Murni Sianturi - Education in Papua

When we talk about improving education in remote or indigenous communities, we usually start with the wrong questions. We ask: what's missing? What needs to be fixed? But what if the problem isn't a lack of education but a failure to recognise the rich opportunities for education that are already there? In this episode, Dr Murni Sianturi challenges some of the most deeply held assumptions about schooling, knowledge, and what it means to learn. Her research in West Papua pushes back on three pervasive myths: that indigenous parents don't care about their children's education, that learning only happens in formal schools, and that indigenous communities are problems to be solved rather than partners to be heard. Children in West Papua face additional challenges around their identity and how to navigate their Indonesian selves with their indigenous identity. At the heart of Murni's work is a deceptively simple argument — that education works best when it's built on real relationships, when schools treat families as partners rather than outsiders, and when children are allowed to explore all aspects of their identity so they know who they are and where they're going. This is a conversation about West Papua, but it's really about something much bigger: whose knowledge counts, and who gets to decide how children are educated. As an Indigenous scholar and lecturer in education with over six years of professional academic experience, Dr Murni Sianturi has built a strong track record in leading research. She completed her PhD at the University of New South Wales with a prestigious Scientia PhD Scholarship. Currently, she leads a competitively funded Australia–Indonesia international research project with Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI), funded by the Indonesian Government and co-funded by Excelsia University College. She has shared her expertise in Indigenous education and educational technology through invited talks, keynotes, plenary sessions, and international conference presentations. Her publications include two books and 21 peer-reviewed articles, seven of which appear in top-tier journals such as Pedagogy, Culture & Society and Education and Information Technologies, contributing to scholarship that influences both research and practice. In 2026, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Jemma Purdey from the Australia-Indonesia Centre, Dr Clara Siagian from the University of College London, Dr Jacqui Baker from Murdoch University, Dr Elisabeth Kramer from the University of New South Wales, and Dr Tito Ambyo from RMIT. Image: Child in school uniform besides child in traditional Papua dress. Photo by Asso Myon/Unsplash.