified in this study. Such flexible policies would encourage initiatives from the local governments in regency level as well as teachers at school levels to provide more culturally responsive education for their local students.