Cultural evolution and hunter–gatherer education: towards educational self-determination

This article describes the Cultural Evolution Society (CES) funded Working Group on Hunter–Gatherer Education, which has a focus on hunter–gatherer communities’ ongoing efforts to control their own educational options and to secure sustainable livelihoods. Working with individuals from hunter–gatherer communities, educational practitioners, global organizations and other researchers, our group promotes more just, inclusive and scientifically informed approaches to education for these small communities. In particular, our working group draws on theories of cultural evolution to frame the relevant problems in terms of the dynamics of human cultural learning; we then ground these theories in our local fieldwork and practice with communities around the world. This article first provides an overview of hunter–gatherers as a global population and their educational challenges, and explains the history and rationale of our working group and the broader network it is grounded in. It explores the paradoxes of formal education and global educational goals for these marginalized communities and presents them not as isolated occurrences, but as a particularly vivid example of educational ‘crises’ that confront many societal groups. The article explores the concepts of autonomy and self-determination as they relate to Indigenous hunter–gatherers and their educational choices and suggests a re-framing of educational approaches that forward these concepts. The final sections of this article describe the project of our CES working group and how we hope our work can contribute to greater educational self-determination for the populations we work with.

This article is part of the theme issue ‘Transforming cultural evolution research and its application to global futures’.