In my dissertation The challenges of education and the motivations for Solomon Islands youth to do well in school, I explore the educational experiences and opportunities of youth, ages 15-30, in Solomon Islands. Based on research at two secondary schools in Solomon Islands and the communities surrounding them, this project examines the challenges young people face when pursuing secondary schooling and the cultural values that motivate them to continue in spite of those challenges. I analyze how the experiences that students gain in secondary schools influence their identities as they intersect with the skills, values, and knowledge that are needed once they complete school. Through this narrative, I ask what drives students to keep going when the odds are against them? To answer this question, I explore the people, places, and things youth use to ground themselves and keep moving forward.

This project is based on seventeen months of ethnographic research in Honiara, the capital city of Solomon Islands, and Buala, the provincial headquarters in Isabel province. Drawing on data collected through participant observation, interviews, surveys, photo elicitation, and social network analysis, I seek to highlight the voices of young people and share their stories. I describe the obstacles to educational success that young people face such as overcrowded schools, exam-based education, and learning in a foreign language. I explore the tensions youth face as they attempt to maintain kastom practices but are also drawn to new behaviors and practices through education and a rapidly globalizing world. The ethnographic narrative throughout the dissertation presents a picture of youth who are balancing cultural practices and connections to home while developing modern identities through education, friendships, and connections with the outside world. Despite these challenges, I argue that cultural values and community relationships motivate young people to “skul gud” (do well in school) so they can one day contribute to the kin who supported them. Connections to their Indigenous “home,” relationships with family, and commitments to kastom values are key in developing a personal identity and are motivations for educational success.

You can find a full copy of the dissertation here.

On this page, I provide summaries of some of the presentations I have given based on this research.

I am working to present these findings in a way that is accessible to Solomon Islanders and educators. If you would like to know more about specific aspects of this research or have suggestions on how to make it more accessible or what kinds of resources would be useful to you, please send me an email at  rachel@rachelemerine.com

Conference Presentations on Pijin and English 

My overall dissertation research looked at the challenges and opportunities for youth in Solomon Islands. Toward the end of my fieldwork, I began exploring the role of Solomon Islands Pijin and English in secondary education.  I have developed some of these findings into two chapters of my dissertation: Chapter 2  Solomon Islands Historical, Ethnographic, and Linguistic Context and Chapter 4 English and Pijin in Secondary Schools. I have also presented some of my findings for two different presentations at the American Anthropological Association Annual Meetings. For drafts of the papers presented, please email rachel@rachelemerine.com

These papers are a work in progress and an area of research I hope to develop further in the future. 

Conference Presentations on Educational Obstacles

I elaborate on and refine this argument in Chapter 3 of my dissertation, "Schooling Journeys and Obstacles to Student Success." For drafts of the papers presented, please email rachel@rachelemerine.com. These papers are a work in progress and an area of research I hope to develop further in the future. 

Paper abstract: In Solomon Islands, as throughout much of the Pacific, education is valued as the key to paid labor and better futures. Students pursue education in hopes of a certificate that will open the doors to new opportunities, but for many, even with the certificate, the opportunities never come. Some students stay the course until they attain a certificate, but many students find themselves on paths that weave in and out of school or they are pushed out of school when they fail key exams. Although Solomon Islands has been an independent nation for over forty years, I argue that these structural barriers to education have roots in the colonial legacy embedded in the educational system. Despite this colonial remnant and the challenges students face, education is something highly valued by Solomon Islanders, which inspires students to continue pursuing educational opportunities in the face of adversity. As I share the struggles that many students face and the ways they overcome these obstacles, I also challenge my own positionality in telling these stories. When I was invited into the country and schools, policymakers and teachers asked me to examine the challenges that youth face in hopes that I would find solutions. Following the call of this year’s conference theme, I grapple with the different roles I played during fieldwork, as an anthropologist, colleague, and friend. I seek to represent the truths I encountered through the lived experiences of the students, while critiquing the colonial legacy that continues to undermine their opportunities.  

Additional Presentations