GENDER, HERITAGE, AND SUSTAINABILITY: INTEGRATING NORTH SUMATRAN ORAL LITERATURE INTO EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

Oral literary traditions function as sophisticated mechanisms of gender regulation while preserving valuable environmental knowledge, creating complex challenges for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) implementation. This study examines oral literature across Tamil, Chinese, and Malay communities in North Sumatra through feminist and postcolonial theoretical frameworks to analyze their pedagogical potential for culturally responsive sustainability education. Using ethnographic methodology, we documented folktales, pantun, ritual practices, and environmental traditions, examining how these materials construct gender roles and ecological relationships. The comparative analysis reveals that patriarchal ideologies adapt their justifications to diverse cultural contexts while maintaining consistent outcomes of female subordination. Tamil traditions use Hindu mythology, Chinese narratives emphasize Confucian virtue, and Malay texts invoke Islamic equality alongside practical limitations. However, these same traditions contain sophisticated ecological knowledge about sustainable resource management and community cooperation. The findings demonstrate that traditional knowledge systems require critical engagement rather than wholesale adoption in ESD curricula. While oral literature offers valuable environmental wisdom and cultural legitimacy for sustainability education, embedded gender hierarchies’ conflict with ESD principles of inclusive participation. Effective integration demands explicit analysis of cultural contradictions to preserve ecological knowledge while challenging patriarchal structures.