Natural Science Education, Indigenous Knowledge, and Sustainable Development in Rural and Urban Schools in Kenya

Natural Science Education, Indigenous Knowledge, and Sustainable Development in Rural and Urban Schools in Kenya PDF Author: Darren M. O’Hern
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9462095426
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 174

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Book Description
Through a multi-sited qualitative study of three Kenyan secondary schools in rural Taita Hills and urban Nairobi, the volume explores the ways the dichotomy between “Western” and “indigenous” knowledge operates in Kenyan education. In particular, it examines views on natural sciences expressed by the students, teachers, the state’s curricula documents, and schools’ exam-oriented pedagogical approaches. O’Hern and Nozaki question state and local education policies and practices as they relate to natural science subjects such as agriculture, biology, and geography and their dismissal of indigenous knowledge about environment, nature, and sustainable development. They suggest the need to develop critical postcolonial curriculum policies and practices of science education to overcome knowledge-oriented binaries, emphasize sustainable development, and address the problems of inequality, the center and periphery divide, and social, cultural, and environmental injustices in Kenya and, by implication, elsewhere. “In an era of environmental crisis and devastation, education that supports sustainability and survival of our planet is needed. Within a broader sociopolitical context of post-colonialism and globalization, this volume points out possibilities and challenges to achieve such an education. The authors propose a critical, postcolonial approach that acknowledges the contextual and situational production of all knowledge, and that de-dichotomizes indigenous from ‘Western’ scientific knowledge.” Eric (Rico) Gutstein, Professor, Curriculum and Instruction, University of Illinois at Chicago (USA)

African Science Education

African Science Education PDF Author: Jamaine Abidogun
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351668994
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 343

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Book Description
Based on interrogation and review of historical and current cultural and indigenous knowledge combined with extensive curriculum and classroom analysis, this book identifies how indigenous science gender roles may be utilized to provide a more gender balanced and indigenous centered learning experience. The book argues for the integration of African indigenous science into the secondary school curriculum as a way to strengthen students’ science comprehension by affirming their society’s science contributions, making clear connections between Indigenous and Western science, and also as a way to promote female representation in the sciences. This book will be of interest to scholars and practitioners of science education, African education, and indigenous knowledge.

Positioning Diversity in Kenyan Schools

Positioning Diversity in Kenyan Schools PDF Author: Malve von Möllendorff
Publisher: African Books Collective
ISBN: 1928502342
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
Education is considered key for societies to achieve greater social cohesion and equality. Yet, schools, as the main providers of formal education, have increasingly come into question concerning their role in manifesting and perpetuating social categorisations, inequalities and discrimination instead of decreasing existing fragmentations and challenging power relations and hierarchies. As a diverse society, Kenya is faced with power struggles and rivalries between different groups - for instance, along ethnic lines, often constructed deep in colonial history. This affects teaching and learning in school and the result is that Kenya is faced with vast disparities in terms of educational access and success - rendering some social groups marginalised and others favoured. Positioning Diversity at Kenyan Schools explores the ways in which teachers in Kenyan primary and secondary schools experience and deal with social categorisations and diversity in terms of ethnicity, gender, wealth, culture, religion, etc. in their professional practice and in the current education system. Using critical pedagogy and diversity theory as a lens for positioning diversity in Kenyan schools, the questions that this book sets out to answer are: In what ways do the teachers' and schools' practices lead to transformation in terms of more social equality and less discrimination? In what ways do the practices manifest existing group categorisations, hierarchies and discrimination? How can schools and teaching practices in postcolonial Kenya become more inclusive and foster social cohesion and equality?

Issues in Teaching and Learning of Education for Sustainability

Issues in Teaching and Learning of Education for Sustainability PDF Author: Chew-Hung Chang
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429833695
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description
In a fast-changing, globalising world, the teaching and implementation of a curriculum for Education for Sustainability (EfS) has been a challenge for many teachers. Issues in Teaching and Learning of Education for Sustainability highlights the issues and challenges educators and academics face in implementing EfS and gives examples of what an EfS curriculum may look like and how some institutions translate the theory into practice. Organised into three parts, the volume looks at: the who (EfS for whom), the what (EfS curriculum) and the how (translating from theory to practice). The concluding chapter provides ideas and directions on where the world can proceed regarding sustainability education and how it can help in the teaching and learning of sustainability. Considering social issues such as poverty, education, health, culture and the use of natural resources, this book proposes a different path towards Education for Sustainability. Providing concrete data on the realisation of sustainable development, Issues in Teaching and Learning of Education for Sustainability will be of interest to geographers, geography educators and professionals concerned with Education for Sustainability.

Indigenous and Western Knowledges in Science Education

Indigenous and Western Knowledges in Science Education PDF Author: Darren O'Hern
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
In Kenya, indigenous knowledges related to the natural sciences are not considered in the formal science education of secondary students. Despite the prevalence of studies that examine indigenous knowledges in Kenyan school and community contexts, the perspectives of students and teachers concerning indigenous natural science knowledges and their function in the formal educational arena are remarkably absent from discussions of indigenous knowledges. How do Kenyan students and teachers view indigenous natural science knowledges and their role in formal educational formats and contexts? In this dissertation, I draw on ethnographic data collected in rural and urban public secondary schools in Kenya to explore the dichotomization of indigenous and Western science knowledges agriculture, biology, and geography classrooms. The dichotomization of these knowledges is well established in Kenya due to historical factors, state control of curricula and evaluation, and the politicization of indigenous knowledges and people. However, the research carried out for this dissertation in rural and urban secondary schools in Kenya also shows that this dichotomy is present in student and teacher voices as well. In order to move beyond the binary representations of these knowledges, I suggest the use of curricular and critical perspectives to (re)envision a more contextualized and relevant natural science education for all Kenyans.

The Routledge Handbook of Nationalism in East and Southeast Asia

The Routledge Handbook of Nationalism in East and Southeast Asia PDF Author: Lu Zhouxiang
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000911683
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 641

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Book Description
This handbook presents a comprehensive survey of the formation and transformation of nationalism in 15 East and Southeast Asian countries. Written by a team of international scholars from different backgrounds and disciplines, this volume offers new perspectives on studying Asian history, society, culture, and politics, and provides readers with a unique lens through which to better contextualise and understand the relationships between countries within East and Southeast Asia, and between Asia and the world. It highlights the latest developments in the field and contributes to our knowledge and understanding of nationalism and nation building. Comprehensive and clearly written, this book examines a diverse set of topics that include theoretical considerations on nationalism and internationalism; the formation of nationalism and national identity in the colonial and postcolonial eras; the relationships between traditional culture, religion, ethnicity, education, gender, technology, sport, and nationalism; the influence of popular culture on nationalism; and politics, policy, and national identity. It illustrates how nationalism helped to draw the borders between the nations of East and Southeast Asia, and how it is re-emerging in the twenty-first century to shape the region and the world into the future. The Routledge Handbook of Nationalism in East and Southeast Asia is essential reading for those interested in and studying Asian history, Social and Cultural history, and modern history.

Traditional Knowledge in Policy and Practice

Traditional Knowledge in Policy and Practice PDF Author: Suneetha M. Subramanian
Publisher: UN
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 408

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Book Description
Traditional knowledge (TK) has contributed immensely to shaping development and human well-being. Its influence spans a variety of sectors, including agriculture, health, education and governance. However, in today's world, TK and its practitioners are increasingly underrpresented or under-utilized. Further, while the applicability of TK to human and environmental welfare is well-recognized, collated information on how TK contributes to different sectors is not easily accessible. --

The Dynamics of African Indigenous Knowledge Systems

The Dynamics of African Indigenous Knowledge Systems PDF Author: Christopher Ndlovu
Publisher: Peter Lang Incorporated, International Academic Publishers
ISBN: 9781433187575
Category : Climate change mitigation
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
This book discusses the pivotal role and importance of African indigenous knowledge systems (AIKS) in promoting, enhancing and sustaining livelihoods in Africa. The argument of the book is that AIKS are of prime importance in the betterment of sustainable livelihoods of people particularly in the rural communities in Africa. The book analyzes the use of AIKS with the objective of making it more acceptable and applicable to the mainstream educational and developmental agendas and programs in Africa. A significant contribution of this book is the promotion of AIKS to increase their visibility in the mainstream knowledge spaces and sustainable use to improve the quality of life and the betterment of livelihoods in Africa, especially in the communal areas where Eurocentric scientific practices are cost prohibitive. This book is geared towards developmental professionals, academic scholars, students, policy makers, researchers and the public who are interested in the field of AIKS and sustainable development in rural communities. The book is based on interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches that incorporate the fields of agriculture, cultural and indigenous studies, development studies, education, geography, political science and sociology. Its multidisciplinary approach is of significance to readers as it encompasses perspectives on the multidimensionality and complexities of indigenous knowledges and sustainable community livelihoods and development.

Cyclones in Southern Africa

Cyclones in Southern Africa PDF Author: Godwell Nhamo
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030743039
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 334

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Book Description
Tropical cyclones in Southern Africa, also known as hurricanes or typhoons in other regions of the world, is a hot subject for academic research. This focus has been magnified by the need to consider tropical cyclones in the context of other global development agendas, that includes the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its inseparable 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Paris Agreement, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and Habitat III’s New Urban Agenda. The ambitious SDGs challenge global and community leaders to make sure development addresses the nexus among poverty, inequality and employment creation, as well as care for the earth and its natural resources and biodiversity. The SDGs further present an agenda to eradicate hunger, bring quality education and sustain water and sanitation. The infrastructure development, human settlements, sustainable consumption and production, climate change, biodiversity and the ocean (blue) economy agendas are also pitched. Lastly, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development encourages partnerships on delivering various programmes and projects at all spatial levels. However, as tropical cyclones continue to make multiple landfalls and ravage Southern Africa and other parts of the world, the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is threatened. To this end, this book addresses this gap by documenting the implications of tropical cyclones, drawing examples and case studies from recent tropical cyclones such as cyclone Idai and cyclone Kenneth that resulted in catastrophic impacts in 2019. The book comes as part of a series with three volumes. The other volumes include “Cyclones in Southern Africa Vol. 1: Interfacing the Catastrophic Impact of Cyclone Idai with SDGs in Zimbabwe” and “Cyclones in Southern Africa Vol 2: Foundational and Fundamental Topics”. Given the foregoing, the book is suitable as a read for several professionals and disciplines such as tourism and hospitality studies, economics, sustainable development, development studies, environmental sciences, arts, geography, life sciences, politics, planning and public health.

Perceptions and Knowledge Regarding Indigenous Knowledge and Environmental Education in the Natural Science Curriculum

Perceptions and Knowledge Regarding Indigenous Knowledge and Environmental Education in the Natural Science Curriculum PDF Author: Kinsa Gita Samuels
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Competency-based education
Languages : en
Pages : 534

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Book Description