Indigenous and Decolonial Education: Perspectives for Comparative Education

Abstract

The article deals with current demands for a reference to decolonial theories and perspectives in educational science. This is demanded, for example, in relation to the development of concepts of global citizenship education, as well as in relation to comparative education. As it remains largely unclear what is meant by “decolonial education” in many of these programmatic demands, the article attempts to provide concrete examples. The educational history of indigenous peoples, who can look back on their own colonial history, seems particularly suitable for this. The colonial and decolonial educational history of the Sámi in northern Europe is taken as an example. The considerations lead to the conclusion that an examination of the educational history of the Sámi can not only contribute to a better understanding of decolonial theory from Latin America, but also of Wilhelm von Humboldt's understanding of education. It is concluded that comparative education can make an important contribution to the development of decolonial global educational concepts by focussing more on the colonial and decolonial educational history of indigenous and other peoples.