Cross Fertilization of Ideas between Indigenous Knowledge and Western Science: Navigating the Complexity in Science Lessons
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70232/jrep.v2i4.118Keywords:
Indigenous Knowledge, Indigenous Language, Cross Fertilization of Ideas, Social Constructivism Theory, Dialogical Argumentation Instructional Model, Contiguity Argumentation TheoryAbstract
Learners find it difficult during science lessons when they are asked to relate their indigenous knowledge to Western science, not only that they do not know that they might know it in their indigenous language, but it difficult for them to translate it into the language of teaching and learning (LoTL). The complexity of the indigenous language in science lessons hinders the integration of IK in science lessons. The aim of the study was to investigate the complexity of indigenous knowledge in science lessons that are taught in English when the teacher includes learners’ lived experiences in science lessons. Social constructivism theory was used as the lens to analyse the data. The study employs the Dialogical Argumentation Instructional Model (DAIM) and Contiguity Argumentation Theory (CAT) as analytical tools to analyze the data obtained from the learners during science lessons. The study involved Grade 9 learners taught the topic on acids and bases in a rural school in the Ohangwena region. The data were generated using lesson observation and focus group interviews with learners. The major findings of this study show that learners are loaded with indigenous knowledge before they enter the science classroom, and teachers need to use this knowledge to enhance the conceptual understanding of learners in science lessons. The study also shows that using argumentation as a teaching model helped learners to reflect back and engage their indigenous knowledge in science lessons. However, some learners were not able to cross-fertilize the indigenous knowledge into scientific knowledge due to a lack of terminology in English. Thus, the study recommends that teachers need to be trained on how to integrate indigenous knowledge into their lessons.
Metrics
References
Aikenhead, G. S., & Jegede, O. J. (1999). Cross-cultural science education: A cognitive explanation of a cultural phenomenon. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 36(3), 269-287. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1098-2736(199903)36:3<269::AID-TEA3>3.0.CO;2-T
Amuthenu, S. (2023). Strategies to incorporate and support indigenous knowledge into teacher training education: Lessons and insights for higher education institutions in Namibia. International Journal for Multidisciplinary Research, 5(4), 1-11.
Baquete, A. M., Grayson, D., & Mutimucuio, I. V. (2016). An exploration of indigenous knowledge related to physics concepts held by senior citizens in Chókwé, Mozambique. International Journal of Science Education, 38(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2015.1115137
Baquete, A.M., Grayson, D., & Mutimucuio, I.V. (2016). An exploration of indigenous knowledge related to Physics concepts held by senior citizens in Chokwe, Mozambique. International Journal of Science Education, 38, 1-16. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2015.1115137
Bertram, C., & Christiansen, I. (2015). Understanding research: An introduction to reading research. Van Schaik Publishers.
Clark, V. L. P., & Ivankova, N. V. (2015). Mixed methods research: A guide to the field (Vol. 3). Sage publications.
Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2011). Research methods in education (7th ed.). New York: Routledge.
Cooks, M. L., Alexander, J., &Dold, T. (2012). InkcubekoNendalo: A Bio-cultural Diversity Schools Education Project in South Africa and its implication for inclusive indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) sustainability. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, 6, 241-252. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0973408212475232
Creswell, J. W., & Clark, V. L. P. (2017). Designing and conducting mixed methods research. Sage Publications.
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage Publications.
Cronje, A., de Beer, J., &Ankiewicz, P. (2015). The development and use of an instrument to investigate science teachers’ views on indigenous knowledge. African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 19, 319-332. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10288457.2015.1108567
da Silva, C., Pereira, F., & Amorim, J. P. (2023). The integration of indigenous knowledge in school: a systematic review. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 54(7), 1210–1228. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2023.2184200
Dziva, D., Mpofu, V., & Kusure, L. (2011). Teachers’ conception of indigenous knowledge in science curriculum in the context of Mberengwa District, Zimbabwe. African Journal of Education and Technology, 1(3) (2011), 88-102.
Gay, L. R., Mills, G. E., & Airasian, P. W. (2011). Educational research: Competencies for analysis and application (10th ed.). Pearson Education International.
González-Piñero, M., Páez-Avilés, C., Juanola-Feliu, E., & Samitier, J. (2021). Cross-fertilization of knowledge and technologies in collaborative research projects. Journal of Knowledge Management, 25(11), 34-59. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JKM-04-2020-0270
Guetterman, T. C., Motohara, S., & Molina-Azorin, J. F. (2023). In this issue: Tribute to Michael Fetters, queer approaches to mixed methods, mixed methods community-engaged evaluation, instrument fidelity and natural language processing, teaching mixed methods, and geographic information system. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 17(4), 335-339. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/15586898231202075
Haimene, J. S. (2018). Exploring how the integration of indigenous knowledge in the topic of acids and bases influences Grade 10 Physical Science learners’ conceptions, dispositions, and sense-making. Rhodes University, Grahamstown.
Handayani, R. A. D., Wilujeng, I., & Prasetyo, Z. K. (2018). Elaborating indigenous knowledge in the science curriculum for the cultural sustainability. Journal of Teacher Education for Sustainability, 20(2), 74-88. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/jtes-2018-0016
Jegede, O. J. (1995). Collateral learning and eco-cultural paradigm in Science and Mathematics Education in Africa. Studies in Science Education, 25, 95-137.
Johnson, B. R., & Onwuegbuzie, A. J. (2004). Mixed methods research: A research paradigm whose time has come. Educational Research, 33, 14-26. http://dx.doi.org/10.3102/0013189X033007014
Johnson, B. R., & Onwuegbuzie, A. J., & Turner, L. A. (2007). Toward a definition of mixed methods research. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 1, 112-133. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1558689806298224
Kibirige, I., & Van Rooyen, H. (2006). Indigenous Knowledge and Science Education: Encouraging Learner Participation. South African Journal of Science Education, 12(1), 45-58.
Kim, B. (2001). Social constructivism. In M. Orey (ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, and technology. http://www.coe.uga.edu/epltt/socialcontructivism.htm
Kraus, S.F. (2023). The Method of Observation in Science Education: Characteristic Dimensions from an Educational Perspective. Science and Education, 33, 1033–1068. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-023-00422-x
Kundi, G, M., & Nawaz, A. (2010). From objectivism to social constructivism: the impacts of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on higher education. Journal of Science and Technology Education Research, 1, 30-36.
Langenhoven, K. R. (2014). The Effectiveness of an Argumentation Instructional Model in Enhancing Pre-Service Science Teachers’ Efficacy to Implement a Science-Relevant Indigenous Knowledge Curriculum. Unpublished Doctor of Philosophy, University of the Western Cape, Republic of South Africa.
Le Grange, L. (2007). Integrating western and indigenous knowledge systems: The basis for effective science education in South Africa? International Review of Education, 53, 577-591. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11159-007-9056-x
Lee, H., Lee, H., & Zeidler, D. L. (2020). Examining tensions in the socioscientific issues classroom: Students’ border crossings into a new culture of science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 57(5), 672-694. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21600
Mhakure, D., Otulaja, F.S. (2017). Culturally-Responsive Pedagogy in Science Education. In Otulaja, F.S., Ogunniyi, M.B. (eds), The World of Science Education. Cultural and Historical Perpectives on Science Education: Handbooks. Sense Publishers, Rotterdam. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6351-089-9_6
Mikeska, J. N., Klebanov, B. B., Marigo, A., Tierney, J., Maxwell, T., Nazaretsky, T. (2024). Exploring the Potential of Automated and Personalized Feedback to Support Science Teacher Learning. In Olney, A. M., Chounta, I. A., Liu, Z., Santos, O.C., Bittencourt, I.I. (eds), Artificial Intelligence in Education. AIED 2024. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-64299-9_19
Mkhwebane, L. N. (2024). Life sciences teachers’ integration of indigenous knowledge: A vision for making science classrooms culturally responsive. EURASIA Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 20(8), em2483. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/14859
Mukwambo, M. (2012). Understanding trainee teachers’ engagement with prior everyday knowledge and experiences in teaching physical science concepts: A case study. Unpublished Masters’ of Science education research. Rhodes University. Grahmstown.
Mukwambo, M., Ngcoza, K., & Chikunda, C. (July 2014). Africanisation, Ubuntu and IKS: A learner-centered approach. In C.I.O. Okeke, M.M. van Wyk, & N.T. Phasha (Eds.), Schooling, society and inclusive education: An African perspective. Oxford University Press.
Nikodemus, K.S. (2017). Exploring how Grade 11physical science learners make sense of the concepts of rate of reaction through the inclusion of the indigenous practice of making Oshikundu: A Namibia case study. Unpublished master’s thesis. Education Department, Rhodes University. Grahamstown.
Nsindiso, M. (2022). Blending a Constructivist Theory of Teaching and Learning with Indigenous Knowledge Systems in the Official Natural Science Curriculum in Phongola Schools, Kwazulu Natal. Indiana Journal of Arts and Literature, 3(1), 6-12.
Nyika, R. (2017). Views and experiences of Gweru Rural Primary schools teachers on integrating indigenous knowledge system in the teaching and learning of Environment Science in Zibambwe. Scholars Journal of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, 5, 280-286. http://doi.org/10.36347/sjahss.2017.v05i04.003
Ogunniyi, M. B. (1987). Conceptions of traditional cosmological ideas among literate and non-literate Nigerians. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 24, 107-118. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.3660240203
Ogunniyi, M. B. (2011). Exploring science educators’ cosmological worldviews through the binoculars of an argumentation framework. South Africa Journal of Higher Education, 25, 542-552. https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520/EJC37692
Ogunniyi, M. B., & Hewson, M. G. (2008). Effect of an argumentation-based course on teachers’ disposition towards a science-indigenous knowledge curriculum. International Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 3, 159-177.
Ramorogo, G., & Ogunniyi, M. (2010). Exploring teachers’ conceptions of the rainbow using an argumentation-based intervention. African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 14, 24-35. https://doi.org/10.1080/10288457.2010.10740670
Ramorogo, P., & Ogunniyi, M. B. (2010). Alternative Ways of Viewing Knowledge in Science Education. International Journal of Science Education, 32(5), 789-804.
Sachdeva, S., Tamrakar, K. A., Perwez, E., Kapoor, P., & Gupta, D. (2024). Focus Group Discussion: An Emerging Qualitative Tool for Educational Research. International Journal of Research and Review, 11(9), 302-308. https://doi.org/10.52403/ijrr.20240932
Seehawer, Maren. (2018). South African science teachers’ strategies for integrating indigenous and Western knowledges in their classes: Practical lessons in decolonisation. Educational Research for Social Change, 7, 91-110. https://doi.org/10.17159/2221-4070/2018/v7i0a7
Shizha, E. (2007). Critical analysis of problems encountered in incorporating indigenous knowledge in science teaching by primary school teachers in Zimbabwe. The Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 53, 302- 319. http://dx.doi.org/10.55016/ojs/ajer.v53i3.55295
Simasiku, F. S. (2016). Exploring Grade 9 Physical Science teachers’ views and experiences on the inclusion of traditional or local knowledge (indigenous knowledge) in their lesson. Unpublished master’s thesis. Education Department, Rhodes University. Grahamstown.
Simasiku, F. S., & Ngcoza, K. M. (2024). Incorporating Indigenous Knowledge into Chemistry Lessons on Acids and Bases: Exploring Potential and Challenges. International Journal of Research in STEM Education, 6(2), 73-84. https://doi.org/10.33830/ijrse.v6i2.1714
Vaughn, S., Schumm, J. S., & Sinagub, J. M. (2013). Focus Group Interviews in Education and Psychology. SAGE Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452243641
Zidny, R., Sjöström, J., Eilks, I. (2023). Indigenous Knowledge and Science and Technology Education. In: Akpan, B., Cavas, B., Kennedy, T. (eds) Contemporary Issues in Science and Technology Education. Contemporary Trends and Issues in Science Education, vol 56. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-24259-5_12
Zinyeka, G., Onwu, G. O. M., & Braun, M. (2016). A truth-based epistemological framework for supporting teachers in integrating indigenous knowledge into science teaching. African Journal in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 20(3), 256-266. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/18117295.2016.1239963
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Fredrick Simataa Simasiku
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
