A research report submitted to the Faculty of Science in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science.
Johannesburg, 2013. / The 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.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/15114 |
| Date | 01 August 2014 |
| Creators | Muza, Blessings |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf |
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