Wantok-Centred framework for developing citizenship

Abstract

This paper presents a framework for developing citizenship education in the Solomon Islands. By drawing on a qualitative study conducted with 24 students, 20 teachers, and four principals in four rural and urban schools in the Solomon Islands, this study reveals that wantok-centred relationships are a unifying symbol that holds the family unit, clan, tribe, church members, and people with the state. In order to strengthen wantok relationships that create a peaceful coexistence in the Solomon Islands, this article proposes a wantok framework to underpin the development of citizenship education in the Solomon Islands. It introduces three domains: democratic, spiritual, and cultural, which are all centred on the notion of relationality. It demonstrates how relationality is central to the wantok framework by connecting people through the pijin language, and cultural, spiritual, and democratic values. This article concludes by demonstrating how this framework can promote wantok-centric identities, values, and relationships in both the formal and non-formal education sectors in the Solomon Islands.