Timeless Traditions as a Culturally Responsive Approach in a Third Space

Abstract

While herder culture continues to be a powerful symbol of the rich traditional heritage of Mongolia, many herders want their children to become “well educated” and move to urban areas rather than become herders themselves. The adoption of a standardized, urban-oriented content and pedagogy is posing a serious challenge to maintaining the herder cultural identity and Mongolia's national identity. Drawing from the concepts and literature on culturally responsive education and funds of knowledge, the authors explore an educational future for Mongolia that locates strengths in herder knowledge, values, and lifeways as a developed Third Space. This Third Space defines cultural responsiveness to Mongolian herder ways of life within national curriculum, not in the context of a static, sentimental past, but as part of a robust, attainable future for the next generation in the herder culture.