Patterns of Community Education in Kampung Naga: A Relational Indigenous Eco-Pedagogy Model

Abstract

Indigenous education is often treated as cultural transmission rather than as a dynamic epistemic system. This study examines how ecological relations, customary governance, socially mediated learning, and formal schooling interact in Kampung Naga, West Java, and develops an integrated model of community education. A qualitative single instrumental case study was conducted from May 2024 to May 2025 with 12 information-rich participants representing customary leadership, community figures, formal-school teachers, parents or guardians, and village youth. Data from participant observation, audio-recorded semi-structured interviews, and documents were analyzed abductively through transcription, open coding, categorization, iterative comparison, theme development, and theoretically informed model construction. Four interdependent dimensions emerged: ecological-spiritual learning grounded in rawateun-rumateun and environmental stewardship; customary-normative learning through rules, sanctions, deliberation, and shared obligations; social-collective learning through guided participation, Sundanese language, and intergenerational practice; and formal education as a selective interface with contemporary knowledge and institutions. The resulting relational four-dimensional Indigenous eco-pedagogy model conceptualizes education as an ecologically embedded, ethically governed, socially mediated, and adaptively negotiated learning system. This model highlights Indigenous education as a dynamic knowledge system that can inform culturally responsive pedagogy and strengthen dialogue between community-based knowledge and formal educational practices.