Abstract
This chapter explores how culturally relevant contextualized science curricula supports indigenous adolescents to learn science as border crossing between their traditional indigenous knowledge (TIK) and Western science knowledge (WSK). I propose that the dimensions of cultural cognition, socialization, and cultural narratives play a central role in shaping student prior knowledge, which is the main input for the contextualization process. Not accounting for these dimensions of prior knowledge when designing curriculum and instruction leaves marginalized students alone to navigate the differences between their culture and home language and the culture and language of school. This study takes culture and socialization into account by using multiples sources (cognitive tasks to explore teleology and essentialism, ethnographic observation of the student community and classroom, and interviews in the communities with students and adults) to develop eight principles of contextualization that align with the scholarship on Culturally Relevant Pedagogy and Indigenous Education. For the students, this approach resulted in a positive ethnic identity, the ability to use both TIK and WSK in a context-dependent manner, and the possibility of imagining futures in the field of science. The significance of this study lies not only in providing a set of principles and concrete examples for the contextualization of science curricula but also in providing an empirically developed process of curricular contextualization that integrates culture and cognition, socialization, experiences of border crossing, and a social justice approach. The categories of border crossing presented in this dissertation can be of great value to science teachers and curriculum designers willing to engage in culturally relevant pedagogies and provide an idea of the variety of experiences their students may have to create appropriate strategies to support all student learning.
The views expressed in this chapter are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
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Notes
- 1.
TIK always depends on a specific context and particular local conditions, and it values observation and oral tradition (Mazzocchi 2006). WSK, in contrast, refers to a particular way of creating knowledge rooted in European traditions and philosophy (e.g., logical empiricism). Western science favors analytical and reductionist methods. It isolates its objects of study from their context, aiming to create simplified experimental settings where variables can be controlled. Because science is a subculture of Western (Euro-American) culture, the worldview of science is often Eurocentric (Aikenhead 2001). TIK and WSK have differences as well as commonalities, and they can certainly be complementary.
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- 3.
Lower secondary school is referred to junior high school or middle school in some countries.
- 4.
In Nahua communities, it is still common for young girls to have to engage in complicated negotiations with their families to pursue higher education because it means leaving their communities and departing from traditional gender expectations.
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Sánchez Tapia, I. (2020). Learning Science as Border Crossing: Experiences of Nahua Secondary School Students. In: Sánchez Tapia, I. (eds) International Perspectives on the Contextualization of Science Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27982-0_4
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