3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item South African Grade 9 teachers' and learners' knowledge about medicinal plants and their attitudes towards its integration into the science curriculum(2014-08-01) Muza, BlessingsThe integration of indigenous knowledge into the mainstream science curriculum has been advocated for by science educators around the world. The Revised National Curriculum Statements (RNCS) for Grades R-9 (Natural Sciences) clearly advocates for the incorporation of indigenous knowledge into the science curriculum. They stipulate that learners must learn science within the context of their historical, societal and cultural knowledge and values. It is important that learners should understand other systems of knowledge, such as indigenous knowledge systems (IKS). The underlying assumption is that teachers can help learners integrate science and indigenous knowledge but in order to do that, they too must have adequate knowledge and understanding regarding the two thought systems. The challenge is that some teachers are not well informed about the varying indigenous knowledge that typifies the multi-cultural situation in South African classrooms as they have been schooled in western science The study aimed at eliciting learners‟ and teachers‟ knowledge about traditional medicinal plants and their attitudes towards integration of that knowledge into the science curriculum. This was with a view to exploring any differences or similarities between the views of teachers and learners. A case study was carried out at a secondary school in Meadowlands, Soweto. A sample of 36 Grade 9 learners and 10 teachers of Natural sciences was selected using the convenience sampling technique. Structured pictorial questionnaire was used to collect data from both teachers and learners. Field notes were taken during a class debate on the effectiveness of traditional medicines versus western medicines. Unstructured follow up interviews (5 learners- group interview and 3 teachers-individual) were performed on selected participants to probe further their responses to the questionnaire. A ROSE1 type questionnaire was used as a follow up when learners were in grade 10 (2013). Analysis of the findings showed that a majority of learners and teachers that participated in this research have opposing attitudes regarding the need to integrate knowledge about traditional medicinal plants into the science curriculum. The 1ROSE-Relevance Of Science Education, a questionnaire distributed in many countries by Prof Svein Sjøberg, ILS, University of Oslo, Norway. learners in this study had generally more knowledge that the teachers about traditional medicinal plants. The majority of learners are willing to learn about indigenous knowledge (IK). Nine teachers out of ten in this study were generally less enthusiastic about teaching about traditional medicinal plants. In light of the findings it is recommended that teachers need to have in-house training in so far as the methodological aspects of integrating components IK into the science curriculum relate. This may go a long way in limiting conceptual conflicts amongst the learners.Item Indigenous knowledge and school science: possibilities for integration(2014-08-01) Khupe, ConstancePrior to democracy in South Africa, education was used as a means to achieve segregation, privileging a minority of the population in both economic and worldview domination. With the attainment of democracy in 1994, educational reform was aimed at getting rid of both apartheid content and method. The aims and principles of the new curricula (the Revised National Curriculum Statement Grades R-9, the National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12, and later on, the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements) were aligned to those of the national constitution, which include the establishment of human rights, inclusivity, environmental and social justice, and valuing of Indigenous knowledge systems. In the science subjects, teaching and learning are expected to acknowledge the existence of different knowledge systems. In the absence of clear guidelines as to which Indigenous knowledge to include and how, the recognition of IKS in science classroom has largely been left to the teachers’ discretion. The purpose of this interpretive research study, carried out in collaboration with a rural community in KwaZulu-Natal Province, was three-fold. The first was to identify the Indigenous knowledge held by the community and the worldview underpinning that knowledge. The second was to find out what knowledge could be integrated with classroom science, and explore ways in which such integration could be done, considering students’ and community worldviews. The third was for the research to contribute to transformation in Indigenous knowledge research by following methods that recognised Indigenous knowledges, practices and languages as valuable. The findings from this study underscore the importance of extending the thinking about IKSscience integration beyond aspects that suit science content, to considering methods of teaching and learning science, as well as considering relevance to community needs.Item Analysis of representations of nature of Science and indigenous knowledge systems in South African Grade 9 Natural Science textbooks(2012-09-18) Moloto, Matlhodi FrancinaThis study analyzed representations of Nature of Science (NOS) and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) in three South Africa Grade 9 Natural Science textbooks. The textbooks were purposefully selected from a possibility of ten textbooks available on the public market and used in science classrooms in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. The aim of the analysis was to determine the extent to which both NOS and IKS were represented and to ascertain whether the representations were: naïve or informed; and implicit or explicit. The content analysis of the textbooks was based on adaptations of analytical frameworks developed by Akerson, Abd-El-Khalick and Lederman (2000) for NOS and Ninnes (2000) for IKS, respectively. For NOS the analysis focused on seven tenets, which are; science is empirical, the difference between observation and inference, functions and relations between theories and laws, the role of creativity and imagination in science, the tentativeness of scientific knowledge, the social and cultural embeddedness of the scientific process, and subjectivity of science. The analysis for IKS representations focused on four pillars of IKS which are; indigenous legends and myths, indigenous technology, indigenous knowledge of the natural world, and indigenous social life. It was found that, for the NOS, in all the three textbooks, only the empirical nature of science and observation and inference are represented to a considerable extent and mainly in a naïve and implicit manner. The other investigated tenets are either minimally represented or not represented at all. Representations of IKS in the three textbooks were also found to be very minimal and mainly naïve and implicit. It is concluded the selected science textbooks do not respond well to the NCS mandate of integrating NOS and IKS into mainstream science education. Recommendations for improving integration of NOS and IKS into the school science curriculum are suggested for textbooks authors, curriculum developers and science educators. Key words nature of science, indigenous knowledge systems, textbooks, natural science, naive, informed, implicit, explicit, positivism, constructivism