S01E07 African indigenous knowledge systems & pedagogies in decolonisation maths & science education

in Canada. He has a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Education, having been a trained teacher with close to a decade of experience working in education practice and research. and Kenneth academic interests as a trained teacher and educational researcher revolved. around the role of education policy and practice in bridging inequalities as well as the promotion of social justice. Kenneth was a massive science student in education policy and international development.

as a Shivanin scholar, graduating in 2019 from the University of Bristol with distinction. He's moved on to do amazing things and currently a PhD candidate in education in the area of policy, curriculum and pedagogy. at the Faculty of Education Queen's University in Canada. So we are going to delve into the discussion, learning about his research work. So coming back to you, Kenneth, can you tell us what your doctoral research work is about?

And and one of the things we try to do on this podcast is to make it accessible to everyone listening because We have a broad range of listeners from students, parents, teachers. And so if someone is hearing indigenous African knowledge systems and pedagogies, can you break this down a bit? What does it mean when we say indigenous knowledge systems?

where we come together, we work together, we generate these knowledge through ceremonies, through symbols, through art and craft. But then they have been passed on to us. several decades and they con they are consistently useful for the present and future developmental aspirations. So let me give example. When we think about indigenous knowledges within science education, for instance, We could think about when you go to northern region, um there

Yeah, so they build these houses in a way to conserve heat. Okay. So like see around the place, like maybe when you are outside, it could be very warm, but then when you get Inside the room it could be very

Pedagogy is like the act of teaching and learning. So when you think of about indigenous pedagogies, there are the alternative ways of transmitting knowledge. But then these alternative ways of transmitting knowledge is uh In such a way that it engages with our cultural values, it engages with the African philosophies of knowing, and it is true. culturally responsive approach so for instance an indigenous pedagogy like storytelling like in

Ghana, like we gather, we share stories, we learn true stories. So when a teacher engages the art of storytelling in their teaching in a more conversational way, students are able to relate. It could even be medium of instruction when the teacher understands the local language within that community and allows students to think through these languages and come up with concepts or content.

within their own language, that could also be considered Indigenous pedagogies. So that's what I'd like to talk through in my work here.

can you tell this in a storytelling manner? But which is quite interesting to know. So Before we delve into the specifics of of your work, I will be interested in knowing what inspired you to take up this this this area of study.

I was lucky to be considered one of the best students at the time in my school but application of knowledge was something that i struggled with i could pass my exams i could get my hundred percent but i was not able to really understand those things evaporation distillation so

Later on when I became a teacher, I worked in a rural school and I started connecting these students to the local environment, their context. I was teaching at the time. I tried to link them to a Luca example to draw from like. cultural assets that these students were bringing into their classroom. And through that, um I remember when I left for Bristol in 2018, the first batch of that school. It was one of the community senior high schools that was built between 2015 and 2016.

in science. And we know in Ghana, science is one of the subjects that even the so-called A schools, they struggle with. But then these kids at the rural community were able to get 99%. And I was the only science teacher

back at the time because nobody wanted to teach them. So what am I trying to say? I realized that because I was able to One, integrate the local language in my teaching to draw from local examples like when I was teaching distillation, I was able to take them to a palm wine tapper in the community. Um, someone who makes acquisition, which is the local Ghanaian, um, gen that we have, they have all these set up.

We can look at and see how distillation occurs. And even students already have knowledge of these things. So sometimes, as teachers, we think our students don't understand this or they don't know. teach them distillation but then they have seen distillation they have even been involved in in that process of ensuring distillation happens. But then until we connect them to those things that, oh, you already know this or this is what we mean by distillation, they will never.

Diffusion, you close a door, osmosis and diffusion. For diffusion, you close a door in your room, then you... get a deodorant and you try to spray it it stays within that process so how do you let the students know oh this is what i mean so like

When that worked for me with my students, I decided to ask questions. And you know, as researchers, we start asking questions, then we become interested and we try to look into it. So When I finished my master's I decided to look more into this because you know in Ghana we We uh a lot of students fail math and science over the years. And there have been so many educational policies and educational reforms.

Have been um designed to promote STEM education in Ghana dating the 1970s. But still, when it comes to maths and science, basic education certificate examination, West African um senior school certificate examination, students still struggle. So I felt It could be that we are not able to help students to connect to this. Indigenous knowledges. And also, we are not also opening the spaces within our teaching and learning or our curriculum to draw from this community knowledge.

these assets that are within our communities, these knowledge systems that are already science and math. to help our students to know that oh okay so when we talk about this it is actually that and then we take them through so i believe that that integration

hasn't happened. So my research was inspired by that. And I am hoping that at least I could design a model in which Guhanan teachers Kwa hivyo, kwa hivyo, kwa hivyo, kwa hivyo, kwa hivyo, kwa hivyo, kwa hivyo, kwa hivyo, kwa hivyo, kwa hivyo, kwa hivyo, kwa hivyo. more accessible, relatable, and inclusive to diverse learners.

changes at the level of curriculum or policy, what does instigating change from your research work look like? What changes are you looking forward that this work may inform?

So um if you want to develop a country like Ghana to a level that will reduce unemployment, to become more self-reliant. to build resilient systems we need to develop more opportunities for students to become thinkers and for graduates to be able to do something For themselves. And um when we look at um STEM education, now there are so many career opportunities coming from STEM. So, how can we also tap into this? So in terms of policies I have seen that I have revealed the

we you could see how a teacher can use that kente which is very common almost every ghanian knows kente if that ghanian doesn't know kente they mean no smoke

some theories called epistemic humility to know that we cannot always think from the so-called western ways of knowing but we need to engage with our traditional or localized knowledges because they offer so much opportunity so in terms of policies i am thinking about um stem education policy which draws from ghanian indigenous understanding of science and math ghanian indigenous understanding of

this mathematical concept, knowing that they are already within our communities. But how do we act into this resource? Because South Africa has been doing this since 1995. So they have indigenous science um uh models.

Which is ha uh working for them to some extent. And there's a lot of research on on that within the south african context and i do believe that ghana we could also look into that so in terms of policies how do we develop um policies for stem that are really culturally responsive that Um um relatable to students so that is one aspect

Which also links to curriculum development. Because, like in Ghana, every educator respects the curriculum or the syllabus as more like the Quran or the Holy Bible. So if there are not Entry point.

um our indigenous pedagogies and our indigenous knowledge systems within these subjects it will be difficult for teachers to apply them because for my own research one of the findings i'm getting is that the teachers say oh do you know what you're talking about is really important i do believe that our students are not able to engage properly because they cannot relate

with whatever you teach them but then when you start to draw from what they already know they become very excited and that there are a lot of aha moments so that but then the curriculum doesn't really give us that opportunity Yeah. Do it. Yes. So like

That is one way. Another way that I see this kind of work happening is also about teacher professional development. Because when we look at teacher training in Ghana, when I talked to some of the teachers, they said they never learned about So some of them have just drawing from it in their teaching because they believe it right but then they didn't have

um extensive knowledge or training on that. So I am hoping that my work will also ref uh inform that. But actually I am also co creating um a a model like for now I call it a pedagogical model but then we are still in the process of co-creation so based on what will come up we may have a name for it where these teachers

DRAWING FROM DIFFERENT INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGES, TEACHERS FROM NORTHERN PART OF GANA, TEACHERS FROM ASHANTI REGION, TEACHERS FROM DIFFERENT ETHNIC GROUPS, TRYING TO DRAW FROM WHAT THEY KNOW, THEY ARE INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGES AND PEDAGOGYS. primary school mathematics and science so like they are seen different topics

and they are like, okay, this topic, I can teach it this way. I can draw from this indigenous understanding to make them more accessible to my students. So I believe that that resource could also be... um a guide for other teachers who may be interested in this kind of thing.

Uh the infiltration or the adoption, um, or let's say borrowing of uh Western ideas of education. But I feel that the we are becoming a global community such that our our local knowledge system, however important, may not be universally applicable. But even on the national level, there is probably a school in Accra. I mean, it may be different in some uh rural areas where there's not been a lot of cultural integration.

But how do you see this playing out in multicultural environment? And do you think that families and and students or parents um alike who are interested in uh education as an aspirational uh goal to be like we want our children to learn what uh student in the US or student in Canada, in Finland, in the UK or another

uh developed countries as as we call them to learn. Do you see some pushback from students and families on um how this is integrated as compared to their learning uh an approach on learning in a way that is universally applicable, because someone would say one plus one. as as to ever in whichever country you're in, when you're talking about basic arithmetic, do you see some pushbacks and do you think that this is uh receptive or people will be receptive to this idea?

into teaching. So it is more about centering their experiences and validating them, privileging those experiences and decentering. experiences that they will not or they are not like aware of For instance, you open a Ganyan textbook for science. And examples are given like a snow, like there's no, for instance, in an example that is studentist. as opposed to maybe learn about the state of matter.

How many students may know snow or may have personal experience with snow? They may watch movies, yes, but they may not have a personal experience with snow better than a student in Canada. Who baths in snow? When you use an example that is culturally responsive or relevant to that child,

it serves as an entry point to them learning about other things. So the whole idea is not to replace the so-called western knowledges where the indigenous approaches know the idea is that for the child to have a better experience with what you teach in maths and science. center their culture center their environment their content and then use that as an entry point to help them go we could argue for china

We could argue for many countries. Even in Norway. I was in Norway and I was understuding their education. And I realized that everything is centered around the Norwegian system. the Norwegian ways of knowing even including their language. but then Norway they are also building bridges they are also Bye. Doing all this scientific exploration. So the idea is that science is not limited to a certain culture or group. Science is in every culture, and that is what we want.

um our educators and our curriculum planners to understand that Science is universal and it is within every culture and we can find it in Everything we do. So the idea is science is everywhere. For instance, when we think about indigenous knowledges, we don't want people to think Knowledges that were in existence pre-colonial days. It is not a statement we make that let's go back and do that. But it is a statement that we make.

And say that let's look into our current realities and think about what we need and think about what we already. And make use of them if we really want to like be at par with the the rest of the world. So the idea is that the receptiveness or the Um pushback may come from parents depending on how it has been introduced. You know? And so, like, um, for me, the starting point of my research. Speaking to teachers now.

They have informed me that it's really positive and it could help enhance their teaching. So we see it as integration, but we don't see them as replacement.

with the other ways of knowing in that case the students will be able to have double or like some indigenous scholars in canada cause two eyes seeing having one eye to look into their own culture their own environment and having another eye looking into other environments which could be the western ways of knowing so that child will actually be more holistic because they have what we call the home sense and also

Uh, do you think, for example, that in uh a multicultural environment, how do we choose which experience to highlight and adopt in our teaching, especially when students are coming from different communities or ethnic backgrounds with boarding schools. Let's say there's a boarding school in Takrade and it has students from the northern region, the Ashanti region, the Upper East region, or even international places like different countries.

How do you uh looking at the different background of students, bring uh such pedagogies in a way that draws on the diverse experiences of the cohort of the class?

To some extent, we say all students are the same. So all guy, so like our system doesn't recognize difference. So like all students in Ghana are um using the same curriculum and we are um teaching them using even using theories like that are very western inclined but then we say these systems are or these theories are universal they are not universal

But it has been accepted. And I also hear people making arguments about even language. They say, Okay, like you say we need to integrate local languages also in our teaching. But then um

How can you do this knowing that we are multilingual? That is a challenge. But that doesn't mean it's not doable because if we've all been able to accept English language, we can also accept other languages so the idea is not like i said replacement the idea is about enhancing so when you have students within a multicultural context they are gainian So, in some extent, they have certain experiences, similar ones. So you draw from those experiences.

so it's it's in a way also means that teachers vary the way they teach as a teacher you have to know your student well and one of the indigenous pedagogy is about knowing your students very well and building a community within your classroom. So if you know your students very well, you should be able to always give different entry points or give different examples that they can relate with.

but then we have a test that say give this specific example but that is accepted but then when you say okay let's give examples from okay so those students from the northern part of ghana we are teaching heat transfer in the northern part of Ghana, you have buildings in a certain way, not all of them, but then there are some buildings in this way, but then during the hamtern, it is very...

warm or hot there, but then when you enter the room, it is sometimes good. Why is it like that? You could use that example to teach them heat transfer. Sometimes too, we could all find a common example Even though we are Gainians. we are different there are similarities so drawing from that so it requires educators to make sure that they keep updating the way they teach and bring in examples not just examples but then bring in knowledges and ideas that are more accessible to students.

uh further away from them in other countries. Uh we'll be wrapping up with two more questions um on on on this. Uh the first thing I'd want to find out is throughout the process of the reset, what has been uh the your most interesting finding or or learning what has been the most interesting thing you came across in your work.

in that locality understand to explain mathematical concepts. The students engage in the lessons and activities and they are able to do well in the assessment. Uh-huh.

Yeah, so that before we let you go, I I would want to find out the last question and it's with regards to the practicality of um implementing or adopting uh these indigenous African knowledge systems or pedagogies uh in decolonizing mass and science education like you've mentioned. given that there are a lot of funding for innovations in education are externally sourced.

what is the possibility that uh these local analysis systems become mainstrument will be adopted if it is not um a priority area for funders, given that A lot of times funders may determine or dictate the priority areas that are funded. How do you see the practicality of the practicalities of this being implemented?

UNESCO, UNICEF, and these organizations to fund us. For me, being independent and self-reliant also means um investing in your own educational system. or uh or in your own systems. So I believe that This kind of idea is not new. When you go to Australia and New Zealand, indigenous education is one of their key priorities. And there are a lot of publications on how integrating or indigenizing education. اشتركوا في القناة

to only African students or to black students, but to all students because they bring multiple ways of knowing. We have always been learning from a very universal way But then there are multiple ways of knowing and multiple ways of learning. And when we center um the experiences of students, their knowledge systems, their realities and all that in what they learn, they are able to benefit from that learning and they are also able to make use of that. So it depends on how we...

Promote this kind of education. Funders always want innovation, and one of the most innovative ways. teaching science is to draw from traditional educational knowledge systems and non-traditional educational knowledge systems to provide a more holistic approach to whatever you are teaching there. In that case, that student is not limited with different knowledges or different approaches and even do it better कर दो कर दो कर दो

in doing that, it means that we would still need to rely on external funding to see this into friction. So what I I was very much interested in is how we bridge that gap between if we as a country or as uh countries in global side want to do this but do not have the money, because a lot of our education budgets and even national budgets are rely on external resources, how

How can we fix this or how is this possible? Obviously there's a need to increase funding to education, but are there any pathways of making this possible?

Yeah. I do believe when you were in school maybe you you came across dust.

Funding always comes with conditionalities. And one of these is to kind of project a way of knowledge or like how educational systems should be organized for global southcomes. And for us to be really independent and carve a path for ourselves. We need t to be very strategic also about where we put our funding in. Because in Ghana, for instance, we fund different things that are sometimes not even relevant.

So I do believe that yes, extended funding could come or would come and we could get it because, like, even the sea needs more rain for it to be full. I believe that every funder who is really interested in making education systems work and supporting students will be willing to support this kind of initiative. we have USAID for instance over the years they've been supporting language of instruction in Ghanaian primary school.

by using the local languages. They have seen that when the teachers use the local languages in teaching at the basic school level, students are able to do better. when they progress. So they've been finding that. So I do believe that it's about how we talk about about it and how we develop that kind of proposal For instance, um UNESCO is currently doing work around the futures of education, educational futures, and they have also acknowledged the role of indigenous knowledge.

in developing um students um um Learning or in improving students' learning and competencies. In Canada, which is a Western country, they are doing more indigenous integrations and even drawing from Afrocentric. um ways of learning and i'm currently working on a project that we are integrating afrocentric pedagogy

in educational systems in Ontario. So if these countries are doing it now, they have seen that African-centered ways of learning are um uh beneficial especially given the diverse um communities that they have what stops us from doing this kind of work they are drawing from ubuntu they are drawing from different African philosophical principles like Sankofa to do this kind of work in Ontario.

interested in in this kind of uh uh approach in drawing from community knowledge systems and which is exciting to hear. I believe that uh you would have more interesting findings to share. I will be following the journey to see how uh this pans out. And we may need to be wrapping up because of time, but I would be interested in finding or learning more about um your research work when it's ready, but I'll give you the chance to

uh share any last words or concluding uh comments on this approach. I think you're the first person I'm hearing uh talking about this or dramming it down in the Ghanaian uh perspective. And obviously there's been a lot of uh previous work in this. Uh K. A. Bouzia, who was a former Prime Minister in Ghana, has written on education in Africa, and President Julius Nerere, uh

from Tanzania has spoken about education uh for self reliance at Ujama and other things. So it's really interesting that this is um becoming uh b this is becoming an issue that is gaining traction. So I'll hand it over to you to

There, your concluding uh remarks on this area and whatever reflections you'd want to leave with us.

And they look at oh, they are fetish and all that. But I do believe that there's an opportunity for um uh scholars, educators, um, stakeholders to actually look into indigenous knowledges. and see how these alternative understanding of the world um can also help in um bridging inequalities that we we have in education, even thinking about the learning crisis that we are currently facing. Um there's this theorist I admire a lot. His name is

Novu Gashini. He talks about epistemic exhaustion. He says that um we have been um um following or we've been um doing the same thing over the years that now we have exhausted So we keep just recycling these. ways of knowing from a specific vantage point, which is from so-called developed countries. But it is also time for us to look at the epistemologies of the South.

in which Boaventura de Sou Santos talks about knowledge ecologies. So how do we bridge knowledges? How do we bring these different knowledge systems together to benefit the learner? How do we ensure that students acquire holistic development and we are creating more spaces for students to benefit from alternative ways of knowing?

So the idea of indigenous knowledge And indigenous pedagogies in STEM education is very useful here because it is not the replacement of other ways of knowing, but it is actually um.

If you listen in as a policymaker, as a researcher, this is an area of interest that deserves um attention. And if you're working in development space, it's always uh important for us to think about the no local knowledge systems as connected.

Estalinhas and how this can be integrated and synthesized into our approaches to improve learning and outcomes, which I believe all of us are very much interested in. I would say thank you so, so much, uh Kenneth, for making time to talk to us and we would be in touch. uh hopefully to have more conversations around this area and other areas of your research interest. It's been great talking to you. This has been the Let's Talk Education podcast. I'd say uh thank you for joining us.