Abstract
Economic and social development in any modern country relies heavily on a sound scientific and technological base. Essentially, science constitutes an area of any nation’s education system where many of the skills that are needed to stimulate development are learned, such as securing good health, fighting diseases, protecting the environment, farming and developing agriculture and developing new industries and technologies and even building resilience to climate change. There is a need therefore for a country to harness the intellectual and scientific capacity of its young people. Ironically, however, science (especially physical sciences) is one of the least popular areas within the educational system of most developing countries. Research shows that students’ and especially girls’ low interest in science and their relatively negative attitudes are at least partially attributed to the way science is taught at school. The observation is that the science curriculum tends to emphasise only its academic, strongly intellectual and abstract character, and is presented in a decontextualised way, distanced from everyday life, resulting in a considerable mismatch between science-in-society and science-in-school, and hence rendering science as a school subject which appears irrelevant and therefore not useful in everyday life. This perception of school science has detrimental implications for the epistemological access to the discipline. In this chapter we use a case study to share our experiences of how the learning of science in schools could potentially be enhanced through the integration of Afrocentric-indigenous knowledge as a means of strengthening epistemological access to complex and often abstract scientific concepts. We use ESD lenses to argue for science pedagogical practices that are creative, critical and empowering, as well as connected to real-life challenges and which engage with risk and uncertainty taking into consideration local and global cultures, practices and ideas.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agea, J. G., Lugangwa, E., Obua, J., & Kambungu, R. (2008). Role of indigenous knowledge in enhancing household food security: A case study of Mukungwe, Masaka District, Central Uganda. African Journal of Indigenous Knowledge Systems, 7(1), 64–71.
Asante, M. K. (1998). The Afrocentric idea in education (2nd ed.). Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Bøe, M. V., Henriksen, E. K., Lyons, T., & Schreiner, C. (2011). Participation in science and technology: Young people’s achievement-related choices in late-modern societies. Studies in Science Education, 47(1), 37–72.
Breidlid, A. (2009). Culture, indigenous knowledge systems and sustainable development: A critical view of education in an African context. International Journal of Educational Development, 29, 140–148.
Chetcuti, D., & Kioko, B. (2012). Girls’ attitudes towards science in Kenya. International Journal of Science Education, 34(10), 1571–1589.
Chikunda, C. (2016). Philosophies, theories and principles for ESD in teacher education. In Education for sustainable development: Effective teaching and learning in teacher education institutions in Africa. ESD UNESCO guide. Paris: UNESCO.
Clegg, A. (2007). Girls into science: A training module. Paris: UNESCO.
Cocks, M. C., Alexander, J., & Dold, T. (2012). Inkcubeko Nendalo: A bio-cultural diversity schools education project in South Africa and its implications for inclusive indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) and sustainability. Journal of Education for Sustainability Development, 6(2), 241–252.
Dei, G. J. S. (2002). Afrocentricity: A cornerstone of pedagogy. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 25(1), 3–28.
Howie, S. J. (2004). A national assessment in mathematics within an international comparative assessment. Perspectives in Education, 22(2), 149–162.
Kalu, I. (2005). Classroom interaction in physics lessons, relative to students’ sex. African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology, 9(1), 55–66.
Kibirige, I., & van Rooyen, H. (2006). Enriching science teaching through the inclusion of indigenous knowledges. In J. de Beers & H. van Rooyen (Eds.), Teaching science in the OBE classroom. Braamfontein, South Africa: Macmillan.
Kuhlane, Z. (2011). An investigation into the benefits of integrating learners’ prior everyday knowledge and experiences during teaching and learning of acids and bases in Grade 7: A case study. Unpublised master’s thesis, Rhodes University, Grahamstown.
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.
Le Grange, L. (2012). Ubuntu, ukama, environment and moral education. Journal of Moral Education, 41(3), 329–340.
Lemke, J. L. (2001). Articulating communities: Sociocultural perspectives on science education. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 38(3), 296–316.
Lupele, J., & Lotz-Sisitka, H. B. (2012). Learning today for tomorrow: Sustainable development learning processes in Sub-Saharan Africa. Howick, UK: SADC REEP.
Mukwambo, M., Ngcoza, K., & Chikunda, C. (2014). Africanisation, Ubuntu and IKS: A learner centred approach. In C. Okeke, M. van Wyk, & N. Phasa (Eds.), Schooling, society and inclusive education: An African perspective (pp. 65–80). Cape Town, South Africa: Oxford University Press.
Mutasa, N. G., & Willis, G. M. (1994). Modern practice in education and science. Gaborone, Botswana: Longman.
Namibia. Ministry of Education. (2009). The National Curriculum for Basic Education. Okahandja, Namibia: NIED.
O’Donoghue, R., Lotz-Sisitka, H., Asafo-Adjei, R., Kota, L., & Hanisi, N. (2007). Exploring learning interactions arising in school-in community contexts of socio-ecological risk. In A. Wals (Ed.), Social learning towards a sustainable world (pp. 435–447). Wageningen, The Netherlands: Wageningen.
Reddy, V. (2005). Cross‐national achievement studies: Learning from South Africa’s participation in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 35(1), 63–77.
Reddy, V., Zuze, T. L., Visser, M., Winnaar, L., Juan, A., Prinsloo, C. H., et al. (2015). Beyond benchmarks: What twenty years of TIMSS data tell us about South African education. Cape Town, South Africa: HSRC Press.
Rennie, L. J. (2011). Blurring the boundary between the classroom and the community: Challenges for teachers’ professional knowledge. In D. Corrigan, J. Dillon, & R. Gunstone (Eds.), The professional knowledge base of science teaching (pp. 13–29). New York: Springer.
Scotland, J. (2012). Exploring the philosophical underpinnings of research: Relating ontology and epistemology to the methodology and methods of scientific, interpretive and critical research paradigms. English Language Teaching, 5(9), 9–16.
Semela, T. (2010). Who is joining physics and why? Factors influencing the choice of physics among Ethiopian university students. International Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 5, 319–340.
Shava, S. (2013). International handbook of research on environmental education. In R. B. Stevenson, M. Brody, J. Dillon, & A. E. J. Wals (Eds.), The representation of indigenous knowledges (pp. 384–393). London: Routledge.
Shifafure, A. M. (2014). Understanding how grade 11 Physical Science teachers mediate learning of the topic distillation in the Kavango Region. Unpublished master’s thesis, Rhodes University, Grahamstown.
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(3), 302–319.
Shumba, O., Kasembe, R., Mukundu, C., & Muzenda, C. (2008). Environmental sustainability and quality education: Perspectives from a community living in a context of poverty. Southern African Journal of Environmental Education, 23, 81–97.
Tilbury, D. (2011). Education for sustainable development: An expert review of process and learning. Paris: UNESCO.
UNESCO. (2005). United Nations Education for Sustainable Development (2005–2014): Linkages between the global initiatives in education. Paris: UNESCO.
Uushona, K. I. T. (2013). An investigation into how Grade 9 learners make sense of the fermentation and distillation processes through exploring the indigenous practice of making the traditional alcoholic beverage called Ombike: A case study. Unpublished master’s thesis, Rhodes University, Grahamstown.
Van Wyk, M. (2014). Towards an Afrocentric-indigenous pedagogy. In C. Okeke, M. Van Wyk, & N. Phasha (Eds.), Schooling, society and inclusive education: An Afrocentric perspective (pp. 39–61). Cape Town, South Africa: Oxford University Press.
Visvanathan, S. (2005). Knowledge, justice and democracy. In M. Leach, L. Scoones, & B. Wynne (Eds.), Science and citizens: Globalization and the challenge of engagement. London: Zed Books, Open University.
Zazu, C. (2011). Heritage – A conceptually evolving and dissonant phenomenon: Implications for heritage management and education practices in post-colonial Southern Africa. Southern African Journal of Environmental Education, 28, 135–142.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Chikunda, C., Ngcoza, K.M. (2017). Integrating Afrocentric Approaches for Meaningful Learning of Science Concepts. In: Lotz-Sisitka, H., Shumba, O., Lupele, J., Wilmot, D. (eds) Schooling for Sustainable Development in Africa. Schooling for Sustainable Development. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45989-9_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45989-9_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-45987-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-45989-9
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)